"The purpose of this organization shall be to promote, protect and preserve the surfcasting tradition, in its many forms, along our coasts...
CSA Bylaws, Article II. Purposes
Fish! While you still can
[intransitive] go fishing to spend time fishing for pleasure, Let's go fishing this weekend.
Brrrr...
Contents:
President’s Letter
Cuttyhunk Library
Meeting Notes
Holiday Party
CSA Merchandise
Club Contests
From Billy D.
Fish Picture
Sharks
Still Time
Fishy Reads
A Laugh
November Skies
A Letter from our President
President’s Letter
This Thanksgiving I will NOT be sitting down at a family gathering eating turkey. Nope. Been there, done that. I have nothing against a Norman Rockwell style gathering. But with family dispersed, relatives having passed, I prefer to fish instead of eat turkey. Besides, be honest, how many of your past Thanksgivings been a perfect Norman Rockwell scene. God bless my former mother-in-law. May she rest in peace. Her brother Uncle Ken too.
This Thanksgiving holiday, consider a two-three day trip to the Jersey Shore to fish Island Beach State Park. Several club members have made it an annual tradition. This year we have six members committed to stay at Island Beach Motor Lodge http://islandbeachmotorlodgenj.com. There are still three beds available at the $40/night or $50/night rate depending if you check in Friday November 29 or earlier in the week. There are rooms available though only two rooms with two-double beds, already reserved, that are on the parking lot ground level facing the sunny south. We need three more members to avoid deep fried turkey oil splatter burns and head south to the Toms River, NJ area.
Over the years fishing has been spotty to very good. Last year’s trip saw daytime catches in the slot and well above the slot. Easy beach fishing though you do want to wear a quality splash or surf top, at the very least a heavy wind breaker – it seems the wind never lets up.
Besides very inexpensive, clean accommodations there are several places to eat ranging from the family, wear-your-waders to breakfast at Betty & Nick’s Luncheonette https://www.betty-n-nicks.com/, Bum Rogers Crab House (fun Friday/Saturday live music) http://bumrogerstavern.com/ or the upscale Chef Mike’s ABG right above the Island Beach Motor Lodge https://chefmikesabg.com/.
Do something different this Thanks Giving holiday. Arrive Friday early afternoon and fish through Sunday. Keep in mind that NJ requires you register to fish saltwater. It’s free but required. https://dep.nj.gov/njfw/fishing/marine/saltwater-registry/
Tight lines everyone,
Mike S.
Cuttyhunk
Here’s a shot of the Fall 2024 Cuttyhunk Crew.
The fishing was great and the company even better.
_______________________
The Friends of Cuttyhunk Library were instrumental in building a new library in 2020. Continued fund raising efforts included “Buy a Brick.” There was a 100 brick limit. By the end of 2023 available bricks were almost gone. Thanks to the approval of our e-board, CSA purchased a brick for the paltry $100 donation. This past Cuttyhunk fall trip provided me the opportunity to find our brick. It’s there! See if you can find it the next time you visit Cuttyhunk.
CSA Membership Meeting
The November CSA Membership Meeting will be tomorrow night, November 6th at 7:00 PM at the Old Town Hall in Madison. We will be meeting at this location through March.
This months meeting will features 4 parts:
Swap Night where members should bring fishing related items they no longer use and would like to be rid of. This will be a swap or sale event if you items do not have a price tag on them, they are assumed to be free.
Holiday Party Tickets will be on sale for $10 each.
This meeting marks the end of the CSA Member Made Lure Tournament. All those who entered the contest should bring the entry fee (a new lure) to the meeting to be awarded to the winner. The contest runs until noon on Wednesday.
CSA member Doug Wells, owner of The Surfcaster online outlet will tell us about his new tackle shop located in Seymour CT.
Don’t miss this meeting!
