CT DEP 8/29/05 - Weekly Fishing Report

1. INLAND REPORT :Good reports for LARGEMOUTH BASS from Lake Zoar, Lake Lillinonah (four 4+ lb bass for one tournament), Highland, Mashapaug, Candlewood, Cedar, Crystal, Bashan, Wyassup, Chamberlain, Congamond (5 lb bass), Amos (5.12 lb bass), Billings, Wonoscopomuc (33 fish) and Quonnipaug Lakes, Mansfield Hollow Reservoir (good action, no big ones), and Ball, Pachaug, Huntington State Park, Glasgo, Avery, Mudge, Stillwater and Squantz Ponds.
2. Some SMALLMOUTH BASS action reported from Mashapaug, Candlewood, Coventry (4 lb smallie) and East Twin Lakes, Squantz Pond and the Housatonic River (excellent). Smallmouth fishing at Lake Lillinonah was slow.
3. Good numbers of WALLEYE (early morning to sunrise) are being reported from Coventry Lake and Squantz Pond (17-22” fish, 5' off the bottom).
4. NORTHERN PIKE (target cooler water) fishing is reported to be good at Bantam Lake, Winchester Lake and Pachaug Pond. Some catches also at Hopeville and Ashland Ponds.
5. Good reports for YELLOW PERCH (fishing throughout the day) from Candlewood, Crescent, Gardner and Crystal Lakes and Squantz Pond.
6. CATFISH (some in the 24-26" range) continue to provide good action on portions of the Connecticut River (the Hartford-Cromwell area was slow last weekend).
7. STRIPED BASS action (mostly schoolies) is good in the lower river on tubes and worms as well as on bait.
8. Fishing for SUNFISH is an excellent (and traditional) late summer activity for the entire family, good reports include Wood Creek Pond, and Crescent, Billings, Crystal (Ellington), and Mamanasco Lakes. Use worms, grubs, jigs or small poppers for them.
9. TROUT:Rivers & streams - Fly anglers should definitely include terrestrial fly patterns in their arsenal. Despite some recent precipitation, many streams remain relatively low.
10. Trout fishing remains good on the Farmington River. Labor Day weekend anglers can look forward to even more fish in the Farmington River as DEP EXPECTS TO STOCK 1,200 SEEFORELLAN - STRAIN BROWN TROUT for the holiday weekend! Morning water temperatures continue to range from the upper 50’s°F (above Riverton) to low 60’s°F (West branch TMA). Flows are clear but remain low (about 125 cfs just below the Still River in Riverton). Hatches include the Trico (#22-28, morning), Needhami (#22-26, early morning), Isonychia (#10-12, fast water, evening), Blue Wing Olives (#22-28, mid-late afternoon), Sulphurs duns (#18-20, below the dam due to low temperatures, morning; afternoon to early evening for spinners), Caddis (tan #16-18, all day; green #22-26, evening; summer pupa #18-20 morning), Midges (#22-32, morning), Cahills/Stenonema (#12-18, evenings), Black Ants (#14-20, mid day in fast water), Black Beetles (#16-18, mid day), Flying Ants (#18-22, mid day, when windy/humid), Stone Hopper (#8-12, mid day) and Golden Drake (Potomanthus, #10-14, late evening).
11. Both fishing and water temperatures have improved somewhat on the Housatonic River, although conditions are still not good for trout. Flows are clear but remain low (about 210 cfs at Falls Village). Morning water temperatures in the TMA have been ranging from 68 to 72°F. ANTS are on right now. Hatches include white fly (#10-14, producing evening action), Blue Wing Olive (#18-22, early morning; spinner fall in evening), Isonychia (#12-14 evening), Light Cahill/Stenonema (#12-16, evening), and Black caddis (#16-18, early morning & evening) with some Alder Flies in the Bull's Bridge (warmer water) area. Try Black/Cinnamon Ants (#18-22, mid day in fast water), Black Beetles (#14-18, mid day), Stone Hopper (#8-10, mid day) and Flying Ants (#18-22, mid day, when windy/humid). Streamers are generally a good choice (try White Wooly Buggers, Muddlers, Micky Finn, Grey or Black Ghosts).
