Fishing Bug Lures Young Sportsmen

The seas were rough, the wind gusting at perhaps 25 knots and the skies were overcast.

In other words, the day belonged to Noah Mihaylo, 13,  and Matt Malone, 11.

The two latter-day Huck Finns of the coastal waters, oblivious to the elements, were champions of the fishing derby the Fairfield Police Department's Police Athletic League sponsored on Sunday at Ash Creek Inlet at South Benson Marina.

Both won prizes for their catches and, in a strike of uncanny dual luck, both won raffle prizes with their winning tickets.

In Noah's case, the 28-inch-long eel he caught won him a prize in the category of "other species," meaning other than the common snappers and blues.

In Matt's case, he caught a 13 1/2-inch fluke.

Both would not rest on their laurels.

While the 20 or 30 other young contenders cast their rods in the more sheltered area within the estuary, Noah and Matt, both of Fairfield, stationed themselves at the far end of the wooden pier where the waves crashed over them and left them soaking wet.

Noah's Mom, Patty, had dry clothes for Noah. For Matt, getting soaked was just an excuse to go swimming and keep fishing.

"These kids were pumped at 10:30, when the derby wasn't set to start until noon," said Jimmy Orefice, owner of Jimmy-O's Bait & Tackle on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, who donated a dozen fishing rods and dozens of plastic packs of bait fish for the event.

For Orefice, the day's objectives were met with the large turnout despite the forbidding weather.

A passionate fisherman from the age of 7, Orefice said he himself made hundreds of dollars a week as a youngster gathering clams and other seafood in the salt ponds of Rhode Island during the summer.

The rest of the time growing up in Fairfield, you could mostly find him fishing at South Benson Marina, where the event took place on Sunday, he related.

"I lived here every day," he said.

"Fishing like this allows kids to be kids,"  Orefice said, noting that Noah and Matt and many of their contemporaries crowd his fishing shop daily, arriving on their bikes without parents, just like in the old days.

While Noah was slicing his eel on the pier to use as bait for bigger catches, 3-year-old Catie Leddy was becoming the youngest contender with her catch. Her friend Mia Dow had already caught a snapper.

Their success was annoying Catie's brother, Charlie, 6, who went on to become a winner along with P.J. O'Reilly, 13, of the boys' prize for most fish caught - in their case, 2.

Five-year-old Madelyn Peddle was the first to catch a fish and, with her developing command of the rod and reel, easily caught another.

Beau Dehler, 6, snagged a snapper and won the "first fish of the day for a boy" prize.

Sarah Baker, 7, caught herself a fish and a tiny shrimp, with a transparent shell and oversized black eyes.

Sara Thornton of Trumbull was the expert in miniature fish: She kept catching tiny specimens with worms for bait.

Everyone packed up to go after the prizes were awarded - all except for Noah and Matt and their parents.

Just as Police Officer Scott Sudora, PAL's director, was readying to leave, Noah excitedly rushed over to him, a starfish dangling from his rod, Matt at his side. The starfish had attached itself to a small mummy chubb.

With this much luck, it was much too soon for them to bid the sea adieu for the day.

"They're having fun," said Noah's mom, Patty, shivering but sacrificing her creature comfort to stay a little while longer for the sake of her boy's happiness.