Team Triton Mercury -- led by Block Island skipper David Chieffo, with Andy LoCascio, John Luchka and Dave Lilly -- won the FLW Outdoors Stripers Series Tournament and $10,000 in Atlantic Highlands, N.J., last weekend. The team won with a combined weight of 36 pounds 2 ounces for two fish measuring between 28 and 34 inches, a new FLW Striper Series record.

The crew ran inside Raritan Bay and by 6:15 a.m., the anglers saw fish on the surface as they set their Secret Spoons into the depths. They caught dozens of stripers, Chieffo said, and, twice, the crew had five fish working.

"All of our biggest striped bass were caught trolling Secret Spoons, and on Yo-Zuri Surface Cruisers cast to boils on the surface," Chieffo said.

To keep fish alive, anglers on the FLW tour use aerated "striper tubes."

"The team worked together, fought and landed every fish," said LoCascio, host of Northeast Angling TV. "David Chieffo and John Luchka orchestrated the measurements, weight and the live-release striper tube flawlessly. Dave Lilly did an amazing job of scouting and his input was one of the big factors in our success."

The team was the only boat fishing that particular school of feeding fish. At the weigh-in, Lilly said he was elated that the 19-pounder caught on a Secret Spoon was the fish that put the team over the top.

"When we got on our first piece and saw fish splashing and rising to the top, it was just a matter of which school do I throw to?" Luchka said. "Once the tide died off, so did the fishing, and I was pleased to see that our efforts all paid off in the end."

The Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series is scheduled to come to New London City Pier in New London, Conn., June 21 for an $85,000 catch-and-release striped event that will award the winning team as much as $30,000 cash based on boat and engine bonuses from Hydra-Sports, Scarab, Seaswirl, Triumph, Wellcraft, Evinrude and Yamaha.

Openings are still available in the tournament, which has an early entry fee of $450 per team and an on-site entry fee of $500 per team, according to a press release. Teams ranging in size from two to five anglers can register online at www.FLWOutdoors.com or by calling (270) 252-1000. Entries will also be accepted during on-site registration June 20 from 4 to 6 p.m. at New London City Pier on 27 Water Street in New London.

Quonny access questioned

The annual public hearing on fishing and hunting regulations is usually a pretty sedate session. This year's hearing, however, may get lively when the state Department of Environmental Management proposes to ban parking on state land on the western side of Quonochontaug Breachway, a popular fishing spot for anglers with four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Rhode Island fishermen are fierce about their right to shoreline access. The government's duty is to protect the public trust, not to deny it, says Randall Saunders, founder of the Watch Hill Visitors Bureau, an ad-hoc group dedicated to preserving the people's right to pass along the shore.

"Fishermen have been accessing this area for many years by 4X4 vehicle, and the general public has been granted continuous use of this shoreline property, for fishing and/or the exercise of other constitutionally guaranteed rights," he wrote in a letter to Michael Lapisky, chief of the division of Fish and Wildlife. "This has been a clearly established period of long-term, historical use."

The hearing is scheduled to start Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Warwick Police Department's Community Room at 99 Veterans Memorial Drive in Warwick.

Copies of the proposals are available on DEM's website, www.dem.ri.gov, by clicking on "Regulations," then "Proposed Regulations," then "June 10th Public Hearing" from the homepage. They are also available on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at DEM's Division of Fish and Wildlife office at the Stedman Government Center at 4808 Tower Hill Rd., in Wakefield.

Snug Harbor high stakes

Snug Harbor Marina in Wakefield has scheduled four high-stakes tournaments this season:

-17th Annual Snug Harbor June Moon Madness Striper Tournament, June 20-22, with prizes valued over $10,000.

-1st Annual Snug Harbor Doormat Derby, June 28 to July 27, with weekly prizes along with a grand prize total over $6,000.

-27th Annual Shark Tournament, July 12 and 13, with over $25,000 in prizes.

-21st Annual Snug Harbor Bass and Bluefish Boogie, Oct. 11-13, a "Columbus Day Weekend end of season blast."

For more information contact Snug Harbor Marina, 410 Gooseberry Rd., Wakefield, 401-783-7766 or visit www.snugharbormarina.com.

Only a pound apart

The 15th Annual Striper Marina Striper Tournament winners were:

Men's division: 1. Pete Dias, 31 pounds, 8 ounces; 2. Randy Bagwell, 30 pounds, 8 ounces; 3. Mike McCoy, 29 pounds, 8 ounces.

Women's division: 1. Pam Mitchell, 21 pounds, 4 ounces; 2. Wendy Hutzlinger, 17 pounds, 12 ounces; 3. Candace Clarin Rein, 15 pounds, 12 ounces.

Youth division: 1. Shane Bettencourt, 22 pounds, 4 ounces; 2. Joe Lombardi III, 21 pounds.

tmeade@projo.com