A Letter from our President
Greetings Surfcasters,
My two favorite club outings are approaching – our early October trip to Cuttyhunk, and our season finale Thanksgiving trip to Island Beach on the New Jersey shore. I would love to see more members sign up for these trips. Besides catching fish, sometimes BIG FISH, there’s a camaraderie that develops share meals, fish stories and tales of woe. Maybe it’s because of Covid, maybe it’s because that the costs have gone up. But the member numbers have not been what they used to be years ago. My first Cuttyhunk trip was in 2003. I sat out the first several years thinking I wasn’t “Good enough,” an angler to venture out to those hallowed Martha Vineyard Sound waters. Of course I was wrong. Every experience level is welcome.
We are confirmed for nine beds in Lehner House https://www.petesplacerentals.com/rentals/rooms/c202316d-46a6-493f-8bce-3cc2d27e0f22 for Thursday, October 3 through Sunday October 6. We must fill the nine beds in Lehner House before the club will absorb the cost of additional housing. $80 a head per night is cheap, comparatively speaking.
It’s common knowledge that we lost the services of Capt. John Paul Hunter and his water taxi, Seahorse. That’s a shame. Twenty-five or so years hustling passengers to and from the Island. But his heartfelt retirement letter said it all – costs, overhead, ticket increases, insurance, repairs and on and on. However, the Cuttyhunk Ferry https://cuttyhunkferryco.com/, for early October, has added Thursday morning trips out of New Bedford, with the usual 3:00 Sunday afternoon return departure off the Island.
Please check you schedules, budget, work or family obligations and see if this year you make your first, or a repeat trip after staying away for a while.
Now the Thanksgiving trip – usually Wednesday through Sunday (give or take a day at either end) will be November 20th through 24. I have already contacted Jerri at Island Beach Motor Lodge, a family owned travel back-in-time motel right on the beach. They still wrap the toilets in a paper band that reads Sanitized For Your Protection. www.islandbeachmotorlodgenj.com/ Our club rate for late November is a steal especially if members share rooms. There will be more about this trip soon. Consider this season ending trip. We have great fun. Compared to Cuttyhunk it’s a real value.
tight lines everyone,
Mike S.
CSA Membership Meeting
Wednesday August 7th Will will be having a membership meeting at the Surf Club in Madison, but as of right now, the topic, speaker or activity is unknown. Pat Abate may be showing us a new Sluggo alternative. Of course it would be nice to see everyone and chew the fat about how awful June and July were for fishing and now we are on to better fishing... See you there.
Those going to Cuttyhunk in October should bring the remainder of their payments to the meeting.
If you need to renew your Fishing License
Go to https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Fishing/General-Information/Fisheries-Licenses-and-Permits to renew.
Connecticut Coastal Access Guide - https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Coastal-Resources/Coastal-Access and and click “Here."
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 July 2024.
Steve Hasselbacher
Jim Munson
Liam Rosati
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.
Things we find on the beach
A beach memorial
A nice morning fish
Left by one that got away
Sharks in the Water
It has been mentioned on the message board that sharks have been recently spotted in our local waters. Therefore, we should all be aware of our surroundings and not make risky trips swimming out to rocks, day or night. From my own experience, during daytime fishing last year, I was very freaked out to when I looked down alongside the rock that I had waded out to, in chest deep water, to see a large, wide and 6+ foot long shark slowly swimming by.
Just be careful and stay close to shore.
Bonito Time by George Baldwin
This striped bass season was the worst I’ve seen from shore since I started surfcasting in the early 90s. My first night had a great start, with a nice fish in the high 30 to maybe 40” range, then one about 32” and… nothing. Not just that night, but for many weeks. Granted, I didn’t get out as many nights as usual, but that was mainly based on absence of bass when I did go, coupled with miserable reports from others and unusually hot and stormy weather. Yeah, I know the boaters are getting them out on the reefs, but shore fishing has been much less than spectacular. Much less than average, too. I’ve resorted to fresh water on most of the occasions I’ve gone out, with fly fishing being my favorite method. While most of my saltwater fishing was on boats with my Sound School after school and summer programs.
I’m itching badly to get back into the surf. So, let me see, what are the options at this time? Bonito have been making appearances at Martha’s Vineyard, Rhode Island and Eastern Connecticut already. These guys won’t give you the fight of a 40 pound striper, a 15 pound bluefish or an 8 pound albie, but they’ll give you some worthy fishing on light spinning gear or a fly rod. So that’s my next plan. I’m no expert on these guys, but I have caught them and have learned a bit about them, so I believe I can offer you a bit of information to get you started.
Bonito are Scombrids, like mackerels, false albacore and some other tunoids. They’re built for speed and distance swimming. People often get them confused with false albacore because they do look pretty similar, but there are several characteristics that easily differentiate them. Bonito have several relatively straight lines on a green background on the upper body. Albies have shorter, broken lines that change at different angles. Bonito also have teeth, albies don’t. Those two distinguishing features are easy to remember and are relatively obvious.
