Bob Sampson: The year that was featured both good and bad
By BOB SAMPSON
Norwich Bulletin
A look back at 2008 through the eyes of the people who provide the fishing and hunting stories for this column is a good way to get a feel for how the events of the past year fit into the mosaic of the past, thus providing some insights as to the what the new year might bring.
The Good
One of the good things that came out of 2008 was online licensing in Connecticut. The check off “carte” system is fast and easy, like online shopping. It took less than five minutes to order all of my licenses and permits for 2009, print two valid copies of a combo license. The deer and turkey permits will be sent by mail within a few days.
This year there were more gigantic, 50- and 60- pound striped bass caught in the region than this scribe can remember at any time in the past. In addition to the abundance of behemoths being caught, there were some periods during both the spring and fall migrations when anglers fishing between the Rhody Beaches and Montauk Point reported catching high numbers of low end keeper class (28-to-34-inch) bass.
Captain Jack Balint of the Fish Connection had three very memorable trips to Montauk Point during September. All three trips produced double digit numbers of 28-to-34-inch stripers from huge schools of surface feeding, very cooperative bass.
One of those days Balint said there were at least 15 acres of bass they cast to for the entire trip. On another trip, a 50-foot whale came into the area to feed on the super abundant bait that had attracted the stripers. On the third outing, a small-to-mid sized mako shark crashed into the school of feeding stripers, turning predators into prey, making a huge white boil that literally blew some of these big bass into the air like leaves in the wind.
Rob Taylor of Saltwater Edge Tackle in Newport, R.I., had his best year ever for jumbo stripers. He set his personal record for big stripers three times last summer, with fish of 43, 48 and 50 pounds, all from the surf in the Newport area.
Captain Eric Covino, reintroduced himself to jigging in the Race through a legally blind client, Bill Sirois of Groton.
A week earlier Eric and I shared the three best days of musky fishing we’ve ever had, with a total catch of 49 “skis,” though none were those scary big, duck eating dragons we dream of.
Pat Abate, of Rivers End Tackle in Old Saybrook, a die hard surf fishermen, started hunting small game this fall. Pat’s most memorable personal moment was watching his young pup sniff out its first pheasant. “Q” Kresser, who works for Abate at River’s End, began deer hunting two seasons ago and got hooked on the sport. With an obsession for scent control and scouting, “Q” earned a trophy class eight-point buck with his bow, his best “moment of intensity” for 2008.
This season once again brought with it some fantastic fishing for bluefish, blackfish and scup, while fluke started strong but fizzled rapidly under heavy pressure and the stifling regulations that were in place for 2008.
Heavy rains and cool temps kept water levels high and cool for freshwater fishing. On the down side, the constant heavy winds and high pressures that blew in behind the record number of storm systems often turned good fishing conditions into not-so-good fishing conditions. We all lost many fishing days to the wind this year.
There continued to be scattered schools of adult menhaden moving along the coast this summer, settling into river mouths, coves and bays along the coast north to Maine, including Narragansett Bay, Stonington Harbor, the Thames River, Niantic Bay, Mystic River and throughout western Long Island Sound. Big bunker always attract big bass and bluefish wherever they are found. Those who fished the Thames when the bunker were in did well on 10-to-35 pound stripers while the bait was around. This most important (bait) fish in the sea accounted for many of the giant bass that were weighed in during 2008.
The Bad
Despite the decent showing of adult menhaden in the region, there was not a corresponding increase in juvenile bunker, a fact that could have something to do with the timing of heavy flooding rains that drove up fresh water flow levels and dropped salinities in the estuaries where these fish spawn.
On the down side of the striper story, Abate, Eric Covino and many others we’ve talked with believe that despite the flurries and localized excellent blitzes of big stripers, there seemed to be a decline in overall striper abundance. In between the blitzes there were lots of big holes in the migration this fall.
For me, the greatest disappointment in 2008 was the near total lack of blue crabs. All the signs going into the winter of 2007-08 were excellent, but winter survival was poor. The culprit is most likely the wet, cool protracted spring of 2008. Such conditions always correlate closely to poor crabbing the following summer.
The late summer and fall run of false albacore and bonito was also a big disappointment for those who chase these hard-fighting sporty little speedsters.
The Ugly
The ugly part of this wonderful outdoor world we play in is always the politics.
Once again the Connecticut Legislature failed to pass the DEP’s proposed changes in the licensing structure to accommodate an “all-waters” license option.
But the ugliest part of 2008 was the summer flounder regulations that were in place, and it looks like there will once again be a need to cut back even further into this beleaguered sport fishery for the 2009 season.
Bob Sampson Jr. writes an outdoors column that appears each Thursday. Reach him at sports@norwichbulletin.com and go to www.bobsampson.com to listen to his podcast.
