The Day, New London 7/29/05

1. We had one real tough day striper fishing on the Watch Hill Reefs, said Al Golinski, referring to very stiff moon tides since last week. They waited a couple days for currents to lessen, then went back with a well of live bait for six bass to 38 pounds in the same area fished a couple days prior. Fluking is hitting its seasonal peak along the Rhode Island beaches. Capt. Ben DeMario fished local waters, guiding clients to bass of 44 pounds and releasing a 51-inch fish, both on live bait, both since Monday.
2. Capt. Don's Tackle in Charlestown said people stayed inside Quonny Pond during the two days of thick fog we had, using a tube and worm to troll school fish around the rock pile and the channel coming into the pond. Thirty to 50 feet was the spot for fluke to 5 pounds off the Pink House and about the same depth adjacent to rocky bottom off Quonny for more summer flounder. You can catch shad for bass bait along the surf line at daybreak about three-quarters of the way toward the breachway at East Beach.
3. Capt. Al Anderson spent the week trolling up school bluefin tuna around the Southwest Corner of Cox's Ledge, the Fingers northwest of the Dump and south of the 31-fathom Hole. His best trip was 21 fish tagged and released. One day they aborted the trip and returned home after the party got sick in dense fog and six-foot seas. On the way out or back from tuna trolling, they stopped at the top of the East Grounds to troll up bass and bluefish. One of the Montauk charter boats made a cod run to Cox's Ledge, fishing all the way done to the spot nicknamed Old Faithful. They weren't bordered too, too much by dogfish but landed only a small number of keeper cod on clams. A once great fishery has been reduced to this due to lack of proper management.
4. Don over at King Cove in Stonington reported a good week for fluke around 50 feet give or take both along the Rhode Island beaches and Isabella. Porgies are very big this year and pleasing all types of people in smaller boats. Some keeper blackfish were caught at Latimer Light and the Monsanto jetty on clams. Tube and worm trollers had stripers into the 30s, both from small boats and kayaks along many of our rocky beaches. Look for schoolies and small blues around Sandy Point at daybreak or when waters are quiet.
5. Allen at Shaffers Marina had a sellout weekend for his rental boats, all catching porgies, some fluke and a few blackfish in Fishers Island Sound. He took out his in-laws on Wednesday for some schoolies plugged up on top in the fog around Latimer Light then six keeper fluke at White Rock. He also took some time to fish with this writer, landing seven bass to 41 inches and an 8-pound blue casting live eels and plastic worms around Fishers Island. Kevin Sheehan and another slip customer are finding school bluefin tuna anywhere from five miles south of Fishers Island over to Nebraska Shoals. Capt. Bruce and his charters came in steadily with keepers bass chunked up at Sugar Reef.
6. Joe at the Fish Connection was making leaders when I called, putting down his task long enough to say they are some bunker up the river between Lehigh Oil and the Thermos condos with a few larger blues and a few bass from 30-35 inches under them. Dennis from the shop had a mess of short bass and two keepers chunking on Sugar Reef on Wednesday. Fluking is pretty steady now from White Rock over to Two Tree Channel along with school of small blues feeding on some tiny bait at times between Sarah's Ledge and Intrepid Rock. Look for large porgies when you anchor around Goshen Reef.
7. Stephanie Cramer used a very light fly rod to land school bass wading along the banks of the upper Thames. Her best trip was 17 last Saturday along with a 12-inch fluke that grabbed the fly just like a striper. She remarked that wading the river was a great way to cool off after a hot day.
8. Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat reported the blue fishing last week was very good and very poor at other times due to the extreme moon tides that “never brings anything good ... only stirs up everything and makes for mass confusion accompanied by mud boils.” Biggest fish of the week past was a 17-pound striper caught by Rick Roden of Putnam. Night trips to famed Alligator Ledge start tonight at 6:30 p.m. and then sail on Saturdays at 6 p.m.
9. Hillyers Tackle said the drop off at Black Point is the spot for big fluke if you have the patience to fish a whole squid in deep water waiting for the hit from a doormat. Bass catches the last few days were steady at Bartletts and Valiant with eels at night and tube and worm or live shad or porgies during the day. Best of the week to date was a 37.8-pounder by Joe DeRose on a live shad. Beach anglers found some small blues in close at times in the late afternoon between the mouth of the Thames and Harkness.
10. J&B Tackle noted the charter boats all caught blues well in The Race after the moon tides went past. Trolling high-speed lures for schoolie bluefin was productive on some, not all days, between The Horns and the Dump. Fluking along the eastern Connecticut shore is steady and will hopefully stay that way through the remainder of the summer. Porgies can be caught around bell No. 6 and most of the rocky high spots in the bay and Two Tree Channel.
11. Sherwood Lincoln made a trip from Niantic down to Falkners Island, fishing wrecks in deeper water in mid-Sound for a limit catch of sea bass to 6 pounds. Six of his fish were around 4 pounds and mixed in were a couple fluke to 6 pounds. Bass are on most of the inside reefs from Southwest Reef back to Outer Bartletts, ready to take a live bunker or porgy. You might find some bass bait in Clinton Harbor, or so the dockside gossip goes. [source The Day, New London Tim Coleman]