Friday 03 September 2010

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• Salt Water’s Tough On Tackle “I think it is fair to say that more lures are lost each year to corrosion than fish or broken lines. I still lose a few to negligence, but I have greatly reduced the casualties via the following practice. I never put hard lures that I have used during the day back in their storage boxes while on the water. Once off the water, I put them away only after rinsing them with fresh water and setting them aside to dry.” TheRecordLive.com

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• The PFD Won’t Catch Fish, but It Might Save Your Life “I recommend fishermen pay similar attention to their PFDs (personal floatation device). What is the difference between a PFD and a piece of fishing tackle? One could catch you a fish and the other could save your life…. “I have an inflatable fishing vest. A tug of a cord pierces a CO2 cartridge and it inflates. I wear it on a boat and on the shore. Why? I was nearly pulled into the water by the backwash of a large wave that struck a jetty I was fishing on many years ago.” Martha's Vineyard Times Shoo-Fly: No one comes on board Shoo-Fly unless wearing a pfd.

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• Salt Water Sportsman Magazine Online “Boston Harbor Report: The fish are feeding like we are in fall run mode and we are still a few weeks away....” Salt Water Sportsman

Thursday 02 September 2010

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• Coast Guard Triangulates May Day Hoax Caller “Under federal law, knowingly and willfully transmitting a hoax distress call is a felony. It is punishable by up to six years in prison, a $250,000 fine and restitution to the Coast Guard for all costs incurred while responding to the distress." Coast Guard News

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• 1964…”It was a very good year. It was a very good year for….” “Another reason that the 1964 season stands out for me is because that was the year I caught a 58-pound, 8-ounce striper one night then a friend caught a 55-pounder from my boat two days later. Before the end of the month, my mate was aboard and caught a 61-pound, 4 ounce striper in the very same place the aforementioned stripers came from. One of the best catches I ever experienced occurred on my birthday in September of 1964. “It was a long night of casting without any reward until the moon came up. As soon as the glow of that orb peeked over the horizon, all hell broke loose….” Charlie Soares in The Herald News [“…life was cheery in the good old days gone by...do you remember, if you remember…. “]

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• Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Mag Online Ask Lefty Q & A: “I want to get into saltwater fly-fishing but don’t know what species I'll be chasing. The number of patterns overwhelms me. Can you give me some guidelines?” Fly Fishing in Salt Waters

Wednesday 01 September 2010

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• Labor Day Weekend Reminder “The National Safety Council is reminding drivers to buckle up and drive sober during the Labor Day weekend, a deadly time on America’s roadways. From 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 3, through Monday, Sept. 6, NSC estimates there will be 368 traffic fatalities and an additional 19,900 nonfatal disabling injuries. “Safety belt use is the most effective protection against serious crash injuries. Studies show safety belts reduce the risk of crash injuries by 45 percent. NSC estimates 281 lives will be saved this Labor Day weekend because people wore safety belts, and an additional 96 lives could be saved if all people buckled up.” Shoo-Fly: We hope you have a great, safe weekend.

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• Shoo-Fly Over Labor Day Weekend We’ll be off the water this weekend. As you know, many boaters consider this to be the last weekend of the summer. So all of those who’ve been using their Uselesscrafts as floating cocktail lounges since Memorial Day weekend will feel the urge to get back out on the Housatonic River and Long Island Sound for one last…bash. Flying through no-wake zones…rushing full-tilt past fishing boats…racing through the middle of schools of surface-feeding fish…waving beer cans…. No thanks. We’ll wait until it’s all over and then get back on the River and the Sound when things’ve calmed down.

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• Coast Guard Saves Four Off Stamford “The U.S. Coast Guard, Stamford Fire Marine and Stamford police responded early Saturday morning as a fishing boat was sinking in Long Island Sound off Stamford.” Stamford Advocate

Tuesday 31 August 2010

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• Eastern Long Island Sound Fishing Report “We have some good blue fishing in The Race, bass at times on the change of tide, lots of porgies on the near-shore rocks, more blues prowling the upper Thames after bunkers and sea bass and large porgies on the West Grounds at Block Island - and the best part, the weekend forecast calls for sun and no rain.” Tim Coleman in The Day

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• Connecticut Beaches, Closed by Bacteria, Reopened “Connecticut environmental officials have reopened three popular beaches on Long Island Sound to swimming after new testing showed acceptable bacteria levels.” Hartford Courant

