No Fluke

Learn how to fish from the pros

Captain Dave Monti
Posted 12/3/15

The Salt Water Sportsman National Seminar Series will be held in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Saturday, January 16, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Klein Memorial Auditorium (910 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport). …

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No Fluke

Learn how to fish from the pros

Posted

The Salt Water Sportsman National Seminar Series will be held in Bridgeport, Connecticut, Saturday, January 16, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Klein Memorial Auditorium (910 Fairfield Avenue, Bridgeport).

George Poveromo, host of George Poveromo' s World of Saltwater Fishing on the NBC Sports Network, and contributing editor for Salt Water Sportsman, will headline the program, along with Ric Burnley, noted light tackle inshore and offshore angling authority and regional editor for Salt Water Sportsman.

This year Rhode Island's very own Capt. Jack Sprengel of East Coast Charters will join Poveromo on stage as a regional expert captain. Capt. Sprengel is a New England offshore professional that often targets species such as wahoo, mahi mahi, tuna and sharks of all types. He is also a light tackle fishing expert bringing his customers to inshore striped bass in Narragansett Bay in the spring and off Block Island in the summer.

An after the seminar party will be held at the new Bass Pro Shops in Bridgeport from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. A section of the store will be reserved for seminar attendees, where they can enjoy complementary food and beverages, meet George Poveromo and socialize with other seminar speakers, faculty and attendees.

"The National Seminar Series tour is the nation's most popular and, at 29 years, longest-running educational course on recreational marine fishing tactics and techniques", said George Poveromo.

Other experts on stage will include Crazy Alberto Knie, innovative trophy striped bass fishing authority who also excels at catching trophy fluke and blackfish; Captain Jim Christensen, Norwalk-based Long Island Sound fishing veteran, with his Rod and Reel Charters; Bobby Tambascio, Greenwich-based authority on catching trophy stripers, fluke and blackfish in Long Island Sound; Dr. Mitchell Roffer, the nation's leading authority on locating water surface temperature breaks and ocean-circulation features that hold fish; Captain Bouncer Smith, Legendary Miami Beach-based authority on light tackle fishing, live-baiting, bottom- and offshore fishing; Abby Miller, Fairfield-based Long Island Sound fishing authority who also excels at fishing Montauk waters and the canyons; Captain Rick Mola, Legendary Norwalk-based Long Island Sound striped bass veteran and offshore tuna expert; Captain David Wicke, North Carolina-based king mackerel, near shore bottom fishing, and marine electronics specialist.

Courses for the January 16 presentation will focus on: live-baiting for trophy striped bass; spinner-and-worm fishing for striped bass; stripers on top water lures; diamond and flutter jigging for striped bass and bluefish; chunking for big striped bass; inshore wire-line techniques; how to locate bluefish when they're not plentiful; targeting jumbo bluefish; gigging for blackfish; no-nonsense blackfish tactics; how to choose, rig and fish the most productive New England artificials; trophy fluke tactics; summer flounder or fluke by the numbers; secrets of fishing Long Island Sound; bucktailing for trophy black sea bass; deep jigging tactics; top tactics for bonito and false albacore; no-nonsense bluefin tactics; dialing in on big eye tuna; cutting edge tuna trolling patterns; how to create and troll a deadly offshore trolling spread (teasers and dredges included); live-chumming and live-baiting for tunas; tricks for chunking tunas; kite fishing for sharks and tunas; hot methods for catching mako, blue, thresher and porbeagle sharks; taking sharks on light-tackle; how to find and fish near shore and offshore surface temperature breaks.

Seminar Series tickets are $55.00 each. The ticket price covers a gift bag that includes a course textbook, a one-year subscription or extension to Salt Water Sportsman and a host of other items. Participants receive chances to win thousands of dollars worth of door prizes.

At the conclusion of the Bridgeport, Connecticut, seminar, there will be a drawing for a chance to win a fishing trip to the Florida Keys. The drawing will consist of the names of the attendees on hand that day, and one lucky person will win the trip for two.

