2025 Tightlined Slam Results
2025 once again marked tough conditions, with a noreaster bearing down on the Sound Sunday.
With that said, Saturday morning provided light winds and fishy conditions, and teams were able to make moves and take advantage. All-in, 34 qualifying striped bass (just off last year's 38), 10 qualifying bluefish (a far cry from last year's 44) and 14 Atlantic bonito (up from 11 last year) were registered. No confirmed sightings of albies, despite a few being caught the day before the tournament.
Saturday saw most boats go looking for hardtails early on, with all bonito caught during the incoming tide Saturday - most of which caught on the Long Island side, however one or two came from way inshore in CT. The striped bass fishing was spread out, with a few boats finding tons of smaller fish in a few spots, but just a few larger fish being registered.
As we continue to look to build out the fly angler participation, we had a number of boats fully committed to throwing feathers, with all three species coming over the rails on the long rods, including 2 bonito, some solid bass and a couple of bluefish (the species my boat - i.e. me - can never seem to figure out).
The field of anglers continues to strengthen, and winning this tournament each year becomes more and more difficult, so we extend well-deserved congratulations to all the winners this year.
Individual Slam Winners
Once again this year, just two individual anglers were able to land
all three species, with Peter Radman of team Naut A Byte landing a
64cm bluefish, 90cm striped bass with a 53cm bonito to take first place
in the spin division with 207cm. Lou Gordon of team L&S landed a
58.5cm bluefish, a 50.5cm striped bass and a 56cm bonito for
second-place finish with 164.5cm. Tom O'Connor of Team Darkstar
landed both the largest bluefish (70cm) and striped bass (96cm) of the
tournament, but couldn't find a bonito, finishing third with a total
of 166cm.
On the fly side, two anglers caught more than one species, and Jeff Erdmann, fishing with Capt. Ian Devlin, was able to land a bonito (59cm) and striped bass(70cm) totaling 129cm to take the title. In second place, Capt. Jeff Northrop landed a 50cm bluefish and 75cm striped bass, totaling 125cm and marking the closest fly slam finish we've seen in a few years.
Species Category Winners
On the spinning side, we had a tight race in striped bass, with three anglers finishing within 2cm (less than an inch) of each other. Dave Stefan, was able to eke out a victory with two stripers totaling 139cm (Will Moreau, who fished with Dave, was 2nd with 137.5 and John Basille was 3rd with 137cm). For bluefish, Tom O'Connor landed the largest bluefish, which proved to be the most difficult fish to get over the rails, at 80cm. With hardtails being limited to bonito, Will Moreau ran away with the title, landing 6 of the 14 bonito registered during the tournament on Saturday morning.
On the fly side, Jeff Erdmann, fishing with Capt. Ian Devlin on team Cheeky, landed a few striped bass hiding from the heavy winds on Sunday morning to take home the striper category with two fish totaling 135cm. Rob Longsworth, who was fishing with Marco Marchese on team Hot and Bothered landed 1 bluefish on Saturday at 66cm to take home the bluefish category. On the hardtail front, Jeff Erdmann was able to land the only two bonito caught on fly Saturday afternoon to take that category as well.
Team Champion
While 6 boats landed hard tails, only 2 were able to put all three species in the boat - Team L&S and Team Naut a Byte. Team L&S, made up of Lou Gordon and Steve Gannon, were able to land two bluefish, 2 striped bass and a bonito totaling 289cm, while team Naut A Byte had two striped bass, two bluefish and a bone totaling 287cm (again, less than an inch behind). Just for perspective, there were six other boats that were in position to leapfrog the two winners had they been able to find a bluefish or a bonito, which highlights how every fish counts and the importance of finding all species available.
Congratulations to all our anglers, we sincerely appreciate the continued support, participation and effort to make this a weekend that we look forward to every fall!
Team Left Twix taking a brief break on Saturday
Lou Gordon and Steve Gannon of team L&S taking home the cup in 2025!