12. Lakes & Ponds – Good late summer trout fishing can be found at a number of lakes and ponds including Crystal Lake (Ellington), East Twin Lake (18 fish from 2:30 am to 5:30 am for one angler, at 42 feet), Highland Lake (10 fish at 25 feet), West Hill Pond (worms at 3 colors of lead line), West Side Pond and Beach Pond (21 trout).
13. MARINE REPORT:The surface water temperature in Long Island Sound (LIS) ranges from the high 60’s to the low 70’s °F.
14. STRIPED BASS fishing is fair to good on the major reefs but should improve as fall approaches. Slow trolling the tube and worm or fishing with live baits (scup, menhaden, hickory shad or eels) have been effective for “cow” bass.
15. STRIPERS and BLUEFISH can be caught off the Watch Hill reefs, Ram Island Reef, the Race, Plum Gut, Thames River, Bartlett Reef, Black Point, the humps south of Hatchett Reef, Long Sand Shoal, Cornfield Point, Southwest Reef, Sixmile Reef, the reefs off Madison and Branford, New Haven Harbor, Charles Island area, Penfield Reef, and around the Norwalk Islands. School stripers can caught in tidal rivers and coves.
16. SNAPPER BLUEFISH fishing is about at peak and fish range in length from about 5-8 inches.
17. SUMMER FLOUNDER (fluke) fishing remains hit or miss. Fluke areas include: the Stonington Harbor area, lower Mystic River, Groton Long Point, Black Point, Sound View Beach, Connecticut River, Long Sand Shoal, Six Mile Reef , Falkner Island, New Haven Harbor, and around the Norwalk Islands.
18. TAUTOG (blackfish) is fair and SCUP (porgies) fishing is good at any of the rock piles located in LIS. Monster scup exceeding 15 inches in length are not unusual.
19. The Niantic River and Clinton Harbor is fair for HICKORY SHAD.
20. Reports of TUNA in eastern LIS are still being reported with anglers seeing fish breaching.
21. BLUE CRABBING has improved dramatically along the coastline especially in the Guilford to Madison area, Westbrook and from the Connecticut River and tidal creeks to the east.

TheDay 8/25/05

• This is usually the time of year when offshore fishing heats up and 2005 is no exception, if you have the money for the long run. Capt. Kerry Douton of J&B Tackle said there is steady action due south of Montauk Point down below the 43500 line on most trips. His last outing produced three smaller yellows, five albies and eight mahi.
• Boats fishing on the edge in the Fishtail and to the west had 75 to 150-pound yellows on some nights, anchored up and bait fishing. Capt. Bob Wadsworth took some time off from local charter fishing to make a trip to the 100-fathom curve where the boat he was on landed a 260-pound bigeye.
• Jeff Frechette sent in his regular e-mail about running to the Fishtail at 30 mph in flat seas. They trolled up a 38-pound albie and small mahi in the evening plus had a blue marlin come up into the spread. They ended the day catching six more mahi around a high flyer. In the morning they were back on the troll before sunrise, landing three more ablies and two more mahi. Their total was four long fin albacore from 35 to 38 pounds and 16 mahi, not a bad day's “work.”
• Back on the inshore scene, Al Golinski of Misquamicut said they loaded up on big sea bass on Monday on a hump in deep water off Charlestown. Besides five sea biscuits over 4 pounds they also caught fluke of 4 and 6 pounds, all on a bucktail tipped with whole squid. The Pawcatuck River is loaded with snapper blues, great bait for fluke, bass or the school bluefin.
