WICC - Tourney

[JohnR]

Anyone fish the WICC Nluefish Tourney? We managed blues up to around 12 pounds, still short of any winnings and all but one went back in to the drink... Also managed some sweet fluke (great on the grille ) and learned some new areas to fish. There is some great structure & ledges to work from Thimble Islands to Guilford (as far east as we worked). I'll bet some cow bass come out of that area during the fall run....

Had a great time for the second year in a row - fishing with Tim, Jeff, Paul, & Scott... Already scheming for next year

Also, I would like to nominate for: "Worst Tackle Shop of the Year" - Ted's Bait & Tackle in Bridgeport Connecticutt... more later

[Flounder]

I fished WICC as I have for the past 6 years or so. This year I fished from my kayak. I stayed in Little Neck Bay because I was afraid the boat traffic in Manhasset would be too much, Big mistake! Nothing to weigh, two beautiful sunrises, and serious sleep deprivation. I think I'll keep the $30 next year.

[Patrick82]

Hey...

Don't knock Ted's B&T. That's my buddy's shop. Let me tell you, he has very little to work with. His shop is in a bad area of Bridgeport. He has to put all the good stuff behind the glass. People come in clueless and they try to help them the best they can. Bridgeport is a very racially diversified area. It's not uncommon to go in there and hear 5 different languages being rambled at once. The guy has it rough. I agree, his shop isn't the best in the area but it's not a bad place and it's definitely not the WORST. Someday, I hope he gets out of that location. He definitely has the knowledge to run an class A shop. It's the location that kills him. The shop isn't that big and he really needs a new location.

The shop aside, Kevin (the owner) is a first class person. Many times, he has helped me out far beyond what normal tackle shop guys will. If I'm a few nickels short, it's nothing for him to just let me go and allow me to pay him back next visit. Let me tell you, he is one of the nicest guys you will run across down here. He has taken that shop a long way from where it was. I consider him a friend even though most our run-ins are business.

You probably just hit him during the WICC craze. Come down again at another point when it's not so crowded and chat it up with Kevin or one of the people there. It might just change your opinion of the shop.

Sorry you had a bad experience there. It can be a great place to shop.

[JohnR]

I've been there a half dozen times or so but I generally am much more satisfied over Stratford B&T...

When you walk in the place (Ted's in Bridgeport), hardly a thing is price marked (one way I guess to cover your high prices so you really can't run up the mental calculator to determine the line betweem affordable needs and not so affordable wants)... And the selection is fair but what is marked is pricey...

I talked to 4 people when I was in there, two were helpfull (well, at least one was until he dished me off to the "kid")... I first asked for something odd that I was looking for but really didn't expect to find - that's ok- but this is what got me going:

I walked in and patiently waitied for someone to become available. Finnaly someone is and I start asking for eels, the fellow say's "see him, he's eel boy" so I go and talk to the "KID". I asked him if they had eels - "yep". OK - how much for a dozen - I asked (I'm figuring I'll get 20 or so as I'm planning to sacrafice some eels to the bluefish gods with micky mouse external stinger hooks - hey, I'm trying for 25grand, right? )... "Well, that's 12 times 1.25, uh, that'll be $12.50"... OK - I'll have 20 eels. I get the eels and a bucket and slowly get the chance to pay (I really am pretty honest and didn't expect to short change them - that didn't come out right but I think you know what I mean ) - and slowly, slowly, I pay (sometimes it's better to help one person at a time than help 5 people but never finish with any of them)...

One fault on my part was that I thought I had given the "kid" 40 bucks when I had only given him $30 - no problem, he got that right and I was able to figure out quickly that I only gave him 30 bucks...

I left and got to the dock to check out the eels. Shame on me for not checking them INSIDE the shop. First off - there was not 20 eels in there, only about 15. Secondly, only 2 of these eels would have been castable (barely) from a typical shore situation as the 2 biggest were adequately thick and around 1o inches long. The rest were no more than 8 inches in length and no more than a dime size in thickness... Again, shame on me for not checking but I was in a hurry...

