Golden Shiners

A dozen tipups between 2 anglers and not one flag on any of them sporting silver sided bait fish.  Two tipups provided all the action which had golden shiners previously jigged up using a small hook a pieces of bread.
Not much of a blog post, but between building plugs, fishing, and work I just haven't had the time.  Anyways, think warm thoughts and maybe if we all do Spring & warmer temperatures will actually come our way here in the Northeast.

40" beaut... 17lbs, yes I removed background!!!
Sorry to any spot seekers.

Have a Crappie Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, I haven't been on the ice since Sunday but I'm hoping the colder nights in the forecast will provide some safe ice for the weekend.  The crappie (calico bass) and smallmouth bass bite was very good this past weekend, including this 15" slab that took a 4 inch shiner under a tip-up.

My brother, Josh with a beautiful Crappie

Transformation of a Fisherman: Part 2

Looking back on that first fish experience, it is easy to see my shortcomings as an angler.  No, not in regards to the fish I caught, the shortcomings have to do with me.  My attitude towards other's fishing abilities were extremely critical without ever saying a word to them.  These thoughts circled in my head constantly.  By the age of 6, I was catching way more bluegills than my cousins.  In my 6 year old opinion they were terrible at fishing.  I hardly even fished the pond that they all lived around.  I lived an hour away and all I had to do was show up and fish were caught.  Life was good.

As an arrogant 6 year old my summer's were always split between Connecticut and Vermont.  I was a lucky "Little Shit" as my mom would say, as my Grandfather had purchased a house on the Lake Champlain Islands before I was born.

If I remember correctly we had an unpainted 14' sylvan or grumman deep V tin boat with a 9 horse Merc. on the back.  It was an adventure every day on Lake Champlain.  My dad would come up every weekend and my brother and I would stay all week with my mom and grandmother.  I don't think I ever had the chance to fish with either of my grandfathers, but the thought of doing so today is something I think about often. Anyways, my dad had fished with both of my grandfathers and learned their techniques.  Old school, proven, techniques not realistic for the 6 year old.  Thankfully those ways were skipped for my brother and me.  My dad had also been fishing his entire life and learned from his cousins about spin fishing.  It was more convenient for pond fishing in CT, while the trolling gear was set up for walleyes and salmon on Champlain in VT.  So what I learned was a combination of the two.  Spin casting and trolling using spin gear.

My dad did so much of what makes up who I am today and some key things as to what I know as a fisherman.  He worked long hours in construction, chasing jobs all around CT.  He always scouted the surrounding areas for potential fishing spots, and would bring my brother and I along on weekends.  The other thing he did was to reinvent fishing for himself, a break in tradition.  Breaking the molds that had made him.  Which would set the foundation for myself to eventually break the boundaries of my own fishing career.

At the Hartford, CT fishing show (when it used to be good) small vendors sold baits, the little guys who think up ingenious things were present and trying to make a buck off their inventions.  My dad was kinda stingy when it comes to money and buying "things" but he also has an impulsive gotta have it now attitude.  We were on our last aisle where it seemed as though we were headed to the car to go home.  Two booths that I will never forget, Penn reels and some weird guys with a lot of soft plastic baits for sale.  My dad bought me my first spinning reel, a nice light penn reel that I would use for a long time.  Then the worm guy had lead jig heads and mister twister style grub tails in boxes.  At least a hundred thousand of them in all colors.  My dad saw the smoke with salt and pepper flake and I had thought he found a gold coin on the floor.  He bought a bag of baits none of which he ever used before, and after that disappeared from being my fishing partner for awhile...

