It was a regular summer occurrence in Western Long Island Sound in the 70s and 80s ... the blues would pack the pogies/bunker into the back of the harbors ... Greenwich Harbor had it all the time so did some of the others further west.
You could smell them while driving past on the highway, it typically took a few days to get the tide to clear the harbor of dead pogies. Boy were they pungent.
Had to love it.