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• Fishermen Ask Obama for Help “While welcome signs dot the little island of Martha's Vineyard, encouraging President Obama and his family to enjoy their vacation, the seas are not so friendly. A flotilla of New England fishing vessels -- totaling about a dozen boats thus far -- has converged just outside the Vineyard Haven Harbor. "The floating protest is an appeal to the president to intercede with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, on the behalf of struggling fishermen who feel strict new federal regulations will devastate coastal communities and force them to leave their boats and their livelihoods." Fox News

Monday 30 August 2010

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• Bonito In Long Island Sound “First a confession: I have never even seen, much less caught, a bonito in Long Island Sound. Last October I landed my first bonito, a beautiful 12-pound specimen, while surf fishing on Nantucket. The fish was much more powerful than the false albacore we had been catching. "It found a spot in the rip off the end of Great Point and simply refused to budge. Only the approach of a large seal forced the fish give up its position. After that it became a race between the seal and my ability to crank line. Fortunately, I won.” Charles Walsh in Connecticut Post

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• Body in Car Off Boat Ramp in Stratford “Stratford Police are investigating after finding the body of [name withheld for the sake of common sense], 22, of Stratford, in a submerged car on Thursday night.” Stratford Star Shoo-Fly: Anyone who's fished with us should recognize this ramp.

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• Connecticut DEP Fishing Report [8/25] "Striped bass fishing remains good during the usual hours: from dusk to dawn. Live lining bunker, hickory shad, scup, or eels and cut chunk bait will work on those big cow bass. "Bluefish fishing remains excellent with choppers ranging in size from 4 to 16 lbs. The usual locations for stripers and bluefish include the reefs off Watch Hill, Ram Island Reef and East and West Clumps (Fishers Island Sound), lower Thames River, the Race (by Race Rock and Valiant Rock), outer Bartlett Reef, the Sluiceway, Plum Gut, Pigeon Rip, warm water discharge from Millstone Power Station, the “humps” south of Hatchett Reef, lower Connecticut River, Long Sand Shoal, Cornfield Point, Southwest Reef, Sixmile Reef, Falkner Island area, reefs off Guilford and Branford, New Haven Harbor, lower Housatonic River, buoys #18 and #20 off Bridgeport, Stratford Shoal/Middle Ground, Black Rock Harbor, Penfield Reef, Norwalk Islands, Cable and Anchor Reef, Smith Reef and Stamford and Greenwich Harbors. "Snapper Blue fishing is fair to good in the tidal creeks. Snappers are about 5 to 6 inches in length. "Summer Flounder FISHING SEASON IS CLOSED FROM AUGUST 26 – MAY 14. SCUP (porgy) fishing remains excellent on the any of the major reefs and rock piles throughout LIS. "Hickory shad fishing is good in the lower Connecticut River at the Baldwin Bridge State Boat Launch/Fishing Pier and the DEP Marine Headquarters Fishing Pier. "Blue claw crabbing remains excellent in any of the tidal creeks along the coast.” Connecticut DEP

8/27 Lower Housatonic River Fishing Report

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Mal Y. and I found fishing a bit slow on Friday. No fish were showing on top and although we did catch a bunch of bluefish, all were in the smaller sizes. We did see this interesting attack on a cormorant by a shark. You can see that the shark missed the bird by quite a bit. Click on any picture to enlarge.

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We found a few fish over in Bridgeport Harbor, and watched one of the Bridgeport-Port Jeff ferries come in to debark passengers and vehicles. Yes, we're kidding about the shark and the cormorant. These birds tend to "run" along the surface of the water as they build up to take off speed...leaving a trail of splashes in their wake.

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Black-Crowned Night Heron.

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Tug boat at rest...not tugging.

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Always some interesting stuff to see at the Derecktor Shipyard in Bridgeport Harbor. This mega-yacht looked like a floating apartment house. If you click on the photo to enlarge you may be able to see some of the details: Looks like a tanning bed hanging out in space just below the forward radar dome...and a section of the hull, just above the orange buoy, that lifts up for...what? Servicing the ship? A swim platform?

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Even small bluefish fight so hard on light tackle that it brings a smile to the angler's face.

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Floating drydock at Derecktor.

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The terns were out if force making it appear as though there were fish feeding all over the mouth of the Housatonic River...but there were no fish there. The terns [also called "liar birds" because they lie about where the fish are] were feeding on tiny stuff...possibly a crab hatch.

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A tug...tugging.

