Jim and Elizabeth McMahon of Ridgefield sailed with us for the first time, bringing along their son, James, a high-school student. They caught two keeper striped bass as well as several bluefish at Cockenoe and in deep water off of Sheffield Island. Michael Cohen, who fished with us earlier this season, had to abort his trip last Friday because of a business emergency, but he drove to the boat and dropped off his son, Ben, and his brother, Dr. Jose Cohen, a plastic surgeon in Guatemala, and his mother (a former government official in Guatemala during the Jimmy Carter administration) who currently resides in Costa Rica. Everyone caught bluefish 7-10 pounds under the bunker schools in Norwalk Harbor. Alan Fankhanel, President of Mercantile Development Corporation in Shelton, entertained his partner’s son—visiting from Wevelgen, Belgium—17-year-old Vannesle Laurent, who enjoyed his first fishing trip in the USA. They had a wonderful afternoon, starting with schoolie bass, then bluefish 8-10 pounds feeding under bunker, and finishing the day with a nice mess of porgies. Vannesle is a water ski instructor in Belgium. The three Finkel brothers—Matt of Westport, and Mike and Barry from Boston—started out in Norwalk Harbor where they lost two bluefish slammers, both of which got away. We then moved to 28C which started out slowly, but we did get some porgies and a few smaller blues. Our next stop was in the middle of the Sound, where we saw blues finning on the surface. All the boys plugged up bluefish in the 3-5 pound class. James Mangines of Fairfield brought his three sons, Carlson, Cutter, and Harrison, for their first trip with us. They had a fantastic afternoon with non-stop action in Westport waters, catching 25 school-sized bass with bucktails plus some bluefish and porgies. Wiltonites, Mark and Cara Lamonte, brought along their three young sons—Stefan, Andrew and Matt—for their initial trip aboard My Bonnie. The family enjoyed continuous action, first with large blues 8-10 pounds under bunker at Wilson Cove—boating eight and losing twice as many. We switched over to lighter tackle and made our way towards Westport, working along the shoreline—where we hit school bass and caught more than a dozen plus a few porgies in the mix. Some of the blues and the all the porgies were earmarked for a family barbecue dinner. It’s been getting easier to find bunker close to home, and now we’re seeing schools of “peanut bunker” as well. Sand eels and silversides are also around. If the bait says in our area, we can expect a fantastic late summer and autumn fishing experience for all of our anglers.