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)