2024 CSA Holiday Party
With the fall season starting many members should be able to find some nice fish. What better way to celebrate your 2024 season by having a picture of your fall catch or any earlier nice catch than having it displayed in the CSA club picture collage at the Holiday Party. We will be having this year’s Holiday Party at the Clinton Town hall on Wednesday evening December 4. Festivities will begin at 6pm. This year's event will be catered by Leonis Italian Foods. Member's cost we be $10.00 per adult and children under 12 years old free. You may pay at the October or November meeting or via mail to Jim Savage 19 Broadview Drive, Wallingford, Ct 06492. Please make check payable to CSA. This year we may have the option to bring alcoholic beverages. Awaiting confirmation from Clinton town officials.
As always, we will be having a killer raffle this year. Our raffle representative Nate Kahle will be organizing a selection to outfit your upcoming fishing needs. One of the items for this year will be a custom built Billy D rod and Penn Spinfisher V1 reel. The rod is 7'11" 1/2oz-1 3/4oz, fast action Mudhole blank. This combo will be great for Albies, School to slot Bass, small -mid Blues, Blackfish & Fluke from shore. It features a Fuji Rapid choke layout with Fugi guides and a full specie elongated butt cork handle for casting leverage. The Penn Spinfisher V1 is a water resistant design capable handling saltwater splashing. The reel is loaded with Suffix 832 20lb green braid. The rod combo will be displayed at the October meeting. Raffle tickets will go on sale for $5.00 each at the October and November meetings, All tickets with name and phone number will be retained until the Holiday party and tickets purchased at the party will be added to the sealed container then raffled off at the event. You do not have to be present to win.
Members have worked hard through some difficult times fishing this season. Each year our High Hooks and Striper A Month awards are given out. Those of you who have had the good fortune of being the top gun in a category will be recognized with a plaque and our signature awards T-Shirt. For the most part, our membership has persevered this fishing season and what better way to end the season by supporting your fellow members and have a good time with all.
See the Holiday Party thread on the S-B CSA club forum for a head count and any questions pertaining to the party may be asked posted or you may contact myself. Hope you all have a great fall. Be safe and tight lines. Billy D
NEW CSA MERCHANDISE - Nice gift idea...
Available at the October meeting CSA will be selling a 22oz. Hot/Cold laser engraved CSA logo stainless steel tumbler with a see through sealed slide spout. Available in Black & Maroon. Introduction price $20.00.
Club Contests
Striper a Month 2024
Each year CSA runs a year long contest to see who can catch a striped bass in the 12 month period between December of the previous year and November of the current year. The following members have managed to catch at least one bass a month from December 2023 through October 2024.
Steve Hasselbacher
Jim Munson
Liam Rosati
Bill Tesbir
High Hooks and Top 10
High Hook Rules are as follows:
1. Fish must be caught from shore or surf, with both feet planted on Terra Firma.
2. The High Hook club tournament generally runs from the first Sunday following Thanksgiving for a period of one year.
3. Overall length, measured from the tip of the lip, to the end of the tail, is used to determine the winner. Weight is optional and not used to determine a winner.
4. Entries must be reported by the first membership meeting following the catch.
5. Entries can be sent to Mike Mullen at mike@highhooklures.com or the current Club President via email or submitted in writing at a club meeting.
Note: The CSA contests will run until midnight of November 24, so that we can get plaques and t-shirts ready for the Christmas Party.
From Billy D.
I chuckled reading the email Get Out! It made me think of a funny or surprising experience I recently had…
I was out testing a new single belly treble slim donny design. I usually bring a surf rod, but that day I got in the car and took a freshwater rod. I left physical therapy dressed in basically PJ's and went to Branford Cove for my testing. After a few casts and adjustments, surprisingly, I hooked a striper.
It wasn’t a " Whopper" it was about 24" and chunky. But it was some battle on this light rod and reel with this frisky fish. I'm standing on a flat granite rock with slippers. LOL! Carefully, I managed to get to the leader hoping the light leader would hold up. Luckily, I tied a good one on.
Using my adjustment pliers, I removed the treble and quickly released the fish. Unfortunately, the opportunity didn't allow for a picture. I had no means to safely and quickly photograph it.
So, I'm driving back home thinking you never know when a fish will bite. Never in all my years of testing did this ever happen. Mind you, it was just a sealed pine body. Unpainted and no eyes. I guess color matters when it matters!!
I thought I’d just share this comical moment.
