A Letter from our President
Greetings Surfcasters
September’s letter was written a couple of days ago, at least the main outline was down on paper, just needing an uninterrupted lazy Labor Day morning at my office desk to put some meat on the bones. However, as of yesterday, Sunday afternoon, my topic changed.
By early afternoon, and for the next full hour and one-half your club’s executive board met Jenn and Brian Carrol, resident Park Rangers and Directors of Deer Lake Outdoor Center, Paper Mill Road, Killingworth. https://deerlakeoutdoors.org/. Deer Lake is a year round facility utilized by many outdoor enthusiasts organizations. It is a four file straight-shot north off of I-95 Exit 61, Madison. As you may already know our next CSA Demo Day confirmed for Saturday, January 18, 2025, shall be in the cavernous Deer Lake dining hall. Rod vendors will have no problems exhibiting any rod size. I have a 20+ year old 13’ shad-darted noodle rod. I need a replacement. A 13’ rod won’t even come close to tapping the bright atrium sky windows. There is space to move to the extent our CSA Demo Day chairperson George Baldwin and the rest of the e-board will be discussing to what extent expanding or, maybe for our first, dry-run year, remain fairly static at around 40 exhibitors. Bill and Deb Goeben have already volunteered to provide enough firewood allowing the dining hall’s enormous 10’ stone fireplace to crackle strong and bright for the few hours we will be demonstrating in mid-January.
Something else the Clinton Town Hall does not have, and that’s a large pond that even five-time national surf casting champion, Ron Arra (a past club guest speaker) could not cast across. Pond – Expo Hall – forty yards this way please. Demo a kayak? Maybe that too. Of course some of the lure (no pun intended) of demoing casting equipment is having open water. But that might not be out of the question. For a fact, not one of our 14 previous demo days has ever been canceled due to inclement weather. And when this was mentioned yesterday one club member immediately chimed in that it’s been more the exception that ponds have been frozen over in mid-January.
The kitchen and lavatory facilities are lightyears ahead of Clinton Town Hall. And so too an audio/visual seminar presentation room that can fit 30 people and acoustically allow us to hear the speaker.
So save the date, January 18, 2025. And if a lazy weekend afternoon gets you itching to reconnoiter this fine outdoor facility set your GPD to 101 Paper Mill Road, Killingworth, CT 06419. It is open to the public year round. And introduce yourself to Jenn and Brian Carroll as a CSA member should you see them.
Tight lines everyone,
Mike S.
CSA Membership Meeting
Our membership meeting is coming up on September 4th. There, Bill Sisson will be speaking about fishing Watch Hill and Napatree Point. Bill was the founding editor of Anglers Journal magazine. He grew up in Westerly, RI and has lived and fished there most of his life pursuing striped bass. His most recent work has been “Seasons of the Striper” published in 2022.
Also, 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 August 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.
Fish Picture
Jamie McNamara with his first bass caught from shore!
Be Aware - Sharks are in our local waters
This a reminder: It has been mentioned on the message board and in conversations with fishermen, that sharks have been recently seen and caught 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.
Just be careful and stay close to shore.
Demo Day 2025 by George Baldwin
Demo Day 2025 will be on Saturday, January 18th. We are checking out a possible new venue to see if it will handle our needs, and the Board of Directors will give a final decision soon. We are looking at Deer Lake in Killingworth. They’ve got a beautiful function hall, a room for speakers and a pond to try out rods, etc. We’re examining floor plans and parking space so we can make a final decision between that venue and our old standby, the Clinton Town Hall.
If we go with Deer Lake they’ve got 40 8’ tables available for us. We’re planning on members splitting them, 2 members per table, if we go with that venue. If you will be wanting some table space, let me know so I can reserve you a half table. Vendors confirmed and pending are listed below.
Thank you,
George
baldwingr@yahoo.com
Vendors presently confirmed:
24-7 Lures Big D Plugs Feinwood Fishing Fish On 8 Custom Plugs
Frost Point Lures GooGoo Man Gremlin Lures Guppy Lures
High Hook Lures Billy D Lures JLH Personal Best Lures
RB Lures Tank Surfcasting Uncle Fish Bucktails Zinger Baits
Gaggs Lures Gravity Tackle JoeBaggs Tackle Fatty Lures
Advanced Fishing/Century Rods Tsunami Van Staal ZeeBaas
Z-Belt Dark Star Surfcasting The Surfcaster
Considering depending on Schedule: After Hours Alan’s Custom Lures
Outcast Lures
OUTER CAPE TRIP by Billy D
While spending a week on the outer Cape in Eastham, I planned, this year, to do some fishing during astronomical sunrise. Getting up around 4:30 am and taking a short ride to the shore. First stop was the Coast Guard beach part of the National Seashore. This one, along with the others is a very crowded beach during the day. BTW, it’s our favorite daytime beach. Easy to access and plenty of room. By night and wee morning hours, it’s deserted until sunrise. The bottom is sandy and the slope of the beach indicated it should be deep. Looking for breaks in the surf waves I could see a deeper area. High tides for the week were occurring in these early hours for the week, which gave me an incentive to go fish them. You see while wading in waist deep water to cast to deeper may be the right way to fish it, but yours truly didn't need any encounters with the numerous seals, or the newest internet's popular tourist attraction, Great White Sharks. Casting the limited lures I brought with me , I settled on needles, minnow plugs and pencil poppers. Once the sun started to put a little light into the sky I opted to throw the pencil popper. No signs of top water life, but I continued pumping away. Giving way to the seals cruising by and scouring the water looking for life, took most of the time. Finally I had a couple small swirls which as most know, puts you in fish hard mode. It was short lived, but exciting.