The Transformation of a Fisherman: Part 1

At first I did not know why my grandmother had led me to the garden to dig up worms.  A chock full o'nuts coffee can sat in the moist garden soil by her side.  I remember scraping my knuckles on the stones as we dug, then following my Gram while pulling dirt from under my nails.  For some reason, it always seemed as if the most big worms were always near the string beans, and the little ones in the compost.  Gram led me to the water's edge and I watched water rings disappear slowly in the pond.  It was a plastic red and white bobber with something holding a slimy night crawler beneath it.  She handed me what seemed like a stick and told me to hold it and watch.  I wasn't sure what I was watching for, maybe the geese, a bullfrog, I knew what those things were.  Then I heard some excitement, "Matt you've got one, reel it in!"  Then I felt it in my hands, the same excitement.  Something got me.  The bobber was darting around, left and right, under and up, it was pulling and so was I.  I cranked and cranked until the bobber was stuck at the end of my stick, and my Gram pulled it in.  She said it was a bluegill, she showed me the colors, its gills, and took the hook out.  She let me touch it and then said it's time to let it go.  Gram placed the bluegill back in the water and it sped away fast.  It was incredible.

2013-14 Ice Season

It's that time of year to have your ice fishing gear at the ready.  The week ahead has one rain day in the forecast for Connecticut and it is Monday.  More importantly the ice-cast is looking very good for safe ice by next weekend with overnight temps hitting the 20s and teens, and even earlier for high elevation and northern portions of the state.  First ice often provides the best possible fishing as does last ice so making sure you can get out and do so safely should provide some great results.

Last weekend I dusted off my tipups, respooled them all with new line, swivels, and florocarbon leaders & hooks.  I started using hi-visibility main line in lime green and blaze orange, it is extremely helpful to see which direction the fish is moving after a take.  Black main line or dark red are difficult to see.  I tied the main line of the tipups to swivels using a double cinch knot, then made my leaders to single hooks using #4 crimps on 50 & 60lb florocarbon.  In my sled I will store a box with the crimper, extra crimps, hooks and swivels.  This will serve to speed up the time necessary to get another bait in the water if a break-off occurs.  One lake in particular comes to mind in terms of a high chance of breakoffs due to an incredible amount of standing timber and sub-surface log snags.  This structure is a double edged sword because fishing near it is key to seeing flags pop, however watching for flags is just as critical because the fish will head back into that same cover along with the line in tow.

Last season my brother purchased an underwater camera.  Yes it is cool and we noticed it had little to no effect on the fish caring that there was a fake bluegill "swimming" up and down and doing 360's like Shawn White.  The question for me was is it worth it?  It's expensive, time consuming, another thing to charge, and lug around the ice... and for myself and the limited time I had to use it especially on the type of lake described above, yes it is a game changer.  Locating and seeing structure that could not otherwise be seen above the water was now available to us.  Also it give you a depth reading, temperature (cold) and direction of view as it has a built in compass.  The images are crisp and can be focused/zoomed on the model my brother purchased.  What it also allowed us to do is those areas where we had setup close to structure we could determine if it was going to be a productive setup.  Let's say we dropped a bait down, then sent the camera in for a look and found that a single log was blocking the bait from a better chance of being seen.  We were then able to decide if a different hole a few feet away would better our chances.

Just remember every trip on the ice should have safety as the number one priority.  Black (clear) ice is the strongest, if snow is mixed in the strength dramatically decreases.  Be aware for underwater currents as well as areas that are tidal.  Keep a lookout for streams, spillways, and the like as these areas will have much thinner (less safe) ice. Ice picks that you wear in your coat sleeves or around your neck can save your life.  In remote areas always pack a change of clothes and fire starting materials.  Leave a plan of where you are fishing and when you plan on returning with someone on land, or keep in touch via cell phone to update them if possible.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, give thanks for friends and family.  Give thanks to the men and women serving our country who cannot be home with their family.  Be thankful for the things we take for granted.  Safe travels to all on this holiday, enjoy the food, and have a nap.  To those that enjoy fishing, good luck and tight lines.