Fish Picture
Liam’s 47” bass
Totally Anecdotal Findings on Southern New Englands Brown Sharks
By Steve Hasselbacher
If you have fished for striped bass in Long Island Sound during August in the last 4-5 years, you’ve likely had a run in with a shark. Whether you saw one, hooked one, had a bass get cut clean in half, or just mysteriously had half your spool vanish in 30 seconds, you’ve probably been close to one. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t bother fishing for bass in August anymore. Then, just when I think they’re gone sometime in September, and “it’s safe to go back in the water, ”Bam" I’ll have a fish sawed in half or get my plug taken. It’s amazing how quick it happens. Usually right after I set the hook. 2-3 seconds of thrashing, then dead weight. My question is why, all of a sudden, all of them. Is the population here as big as it seems in my head? Or is it just a decent number learned ones that are plaguing striped bass fishermen. I’m no biologist, but I’ve been playing with these fish in several states down to Florida for a number of years, and this is what I’ve observed.
Brown Sharks aren’t by any means new to the area. 15+ years ago the entire concept of catching sharks from shore was completely foreign to me, I thought you needed to go 20+ miles offshore and setup a chum slick. That is until On The Water published an article in their magazine about surf fishing for sharks. And when I read that the author was fishing in CT about 30 minutes from my home, I was blown away. Shortly thereafter brown sharks were declared overfished and put under federal protection, which is still true today. Just to be clear, it is illegal to target sandbar sharks. And in CT an HMS permit is required to shark fish, which needs to be tied to a vessel, ultimately making surf sharking illegal. Many states have varied versions of wording regarding these laws – all muddled with grey area. MA effectively allows this fishery, as far as state laws are concerned, the fish must be returned to the water without avoidable injury. Most other states to the south have more retainable shark species, and you can’t pick which species takes the bait. I personally like MA stance on the fishery. There is good reason and evidence to allow for this. There were 2 studies done that I know of on brown shark release mortality. One, which was done on longline fishing boats further south, showed a 3% release mortality, out of 168 of browns. Compared to much higher rates for other species like blacktips, which went as high as 62% out of almost 300 specimens, and 89% out of 55 spinner sharks. That is an incredible survival rate for fish that were left on longlines then hauled on board and dropped over the side. The 2nd study was done in MA with satellite tags that measure their tail beats per minute and movements. 67 Browns were caught and tagged from shore. All 67 were deemed recovered after 48 hours. The majority much sooner. These are incredibly resilient animals. Some species like sand Tigers and hammerheads don’t always fare as well, and are found washed up onshore the next day by a terrified beachgoer. This is where shark fishing gets a lot of bad press. Incidents like this are what often lead to gear restrictions and town ordinance that try to ban the activity. I bet if Discovery Channel had a striped bass week every year we’d be the bad guys too.
Delaware and Chesapeake Bay are large breeding grounds for them. They give birth to live pups in the spring time in these estuaries. I’ve heard a lot of people claim that they are doing the same here. But if that were the case, where are the pups? Down south, the daytime squid and clam chunkin' beach people catch tons of them. I’ve heard of 2 in our state. If we have that many sharks coming here to breed 3 months later than they do just a few hours south, then why aren’t the scup/high low rig folks catching them. I could be wrong, and If anyone is coming across 2 ft. sharks, I would love to know about it. Many of these fish are well old enough to have given birth here several times by now.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think these things have calendars and follow a rigorous routine. It seems they have arrived in our waters on the same weekend at the end of July for the last 5yrs. What’s odd to me about that, is that just a few miles east they show up in the vineyard sound in the beginning of June. They also have a lot of smaller sharks. Not quite pups, but 4 ft. small. Ours are big. Very big as far as sandbars go. I’ve only seen 2 around 45 inches, and would say the average is about 6 ft. with a good number pushing 7’+. Big enough to make me not want to handle fish in the water during the summer. Some of these fish are probably around 30 yrs old, if not more, with the majority of them easily being teenagers. They can live to be about 40. And they don’t reach maturity until 12-14. So why now, are these huge sharks coming here? Many of them were probably born around the time they were put into federal protection. And have just been existing elsewhere for a decade before coming to CT and the surrounding area. Is it a sign of a healthier sound? Depleted food source elsewhere?