• Capt. Don's in Charlestown said they had some bass to 22 pounds and larger blues on the beaches around Quonnie one evening before dark. Given the amount of bait around, it's not surprising fall-style surf fishing may be starting. Fluke were landed in decent numbers off Quonny on Wednesday in about 50 feet, give or take, along with a 6.8-pound sea bass. Mario Tirone and friend had a good fluke trip along a drop off in 30 feet of water at the North Rip. Tube and worm trollers continue to land small and medium bass and blues in 15 to 25 feet of water outside Quonny.
• Don at King Cove in Stonington reported fair but steady fluking for the smaller boats off Napatree and outside the East Breakwater. You'll have to fish through the shorts but keepers are there also. Chunking is still good around Sugar Reef and the Wicopesset can plus casters are getting smaller bass and blues on the reefs thanks to all the bait around. Porgies and some medium to large sea bass can be caught around Latimer and Ragged Reef. From time to time schools of bluefish pushed right up into Stonington Harbor after the bait.
• Moving along to Mystic, Allen Fee at Shaffers said all his rental boats continue to land porgies, especially on weekends with all the crowds. George Horvath landed seven keeper fluke on Wednesday in 65 feet of water off Misquamicut along with a very large sea bass. On Thursday Allen took a charter out for schoolies on top water plugs then five keeper fluke at White Rock. A trip that evening to Little Gull found blues taking both top waters and diamond jigs down deep. Allen said they had three fish on more times than not. Blues are so thick in The Race and other spots it was tough to keep an eel away from them long enough for striper to find it.
• Joe at the Fish Connection thinks the bluefin may move back into our waters. His son Jack landed two fish between 30 and 35 pounds on charter trips this week around the outside of The Race and Fishers Island. Blues are popping up anywhere from Millstone to the east. The Thames River has small blues and a few larger ones that tear into bait some days in the evening. On Wednesday he saw them off Fort Shantok, and the boat houses. You can still find keeper fluke between Vixen Ledge and White Rock. People heading out further had different news about best depth for summer flounder. One gent went to Rhode Island and found keepers in shallow water while another maintained you had to be in 60 feet or deeper to find larger fish.
• Stephanie Cramer sent in her report about small bass caught casting along the upper river in the evening plus she saw school of small blues on the surface by the barge wreck on the west side of the river. Members in her fly fishing club encountered small bluefin in The Race one day. They had two hook-ups and called the experience “a great time.”
• Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat was happy to say the day trips to The Race have been nothing short of fabulous for blues. Bass are on the right part of the tide as they always are. The night trips to Alligator Ledge have finally produced the great catches people have come to expect and right now it's hard to see how blue fishing could be better. Big fish of the week was a 20-pound striper landed by Tony Sanchez of Meriden.
• Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme fished some of the deep humps southwest of Black Point on Tuesday afternoon. On the end of the flood and slack, he filled a small cooler with large porgies and on the afternoon ebb caught four bass to 26 pounds and three blues. Most of the catch was taken by a friend and donated to a homeless shelter in Westerly.
• Hillyers Tackle said the peanut bunker are drawing bass into the river at night and blues at other times but not each and every day. Tube and worm trolling or drifting a live porgy at both Inner and Outer Bartletts is producing some bass along with bluefish. Many people headed over to Isabella for fluke saying the bay had just too many throwbacks.
• River's End in Old Saybrook rated the striper fishing has just so-so. The best catches went to the steadies who got live bait in Clinton Harbor then fished it deep in the morning on Southwest Reef. The Race is loaded with 5 to 8-pound blues but the school of choppers in the lower Connecticut River thinned way, way down. Fluking isn't bad though not super in the river and the Sand Shoal.

NB Herald, 8/25/05

• Summer heat has slowed trout fishing in most rivers and streams throughout the state. The Farmington River continues to fish well (although flows are low), and the Housatonic River remains slow with many trout in the thermal refuges. Best fishing is at dawn and the early evening hours through dusk. Successful patterns include Needhami, Isonychia, Blue Wing Olives, Caddis, Cahills/Summer Stenonema, Midges,Black Ants, Black Beetles Flying Ants,Stone Hopper and Golden Drake.