I ended my session and went to scout Nauset Beach Light which is 10 minutes away, for upcoming mornings. Upon arrival, some locals saw me in my waders and told me I was a few minutes late. A great White had been cruising the wash in search of breakfast. They were obliged to give me some info on last weeks big blitz of bass on mackerel. So, that's where I headed the next 3 mornings. Never seeing the bottom topography, I used my limited knowledge of wave make up, to find deeper water. No luck for the first 2 mornings, but this spot has twice as many seals hanging around. It peaked my curiosity why.
I decided to go to beach during the day with my wife which would be LOW tide. Low and behold as far as your eyes can see it was a bar going out 50+ yards. Now, that gave me the reason that I needed to scout further. So I decided to give my bionic knees a work out and start hiking north. I walk the bar for about 1/2mile until the water finally filled up to the beach proper. My decision would be to wake up earlier to accommodate the extra time needed to walk to this spot and rest in between. While walking with my headlamp checking the sand I found peanut bunker spread above the high water mark. In my head, this got me thinking something was going on. The peanuts stretched for about a few hundred yards. When I got to my destination I decided to clip on a 2 oz. needle. Oh, BTW the wind switched that night to NE blowing 15-25 with large cresting waves and a big sweep. As I clipped on my needle, I wished I had my lead filled 3+oz. SS loaded needle to hold in the sweep and cast over the 3rd breaker. With fruitless attempts to keep lure contact, I saw fish jumping out of the wash. It wasn’t light enough to determine what they were, but once I it lit up a bit I saw that they were Hickory Shad chasing Peanut bunker. I put on my 2 oz. wooden pencil popper and was able to keep marginable contact. Sunrise just peaked and I finally got my tug. It was a presentable fish gauging on the tug but short lived. It took a couple hard pulls then bam!! The dreaded dropped fish. Not a great hook purchase, which is common when penciling. Feverously, I continued to cast and pencil pop until the sun came up higher and the seals took over. My thoughts were, this must of the spot that blitz happened that day.
Well, we had another great Cape Cod week relaxing and now I can add that I experienced fishing the once fabled outer beaches of Cape Cod. I will be back next year. With a couple more plugs, a little experience and the anticipated desire to cast the outer beaches of the Cape.
Tight lines and long casts,
Billy D
The Fall Run IS ON!
There are big fish in our waters. Just this morning (9/3/24), as I was casting out from a local beach, I caught nothing, but while fishing I happend to see a big spash on the water maybe a 1/2 mile to a mile off shore. Then I saw another and then, every once in a while I would see a large fish, which I assume was a bass, jumping right up out of the water and making a big splash as it hit the water again. In maybe a half hour or so, I saw 6 or more fish leave the water and make big splashes, all in the same general area, but not just in one spot, they were spread out. I’ll repeat, these fish were way off shore. A big charter boat was passing by and probably spotted the action because it turned around and made a couple of passes in the area before moving on. Anyway, what I saw were a bunch of big fish in the sound, which I hope will sometime soon take a swim by the shore here looking for some chow. Actually, I guess I’d like to see the bunker show up close to shore. That would bring them in. Keep you eyes open and be ready!
_____________________
Take care of your gear
As we begin the fall run we should take a look at our gear and make sure it’s up to snuff. One thing I always do going into fall is replace my line. I use Suffix 50 lb. green, it’s tough and casts well, and I understand we all have our favorites. Whatever you like, it is important to have fresh line on your rig when going after big fish in the fall. A tip I learned years ago is, after you put new line on your reel, take it out as soon as you can and and get it wet. I usually come home from the shop and put on a good casting lure and walk down the end of my street, (I live in an estuary) as long as it’s not dead low, and make a few casts and try to get as much of the line as possible into the water and soak it a little. Then I bring back to the house and let it sit and set up overnight or at least for a few hours before fishing. Doing this will help avoid getting wind knots. Try it!
Also, don’t forget to douse your reel in fresh water when you get home from fishing and you might want to put a few drops of oil on your reel shaft every once in a while. And don’t make so much noise when you get in the house and damn it, don’t track sand all over the carpet or leave your wet waders laying around. You’re good for nothing…
Geepers, be careful.
Mike M.
Fishy Reads by Mike Mullen
Legends of the Salt by Charley Soars is a great compilation of stories about some of New England’s best ever striper fishermen. Read about fishing with Bob Pond, Danny Pichney, Curt Gowdy, Charlie Cinto, Tim Coleman and his good friend Pat Abate along with many others who fished all over from Cape Cod to Martha’s Vineyard, Cuttyhunk, the waters of Rhode Island and just about everywhere in Southern New England. These guys weren’t just catching 50 pounders, they caught 60s and we hear a lot about Charlie Cinto’s 73 pound record fish. I recommend this as a great bedtime read to give yiou good dreams all winter long.
From To Hell with Fishing
September Skies by Mike Simko
Perhaps one of these September evenings we will get the overcast and rain clouds to dissipate so we can view our starry heavens.
September is a month that invites us to view the constellation Sagittarius as we do each very late summer into fall. This September is a bit different that past Septembers in that the bright waxing (meaning getting brighter) gibbous moon will hang right in the middle of the Teapot, an asterism located in the middle of Sagittarius the Archer. On September 11 and 12 the moon will point you to the Teapot. The moon will not help you see the Teapot since moonlight will blot out the stars. However, by several days afterward you will be able to now easily locate the Teapot recalling where the moon was located just days before. And as noted is previous year’s September Suds, locating the Teapot is actually locating the view into the direct center of our Milky Way Galaxie.
Dark skies everyone, and tight lines