TheDay Tim Coleman 7/15/05

1. Howard Beers, retired charter captain now working part-time at Hillyers Tackle Shop in Waterford, gave us our big fish of the week. Mike Briggs fished in and around The Race for a 55.8-pound striper and Shawn Harrison, a 3.48-pound winter flounder somewhere outside the Four Mile River.
2. Generally people are picking away at the fluke population, culling through several shorts for some to take home for supper. Blue fishing in The Race is steady, sometimes so much so it's hard for a bass to get to the lures. Porgies are all around but keep in mind some spots hold much bigger ones than others.
3. Al Golinski of Misquamicut got out on Sunday for a fluke limit along the Rhode Island beaches. He went back the next day with Marvin Spence and his wife Emme for three Rhode Island limits to 6 pounds. Six of the total weighed between 4 and 6 pounds, all caught in 40 feet of water.
4. Jack at Ocean House Marina reported the sharpies are picking away at large bass on live shad or porgies during the day on the local reefs and humps. Fluking was OK, not great, with a couple boats finding some medium keepers in 20 feet just off the beach. No weakfish or bonito yet but sea bass and scup are on most of the local wrecks and hard bottom.
5. Stephanie Cramer continues to make tripS from Connecticut to Snug Harbor to fish with Capt. Al Anderson. This week she used an 11-weight fly rod to land a schoolie bluefin presumably south of Block Island. She described it as the “biggest fishing adventure of my life.”
6. In Stonington, Don at King Cove called the fluking at Isabella the last couple days, OK, not tremendous. Striper pros on the reefs are getting fish but mostly smaller bass with the exception of Ken Zwirco who used an eel at 3 in the afternoon for a fine 49.75 pounder. Hickory shad are much harder to find now in Stonington Harbor. Shore anglers are getting schoolie stripers from the jetty behind the Monsanto plant and Stonington Point.
7. Cheryl at Shaffers sold a lot of red tubes last week for people trolling in very close to Masons Island, some of them in kayaks, for small and medium stripers. Fluking isn't bad between Gates Island and Stonington but you have to fish through shorts and dogfish depending on the day. Others in small boats had their limits right at the mouth of the Mystic River when boat traffic was lighter. Dock fishermen caught a mix of small bass, porgies and a few fluke near the Route One drawbridge. We were sorry to hear the fishing pier of sorts at the Causeway Bridge has been removed, eliminating a popular spot for kids to wet a line. This writer was out Sunday evening for six blues in The Race then six bass to 34 inches casting on the south side of Fishers Island on the flood tide.
8. The Fish Connection in Preston had reports about sporadic catches of fluke between Seaflower and Intrepid Reef. Boats had their limits one trip but the next time just shorts and sand sharks. Trollers using the tube and worm had bass of various sizes on both sides of Fishers Island. Porgies can be caught from the shore of the Thames along with small blues and schoolie stripers. You can also catch scup from the shore along the Rhode Island beaches. The Shennecossett Yacht Club will hold its Fifth Annual Fishing Tournament to benefit the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Southeastern Connecticut on July 29-31 for bass, blues and fluke. A $20 donation is required that gets you in and a free T-shirt. Anyone interested can call the shop at 860-885-1739.
9. Kevin Fiftal sent in an e-mail about a 43.9-pound bass his son Jimmy caught trolling a red tube and worm on the south side of Race Point, fishing on the Sara J out of Noank. Dad, as you might imagine, was very proud of the trip and the way 10-year-old Jimmy bested the big fish all by himself.
10. Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat had his usual report about good to excellent blue fishing in The Race last week on all but two days. There is a weekly mix of bass in with blues depending on tide and conditions. Biggest fish of the week was a striper caught by Brian Patterson of Norwich. Night trips for blues will start on Friday and Saturday, July 29 at 6:30 p.m. The Saturday night trips will leave at 6 p.m. The rest of the time they will be fishing during the day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
11. Capt. Kerry Douton at J&B observed The Race is so full of blues some days it's much harder to get through trying for a striper. Fluking is fair/steady with doormats going to those who put in more time than the average angler. Schoolie bluefin can now be trolled regularly between the Butterfish Hole and the Horns on most any good trolling lure. Canyon fishing was fair in some of the spots. One local boat nailed a 250-pound swordfish, two large yellowfin and some mahi at Atlantis.
12. Jeff Frechette sent in his e-mail about a trip north of the Ranger wreck in rough seas for two medium blue sharks along with rebaiting several times due to bluefish. They trolled on the way home, catching six small bluefin on all the different lures they had in the pattern.
13. Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme said he took a friend out striper fishing early one day this week. They used live bait on the reefs between Old Saybrook and Niantic for four bass from 30 to 38 pounds, back at the dock by 8 a.m. He also landed nine sea bass in the eastern Sound, his first such catch of 2005 along with an 8-pound blackfish that took a small strip of squid on a high-low rig. Sherwood is well-known in our area as one of the few people to catch more than 50 stripers over 50 pounds, his skill catching these outsized bass attracted the attention of Salt Water Sportsman magazine that wants to do a story about the man and the method.