• Largemouth Bass fishing remains generally good although catches were off a bit due to the weather. Good reports include Pachaug and Hatch Ponds, North Farms Reservoir, Lake Williams, Lake Lillinonah, and Highland, East Twin, Rogers, Candlewood, Quonnipaug, Congamond and Coventry Lakes. Smallmouth are hitting at Squantz Pond, Colebrook Reservoir, Lake Lillinonah, Candlewood andCoventry Lake. Fishing for the bronzebacks is excellent, on the Shetucket, Willimantic, and Housatonic Rivers.
• Striped Bass fishing has improved with the full moon of last weekend. The best times are during dawn and dusk, including nighttime and daytime periods of overcast low light conditions. The Race and Outer Bartletts are the current hot spots. Other good locations include the Watch Hill reefs, Ram Island Reef, the Sluiceway, Plum Gut, Bartlett Reef, Hatchett Reef, Southwest Reef, Sixmile Reef, the reefs off Branford, Charles Island to Milford Point, the Norwalk Islands and the reefs off Stamford.
• Bluefish are providing the best action of the season. Fishing is most consistent in eastern LIS from the Race to Long Sand Shoal. Other good fishing locations include the Sluiceway, Plum Gut, Bartlett Reef, Hatchett Reef, Connecticut River between the Baldwin Bridge and the Amtrak RR Bridge. Snapper blues have arrived, although they are small, 4-7 inches in length.
• Summer Flounder fishing has also improved on the full moon tides. Gardiners Bay, Montauk and the south side of Fishers Island continue to yield double-digit fluke, some approaching 12 pounds. Other good locations are the Mystic River, lower Thames River, Niantic River, Black Point, and Connecticut River.
• Hickory Shad, a.k.a. "Connecticut Tarpon," fishing remains good in the Niantic River and fair in the Connecticut River and Clinton Harbor. Incoming tides are best. There is very little to report on Bonito and False Albacore. They should be moving into our water with consistency any day.

On The Water, 8/25/05

1. Those bluefin tuna that have been creating such a stir seem to be moving to the east since the weekend. There are still sporadic and scattered reports, primarily from The Race and off Sakonnet, Rhode Island, but for the most part chatter about these fish has stopped since the last report. It’s not to say they won’t return, but at least for the moment it seems to have quieted down in the bluefin tuna department.
2. The good news is that in some areas, namely the Point Judith area to Newport, they have been replaced by bonito. Nothing in the way of reports of false albacore anywhere this week. It’s all bonito or rare bluefin tuna. Otherwise it’s pretty much a night bite for bass, bluefish are all over the place and fluke are a steady pick of mostly small fish. Porgies are big and easy to find and catch. Pretty much across the board from Newport to Norwalk, the shops are talking about a much better than average run of snapper bluefish, which bodes well for the action a couple of years down the line.
3. Jimmy of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingstown told us the tuna were gone as of Wednesday. The last report he had was that they were about 15 miles off to the east of Newport and heading to the Cape.
4. Striper fishing is running hot and cold, basically a nighttime proposition, with fish up to 30 pounds coming out of Narragansett and Scarborough beaches. The bay is producing mostly schoolies, some bluefish and a few fluke.
5. Bonito are showing up at Newport, the mouth of Narrow River and off the Center Wall at Point Judith. Not in huge numbers, but where there were 30-pound tuna last week, it’s now 4- or 5-pound bonito.
6. Fluke fishing is holding up with fish to about six pounds being caught up inside the bay, as well as along the south shore beaches but nothing spectacular to report other than a pick on fluke.
7. Bluefishing is off in the bay due to all the bait outside. Jimmy said the common idea is that they don’t have to come in to the bay due to all the bait that’s easy to find and eat outside in the ocean.
8. Peter at Saltwater Edge, Newport also reported that the tuna have all but disappeared. They were out off First Beach Tuesday but were gone on Wednesday. Late last week there were some skipjacks and even a school of mahi mahi reported off Field Ledge and Haycock Ledge but are gone, as well.
