On The Water, Bob Sampson 6/2

1. Despite the fact that water temperatures are still on the chilly side, in this area striped bass are pushing up from the south, pretty much on schedule, and they are being joined by some large fish that are moving eastward out of the Hudson River. It’s that time when a random cast literally anywhere from a river mouth, to a beach, to a rip line over a major reef is liable to yield a fish of 20 pounds or more. Fluke fishing has improved on this side of Long Island Sound and along the Rhode Island Beaches but not by much as of midweek. However, this is the time of year when a tide or two can make the difference between a slow pick and a great trip in the fluking grounds.
2. Thomcat of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingstown told us the striper fishing up inside Narragansett Bay and vicinity has been the best they have witnessed in many years. The good action started a couple of weeks ago and seems to be building to a crescendo with the arrival of some “super size” stripers. Over at Mountain View on Tuesday, in front of Ed’s house, an angler caught 17 decent-size schoolies. Midweek, Captain Jim White of White Ghost Charters caught five fish, and all were medium to large stripers, with the biggest tipping the scales to 44 pounds. Steve, a hard-core angler who works at the shop, caught five fish on Tuesday evening somewhere in the Narragansett area, after dark and from the surf that ranged from 29 to 40.5 pounds. All his fish were caught on the double hook, 9-inch Slug-Gos that he constantly casts into the surf. Steve will be demonstrating his Slug-Go rigging methods on Tuesday, June 7 at 6 p.m. This presentation will be the start of a series of weekly seminars every Tuesday at this time that will include Thomcat Pelletier, Captain Jim White and other local anglers over the next six weeks.
3. Fluking is improving but is still pretty much a hit and miss proposition in the bay and around its mouth. He said Pt. Judith has been doing OK recently, but has generally produced sporadic catches all season. The catches being made are comprised of fluke that are either really big or undersized. Thomcat said he is going to fish Nomans Land this week and will probably have an interesting report for us next week. There have been fluke up to 11 pounds taken off Green Hill since the weekend. Thomcat himself hasn’t caught anything over 6 pounds so far this season and is hoping that Nomans Land will break his jinx.
4. There are a few blackfish around off breachways and rock piles from Jamestown to Deep Hole and other rocky areas along the Rhody coast. Remember, the season is closed across the border in Connecticut, so boats from the Nutmeg State will need to release blackfish they catch in Rhode Island waters or face possible fines if they take them back home.
5. Rob at Saltwater Edge, Newport reported that there have been some bluefish and quite a few bass being caught all over the place at the present time. Most of the stripers are schoolies, but he’s seen anglers catch fish and taken them himself up to 15 pounds. Rob said that earlier in the week he caught a bunch of schoolies at the Cape Cod Canal himself and heard of a few bigger bass weighed in at Red Top Tackle on the canal.
6. At Breachway Tackle, Charlestown, Roe, who is a worm spawn enthusiast, said that with the rise to 63 degrees in Ninigret Salt Pond, the worms have begun to come back out to play. The bass and a few hickories are on them whenever they come out to spawn. The fish that are eating the worms up are typical mid- to small-size schoolies, with anything over 30 inches bringing in bragging rights. On the outside later last week, Fred Bowman, a regular at the shop, caught two beautiful bass of 41 and 47 pounds, probably on eels somewhere in the area around Green Hill.
7. Fluking off Charlestown has not been anything to get excited about lately. The fish are OK one day and lousy the next. No one seems to be consistently catching keepers at this point in the season.
8. Captain Don of Captain Don’s Tackle, Route 1, Charlestown, Rhode Island reported fluke fishing was slow on Wednesday and lately in general. Keepers have been caught off Quonny Breachway in about 40 to 50 feet of water, and some of the keepers are big doormats. The biggest fluke weighed in this week was a mat of 10.2 pounds. Tuesday a 10-pounder was caught outside the breachway at Quonochontaug in around 50 feet of water. He said there have also been reports of fluke inside the wall at Point Judith, but overall the fluking has been generally spotty so far this season. The hickory shad are in Quonny Pond and the worms have begun coming out again in the evenings, conditions that generally bring with them some pretty good opportunities to catch striped bass. The captain says that everywhere in the area there are tons of fish up to about 15 pounds, with occasional catches topping the 20-pound mark. Tube and worms have been slamming the bass up inside Quonny Pond and other spots along the coast. Tautog are moving up inside the breachway and salt pond at dead low tide to spawn, creating opportunities for anglers who are targeting this excellent-eating fish. Captain Don says that “Right now all over the area there is some exciting fishing going on. People can come down and catch fish no problem.” (To that I would add, if they hit the tide right.)
9. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic said that Bob Shelly caught and released 4 short fluke between Monastery and White Rock. Nothing to brag about, but a sign that there may finally be some fluke moving into the Mystic area. The best fluke catches are still being made across the Sound off Montauk Point, for those who want to burn off last year’s fuel. Bill Kelsey was deep trolling near Ellis Reef on Friday and caught 30 small- to medium-size stripers on a deep-diving swimmer. Her brother Al caught six decent bass early Saturday while casting Slug-Gos and Creek Chub Poppers to the spots from Six Penny Island to Ram Island Reef. Two of his fish were 35 inches and another was 37 inches. This week the surface temperature outside the bridge finally made it over 50 degrees, while the mercury was a comparatively torrid 63 inside the river.