Browns make up the vast majority of long Island sound sharks. But we do have some sand tigers, which seem to frequent just a bit further west. Anglers catch them from time to time but usually 4-6 ft ones. And great whites have and always will pass through. Todays satellite tagging programs show us this every year. Fortunately, I don’t think we really have the food source to keep them around long. This past summer, a decent number of hammerheads made their way inshore in Rhode Island and into the sound, which isn’t that unusual, other than the higher numbers. A friend of mine had one take a bonito off his stringer on his kayak around Newport. A little more concerning is a confirmed 8ft. bull shark caught on the north shore of Long Island. It seems they are also becoming more frequent along the south shore. So I don’t see why they wouldn’t go into the warm water estuary behind it. But let’s not think about that too much. I had a brown act aggressive towards me last September, and ended up shoving my rod butt into it. But only after releasing a fish in turbulent water. I’d imagine if one was going to take a swing at a fishermen it would’ve happened by now. I just don’t like the idea of handling fish in the water anymore. I won’t fish waist deep in summer.
Some of the places where I have the most encounters with them are not exactly loaded with striped bass either. But more so full of dogfish skates and crabs. I think this is the majority of their diet. Same thing in vineyard sound in summer. Or South Jersey. They sure seem to like hooked bass, but it’s hard to imagine they’re actively hunting free swimming bass. That’s a lot of calories burned in order to replace them. And a lot of places we fish for bass in summer aren’t exactly where browns should want to be. Dogfish and skates over sand and gravel at night is a much more efficient way to live than holding in current seams. UNLESS they know hooked fish mean easy meals. There’s a coastwide depradation study that’s ongoing, but one finding so far seems to be that they associate the sounds of fishing with easy food. For years we’ve known that the snap of a spearguns bands ring the dinner bell further south. Talking with other anglers who have lots of problems with them, they tend to agree or have had the same findings. Headlamps. The more a light is used, the more shark encounters. The more rattles in a plug, the more shark encounters. They like pencils and spooks a lot too. I went to cuttyhunk in early September this year, and the first day there was unfishable due to them. We saw schools of bass finning and circling on the surface like pods of bunker. On my first cast on the island with a pencil and within seconds a dorsal pops up behind it following lazily. Later that night I went back to the same spot and started picking fish. Then hooking sharks. Then hooking fish and getting sharked. It seemed like the sharks had them pinned in close just waiting for one to get hooked.
I’ve heard an awful lot of chatter about culling them, and needing to open up a season for harvest, mainly from charter boat fishermen, due to the number of bass being taken off their lines. It’s insane to me to suggest that we need to start killing natural predators, because we aren’t killing them at the same rate as bass. With everyone so concerned about the future of the fishery, and pointing fingers as to who’s to blame, one way to reduce our impact on c&r mortality might be to stop essentially hand feeding breeding stock to sharks. If it’s happening multiple times per trip, 5 days a week, with X amount of boats, then maybe it’s time to just change our targets, or move accordingly during these periods of high depredation. Even if you land the fish in one piece, what’s happening to it after the release underwater where we cant see. From what I’ve gathered its more prevalent in the sounds, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Long Island, as well as SW ledge and Block at times. But seems most of Rhode Island into Massachusetts towards the western side of Buzzard Bay doesn’t really have this problem. Though I have seen and swam with them on the eastern side from Woods Hole up to the Canal. Nor does it happen north of the Cape, though seals start becoming more of a problem up that way.
So how do we go about dealing with this newfound obstacle? To me, opening up a fishery and culling sounds like a PR nightmare, when the residents of wealthy shoreline communities find carcasses in their backyards. Fear usually trumps reason when it comes to these things for most beach goers. It happens every year up and down the coast when an attack happens or a dead shark washes up. Fishermen are to blame. Gear restrictions and access are at threat. And I’m basically using shark sized tackle when I bass fish. Ordinances like these are a problem for all anglers. I flip flop constantly on this and was very hesitant to even write this. Is it better to educate and promote safe fishing and handling? Or to just sweep it under the rug and gate keep. Allowing for a recreational fishery runs these same risks. Not everyone has the same sense of ethics and care for these animals, as the type of anglers who would join a club that promotes and preserves the sport. I picture lots of white rods and J hooks and finless sharks if it were to become legal and highly publicized. But it’s an elephant in the room at this point. They’re here, and I don’t see them going away anytime soon.