9. The bonito have taken the place of the bluefins off Newport. So far the bonito fishing is as good as it’s been in a year or more, with high-liners taking a dozen fish per day out in front of the bay and across to Point Judith.
10. Bass fishing in town has been weak since the tuna left. Peter speculated that the tunas might have pushed the bait the bass were eating up inside the bay or somewhere else, possibly to the west. Fishing is better for stripers in Scarborough and Narragansett than around Newport for the moment. Bluefish are around in numbers but not size.
11. Justin at Breachway Tackle, Charlestown said the bass are still providing good action to night-fishermen who are using eels along the beaches and around the breachway. Ronnie is doing his thing and limiting out most mornings before work.
12. Fluke fishing is coming back after a couple of slow weeks. Numbers are still up and down depending on whom you talk to, but this week’s top fish was a 6.7-pounder caught in the Charlestown area. Anglers are doing well some days and not on others, which is pretty much the fluke story most have been telling all season long.
13. Bluefish of 10 pounds are showing up in the breachway lately, along with the run-of-the-mill 3-pounders that have been so prevalent this season. Snappers are running big time up inside the salt pond.
14. Occasionally anglers are picking up weakfish of legal size while trolling for bass along the beach using jigs or umbrella rigs. Shad are still around in good numbers, so anglers can have fun catching them for sport on light tackle or opt to use them as very effective “big bass” live hook bait. Here, like everywhere else, scup are abundant and easy to catch.
15. Bonito are around “out front,” as they say, which means off the beaches and in the breachway, as well as around the walls at Point Judith. Basically they will be wherever the birds are working, although at times bluefish and/or striped bass will cause the fray.
16. The bluefins have moved out of this area, as well.
17. Bob at Wildwood Outfitters in Wakefield was busy or out of the store when we called on Wednesday.
18. John Swienton, owner of Twin Maples Tackle out on Block Island, told us he hasn’t had any bluefin reports as of Wednesday, but there were still some fish a half-mile south of Black Rock Can. John added that all indications are that these fish are thinning out after providing more than a week of action around the perimeter of the island.
19. The good news is that the bonito showed up hot and heavy in the Coast Guard Channel and as usual were hitting Deadly Dicks, Kastmasters and Fin-S lures. I’ve caught and seen them caught on Slug-Gos, Salt Shakers and other shad-type swimming jigs, as well as on Rattle Traps and other freshwater-size rattling crankbaits. Just change the hooks to modify these lures for use in the ocean.
20. The bass were hitting surface plugs better than they were eels on Tuesday night for John when he and his son were fishing off Black Rock. He started using eels and didn’t do much with them. He could see the fish on the depthfinder, and they would rush up off the bottom and slam the poppers as they came over their positions. The neat thing is these were tackle-busting hook-straightening bruiser stripers. His son caught a fish of 50 inches on a popper during the hour or so they spent casting to this incredible school of big striped bass! John mentioned that earlier in the day a friend had fished that spot and done nothing, but by about 7 p.m. these jumbo fish were all over the place.
21. He said the fish were so big they were breaking the treble hooks off their poppers. One nice thing was the fact that while those huge stripers were there and feeding, there wasn’t the usual array of two-pound bluefish around to get in the way. Yet, at the same time, Sandy Point at the opposite end of the island was chock-full of bluefish. A situation where the two ends of Block Island were each alive with fish but of different species, when more often than not the action would be a mix of bass and blues.
22. I was late doing my calls due to phone problems and missed Captain Don of Captain Don’s Tackle, Charlestown, Rhode Island, so we don’t have his always interesting take on the fishing scene this week.
23. Bill at King Cove Marina, Stonington told us he has not heard about any bluefins in the Fishers Island area for the past few days. However, reportedly there were bonito over in the Quonny Breachway.
24. Remember, all reports of any species in the tuna family are old by the time anyone hears them. Use these reports as starting points, but don’t be surprised if the tunoids are in a totally different spot when you go looking for them.