2024 Results
Seventh Annual Western Sound
The 2024 Tightlined Slam marked the deepest field to-date, with 29 teams of anglers battling winds to register 38 qualifying striped bass, 44 qualifying bluefish and 11 atlantic bonito. While nobody landed any false albacore, they were spotted and a couple were hooked in big seas on Saturday.
With all four species available, a few boats pushed offshore Saturday despite heavy Westerly winds, while most spent the day focused primarily on finding striped bass and bluefish in more protected areas. All-in-all, only two boats caught bonito on Saturday, both taking advantage of a short window of lighter winds on the Long Island side to capitalize on a few feeding pods of fish in tight to the beaches.
Sunday morning brought stronger than expected easterly winds, again limiting most boats to protected areas. A surprise showing of bonito in tight to the CT coast resulted in 3 more boats landing hard tails to go along with more bluefish and striped bass. While all hard tails came on spinning gear this year, there were a number of boats committed to the fly throughout the weekend, landing striped bass and bluefish in a variety of ways.
With that, we congratulate all the winners of this year’s tournament, and appreciate the serious effort that all the anglers in this year’s tournament put forth all to support the American Saltwater Guides Association and the conservation and responsible management of our fisheries.
Individual Slam Winners
Two individual anglers were able to land all three species, with Gerald Berrafati of The Little Fish combined a 77.5cm bluefish, 58cm striped bass with a 52cm bonito to take first place in the spin division. Dave Ingraham of team Gary Yamamoto spent Saturday chasing bonito, landing the largest bonito of the tournament (56cm) on Long Island, and then was able to eke out a 50cm striped bass and a 52cm bluefish right ahead of the gun on Sunday for second-place finish. Brian Weiss of Team Scouting Outing had a bluefish and a striped bass totaling 145cm, claiming 3 place by just once cm.
On the fly side, Max Kantor was the only angler to land qualifying fish in 2 species, as bluefish tended to remain offshore in big water and wind. Fishing with Capt. Mike Platt, Max landed a 73.5 cm striped bass and a 67cm bluefish to claim first place.
Species Category Winners
On spinning gear, we had tight races across most species, but Brad Berk of Team Hudson had the largest single (90.5cm) and two (163cm) striped bass this year. For bluefish, Gerald Berrafati on The Little Fish had two fish at 154cm and Oliver Radwan, also on The Little Fish, took the hard tail category as one of two anglers to land 2 bonito, with his two fish totaling 106cm to break a tie with Robb Vossler of The Little Fish.
On the fly side, Charlie Erdmann, fishing with Capt. Ian Devlin and Jeff Erdmann, sight fished some beautiful striped bass on Saturday afternoon to take home the striper category this year with two fish totaling 160cm. Max Kantor landed 2 bluefish on Sunday totaling 117cm to take home the bluefish category this year.
Team Champion
While 5 boats landed hard tails, only 3 were able to put all three species in the boat - Team Scouting Outing, The Little Fish and Gary Yamamoto. Team Scouting Outing, captained by Robb Vossler along with Brian Weiss and Matt Pesce, was the only team that landed 2 of each species. They were able to fill the striped bass and bluefish categories on Saturday and squeeze in a couple bonito in the final hours on Sunday for a total of 391cms to take home the cup in 2024. This marks Robb’s third time on the cup, previously winning as a member of Team LBC in 2018 and Endorfin in 2023.
Skiff Division Champion
We introduced a skiff entry this year for smaller teams as well as a skiff division award for the best showing by a boat under 20 feet in length. This year, Matt Frasca's boat, Heron, was the only sub 20-foot boat landing two species, with a striped bass and bonito to take home that award.
Congratulations to all our anglers, we sincerely appreciate the continued support, participation and effort to make this a weekend that we look forward to every fall!
