There Are Plenty of Fish in the Sea
And Captain Pete Wheeler and his legendary Sea Sprite charter-fishing boat know exactly where to find them.
Raised on the Connecticut Shoreline, Captain Pete began his love affair with the sea at eight, when his father — a fifty-year veteran of the Coast Guard, began teaching him every aspect of seamanship. In 1976, he launched his sport fishing business, combining his considerable experience with the purchase of “a good boat,” naming it The Sea Sprite and docking it in Clinton — just steps from his home. “It was ideal,” he recalls. “I’d take a charter out in the morning, come home for lunch with my wife and the kids, then go back out again in the afternoon.”
His second boat was named after the first, as was his third and current boat — a 41-footer with a wide beam and some serious tonnage, ensuring a smooth ride for the more than 1800 passengers who charter it annually from its berth in Old Saybrook. And those three Sea Sprites are among the many reasons Sea Sprite Sport Fishing is both the longest operating charter boat company in town, as well the most sought-after charter fishing boat in Connecticut. But the real draw is Captain Pete.
When asked how he always knows where the fish are, he is apt to wink and say, “I just know.” But there’s a science to his telepathy. “By using The Eldridge Tide and Pilot Book and decades of carefully logged fishing locations, with sea, tide, and weather conditions included, I have the kind of experience at fishing Eastern Long Island Sound, Plum Gut, the Sluiceway, the Shoal, and numerous uncharted wrecks and reefs that simply can’t be taught. And it’s infallible.” It’s why The Sea Sprite always heads home with striped bass, black fish, fluke, jumbo sea bass, or bluefish among the day’s catch, depending on what’s running. It’s also why Captain Pete’s Sea Sprite is known to serious fishermen as the boat to go out on if you want to catch fish.
And being a not only a lifelong mariner, sport fisherman, and member of the Shoreline community, protecting all three matters greatly to him, so he encourages his fishing passengers to catch what they can consume and return the rest to the Sound — and when someone catches a few too many to eat, Captain Pete either takes them to the local soup kitchen or gives them to families who can make good use of them.
Up for some serious fishing? Want to take the family out for some fun and a few fishing lessons? Just cruise on over to Saybrook Point — then out aboard The Sea Sprite , where Captain Pete and his crew will make your time aboard an unforgettable fishing adventure!
The Sea Sprite’s crew includes 30-year veteran Captain Matt Poitras at the helm and Mate Jonah Lewis, a seven-year veteran and crowd pleaser. Terrific at teaching the children and amateurs who come aboard, the crew is also ready to assist fishing pros when they are called upon to do so.