-Matt

AK King Salmon, Photo Credit Paul Parent (my cousin)

The Play Button

Ok so I have been absent from writing for.... too long.  I have tried to write a number of times but it felt forced, uncomfortable.  The same feeling I have had on the water lately.  This spring I was in the groove on the striped bass scene.  I took one weekend off and my results since then have been dismal at best.  The worst part is that I have been fishing, a lot.  Multiple all night-ers without a bump or two to three fish days in eight to ten hours of fishing.  The worstest part, yes worstest is a word because I just made it up.... the worstest part is this is the time frame when I should be into fish, a lot of fish, and good sized fish.  So I am pressing the PAUSE button to review what I have done wrong.

I have entered a tournament and although it is fun and I do enjoy the competition, I think it has been working against my normal way of fishing.  I have been fishing every lure too fast, have become impatient and have moved from productive waters much too soon.  Another error, taking work to the water.  Work stress does not belong in anyone's fishing plans, if possible leave it at the desk.  Sometimes it is not possible to leave it behind and it must follow you because that is likely more important than catching a fish.  After all our world is dependent on services and work to be done.  Money has to be made, bills have to be paid, and food needs to hit the table.  This has been the case for me, however I also utilize fishing as a release from the work related stress.  Therefore I will call part of it a wash.

Returning to mistakes made while fishing.  At the onset of the year I had decided to fish a minimal amount of types of lures.  Have I practiced this decision?  Not in the slightest, this past weekend I had about 14 different types of lures and always thought I had left behind the right one!  Then after leaving a spot that was holding fish, the day after I knew I had the correct lure in my bag but did not throw it.  The way I should be thinking about lures is that there are roughly 5 or 6 types of lures, but more conservatively only 3.  Surface/near surface, subsurface, and bottom lures.  This selection might change based on each fishing location, but the idea is the same, each spot should be fished with each especially if there are fish present to establish a pattern.  This past weekend for example I caught a striped bass on a lure, and three casts later I changed that lure because I had already lost confidence in it.  Then I allowed the weather to dictate my comfort level because the wind was strong.  The wind was nearly knocking me over, however the fish were directly in front of me, but I left because my confidence was so low.  To end this story, 5 more hours passed at frequent changes in location without a bite.  The conditions from the night before continued and ruined the bite for everyone in the subsequent days.

Yet another mistake, I prepared my tackle bag with all of those lures.  So many different types, lures that have worked in the past, lures that have worked in other locations hundreds of miles away, new "hot" lures that have not gained my confidence, yet I did not bring live or rigged eels on my outing.  As it turns out the water I fished was absolutely perfect for eeling, slack current, just past sunset, new moon, prime spot with fish present in clean water with a storm overhead.  Bottom line here is do not leave home without eels (or some form of eels) while fishing for striped bass, it just doesn't make sense.

Now that I have reflected on my errors, I will hit the RESET button to slow down, bring only what I need, and fish areas more thoroughly.  The Lake Champlain International Father's Day Tournament is this weekend  and it will mark my 18th consecutive year of fishing it.  It is my confidence water and my hope is to shake the skunk off my back and climb back into the saddle.

Weekend Results

A few nights worth of rain can really change the angler's perspective on ice fishing and winter in general.  My brother was lucky enough to fish all week long trying several different locations to ice fish, however based on our conversations we were looking at some different real estate to check out which happened to offer colder and more consistent temperatures.  The ice we fished Saturday was 8" thick, and due to the area's colder temperatures the ice was mixed throughout with snow because it had frozen before the last large snowfall.  From the warming temperatures and the rain from Friday we were met with a blanket of fog and I couldn't have been happier.  Aside from an inch of water on the ice it was perfect conditions.

The ponding of water on the ice was simply a matter of putting it back where it belongs, I walked into what I thought looked like the deepest puddles and drilled a hole to free up some ice to move around in.  One thing we avoided was to set a tip-up in those holes that were draining water because all of the silt, dirt, etc that is on top of the ice ends up in those holes and can foul the line and the bait. 