2023 Results
Sixth Annual Western Sound
Despite some rain on Saturday and breeze on Sunday, more than 25 teams targeted striped bass, bluefish and hardtails in the Western Sound Slam this year. While the albies were present, there were only a couple landed by the field along wtih some trophy bluefish and solid striped bass on both fly and spln gear.
We were pleased to partner wtih the International Gamefish Association this year, with each team using their world record length rulers, so this year's results were recorded in centimeters, allowing for more exact measuring on a clear and standardized measuring device. Without further ado - here is a recap of this year's winning anglers!
Team Champion
The structure of the tournament and the focus on targeting all three species (striped bass, bluefish, hardtails) was key this year, and with only a couple albies landed by the field, the teams that found, hooked and boated them this year were in rare company. Team Endorfin out of Fairfield was able to combine their false albacore with 150cm of striped bass and 159cm of bluefish, for a winning total of 373cm. Team Little Fish also landed all three species, with a total of 271cm.
Fly Division
2023 marked the highest fly participation to date, with more than half the teams registering fish on fly and committing a large portion of the weekend to the long-rod.
Bluefish were certainly less available this year than they have been the past few, with 2022 realizing some incredibly consistent fishing on large fish. This year, however, only a few anglers were able to land them on fly. Jeff Erdmann caught solid fish totalling 162cm (~64") in some protected water on Sunday to take home the bluefish category.
Logan Williams, who fished on team Light Bite grinded it out on the striped bass front, landing an 87cm (~34in) striper on Sunday morning to bring his two fish total to 150cm.
Jeff Erdmann also took home first place in the Individual Slam Category, with a bluefish and a striped bass totalling 154cm (~61in). Unfortunately the albies did not present themselves in a fly-targetable fashion this year, so there was no fly hard-tail winner in 2023.
Spin / Conventional Division
The spin side of the tournament was exceptionally competitive, with every team registering fish starting early Saturday right through to the final gun on Sunday.
The bluefish division was as close as we have had, with ASMW's Stephen Arcamone taking the title with 169cm, less than a cm ahead of the 2nd place finisher and 3cm ahead of third. Three anglers within approximately 1 inch of each other! Congratulations on a hard fought win.
The striped bass category was a little less dramatic, with Matt Quinlan from team Far Right Twix taking home the title. This is the first time that one angler had the two largest striped bass landed in the tournament, with Matt landing a 93cm striper Saturday and following it up with a 90cm fish on Sunday to take home the title by around 27cm (~11 inches)! Congratulations Matt.
Two anglers landed a false albacore this year, however Gerry Berrafati of Team Little Fish was able to put a stud 68cm fish in the boat, serving as the tie breaker in terms of size to take home the win in the hardtail category. This fish was landed somewhere I wouldn't expect them to be, but as I had heard from a few people heading into the tournament, the albies had pushed in abnormally tight to shore this year! Nice job finding them and converting!
On the individual slam-side, while there were a couple false albacore caught, no angler was able to land all three species on fly or spin this year, so the slam category was limited to those who caught two species. This was another close grouping, with Matt Quinlan taking home first place combining his 93cm striped bass with an 83cm bluefish for a 176cm total. Justin Calimari of team Porgy Picatta came in second, catching an 80cm bluefish and 85cm striped bass to total 165cm. In third place, Stephen Arcamone finished with an 85cm bluefish and 73cm striped bass totaling 158cm. There were another four anglers who finished within 8cm of that figure (just ~3inches)!
Second Annual Eastern Sound Tournament
We did not realize the growth we had hoped for in terms of anglers and participation out East this year, so the tournament was pared down, but a few boats did get out on the water and battled wind and rain for the second straight year. Hopefully heading into 2024 we can expand participation and really take advantage of the incredible fishing the Eastern Sound has to offer!
On that note, the fishing was, once again, great. Big striped bass and bluefish coming on Saturday and tons of albies making themselves available in incredible weather on Sunday.
All the fish landed this year were on the spin/conventional side. Chase Freiman landing two striped bass totalling 213 cm, including a 115cm (45") striper on a topwater in the weather on Saturday.
