Main page | June 25, 2008 »

Little Grey Gull wins $30,000 on L.I. Sound

Team Little Grey Gull captained by Walter Anderson of White Plains, N.Y., caught two striped bass weighing 28 pounds, 12 ounces over the weekend to win $30,000 at the third stop of the Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series in New London, Conn.

“We had a plan to fish the entire eastern end of Long Island Sound,” Anderson said. “We immediately shot across the Sound and fished one side of Plum Island, then fished Plum Gut on the other. After that we went to Mattatuck, on the New York side; from there we went to Horton Point before crossing Long Island Sound. We also fished Hatchett Reef and Valiant Rock.”

Team Little Grey Gull caught its second big fish near Valiant Rock in its last 45 minutes of fishing. “There were about 30 or 40 boats fishing there, and we caught a fish right out from under them,” Anderson said.

The team, which consists of Frank Kiernan of Madison, Conn., Keith Salisbury of Westbrook, Conn., and Scott Kesselman of Greenwich, Conn., fished with teasers on wire line and very small and light Parachute jigs, so they flip more in the water.

“We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun during the day,” Anderson said. “We did not think that we were going to win the tournament when we weighed in second or third and were put on the leaderboard. What we didn’t realize was what a difficult day everyone had. Most of the bass are still up in the rivers or in the western end of the Sound and have not migrated yet—usually, they will already be there. I’d say in the next week to 10 days, they will definitely be up in the east end—they’re not going to go to summer like that.”

In accordance with tournament regulations, both fish fell within a 28- to 34-inch slot limit and were successfully weighed and released in good condition.

Teams, ranging in size from two to four anglers each, compete for a guaranteed top award of $10,000 cash in each event and as much as $20,000 cash based on boat and engine bonuses from Hydra-Sports, Seaswirl, Wellcraft, Evinrude and Yamaha. The winning team is determined by the heaviest accumulated weight of two striped bass falling within the 28- to 34-inch slot limit.

The next FLW Striper Series tournament will be held at Bass River Marina in West Dennis, Mass., Aug. 9.

Entry fees are $450 per team for all entries received prior to the day of registration for each tournament. The entry fee for entries received on registration day for a tournament or on-site during tournament registration is $500 per team. Teams may register online at FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000.

Posted by Tom Meade  at 8:39 AM | Permalink