This is it. Today at the ungodly hour of 5 a.m., hundreds of area fishermen will set forth into Long Island Sound in almost 200 boats, from plush cabin cruiser to 14-foot flat bottoms. For the next eight hours, they will have one thing and one thing only on their minds: bluefish, preferably very large bluefish. They are all trying for top honors in the huge 2007 Interclub Bluefish Tournament. Ranging from the Greenwich Point to Faulkner's Island off Guilford, contestants will use every form of bait and lures imaginable in hopes of making it back to the Captain's Cove Seaport by 1 p.m. with the heaviest three-fish total for their boat. The competition is to be fierce and the ribbing between boats and skipper ever fiercer. Sometimes the jibes get vicious (all in good fun, of course). The Interclub is probably the largest bluefish tournament on the East Coast. Clubs participating in the tournament are: The Bridgeport Boat Owners Club, the East End Yacht Club, the Fairfield Boat Owners Club, Fayerweather Yacht Club, Harbor Valley Club, Miamogue Yacht Club, Milford Striped Bass Club, Pequonnock Yacht Club, Pootatuck Yacht Club, Port 5 (Naval Veterans), Rivercliff Yacht Club, Stratford Boat Owners Club and the Valley Yacht Club. Last year 434 anglers participated in the tournament and there were 162 boats in the water. When it was all over, a total of 1,618 pounds of bluefish had been weighed in at Captain's Cove. Milford Striped Bass Club took top honors in the 2006 tournament with
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a five-boat total of 146.60 pounds. Ralph Bershefsky of Pootatuck Y.C. had the top individual boat with three fish weighing 34.12 pounds. Bershefsky also had the heaviest single fish at 14.84 pounds. The tournament presents five awards at the annual banquet, including the "Best Skipper in The Club" to the skipper whose club boat weighs in the most poundage for the three largest fish. The "Al Bennett Award," named for the late and legendary outdoor writer for the then-Bridgeport Post, goes to the angler with the heaviest individual bluefish. Even non-anglers will feel the excitement at Captain's Cove in Bridgeport's Black Rock section, as boat after boat pulls into the docks and skippers rush to the weigh-in station with their haul of angry looking bluefish. Surprises are not uncommon at the Interclub. One year a contestant who rarely fished, but had entered the tournament mostly for the fun of it, not only won the top boat honors but had the heaviest individual fish. The tournament is sponsored by Budweiser/Dichello Distributors, Connecticut Air Systems, Captain's Cove Seaport and a number of local bait and tackle shops.

Contact Charles Walsh at cwalsh@ctpost.com

QUICK CASTS

LEAKY CABLES REPLACED — It is good new for fishers that State Department of Environmental Protection recently allowed Connecticut Light and Power to remove seven leaking utility cables that cross Long Island Sound. The old cables will be replaced with three new environmentally improved cables.

The agreement between CL&P and the DEP allows the new Cross Sound Cable to be energized and also included in the establishment of a $6 million fund for research and restoration projects to improve the waters of the Sound. The seven existing electric transmission cables were installed in 1969. Because of their construction, the existing cables are known to leak fluids causing damage to the environment. The three proposed cables will be solid and therefore less susceptible to leakage. PEQUONNOCK CLEANUP — Save the Sound will conduct a cleanup along the Pequonnock River on Sept. 15, which is International Coastal Cleanup Day. Volunteers will be cleaning up coastal and inland shorelines around the world on that day. The cleanup will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteers can sign up for the cleanup throughout the day, even if they cannot commit to the full four hours. — CHARLES WALSH