Anyone fishing the WICC tournament in Western LI Sound this weekend??? Prizes range up to $25000 or $200000 if any angler tops the Long Island sound record bluefish... Wonder how big that is?????

24 lbs., 13 oz. as of June 20, 2000 is what i got from the tournament guys and soundfishing.com
good luck

IT'S MINE, ALL MINE!!!<img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7--><img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7--><img src="/Images/biggrin.gif"><!--e7--> (just need to make sure I have a boat)...

Thanks Chris. BTW - you fishing it???

John

I can't fish it. I turn the big 18 on friday and I'm going to celebrate it. My mom of course wants to know what I want and I've asked for two blondes but it looks like a no go. My chances of getting anything are slim to none in this area. Last year the winner came from shore by a guy fishing right in front of Rye Playland. I hear WICC has a new rule though. A bluefish has to be over 28 inches otherwise it is disqualified.

Hey, here is a question, why is WICC holding this so early? They always have it in August and September has always been the hot time of year. My area doesn't even see bunker until the last days of August.

Patrick, I've heard that there are alot of bunker around there and where there is bunker....$200,000 is MINE!! When you said "My chances of getting anything are slim to none in this area", did that mean the Bluefish?? <img src="/Images/Tounge_Wink_Face.gif"><!--e5-->

I'll be out there, probably New Haven to Southport.Patrick - traditionally late August is good for blues, this year's off a bit, but there out there.It's too bad you ain't gettin any in your area,when I was 18 I was gettin all I could handle - maybe you oughta try washing the bunker funk off ya!
I know you could get some if you troll around Bridgeport a little - might cost you a few bucks, but you're sure to get some birthday cash right?

We don't get many slammer bluefish. Anything above 10 lbs from shore is good around here. From shore we get the little snappers up to 6 or 7lbs. Every so often someone hooks a decent one. I had a 12 lber on my line last season. That fish just steamed in and rubbed the rocks and PING! No blitz just a "passer by". Every so often we get a school of blues crashing schools of bunker. I wouldn't call it a blitz but it's enough to get me going. So far this year, I have seen two schools of bunker. I was alone with both of them(two seperate days in a week) and screwed up both of them. Every so often, boaters get good fish.

If you can find live bunker, you might have that 200,000 dollars. Live bunker is the key. My advice is, find a school of bunker, try to get one or two blues. If they are good ones, keep fishing, if not, move on. If you can't find live bunker, move to the bait. I see everyone is going bananas over a fresh bunker. I've had more luck with mackeral than bunker. Most times I've had more luck with frozen mackeral than fresh bunker. Especially vacuumed packed mackeral. The stuff is like candy to fish.

Save the mackeral heads. Don't waste them on bluefish. I've never seen a bluefish caught on a mackeral head or even heard of them. Mackeral heads are quite possibly the best bait around here for stripers. I'm sure eels are better but I have seen one fish caught on an eel&lt;takes a bow&gt; and dozens of fish that get fooled on mackeral head.

There are just a few good spots around Fairfield. Black Rock Harbor(captain's cove), Penfield Reef, Buoy 18(some people call it Can 18 but can's are odd numbers and got corrected by my old boating teacher so now I call it Buoy 18) Those places are going to be mobbed. You ever see the Fireworks in the City when the boats all get lined up? That's what it's going to be like.
Patrick.

Geesh Patrick -
When you said your chances of getting anything were slim - I didn't think you meant fish!
Where do you get these ideas of yours?
I watch the fireworks off Jennings in the boat every year,and the tournament's not like that. Most guys with boats fish every weekend anyway, and there's lots of spots to try - the whole sound in fact.
6 -7 lb snappers? Yowza!

What I said was where I used to fish, we catch fish from little snappers up to 6 to 7 lbs. No not 6 or 7 lb snappers. Sorry if there was any confusion on that.

I've never actually fished the tourney as an entrance but I fish during it. From shore but I see all the boats. Everytime a school of fish pops up, a dozen boats jump on it. It's not even worth fishing for bass. All the boats going around. I don't know.
I just mentioned those spots because those are the most popular. I've seen 18 so packed that you could hop boat to boat without seeing a drop of water.
I'm sure there are fish at sunken island, dumping grounds, the spindle, and obstruction buoy. There are dozens of them. They get packed though.

You guys are a hoot. Maybe I should have watched my wording on that post. <img src="/Images/TooHappy.gif"><!--e13--> That was funny though.