During set-up we missed two fish to dropped bait, then with about half our traps set I found the first bass of the day while my brother and his friend Jordan continued to place our traps.  Since the pond is private we had no set game plan other than covering as much ice as possible.  We all decided if flags were popping more frequently on one end we could always move to that area.  So we always over drill the number of holes even if it is a hand auger.  I'd much rather drill all the holes and the extras and not touch the auger again unless the action is dead.  The reason for this is being quiet. 

If you have ever swam underwater before you know that if someone clicks rocks together the sound travels quite a distance.  So an ice auger, hand or power, the scoop, walking with creepers on all makes a ton of underwater noise.  We would periodically switch what side of the traps we would stand on and the other side's tip-ups would go up.  It happened every time we made the switch.

CT Ice Weekend #2

We are moving into our second "safe" ice weekend in CT, I use "safe" in quotation marks because all lakes freeze at different times due to their locations, which includes many factors.  Things like shelter from wind, mean depth, geographic latitude, lake altitude, proximity to the ocean, currents, underwater springs to name a few greatly change the lake's ability to freeze and stay frozen.  Local knowledge is by far the best factor to take into consideration before setting foot on a frozen pond, lake or river cove.  If you have not personally fished an area on the ice, the best thing to do is ask and take note of where other fishermen access the ice.  Also I always wear Ice Picks, they sit over the shoulder and my jacket has two breast pockets that I zip up the handles into so they do not swing around while I'm drilling holes or setting up tip-ups.

This past weekend I spent two days on a pond near my house.  I have fished it in the summer, however last year's poor/warm winter allowed for only 1 safe weekend on the ice, which I did not get to fish as I was fishing Lake Champlain in VT. 
This past Saturday I spent as a recon mission with only an auger, a dozen jigs, and a jigging rod.  I drilled holes around 75% of the perimeter looking for fish & structure fishing each hole for roughly 20 minutes then continuing on to new sets of holes.  My arms were dead after drilling close to 100 holes.  The information I gained from exerting so much energy was invaluable and interesting.  I was able to witness the pond's ice formation daily, then once on the ice I could see and measure thicknesses of the ice in various parts of the pond. During my trek around the pond, I only managed one perch, however returning to the holes with structure nearing the sunset period I was able to pick-off another 6 perch as I was no longer casting a hard shadow and making significantly less noise. 
On Sunday, I used the info I collected and setup tip-ups with live minnows around the structure I had found the day before.  Along with my brother, we set out ten traps using his underwater camera to pinpoint weed beds and sunken logs/rock piles, and had a consistent pick of pickerel and jigged up some perch as well.  I was hoping to locate some bass, but that will have to be another day.

This weekend I'm heading to a different pond with 3 other anglers, that I have fished before, it is private and gets little to no pressure so I'm hoping to see a better catch rate and quality in the fish.  We'll see how it goes tomorrow....

-M

Weekend Plans?

Evan with late season open-water Pike

So one workday remains in the second week of December, when you can count down hours to the weekend.  The weather forecast is showing Saturday to be the pick.  Temps in mid Connecticut should be one degree above freezing through the overnight, moving up to 40 degrees or so for the high.  Mild wind and mostly sunny skies.  If you haven't winterized the boat or traded the rods in for guns and camo, a stop in your local bait shop for some shiners might be a good choice for some pike infested waters this weekend.  Live line those golden shiners under a slip bobber and enjoy the day and the cold winter air while you wait for that bite.

All White w. White Bladed Spinner Bait did the trick.