This is not the first time I've hit shoal water in that shop. And Patrick, if that is the only shop you've gotten too, your missing a wealth of difference you can experience elsewhere. Maybe they treat the regulars better once the recognize you but your not going to get many repeats if you keep pi$$ing people off.

I once went into another shop and had a lousy experience, #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& asked me why I didn't drop his name as they knew each other fairly well and I was asked why I didn't mention Striped-Bass.com. When I check out a shop, I want to be treated like any first timer or second timer and so forth to see what a shop is really about (not too mention that we're not world famous here - yet ). After being in Ted's B&T a half dozen times over the past 3 years, I'd definitely give two unenthusiastic thumbs down - OK 1.5 down. And it was only the worst of the year - not of all time....

[Patrick82]

Oh yeah, I understand that. You have your opinion and I respect that. Maybe it is a little buddy buddy in there but that's just how some things go. Eelboy, I forget his name, I know who you mean though. About 6' tall, young guy, looks like he just got out of highschool, smokes, his hair tips may be bleached. I'm not crazy about him. He's pretty new there. I really wish I could remember his name. He's a nice guy though and I don't think they intended on ripping you on the eels. I've gotten decent eels from him before.

One day, we will have a fishing outing down at Penfield and maybe I can introduce you to Kevin at a time that isn't so crazy.

I consider that my home shop. I only visit three or four other shops in the area but not at the same frequency that I go to Teds. The other shops you should check out is John Posh's shop at Stratford B&T, Ricky Mola's Fisherman's World (East Norwalk). The other shop I visit is the concession stand in the marina. It's not a REAL shop but it's good to drop by, shoot the bull with the guys and pick up little things I need.

I'm really sorry you've had such an awful experience at Teds. He really is a good guy and he tries hard. It's just like paddling upstream. There are a lot of shops around, plus Sports Authority and now there is a hardware store selling fishing stuff. It's a huge mess. This area is only big enough for a few shops and they are trying to jam a lot in.
Someday it'll get better.

[Marc Z]

John,

You were in the right area, I understand the winning fish came from Guilford but was only 16lbs and change. Thats very small to win this contest as the winner is usually over 18lbs, and in some years is over 20lbs.

Do you guys know that this contest originally started in the 80's as "the million dollar bluefish contest"???? They tagged 1 fish and whover caught the fish with the tag got a million bucks! Needless to say nobody ever caught the tagged fish and the contest eventually evolved into what it is today. It really is a great contest, we fished it for years when we had the boat, my dad and brother and I would fish for 2 straight days. We always had a lot of fun and usually caught lots of fish, but never a prize winner.
Go get em' next year.
MZ

[JohnR]

Marc - I have a lot of fun with guys I fish the tourney with. 5 guys on a 20 foot grady for a weekend. It's a little tight when 3 of us have 10-12 pound blues on at the same time but still alot of fun as we work well together as a team....

Yep, the top 2 fish came out of that area. One from the first day and one from the second. We only go there on the second day. We left Black Rock at 40 mph all the way to Guilford as the conditions were great. Just as we were leaving to head back, the wind switched almost due south and whipped the waves to 3 feet with a few 4 footers mixed in so it took a lot longer to head back as the waves were coming in hard and heavy nearly in our face for most of the journey back. Wet ride but still a ton of fun....

This year they actually put some limits on to help reduce the amount of waste inherent in a tournament like that. Minimum sizes and frequent updates on leading fish appear to have put a dent in the yahoos keeping any fish they caught regardless of size...

On one bad note, a couple guys a few slips down brought in 2 fisg, one blue about 11 pounds and one bass that weighed about 20. A legal fish in Mass or Rhody but not in the right slot for CT. It should have gone back. That did not dawn on me until 20 minutes later that it was an "illegal fish"... Not that it may have mattered to these guys....

But as far as the tourney goes, I'm already waiting for next year as I fish with some first class guys for the weekend and last year (the first time I fished it) and this year have been blasts... Maybe in 2 years I'll have a boat for it (although they're elready thinking of a 27 Grady)....