Tom Migdalsk - Fishing Long Island Sound

Photo credit Al Buchman.

The author poses with a trophy weakfish he caught while trolling in Long Island Sound.

TOM MIGDALSKI is a freelance outdoor writer and photographer whose work has appeared in many publications, including Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Fly Fishing in Salt Waters, Grays Sporting Journal, On The Water The Fisherman, Center Console Angler, Shallow Water Angler, and New England Game & Fish. Toms first book, The Complete Book of Shot-gunning Games, was published in 1997. He is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA) and holds a Master of Science degree in outdoor recreation and college teaching.

Since 1984, Tom has been the director of outdoor education and club sports at Yale University, where he manages the fishing club and instructs non-credit physical education classes in deep-sea fishing and fly tying. He is also the certified coach of the Yale trap and skeet team.

Tom has fished the East Coast from Nova Scotia to Key West but spends most of his fishing time in his boat on Long Island Sound. He lives in Hamden, Connecticut, with his wife Carol and daughter Maggie.

Special thanks to these people who assisted me in the completion of this work:

Antoinette Clemetson, Fisheries Specialist, Sea Grant New York, for providing many of the written resources for the Long Island and New York coasts.

Cathy Hadad and Sheila Godby at Captain Segulls Nautical Sportfishing Charts for providing information, GPS coordinates and charts for Long Island Sound.

Lisa S. Alter from the YaleNew Haven Teachers Institute for her research on Long Island Sound, which provided important information about the history of these waters.

Pat Abate, Rivers End Tackle, Old Saybrook, CT; Captain Morgan, Captain Morgans Bait & Tackle Shop, 21 Boston Post Road, Madison, CT; Captain Chris Elser, Westport, CT; Captain Ned Kittredge, Dartmouth, MA; Captain Dixon Merkt, Lyme, CT; Richard Haigh, Orange, CT; Matt Hillyer, Hillyers Tackle Shop, Waterford, CT; Captain Kerry Douton, Niantic, CT; Captain Al Anderson, Snug Harbor, RI; and Captain Kevin Reynolds, who all provided expert advice for local and regional fishing hot spots.

Publisher Peter Burford for his patience and guidance.

Robert Person for his extraordinary proofreading skills and advice.

And, last, a special thanks to Ed Migdalski, my father, for introducing me to fishing on Long Island Sound over 40 years ago.

Alter, Lisa S. Long Island Sound. New Haven, CT: YaleNew Haven
Teachers Institute.
www.yale.edu/ynhti
www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1997/6/97.06.08.x.html#b

Boyle, Doe. Guide to the Connecticut ShoreInsiders Guide. 4th edition.
Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2006.

Bureau of Marine Resources
Division of Fish, Wildife and Marine Resources
205 North Belle Mead, Suite 1
East Setauket, New York 11733
631-444-0430

Captain Segulls Nautical Sportfishing Charts
888-473-4855
www.captainsegullcharts.com

Coleman, Tim and Charley Soares. Fishable Wrecks & Rockpiles.
Mystic, CT: MT Publications, 1989.

Connecticut Anglers Guide. Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection, Marine Fisheries Division.
860-434-6043
www.ct.gov/dep
www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/fishing/anglers_guide/anguide_part4.pdf

Connecticut Bait and Tackle Shops (alphabetical by town)
Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection
860-434-6043
www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/fishing/general_information/tackleshops.pdf

Connecticut Boaters Guide. Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
www.ct.gov/dep
www.ct.gov/dep/cwp/view.asp?a=2686&q=322292

Connecticut Coastal Access Guide
Email requests: coastal.access@po.state.ct.us
www.lisrc.uconn.edu/coastalaccess/index.asp
860-424-3034

Connecticut fishing charters and tackle shops by town.
www.connecticut-services.com/(list a town here)/recreation-sporting-goods/fishing

Crawford, Heather M. Long Island Sound in a Jar: Activities for Youth.
The Connecticut Sea Grant College Program. Publication CTSG 99-01 1999.

Daignault, Frank. Striper Hot SpotsMid-Atlantic. Ithaca, NY: Burford Books, 2010.

Embassys Complete Boating Guide & Chartbook: Long Island Sound. 6th ed.
Old Saybrook, CT: Embassy Marine Publishing, 1997.

Fishing the Marine Waters of New York City. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany, NY, 2005.

Lewis, Ralph. Geologic History of Long Island Sound. Connecticut
Geological and Natural History Survey, Connecticut Department of
Environmental Protection.
http://camel2.conncoll.edu/ccrec/greennet/arbo/publications/34/CHP1.HTM

Long Island Sound: An Atlas of Natural Resources. Hartford, CT: Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, 1977.

Long Island Sound Programs Office
860-424-3034

Long Island Sound Study, EPA Long Island Sound Office
888 Washington Blvd.
Stamford, CT 06904

Luftglass, Manny. Gone Fishin: The 75 Best Waters in Connecticut.
Gone Fishin Enterprises, 2001.

Melton, Tom. Fishing the Long Island Coast. Short Hills, NJ: Burford Books, 2005.

New York City Fishing Access website
www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/8377.html
Bureau of Fisheries
Division of Fish, Wildlife and Marine Resources
718-482-4022

New York Department of Environmental Conservation, saltwater fishing
website: www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7755.html

New York Sportfishing Guide. New York Sea Grant.
3059 Sound Ave., Riverhead, NJ
and
The Fisherman
14 Ramsey Rd, Shirley, NJ
Copyright 2005

Peluso, Angelo. Fly Fishing Long Island: A Comprehensive Guide to Freshwater & Saltwater Angling. Woodstock, VT: Countryman Press, 2007.

Resolution Mapping, Inc.
142 Ferry Rd.
Old Saybrook, CT 06475

Sampson, Bob. Fishing the Connecticut and Rhode Island Coasts. Short Hills, NJ: Burford Books, 2003.

Stewardship Atlas 2006. Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative.
www.longislandsoundstudy.net/stewardship/stewardship_atlas06.pdf

Wahle, Lisa and Nanchy Balcom. Living Treasures: The Plants and Animals of Long Island Sound. 3rd ed. Connecticut Sea Grant College Program. Groton, Connecticut: University of Connecticut, 2002.

Weigold, Marilyn E. American MediterraneanAn Environmental, Economic & Social History of Long Island Sound. Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1974.

Long Island Sound has a fascinating history. Without the impact of the last great glacier, we wouldnt have this wonderful body of water to fish in today. It all started about 85,000 years ago, when the late Wisconsinan Glacier started in Canada and inched its way toward the southern New England coast, eventually reaching Connecticut approximately 26,000 years ago. As it moved, the ice mass, over a mile high at its greatest thickness, compressed and scoured the landscape like a giant, crawling bulldozer. When the glacier was at its largest, sea level was approximately 300 feet lower than current levels, and the coastline was at least 60 miles south of Long Island, New York, because so much water was consumed by the ice.