On the bluefish side, Kyle Freiman, fishing on the same boat as his brother, landed two bluefish totaling 138cm. Kyle also took home the Individual Slam this year, adding a 98cm striped bass to his 80cm bluefish. Nice work Kyle!
While the albies did not show themselves much in the Western Sound, they were plentiful on Sunday, especially after the final gun. That said, Sam Stavis landed 9 albies on his own (part of 12 by him and his partner, Clay Andrews), taking home the individual hardtail category this year and setting a tournament record for total albies landed by an individual. Nice work!
Adding a few albies to their impressive bluefish and striped bass totals, Kyle and Chase from Team Sea Fox took home the team category this year, with a total of 480cm across 2 bass, 2 blues and 2 albies.
2022 Results
Fifth Annual Western Sound
5th Annual Western Sound Tournament
With incredible weather and strong fishing, the Western Sound Slam had 26 boats, more than 90 anglers, and saw eight anglers land individual slams of striped bass, bluefish and false albacore.
On spin / conventional gear, Steve Gannon of team Porgy Picatta landed a 42” striped bass on Sunday morning to take home top individual striped bass (73” for top two fish) and first place in the individual slam category with three fish totaling 102.5”. Joe Cipolla from team Row Jimmy took home second place in the slam category with three fish totaling 85”. Ben Burdine from Team Apex Angling took third In the slam category, with an albie, striped bass and bluefish totaling 82”, and also tied for first place with Chase Freiman in the individual hard tail category, landing three false albacore each.
On the fly side of the tournament, Max Kantor on team Light Bite Charters had an incredible Saturday, landing two slams and winning first place in striped bass on fly (67”), hard tails landed (2 fish) and the individual slam with a striped bass, bluefish and false albacore totaling 92”. Lucas Gillespie from team Oh my FOD finished second in the individual slam with a striped bass and bluefish totaling 64”, and Taylor Ingraham finished third in the slam with a striped bass and bluefish totaling 54”. Danny Westfield, also of team Oh my FOD, took home first place in the bluefish on fly category, with two fish landed totaling 64.5”.
For the first time in the five year history of the tournament, the team champion title was successfully defended, with team Porgy Picatta taking home first place again, this year with a total of two albies, two bluefish and two striped bass totaling 190”.
Inaugural Eastern Sound Tournament
The inaugural Eastern Sound Tournament was held September 30-October 2, and had eight boats and 24 anglers participating. Despite dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Ian for much of the weekend, every boat toughed it out and found incredible striped bass and bluefish activity, mostly centered around the mouth of the Connecticut River. Matt Quinlan of Team Far Right Twix took home first place in the conventional striped bass division, with two stripers totaling 85”, and Ryan Joyce, also of team Far Right Twix, won the bluefish category with two fish totaling 67”. Ryan also took home the top individual slam, with 76” across his largest striped bass and bluefish.
On the fly side, Rowan Lytle of Team Long Cast took home top striped bass, with two fish totaling 73”, bluefish (31.5”) and individual slam, with a striped bass and bluefish totaling 68.5”.
While the albies did not show themselves on the CT side of the river, Arek Zenel Walasek, who fished from Long Island with team Chousen One, headed down to the beach when the weather prevented their boat from leaving the harbor and landed two albies to take home the hard tail category.
Team Far Right Twix, with two striped bass and two bluefish totaling 152”, took home the inaugural Team Title.
2021 Results
We once again had great weather this year, and while there were fewer fish registered this year than in past, there were more large striped bass caught than in previous years, with more than a dozen over 30”, and the largest to-date at 41.5”.
Bluefish were a bit tougher inshore, with most of the larger fish caught in mid sound, however there seemed to be a decent amount of fish in the 27-33” range. Unfortunately, albies remained just east of the boundary line for the second straight year, however several boats successfully pursued them on Sunday morning anyway, capping off another great weekend of fishing.