There’s still time… by George Baldwin
A large amount of peanut bunker are now moving west from Rhode Island estuaries. There are fish on them, and there’s good opportunity for daytime fishing, too, if you’re willing to cover some distance and search for fish.
These baitfish are moving east to west on their migration, and not sitting in one place. Good places to intercept them are on the east sides of jetties, points and bars, especially the pockets where those obstructions meet the beach. The bass know that, too.
When bait is that thick, fish the sides of the school, where there are fewer baitfish to compete with for attention from the bass. Let your fly (you can substitute 3” plastic shads, tins, etc.) sink low and strip it erratically, letting it sink after each few strips.
Using a liberal amount of flash, or some yellow or chartreuse also helps your fly stand out and contrast from the billion real bunker in front of you, avoiding what I call “Lottery Syndrome”.
When bass go through the schools of baitfish the bait will part like the Red Sea around the bass. That’s also a great place to drop a fly. Again, let it sink, and strip erratically like a wounded baitfish.
Get those fish in quick and don’t have them out of the water longer than you can hold your breath. Better yet, keep them in the water. The population size is concerning, and juvenile recruitment in the Chesapeake has been low for the 6th consecutive year. Let’s take good care of those remaining so we can enjoy fishing for them in the future. The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission is examining options to reduce fishing mortality on the stripers, I’ll probably have another letter-writing campaign going soon. If you’re not satisfied with your striper fishing this year then I’ll inform you on how you can help improve things for the future.
Get out there while the fish are still passing through. The fall migration may be over within a few weeks
Fishy Reads by Mike Mullen
CSA member Julio Silva has a new book out, Plugging the Water Column for Fishing Fanatics. As the title says, it's all about fishing with lures of many kinds and sizes, all up and down the water column. The book describes a lot of lures, wooden, plastic, tins and jigs. It gives a good description of each and discusses how they can be fished in various types of locations and structures along the shore. It also introduces a few notable lure makers from up and down the striper coastline and yes, I am mentioned.
For me, it's the kind of book I will enjoy reading over time throughout the winter or during the season to remind myself of different ways to use a variety of lures. I recommend it to any fisherman who wants to learn more about how to use a lot of different lures in a variety of situations to catch fish.
This book is available on Amazon.
___________________________
Another good read comes from this month’s On the Water magazine. The article is in the On The Fly section and it’s called Chasing the Thump! by Peter Barrett. The article shows a selection of really cool flies that can be used for striped bass on sandy beaches, in this case, the Jersey Shore right in Island Beach State Park, where we are headed for Thanksgiving. And it also shows how the flies can be used in freshwater for large mouth bass. It is certainly worth a look.
From To Hell with Fishing
November Skies by Mike Simko
The winter constellations are now here. Taurus begins to rise shortly after sunset, where you will also find Jupiter, and right behind it is Orion and Gemini. We all know what Orion looks like with the three in-a-row belt stars. So once you see Orion high in the night sky look to its right to find a large V, actually it will be situated more as a large > with the lower, bottom tip of the > being an appreciably brighter star than the rest of the > formation.
Finding Taurus will let you enjoy this month’s Taurids November 11 to 12. But wait, there’s more: The Leonids peak on the brightly moonlit night of November 16 to 17. There’s also a beautiful conjunction on November 11, where you will find Saturn and the roughly 10-day-old Moon so close together, they almost appear to touch in the sky. They are so close that observers farther south, say Ft. Myers, Florida, will see the moon occult Saturn, slowly disappearing behind the Moon around 9:31, reappearing about 9:59. Very cool watching with just 7X or 8X filed binoculars.
Also, the last and brightest Supermoon of 2024 will be on the night of November 15 rising at about 4:30 PM. Watch the tides for the next day or so. They will be truly spring tides!
Dark skies and tight lines.