10. These sorts of radical temperature differences are common this time of year, especially when the weather has been cold and rainy. Shallow spots like rivers and salt ponds always warm faster and to a much higher level than deep-water areas.
11. Joe Balint of The Fish Connection, Preston on the Thames told us that he has been hearing that The Race and vicinity are finally kicking into gear when it comes to producing those 20-pound-plus striped bass it’s famous for this time in the season. The larger bass are being caught by deep jigging off Valiant Rock and Race Rock, while smaller fish are being caught off Race Point itself. The stripers are dominating catches with scattered schools of bluefish being encountered from time to time. Bass fishing in The Race is finally picking up nicely for fish in the 25- to 30-pound range. Joe says Connecticut boats that fish The Race and Fishers Island must remember that recreational fishermen in New York waters can only keep a single 28-inch striper, so catching two to bring back to Connecticut could theoretically get a cheater pinched. The bigger fish are not just being caught in The Race. One of his regulars said that a friend of his caught a 35-pounder from the Connecticut River earlier this week.
12. The Thames River is still holding small stripers and blues all the way from Norwich Harbor and up the Shetucket a ways, down to New London and the bridge. The herring runs are dying out, and water temperatures are rising rapidly, two factors that have killed the action at the Greenville Dam. Poquetanuck Cove is loaded with jumping and swirling carp, which are great fun on light tackle or to shoot with bow-fishing equipment. Joe said he had a good laugh the other day when he drove by the cove and saw an angler in waders obviously creeping up on the carp with a surf pole and striper plug. Bet he was disappointed after negotiating all the mud and slop to get to where the carp were busting.
13. Fluke fishing is still slow off Isabella Beach, along the south side of Fishers Island and even up along the southern end of the Rhode Island Beaches. Dennis, who works at the shop, had a tough day earlier in the week when he hit all the fluke spots he knows of in both of these areas. Montauk Point is still being hammered by draggers, but the fluke fishing is holding up very well off the point.
14. Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said that the winter flounder bite that had been pretty good began to slow down this week. Most of the action had been up inside the Niantic River and in Jordan Cove.
15. Striper action has picked up in The Race since last week, with higher numbers of big bass and bluefish being reported. Twelve-year-old Nicole Skinner of Waterford caught a 30.25-pound striper from The Race while fishing with her dad to prove this fact. The bluefish have taken up residence in the warm water discharge off Millstone Point since last week and will be there till the snow flies next fall. When the blues are in at Millstone Point, one can be sure summer is not far behind.
16. Fluke fishing is currently slow in the Niantic area. Local anglers are catching a few, but over all, like in most of the region from Point Judith to Norwalk, the fluke action is disappointing on this side of the Sound. Anglers are taking a few keepers but are working hard for every fluke they manage to boat. Greenport and Montauk Point have been the places to go lately.
17. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that over the weekend Six Mile Reef was a circus, with many bass up into the 40-pound range showing up, especially in the catches of those who fished the reefs with eels after dark. A few more bluefish appeared off places like Six Mile and Kimberly Reef, as well. The weather was cooperating and anglers who got out did well.
18. The hickory shad are moving up into both the East and West rivers, which is a good sign and great source of live bait for those jumbo bass that are hanging around the outside reefs. Montauk Point has been red-hot lately, and many of the captain’s customers are making the run across the Sound to take advantage. Just this week he’s beginning to see a few larger fluke coming to the local rivers and drifts, with most of the fish just over the minimum keeper size of 17.5 inches.
19. Bass and trout are still hitting, due to the cool, 60-degree waters. The last trout stocking took place prior to Memorial Day, and it appears many of those fish were big breeders that seemed to appear suddenly in his customers’ catches this week.
20. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford weighed in a 20-pounder for Mike Manante, who caught his fish from the Gun Club Point on a mackerel chunk.
21. Nick Mola of Fisherman’s World, Norwalk said that the larger striped bass he’s been hearing of to their west finally hit the islands this week, with places like Buoy 28 C and the Obstruction Buoy suddenly producing bass up to 25 pounds. These fish are on the move and are being caught in slugs off Greenwich and Stamford, as well. Small blues moved in around Calf Pasture Point Pier, mid-Sound near Stratford Shoal, in New Haven and off 28 C, as well.
22. Fluke fishing has been and continues to remain good at Eaton’s Neck, Mattituck and Port Jefferson. Frank McKane said there were fluke caught over the weekend off Bridgeport that weighed up to about 4 pounds.
23. Any sun that shines will help kick both the fluke and striper fishing into high gear any time now. It looks like fishing for stripers of all sizes is the best bet this weekend, unless you want to burn off some old gas on the way to Montauk Point for fluke. Bob Sampson, Jr.