Once again, with no hardtails landed within the tournament boundaries, the team champion and individual slam categories were awarded to the team and anglers who landed the largest combined striped bass and bluefish.
Here are the full results from this year's event. Congratulations and thank you again to all who participated!
Individual Species Categories (top 2 fish of each species per angler)
Spin / Conventional Division
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Striped Bass - Nick Miller - 74.25"
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Bluefish - Mat Digiovanna - 62"
Fly Division
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Striped Bass - Pat Fowler - 52.5"
Individual Slam (top fish of each species per angler)
The category that the tournament is based around was an unbelievably close race this year, but Chase Freiman came out on top with a 39" striped bass, which was caught in the middle of the day on a topwater, and a 28.5" bluefish.
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First Place- Chase Freiman - 67.5"
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Second Place - Nick Collins - 67"
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Third Place - Mat Digiovanna - 64.5"
There was no slam awarded in the fly division this year.
Team Champion - (top two fish of each species landed on the boat).
In the closest tournament yet, the top two teams - Porgy Picatta and Darkstar - came within half an inch of each other, and Team Hudson made a strong run at claiming its second cup, coming in just a few inches behind them. In the end, Team Porgy Picatta came out on top, with 129" between their top two striped bass and bluefish on the boat.
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Team Champions - Team Porgy Picatta - James Hollyday, Justin Calamari, Stephen Corrado & Mat Digiovanna
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Nick Miller of Team Darkstar with the largest striped bass (41.5") caught to-date in the Tightlined Slam
Mat Digiovanna of Team Porgy Picatta with one of his bluefish
Chase Freiman of Team Hudson with a nice striper
The crew from Team oh My FOD land a schoolie bass on the long-rod
Pat Fowler, of Team Compleat Angler, took home the top striper honor in the Fly Division, guided by Capt. Mike Platt of Light Bite Charters
Chase Freiman of Team Hudson, captained by Brad Berk, takes home the hardware for top Individual Slam
Team Champions - Porgy Picatta - Putting the Cup to Good Use
And some gratuitous albie shots from those who went east to chase them!
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2020 Results
Despite beautiful weather and calm winds, difficult fishing reigned for the 2020 Tightlined Slam, making those qualifying fish that were registered all the more rewarding. With a complete lack of false albacore, the fishing focused on striped bass and bluefish. While there was ample bait, inshore blitzes did not materialize, and the striped bass fishing was tough, to say the least, with fewer than 25 qualifying fish submitted by the nearly 30 boats fishing the tournament. That said, a few solid fish were landed, with the largest one taping out at 32.5". Bluefish made up the vast majority of the action, with widespread blitzes of bluefish in the low 20" range keeping rods bent for much of the weekend. A few larger blues (high 20" to low 30") were also found on bunker schools and crashing bait inshore as well, with the largest fish coming in at 32". With no hardtails landed, the team champion and individual slam categories were awarded to the team and anglers who landed the largest combined striped bass and bluefish.
Congratulations to all of our winners from 2020, we hope to see you back in 2021 along with some more consistent action and and influx of hardtails.