Might as well since the upcoming week is looking like a doom and gloom type week, with a chance of snow and rain.  Maybe the canoe is still strapped down to the roof of you car, and it is begging like a dog for a trip to the lake.
<----- Try slow rolling spinner baits in a bit deeper water near structure.  "Structure!" the word that is used all the time and no one ever takes the second to explain it.  Structure can easily mean at least a dozen different things.  But when it's cold out the structure I want is something that is producing heat and cover (protection for the bass), in lakes this could be the last weed beds dying off or stump fields.  As the sun finally gets high enough in the December skies it will start to warm shallow dark bottoms areas of lake first, submerged stumps, logs, dark rocks, etc.  If the structure is not cover (protection for the bass/safe hiding spot) then these structure items can be near cover, i.e. drop off, docks, etc.  Good luck, be safe, please wear your PFD if you are in a boat, canoe, kayak.  It is the law and since the water temps are probably somewhere around 34-38 degrees you will only have about a minute before you can't move.  Anyways, Saturday is the day to have a line in the water.

Oh yes for the Fly Fishers out there I came across a refreshing look at fly tying and a good blog to boot.  I added it to my list of Blog Recs.  Check out http://flyobsession.com/ Blog maintain by two young enthuisiasts, Matt and Nick, it is worth a peek.

If You're Having Squirrel Problems I Feel Bad for You Son...

When I was little, I remember watching birds eat from feeders that my grandmother had in a silver birch outside her window in Northwestern CT.  She had suet feeders, sunflower seed feeders and thistle feeders to attract finches.  Last Christmas I asked my mother for a bird feeder and she gave me a nice feeder that claimed to be squirrel proof.  I don't believe that too many feeders are in fact squirrel proof and expected the squirrels to get at the seed somehow.  After a year of use and the feeder being in the elements of rain and snow, the squirrels have taken advantage of the weakened spring mechanism within the feeder.  We have three super fat squirrels and one "in shape" squirrel.  The fittest squirrel has figured out that if he hangs upside-down from the feeder he does not compress the spring that closes his window of food.  This same bushy tailed rodent pulls the food out of the feeder so it falls to the ground feeding his damn friends as well. As if they needed anymore to eat.

Photo Credit: Jim Martin, Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Amongst my errands this past weekend, I went to a local greenhouse and feed store to pickup a Christmas wreath, more seed (because I'm a sucker) and to look at more advanced squirrel proof bird feeders.  I was shocked by the prices of these types of feeders, ranging from just over $100 dollars to $150+.  After staring at 5 price tags in this range for far too long, I left without a feeder and decided to make a alternative purchase.  A pellet gun.  I had owned a pellet gun when I was sixteen because my mom wouldn't get one for me and at the time I figured out that I could make the purchase myself.  After leaving for college my two younger brothers used the gun and unfortunately had left it outside in the rain for several weeks.  That gun was a Daisy with a scope and I had it dialed in, I have always enjoyed shooting and being accurate.  I went to Cabela's in East Hartford to navigate through the Christmas mob scene to purchase a new air rifle.  In the store was a rack of air rifles store-goers could handle along with their included scopes. Aside from the people pointing the guns at other people, it was a nice setup to be able to hold and feel out each item.  For somewhat of an impulsive buy, I was looking for a wooden stock air rifle to get more of a classic look and feel.  After holding a few wooden stock rifles, I did not want one due to how incredibly heavy they were.  They felt around 17lbs although I did not check to see for sure, and who am I to judge that weight as I only catch small fish.  I ended up purchasing the Gamo Hornet which had some nice "extras". It has a black synthetic stock, a "good" weight at 6.1 lbs, includes a fixed magnification scope at 4x32, 18" barrel, and 43.3inches overall.  It is a single pump, barrel break and fires at 1,000fps with lead and 1,200fps with Gamo's PBA rounds (which are lighter and harder than lead but 100 are the same price as 500 in lead). To take the recoil out the Hornet is also equipped with a rubber cushion on the stock.  The air rifle also features an adjustable 2 stage trigger and manual safety.  The barrel is fluted for a sharp look.