In addition, the names of all attendees from the 2016 National Seminar Series Tour will be entered into the drawing for a chance to win the Super Grand Prize - a brand new Mako ProSkiff 17. The drawing for the boat will take place one week after the completion of the final seminar on the tour.

There will also be drawings among pre-registered anglers for VIP All-Access Pass upgrades; the winners will be permitted back stage at any time, to join the faculty for lunch in the Green Room.

Register by calling (800) 448-7360, or visit www.nationalseminarseries.com.

Where's the bite

Tautog fishing continues to be good. Capt. Thom "ThomCat" Pelletier of Quaker Lane Outfitters, North Kingstown said, "Customers are still doing well with tautog off Newport catching a few cod mixed in too. I head an angler landed a 12 pound cod earlier in the week." Phil Matteson of Breachway Bait & Tackle, Charlestown said, "Anglers are doing well with tautog all along the coast fishing wrecks and reefs close to shore in 30 to 50 feet of water. Anglers with boats haven't had to go far off shore for tautog yet." "Tautog fishing is still very, very good but the larger fish seem to have moved to deeper water now in the 50 to 80 feet range. I had customers limiting out easily this weekend. Areas that are doing well include the edges of Whale Rock and the Pinnacle, Washing Ledge as well as Breton Reef." said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor Marina, South Kingstown. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, "The tog fishing last week his past week was outstanding until late in the week. Prior to Friday all trips were either limited out or very close to it." Rough seas late last week seem to have dirtied the water a bit for tautog fishing. I fished this weekend off Newport with angler Doug Nisbet of North Kingstown and did not do nearly as well as past visits, a lot of short fish, with a very gentle bite.

Squid fishing has remained fairly strong. Capt. Tom Pelletier of Quaker Lane Outfitters said, "We have been selling an awful lot of squid rigs as the bite is very good at Newport and Jamestown."

"Striped bass fishing is good when the seas are calm enough to fish. During the day shore anglers have been picking up school bass in the 20 to 30 inch range from the beaches and off the rocks using Kastmaster lures, sallow diving swimming lures, and surface poppers. At night guys are picking up fish in the 20 to 30 pound range using eels. I still think we are going to have a good run or two of big fish before it is over." said Phil Matteson of Breachway Bait & Tackle. "Most of last week we had fish breaking 100 yards off shore at Charlestown Beach. I saw it twice when walking the dog and then a customer said they saw the same thing later in the week. There are garnets diving and herring in the water. I think the warm water, still 58 to 60 degrees, is holding the fish here." said Matt Conti of Snug Harbor.

"Cod/black see bass fishing has been good with customers catching fish in the 20 to 26 inch range close to shore and in the Bay." said Matteson of Breachway Bait & Tackle. "Cod fishing at the East Fishing Grounds and the southwest corner of Cox's Ledge is good. Anglers are catching black sea bass too, however, somedays the dog fish are there which is hampering fishing." said Conti of Snug Harbor. Capt. Frank Blount of the Frances Fleet said, "The local cod and sea bass fishing was very strong last week. More and more cod are showing up and the boat has either been at or very close to its black sea bass limit most days with sizes to 5 pounds. Best cod fish of the week was taken last week was a nice green fish in the mid to upper teens, most pool winners were in the 10-12 pound range." Capt. Rich Hittinger filed this report Monday… "Yesterday may have been my last trip of the year, but it was a good one. I went to East Ground with Mike Capparelli and George Allen onboard. It was great action on black sea bass, cod, and one tautog. We could have taken a full limit of sea bass up to 19" long, but only kept a total of 12 along with 12 keeper cod and one large tautog. There were many small cod that were released including some of the reddest color 12" to 18" cod that I have ever seen. The choggies were very active, but none of those gray guys."

Captain Dave Monti has been fishing and shell fishing for over 40 years. He holds a captain's master license and a charter fishing license. Visit Captain Dave's No Fluke website at www.noflukefishing.

com or e-mail him with your fishing news and photos at dmontifish@verizon.net.

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