If you’ve fished for albies, you have the gear you’ll need for bonito. They’ll average about 4-6 pounds, but may be double that weight. An 8-10’ light action rod with a reel in the 3500 to 4000 size would do just fine and maximize your enjoyment. Fifteen to seventeen pound test mono line or leader should do the job. I recommend not setting your drag too tight, as they may slam your bait at high speed or change direction on a dime and jerk your line hard enough to easily break it if you crank down too tightly. Wire or a heavy bit tippet is not needed, as their teeth are conical and the leader will generally fit between them very nicely and avoid biteoffs. If you’ve got albie lures, save your money and use them. Thin metals such as Deadly Dicks, epoxy jigs and Albie Snax will work, but don’t be shy about using something a bit larger, too. The first bonito I’d seen landed was back in the early 90s at Block, when one of my friends caught one on a Rapala Sliver, close to a foot long. I’ve caught them on SP Minnows, too.
Fly rodders should use a 9wt rod. These guys aren’t usually found in estuaries and rivers, they’re on the outside and you’ll probably have some wind to contend with. A floating line will get your fly in front of them much of the time, but a sinking line has the density and small diameter to cut through the breeze much better. Epoxy flies, Gummy Minnows and Lefty’s Deceivers that imitate silversides and anchovies are necessities, but also bring a few larger Deceivers.
Breachways, jetties and rocky perches where the water depth drops off quickly are great places to find them, as are harbor mouths and salt pond outflows. Ocean beaches with a steep grade can also provide opportunities. They usually start showing up sometime around later July to mid August. Check the reports from the Vineyard, Cape and Rhode Island in order to prepare in time. They can be found as far west in the Sound as Niantic most years, and some may be found much farther in, but I would go east for a better shot. They can stay in some parts of the northeast until late October or early November, which is when my friend Chris caught the bone on the Rapala Sliver from the jetty on the south side of the Coast Guard channel on Block.
Bonito are good eating, and taste like most tunas. If you’re planning on keeping your catch, bring along one of those bags used for transporting frozen foods home from the supermarket. Freeze a few 12oz water bottles overnight and toss them into the bag in the morning. When you catch one, slit its throat just under and in front of the gills to bleed it out, and get it on ice once it’s done draining its arteries. Otherwise the flavor will diminish in quality, as will its texture. It’ll end up like peanut butter with an old tuna taste.
Well, that’s about all I’ve got for ya. If you want to learn more just ask your good friend Google. I’m gonna go rig up my 9wt and gather some flies.
Product Review by Dave Nguyen
Nite Ize Waterproof Phone Case
For those of you who like to carry a phone with you while fishing, I am now using the "Nite Ize RunOff Waterproof Phone Case.” It retails for $40 and I have found it to be quite useful. Before using this case, I was using one of those cheap waterproof pouches with the plastic clips on top and a lanyard to wear around your neck. It unsurprisingly failed on me one night while wetsuiting, and I returned to my car with my phone in a pouch full of water. Luckily my phone was upside down and the water had not entered into the charging port and my phone was safe. So, I went out searching for a better phone case and came across this one from Nite Ize. This case uses a TruZip waterproof zipper. This is the same zipper that is used by Simms and Fishpond on their submersible packs, which I also own, and I have never had an issue with them. The zippers can be a little tough to pull with one hand, but as long as you ensure they are fully closed, they will not leak. The zipper is also toothless and self healing, which means you won't encounter any issues with the zipper failing. Besides the zipper, the case also has some other neat features. It has a clear front that allows you to use the phone while in the case with no issues. It also has a clear back so you can take photos. You do have to press a little harder on the screen but everything still functions even with wet hands. The case also has a small pocket inside which I can put my car's key fob into which is an added bonus. I use an Iphone 13 mini so those of you with larger phones may not be able to fit your keys in there. I wear this case around my neck under my surftop while wetsuiting and it has proven reliable so far.
Fishy Readings by Mike Mullen
Sometimes I get the bug to find something to read and so I search my library’s catalog. In a recent search I went looking for mysteries / murders in places I have liked to fish in. I came upon Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries, a series of books with a main charcter who likes fishing and gets involved in murders or attempts at murder on Martha’s Vineyard. The series is written by the late Philip R. Craig. The main charactor is a fortyish former Boston policeman who after a number of years of service, left the force after being shot and having a bullit lodged near his spine (he killed the shooter) and decided to try for a quieter life on the island where his father had built a house on a pond near Oak Bluffs.
It turns out he likes to fish for bluefish, not so much bass, and he likes to cook them up in lots of different ways which are always “Delish.” There are recipes with each story. He also likes clamming and fishing for mackerel, flounder and snagging bunker for bait.
All this is very nice and takes the reader on trips around the island to lots of familiar places where he also finds trouble. He is actually a trouble magnet. The situations always involve the local police, all five different police departments on the island. Did you know there are five different police departments on the Vinyard? Plus the State Police. He generally gets along with them, but some do wish he woud just stay home or go fishing. He is the good guy and he always gets the bad guy, or kills him or her. No matter how bad things get in a story, so far he always gets the basturds in the end. He may be severely injured, people die, but, and this is the only way I can continue with a book when things get awful, which they do, he will find a way to fix things in the end.
I don’t read these books as bedtime reading. I would never get any sleep, but I do like to read them out in the shade on hot afternoons.
For bedtime readings I generally turn to lighter fare like To Hell With Fishing, by H. T. Webster and Ed Zern. Some examples will follow.