So I bought it, brought it home and my wife was in the middle of hosting a Christmas cookie swap.  Which is not an appropriate time to start shooting at targets or anything in general.  My friend and fishing partner Evan came over later to help me test it out.  First impression is that this is almost as loud as a .22 cal subsonic shot.  Which for me translates to powerful and impressive.  The cocking mechanism requires 30lbs of force but easily pulls down and loads during this time.  It is far better than having to pump repeatedly; just one and done.  I spent maybe half an hour to get the shots consistent enough at 80' distance within an inch circle.

Home made target on yellow index card shows the shots nicely

Gamo Hornet in cocked position

I chose this ammo because it was made for high accuracy

Rounds were going through 4 layers of cardboard and 1/4" plywood.

My impression of this air rifle after two days & approximately 100 rounds shot is that it is impressive for a gun in the 100-150 dollar range.  It is loud and I would not recommend it when neighbors are close or not keen on the idea of any gun.  The scope is nice, I personally would prefer a variable zoom scope.  If upgrading make sure to research whether the scope is rated for reverse recoil of the air rifle.  The rear scope mount has a little "foot" that fits into a hole to keep it in place if the mount screws loosen.  I would like to reiterate that this is my first impression of the rifle, I am impressed but will update after my use increases.  I have a couple video ideas in mind for this.  Happy shooting!  As always see you on the water (with a rod).

Exit hole(front)/entry hole(back)

Do you smell that?

It is true, got a big 'ol skunk today.  Air temps were 36 degrees, water temps were 34-35 degrees with ice forming on the pond.  My friend Jon and I drifted shiners under a bobber while slow rolling spinner baits or casting Rapala Xraps on a slow twitch-pause retrieve.  No love from pike or bass today, but it was nice to be out on the water.

What's On Tap?

So your salt water fishing season is pretty much over, or at least the fast pace fall action has died out and you alone believe you could win the fishery powerball despite the odds...  Well in Connecticut the DEEP has many Trout Management areas, seasons for bass and pike might be still open on certain waters or are catch and release, or you can take roll call on your gear, replace what is missing, upgrade, or build the gear yourself.  Maybe dust off the tip-ups, sharpen the auger, and re-spool some lines.  For myself, this upcoming weekend is showing some promise... or maybe the recent powerball thinking infected my mind as well.

The first time I put my boat in the water this year was November 18th HAH!  It cost me approximately 30 dollars to run my boat this year, between boat registration and half of the two year trailer registration fee.  Sounds embarrassing as a fisherman right?  Not really, I had a great year all around with my feet firmly planted on the ground. Shore, wading, and wet-suit almost exclusively.  Fishing for trout comprised my time on the water from before opening day to mid June.  I did not post as much as I could have about trout this year.  I will say that long walks pay off big when fishing places everyone wants to go to but very little do. Then June came and I got married, bottom line best thing ever.  Enjoyed a Hawaiian honeymoon and got to swim with giant Manta Rays during a night dive.  Came home and decided to put my salty pants on and fished the remainder of the season for Striped-bass and Bluefish.  Fish from CT's LIS shoreline proved a difficult target for myself, which is why I found myself in places like South County Rhode Island, Martha's Vineyard, and Cuttyhunk all of which were beautiful places and some decent fishing.  The best fishing in LIS I found was in the lower CTR for bluefish, giant nasty, snotty yellow eyed fighting bluefish.  So now that I have desalinated my gear, patched my waders, hung up the wetsuit for this season... What is next?

We have had some better outlook for ice this year with the temperatures where I believe they should be at this time of year.  Coming into the first week of December however, it looks like a bit of a warming period.  Keep your fingers crossed for ice.  In the meantime, this weekend I'll be fishing with my friend Jon in my boat's 2nd trip of the year for Northern Pike and Largemouth Bass in Northeastern CT.  It is going to be an all day affair with some snow/rain mix forecasted during our outting.  I have not been in the fresh water much since early this year, but my offerings and technique will be based on conditions.  My number one indication for what to use and how to use it will be water temperature.  Probably slow trolling spinnerbaits and use of long-pause Rapala Xraps will be employed, how slow will depend on the actual water temperature.  Think ice, & see you out there.