Team Champions
No_Sheep
(Wes Preston, Tripp Schoff, Brad Forkner)
2 striped bass, 2 bluefish with a combined length of 106"
Conventional Categories
Largest Striped Bass
Wes Preston – Team No_Sheep - 2 fish combined length of 58.5"
Largest Bluefish
Jeremy Buccolo – Team Double Haul - 2 fish combined length of 59"
Number of Hard Tails
None Landed
Largest Slam (Largest Individual Striped Bass & Bluefish)
First Place - Wes Preston - Team No_Sheep - 54"
Second Place - William Moreau - The Chief - 52.5"
Third Place - Robb Voss - Team L.B.C. - 51.5"
Fly Categories
Largest Striped Bass:
Chad Phillips – Team Compleat Angler - two fish combined length of 43"
Largest Bluefish
Rex Messing – Team Charter Sauce - two fish combined length of 45"
Most Hard Tails – No fish landed
Largest Slam – No individual slam landed
Team No_Sheep showing off the hardware - they took home largest striper, largest individual slam and the Team Champion Titles in 2020
Wes Preston with the largest striper of the tournament, which took a topwater tight to a rocky shoreline
2019 Results
The 2019 Tightlined Slam saw solid striped bass fishing, with steady action of schoolie bass in the low 20" range along with a few fish into the upper 20" range and one fish landed at 35". Qualifying bluefish (19.5" or larger) remained hard to find, however several boats were able to locate and land choppers up to 35" as well. Given high winds for much of the weekend, the hard tail bite was more difficult to come by, especially the albies. While they were in the area, only two boats were able to land any albies, and only three fish were boated. Several more boats got into bonito, with 14 fish landed in the tournament. While all four species were targetable, only one boat was able to land a qualifying bluefish, qualifying striped bass and hard tails to be named Team Champion for the tournament. No single angler was able to land all three, however, so there were no individual slam champions named.
Congratulations to all of our winners from 2019, we hope to see you back in 2020.
Team Champions
The A-Team
(Capt. Brad Berk, Chase Freiman, Arek Zenel-Walasek, John Griffin)
2 striped bass, 1 bluefish, 2 bonito with a combined length of 108"
Conventional Categories
Largest Striped Bass
Jason Coleman – Team L.B.C - 2 fish combined length of 58"
Largest Bluefish
Capt. Roger Gendron – Team Lighten Up - 2 fish combined length of 50"
Number of Hard Tails
Capt. Brad Berk, Arek Zenel-Walasek, John Griffin - The A-Team - 3 each
Largest Slam – No individual Slams Landed
Fly Categories
Largest Striped Bass:
Capt. Jeff Northrup – Team Black Fin - two fish combined length of 44.5"
Largest Bluefish
Stephen Antinelli – Team Lighten Up - two fish combined length of 62"
Most Hard Tails – No fish landed
Largest Slam – No individual slam landed
Tripp Donelan of Team Double Haul showing off a lit up bonito
Team Tambass releasing a beautiful striped bass
Team Tambass with a healthy 29" striped bass taken on topwater
The A-Team celebrating their wins in Team & Hard Tail categories in front of the Costa Sunglasses Truck
Ryan Joyce of Team Tightlined with one of just three albies landed
Jason Coleman and Capt. Mike Platt of Team L.B.C. with a 35" bass, the largest landed
Stephen Antinelli of team Lighten Up with a 35" bluefish on fly, the largest landed
Arek Zenel-Walasek of The A-Team with a nice bonito
Jason Coleman of Team L.B.C. taking home first in the conventional striped bass category
2018 Results
The fishing for the 2018 Tightlined Slam focused mainly around the arrival of False Albacore, which invaded the area in numbers the week leading up to the tournament. With perfect weather for chasing these speedsters, nearly every boat landed at least one. The striped bass and bluefish, however were much harder to come by, with only one bluefish over 20” landed and only a couple bass to that length submitted. Again, the lack of any widespread bluefish or stripers of any size in what should be the midst of the fall run provides testament to the critical importance of organizations like The Marine Fish Conservation Network.
Congratulations to all of our winners from 2018, hope to see you back in 2019.
Conventional Categories
Largest Striped Bass – David Cingari – Team Road Work Ahead
Largest Bluefish – David Ingraham – Team Gary Yamamotos
Largest Hard Tail – No winner – rule change coming due to # of same size fish
Largest Slam – Robb Voss – Team LBC
Fly Categories
Largest Striped Bass – Scott Meador – Team Lighten Up
Largest Bluefish – Scott Meador – Team Lighten Up
Largest Hard Tail – Taylor Ingraham – Team Tightlined
Largest Slam – Scott Meador – Team Lighten Up
Team Champions – Team LBC (who landed the only bonito in the tournament)
