At 12:01 a.m. Saturday, fisherman from the novice ranks up to the pro level, converged on the sound in search of the heaviest blue. As expected, the blues were more than plentiful this year but they were definitely on the small side as far as tournaments go. On Sunday at 5 p.m. a crowd converged at Captains Cove in Bridgeport for the much anticipated unofficial results. Jill Dotlo, the tournament director, proudly announced that for only the second time in history, a female won the tournament.

This brought a nice round of applause, but the best was yet to come. The crowd released a thunderous cheer when it was announced that the winner was 12-year-old Kirsten Glavin from Graften, Mass.

Glavin is not new to the fishing scene. As a matter of fact, she started fishing at age 5 and won her first fluke tournament at age 8. She was staying with her grandparents in Long Island and her uncle Todd Glavin, another seasoned salt, asked her to join the tournament with him and enrolled her in the contest. The two set off in Todd’s boat with the glimmer of hope of landing a big one.

The two were struggling over location and Kirsten won the location tug-of-war. They fished in front of the Northport smokestack and that is where it all happened. Trolling steel wire on the bottom with a green surge tube (Kirsten says the color doesn’t matter) she hooked into a 14.58-pound blue.

"I knew it was big because it pulled straight down and stayed there, it was kind of like reeling in a huge tire," Glavin said. When the fish surfaced 5 or so minutes later, Todd was ready with the net. Just after the fish was landed in the net, the blue chomped through the steel leader and broke it clean.

Too close for comfort if you ask me. Kirsten weighed in at Terminal Bait and Tackle in Kings Park at 7:44 Saturday night. The kicker is, she didn’t fish Sunday because she started seventh grade on Monday and had to get ready for the school year.

Kirsten also enjoys soccer and basketball. She said she wants to save some of the money for college but what impressed me most was she wants a 21-inch Seaswirl Striper boat with a hard top, rocket launchers, and a 150 horsepower Yamaha four-stroke.

Rounding out the top five are: Nick Kantzas ($10,000) at 14.38 pounds, Peter Muff ($3,000) 14.28, Richard Panebianco ($1,000) 13.97, and for Edward Clough ($1,000) at 14.12 who caught his fish with my friends from High Seas Charters.

NOW FOR THE SCOOP

Freshwater: The Largemouth bass fishing seems to be improving. All my sources agree that black worms and black spinner baits at night are yielding decent catches. Candlewood Lake is a preferred hot spot along with Crystal Lake and Lake Saltonstall.

Even though the river water is still warm, (hovering around 70 in the Housy), the trout are hitting well.

Mealworms and garden worms are great in the allowable areas of the Farmington and the Housatonic. As for the fly guys, this is the time of year to utilize the terrestrial fly patterns, like beetles and grasshoppers that we carry in our fly boxes all year. Remember that with the water as warm as it is, the fish will fatigue easily and take longer to revive. During this time of the year, catch the fish, don’t play them too long.

Greg Vetter and I spent a little time at the mouth of the Housatonic plugging for the blues. We threw Stillwater, Creekchub, and Kastmaster, but the majority of the fish really liked the Skitterpopper. With the exception of the tournament weights, most blues are around 8-10 pounds.

West Haven and Charles Island have been the hotspots. As for the snapper blues, they are around 7 inches and are located anywhere.

The striper action is great if you can avoid the bluefish. The reefs in Clinton have been giving up consistent 40-inch fish. Three-way fishing porgy, snappers and fresh bunker will produce the most hits.

The porgy are stacked as tall as the Republicans at the convention.

All the major rock areas such as the Stratford breakwall hold excellent concentrations of scup.

Rick Ross from Milford, along with his crew, headed to Butterfish Hole and fished for bluefin tuna up to the Horns. They managed a few bluefins in the 30-pound range.

Reminder: The black sea bass and blackfish fishery closes on Sept. 7 and reopens on Sept. 22.