Tourney Results: Part II

Sleeping in your car in waders, Saturday's fishing, and the winners to follow....   So where was I?  Oh yes, in the Walmart parking lot at 3am taking video of what I thought was ridiculous rain.  It is funny how the mind thinks one thing is set in stone and then nature disproves that idea in an instant.

After Ian packed his fish on ice in a foam cooler, I drove back to camp and was so tired I slept in my waders (in the car).  Woke up at 5 and saw the other cars I parked between still there.  Thought might as well keep sleeping, others aren't fishing.  Woke up again 2 hours later to find the cars were gone... ok time to rally, I made my way to Watch Hill, hiked down the path and turning the corner I see huge rollers breaking against the rocks.  I fished working around the point casting into the wind without a bump, then I tried the calm side hoping for a bluefish but again I had no luck.  Realizing that I was hungry, tired, and sore with no fish for my efforts I drove back to camp again for a non-wader "nap."

I am going to fast forward through Saturday night's fishing, it was a lot of casting, the waves were even worse than Friday night's and all I had was two hits at "Q" breach.  Sunday morning all of the participating clubs meet-up for an all-you-can-eat banquet hosted by the Andrea Hotel on Misquamicut beach.
 The main dining area was filled with men, women and children all belonging to different surf-casting clubs from up and down the east coast.  The best part was that we were all in the tournament in the name of charity, ok and some fishing too.....without further ado... here are the result of the tourney.  Weights are combined 3 largest Striped-bass plus 3 largest bluefish in lbs.

Results 2012 Surf Fishing Club Challenge




1). Connecticut Surfcasters ----------------------------------------------------- 100.01 lbs.



2). Rhode Island Mobil Sport Fisherman ------------------------------------ 71.1 lbs.

3). Narragansett Surfcasters ----------------------------------------------------- 65.2 lbs

4). Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers Assoc. --------------------------------- 64.54 lbs.

5). Pioneer Valley Boat & Surf Club -------------------------------------------- 64.5 lbs.

6). Weekapaug Surfcasters -------------------------------------------------------- 56.25 lbs.

7). Hartford Surf Fishing Club ------------------------------------------------------ 2.12 lbs

8). Striped Bass Dot Com ---------------------------------------------------------------- 0 lbs.

Largest Striped Bass ----------- 24.5 lbs ------ Richard Morris ------- Conn. Surfcasters

Largest Bluefish ------------------- 14.4 lbs.------ Gil Bell ---------- Weekapaug Surfcasters

2012 STATS

28 Striped Bass --- Average Weight -----16.94 lbs.

12 Bluefish ----------- Average Weight ------9.88 lbs.

Over the past 10 years the average weight of Striped Bass has been ------- 16.9 lbs.

Over the past 10 years the average weight of Bluefish has been ---------------- 8.88 lbs.

DONATIONS

Connecticut Surfcasters

Grumpy'sTackle

Mike's Custom Plugs

Connecticut Outfitters

Bob Kelley

Rhode Island Mobil Sport Fishermen

DC Custom Plugs

Pioneer Valley Boat & Surf

Charity -------- $1330.00 was collected and will be sent to M/S


Facts ------- 95 men, women and children attended the breakfast at the Andrea Hotel

A Proud CT Surfcaster's President Billy D!

Repeating Champs, Connecticut Surfcaster's Association!  Pretty cool!!!  What was not cool is that a few weeks later the Andrea Hotel along with the rest of Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, & etc's shorelines would be battered and beaten to hell by Superstorm Sandy.  

I sat in this very room along with everyone else and had a great breakfast with friends and co-anglers.  Yet, the chappy-faced people of the shoreline communities are strong willed and will rebuild.