By BOB SAMPSON
Norwich Bulletin
A look back at 2008 through the eyes of the people who provide the fishing and hunting stories for this column is a good way to get a feel for how the events of the past year fit into the mosaic of the past, thus providing some insights as to the what the new year might bring.
The Good
One of the good things that came out of 2008 was online licensing in Connecticut. The check off “carte” system is fast and easy, like online shopping. It took less than five minutes to order all of my licenses and permits for 2009, print two valid copies of a combo license. The deer and turkey permits will be sent by mail within a few days.
This year there were more gigantic, 50- and 60- pound striped bass caught in the region than this scribe can remember at any time in the past. In addition to the abundance of behemoths being caught, there were some periods during both the spring and fall migrations when anglers fishing between the Rhody Beaches and Montauk Point reported catching high numbers of low end keeper class (28-to-34-inch) bass.
Captain Jack Balint of the Fish Connection had three very memorable trips to Montauk Point during September. All three trips produced double digit numbers of 28-to-34-inch stripers from huge schools of surface feeding, very cooperative bass.
One of those days Balint said there were at least 15 acres of bass they cast to for the entire trip. On another trip, a 50-foot whale came into the area to feed on the super abundant bait that had attracted the stripers. On the third outing, a small-to-mid sized mako shark crashed into the school of feeding stripers, turning predators into prey, making a huge white boil that literally blew some of these big bass into the air like leaves in the wind.
Rob Taylor of Saltwater Edge Tackle in Newport, R.I., had his best year ever for jumbo stripers. He set his personal record for big stripers three times last summer, with fish of 43, 48 and 50 pounds, all from the surf in the Newport area.
Captain Eric Covino, reintroduced himself to jigging in the Race through a legally blind client, Bill Sirois of Groton.
A week earlier Eric and I shared the three best days of musky fishing we’ve ever had, with a total catch of 49 “skis,” though none were those scary big, duck eating dragons we dream of.
Pat Abate, of Rivers End Tackle in Old Saybrook, a die hard surf fishermen, started hunting small game this fall. Pat’s most memorable personal moment was watching his young pup sniff out its first pheasant. “Q” Kresser, who works for Abate at River’s End, began deer hunting two seasons ago and got hooked on the sport. With an obsession for scent control and scouting, “Q” earned a trophy class eight-point buck with his bow, his best “moment of intensity” for 2008.
This season once again brought with it some fantastic fishing for bluefish, blackfish and scup, while fluke started strong but fizzled rapidly under heavy pressure and the stifling regulations that were in place for 2008.
Heavy rains and cool temps kept water levels high and cool for freshwater fishing. On the down side, the constant heavy winds and high pressures that blew in behind the record number of storm systems often turned good fishing conditions into not-so-good fishing conditions. We all lost many fishing days to the wind this year.
There continued to be scattered schools of adult menhaden moving along the coast this summer, settling into river mouths, coves and bays along the coast north to Maine, including Narragansett Bay, Stonington Harbor, the Thames River, Niantic Bay, Mystic River and throughout western Long Island Sound. Big bunker always attract big bass and bluefish wherever they are found. Those who fished the Thames when the bunker were in did well on 10-to-35 pound stripers while the bait was around. This most important (bait) fish in the sea accounted for many of the giant bass that were weighed in during 2008.
The Bad
Despite the decent showing of adult menhaden in the region, there was not a corresponding increase in juvenile bunker, a fact that could have something to do with the timing of heavy flooding rains that drove up fresh water flow levels and dropped salinities in the estuaries where these fish spawn.
On the down side of the striper story, Abate, Eric Covino and many others we’ve talked with believe that despite the flurries and localized excellent blitzes of big stripers, there seemed to be a decline in overall striper abundance. In between the blitzes there were lots of big holes in the migration this fall.
For me, the greatest disappointment in 2008 was the near total lack of blue crabs. All the signs going into the winter of 2007-08 were excellent, but winter survival was poor. The culprit is most likely the wet, cool protracted spring of 2008. Such conditions always correlate closely to poor crabbing the following summer.
The late summer and fall run of false albacore and bonito was also a big disappointment for those who chase these hard-fighting sporty little speedsters.
The Ugly
The ugly part of this wonderful outdoor world we play in is always the politics.
Once again the Connecticut Legislature failed to pass the DEP’s proposed changes in the licensing structure to accommodate an “all-waters” license option.
But the ugliest part of 2008 was the summer flounder regulations that were in place, and it looks like there will once again be a need to cut back even further into this beleaguered sport fishery for the 2009 season.
Bob Sampson Jr. writes an outdoors column that appears each Thursday. Reach him at sports@norwichbulletin.com and go to www.bobsampson.com to listen to his podcast.