CLINTON -- When you head out to "sport fish" in the salt water, get ready to rock!
"I was a drummer and I wanted to be a rock star my whole life," explains Captain T.J. Karbowski, owner of Rock & Roll Charters, who takes folks into Long Island Sound for fishing adventures. "We go within 10 miles of Clinton in any direction."
"Anybody can go out recreationally with themselves or a few friends and catch some fish. It’s not that hard. But, when you’re a charter boat, you have to do it every day for every trip," says Karbowski. "The game is the part I like. The game of finding the fish - going to the right spot. Where do you think they’re going to be?"
First mate Wayne Wright preps passengers to "bottom fish" for porgies and sea bass using a rod and reel. A weight takes the bait 30 feet down.
"We hope for the best every time but every fish is a good fish," he says. "When the fish are in, they’re in. When they’re not, they’re not," laughs Karbowski.
"Once you get that adrenaline going when you realize you got a fish on there, it’s very exciting! You get the strength! You just do!" says Delores Parker of Branford. Then, Wright sets up the downrigger to search for bigger fish.
David Gregoire of Texas caught the first striper: "It was such a rush. I’m not much of a fisherman and to be out here and catch that off the bat, it was the coolest thing."
Sport fishing results in an exciting excursion. Watch out! You might get hooked!
Rock & Roll Charters offers three trips a day from May through August.
Charters run through November.
Trips cost $600 for up to six passengers. Folks can take their fish home- - filleted and ready to cook. Click here for more information.
