On Nov. 19, Mike Vitale of Madison and Ralph Rubino of Guilford, aboard Mike's 26-footer, started out tautog fishing in the vicinity of Southwest Reef before beginning their search for stripers slightly to the east. At about 2:30 p.m., during a 54.7 degree ebbing tide, the phone rang at the shop and a voice on the other end (it was Ralph's) bellowed over the background noise, "Cap, you gotta see this amazing sight! Dolphin are swimming and porpoising all around us!" "Please tell me you have a camera on board," I replied.
The episode lasted for quite some time all the while Mike's finger was busy clicking the shutter on his digital camera catching the action. Fishing, needless to say, took a back seat to this rare sighting in Long Island Sound. For the past few years, isolated sightings of mature dolphins, sometimes in the presence of younger ones, have occurred. But now, like in the early days, these large schools have re-emerged, most likely branching off to feed on schools of herring entering a much cleaner and unobstructed Sound.
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