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I think these birds are Willets. Never heard of them before. Thought at first they were Oystercatchers, but the beaks are wrong...then that they were sanderlings, but they're too big...about 15" tall when standing. Anyone have other suggestions?

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Weather was simply beautiful...although it was chilly out there. Water temp on the Sound was 71°F but the air was cooler. Mal and I kept our jackets on the whole trip. Another great day on the water.

Friday 27 August 2010

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• Close Call With A Great White “The first time we put the fly into the rip we had a vicious strike and it was fish on!” Fly Rod & Reel

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• Florida Keys: No Oil, No Algae Blooms “With fears subsiding that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will darken the waters of the Keys, Florida Bay advocates have the chance to focus on some welcome good news. “Water quality in the bay, which was darkened by two distinct algae blooms between 2005 and 2008, has returned to normal. And no bloom has been detected in the shallow 850-square-mile estuary over the past two years.” KeysNews.com

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• Personal Injury Attorneys Love Boaters “Whether they're on Long Island Sound, the Saugatuck Rivers, Candlewood Lake or even Ashland Pond in Griswold, boat owners are crowding the state of Connecticut's waterways during one of the hotter summers in recent memory. “After a long day of sun, fishing, maybe some Jet-Skiing and, in some instances, a lot of alcohol, crashes are bound to happen. Where there's an accident, there's often a lawsuit. And according to personal injury attorneys specializing in boat crashes, there are an abundance of irresponsible boaters out there to keep them in business.” Law.com

Thursday 26 August 2010

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• You Can’t Get There From Here “Tim Coleman, former managing editor of The Fisherman magazine's New England edition, argues that wealthy property owners are one of the main reasons access is so poor. The number of access points along the coast isn't the main problem, Coleman said. The problem is access to the access points. "’Go to Greenwich or Westport and try to go surf fishing," Coleman said. "The area between high water and low water is public property, but try getting there.’” CTMirror.com

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• Lobsters in Long Island Sound Have Shell Disease “Scientists say they're not sure why about 30 percent of lobsters in eastern Long Island Sound have a disease that's causing their shells to waste away. “Researchers say the main question is why the lobsters can't defend themselves against the bacterial attack of shell disease, which doesn't affect their meat but usually lands them in canning factories because of their unsightly shells.” Hartford Courant

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• Recipe: Vegetable-Encrusted Striped Bass “We're cooking Vegetable Encrusted Point Judith Striped Bass in the kitchen with Chef Anthony Ockunzzi from Newport Cooks!” See the video on YouTube.com

Wednesday 25 August 2010

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• Where’s All the BP Oil? Oh, There It Is! “Scientists funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected a plume of hydrocarbons at least 22 miles long and more than 3,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, a residue of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. “The 1.2-mile-wide, 650-foot-high plume of trapped hydrocarbons was detected during a ten day subsurface sampling effort from June 19-28, 2010 near the wellhead. The results provide a snapshot of where the oil has gone as surface slicks shrink and disappear.” NOAA News

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• How Many Inaccuracies Can You Find In This Article? “By 12 pm, they were catching an abundance of fish such as Bluefish, Fluke, and Black Bass. Within such a short time, my son and the Borden family lost count after seventeen fish were pulled in, ranging from 12 inches to more than two feet long.” MiddletownPatch.com Shoo-Fly: We found four.

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• Fish Tale Mother to daughter advice: Cook a man a fish and you feed him for a day. But teach a man to fish and you get rid of him for the whole weekend. Bestfishingjokes.com

Tuesday 24 August 2010

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• New England Fishing Legacy…Fading “Today, Plymouth's fishermen are all but gone. Last year, according to federal statistics, Plymouth had zero landings of groundfish — such as cod, haddock and flounder. “Tough new rules enacted in May have fishermen at New England's major ports, Gloucester and New Bedford, worried their history will fade away as fishermen faced with low catch limits sell out to larger interests. It's already happened in smaller ports, slowly changing the character of the New England coast” The Boston Globe

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• New Online Issue of Salt Water Sportsman Click here: Salt Water Sportsman

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• Kayaks All the Rage “As anglers pushed the boundaries of kayak fishing and got comfortable with their crafts, manufacturers responded by developing an array of beamy kayaks targeted at the fishing community and tricked out with rod holders, hands-free pedal drives, live-wells and fishfinders. These days, you’re likely to see kayaks getting in on the bite right alongside the center consoles and cuddy cabins.” Boston Herald