25. Bass fishing was very good all day Wednesday off the Watch Hill Reef area where a sizable school of stripers was feeding on the tons of bait that included squid, baby bunker and some other small baitfish that couldn’t be easily identified. The angler who made this report said he caught fish up to 38 inches on light tackle and a variety of small lures, including Storm minnows, jigs and a Crippled Herring.
26. Fluke fishing is holding up pretty well, with customers catching good numbers of legal fish but no monster doormats. The good thing is everyone is fairly happy with their fluke catches lately, despite having to cull shorts to put a few keepers in the livewell. Most anglers were fluking over the weekend, not as many people were out very far offshore due to fog.
27. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic reported the same sort of low-level fishing focused mostly on fluke as a result of the weekend fog banks. She has been seeing loads of fluke coming in from Ram Island Reef and other local spots in the Mystic area. Fishing has been consistently pretty good from White Rock to Groton Long Point. Captain Al Fee also reported catching a few decent fluke with one of his charters late last week around White Rock as a capper to a decent outing to Race Rock and Point for bass and bluefish.
28. One group of people at the marina said that “the stripers off Misquamicut have been hitting like bluefish, with reckless abandon lately, due to all the bait that’s in the water.”
29. The full moon brought a slowdown on bass catches for some reason this week. At first light, bass were active around Valiant Rock and Race Rock over the weekend, but not so on Monday. After the full moon it dropped off a tad. Al said there were bonito in The Race over the weekend.
30. Bluefish have been thick in The Race and Latimer Light for the past month and don’t show any sign of thinning out in the near future. The bonito have been sparse other than the one Al’s customer hooked and lost off Race Rock on Friday morning. That hungry little bonito hit a Creek Chub Popper that was intended for stripers.
31. Porgies are up to 15 inches in all the local spots. Anyone who wants to can load up on these sporty, easy-to-catch and good-eating little scrappers. Shad are still around the Mystic River area for those looking for bass bait in lieu of hard-to-get eels.
32. Captain Jack Balint of The Fish Connection, Preston on the Thames has been seeing a few tunas out in The Race this week and up to Tuesday but said they are definitely a good deal harder to find since the weekend.
33. Bob Zabuleski caught a tuna on Monday during the trip that Jack donated to the Jim Spignesi Scholarship Fund Banquet last spring. Jack was seeing bluefins from Fishers Island to Sakonnet, just short of Cuttyhunk last week. One day, he saw some mahi mahi but couldn’t get them to bite on anything. The water was flat and clear, and they were uncooperative. These are probably the same school of fish that the boys from Saltwater Edge Tackle of Newport were talking about.
34. Jack said he’s never seen as much bait, floating mats of eelgrass in the water south of Fishers Island, and fog as he’s encountered this year. Some days he can’t even tube-and-worm the island due to the junk, and some of those days he’s been running home on radar. The fog has been incredible due to all the heat and resulting evaporation.
35. Fluke fishing has been good in close from Bluff Point to Goshen Reef, Waterford, so there is no need to make the long gas-guzzling run to Misquamicut if you are looking for a few eating-size fluke. Porgies are all over and easy to catch in the eastern end of the Sound, like everywhere else.
36. There are big bluefish up to about 10 pounds in good numbers being caught in The Race lately, along with bass deep and at night, and the occasional bluefin tuna or bonito. It’s a veritable smorgasbord out there lately. The smaller blues have thinned out in comparison, with more bigger stuff lately than those bait-size “cocktail blues” that dominated the fishery early on before the big postspawn adults moved inshore for the summer.
37. The Thames has been producing blues and school bass but has slowed down a good deal due to all the heat. Water temps are simply too high for the bass and possibly even the bluefish or the bait they are eating.
38. Fishers Island has been good for striper fishing when you can fish around the floating mats of eelgrass. Nighttime is better than the day, but the fish seem to be all over the place, it’s a matter of being able to reach them with an appropriate bait or lure.
39. Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford also said the bluefish are stacked up out in The Race. Fish deep, shallow and in-between, and use about any method known to man. Everyone out there is catching blues. By day the blues are dominant, and there should be large fish out there to be competitive for anglers who are planning to fish the WICC bluefish tournament this weekend. Be sure to check the rules on just where it is legal to fish. The Race is a border of sorts, and you may disqualify yourself during the ebb tide if you are not careful.
40. Anglers who are looking for bass will find them down deep in The Race after dark, not so much during the day due to interference from all the blues cruising around. Bass fishing as always is best at night. There are reportedly some schoolies in around Bartlett and Hatchet reefs that were up on top during the week, but they seem to get spooked by all the boat traffic on the weekends.
41. Fluke fishing has been holding up, with many shorts in anglers’ catches. Those who fish hard are culling through to get a few keepers, although limits are not common. It’s a matter of being persistent and patient. If you luck out, it is possible to catch a Connecticut 5-fish limit of 17.5-inchers, but it will take some effort most days.
42. Matt also mentioned how there are all sorts of bait around, including bunker and snappers, more than he’s seen in a few years, and anchovies. There was even a tinker mackerel caught between the bridges one day this week, and that’s the first time he’s heard of a tinker mackerel caught in that spot in quite a while.
43. The bluefins are still popping in and out of The Race but not like they were a week or so ago.
44. Porgy fishing is excellent on big fish, and there are plenty of them around the bell buoy #6 in the bay. Tons of scup are everywhere – “You can’t get away from them around the rock piles,” Matt noted. Bonito and false albacore were spotted by Niantic Bob off the West Wall, Point Judith on Monday, but none are in the bay yet. Matt said, “We are coming up on the prime time of September and October when the fishing stays good all week long and the weekend crowds begin to diminish with the opening of school.”
45. “Q” of River’s End, Saybrook has been sea bass fishing and did well earlier this week on a trip he made to Montauk and Block Island.
46. Fluke are not being caught as well in the river as they were a week ago. There are still a few being caught off Sound View, with an occasional slammer doormat being dredged up from the deep waters off Black Point, but it’s a hard day on the water to catch one.
47. School bass are thick off Bartlett Reef, but Hatchet was slow on Tuesday evening for large bass.
48. A few bonito came in through Plum Gut, along with a parcel of bluefish earlier this week, but there, as everywhere, the action is sporadic at best for these speedsters. “Q” added that big live baits will produce big bass if you can get them through all the bluefish.
49. In the Gut, he heard of the bluefins in The Race on Tuesday, like others up the way but nothing consistent, you have to be in the right place at the right time to catch one of these super-charged fish.
50. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that bluefish are shaping up well in his midstate area for this weekend’s WICC $20,000 World’s Greatest Bluefish Contest. He was busy signing up anglers, so we will talk to him next week after he’s had a chance to rest and collect his thoughts.
51. He said there are still a few big bass around the reefs like Kimberly, Six Mile and Falkner, but they are pretty much on a night bite. For him it’s coffee and all-nighters until after the big contest.
52. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford said not much has happened this week in the waters from East Haven to Bridgeport. Mostly small blues and porgies are around, the bass are pretty much non-existent due to the warm water in the Sound. Chris said he fished Greenwich Harbor Monday and caught blues up to 6 pounds down there where reports were of fish to 15 pounds. He said they didn’t see any bait on that trip and things were generally slow. A few anglers caught big fish that he saw photos of, but they were not saying where due to the upcoming contest.
53. Fluke have been pretty slow lately, as well. One husband-and-wife team he sees for bait on a weekly basis is still catching a few keeper fluke up to about five pounds off the New Haven breakwalls, but they are fishing all day for a few keepers. Fluke are a slow pick in the Stratford area, with mostly little stuff being reported.
54. The western end of the Sound is pretty much in the summer doldrums, which means bluefish, bluefish and more bluefish, with porgies around for anyone who wants to set the anchor.
55. Best bets this weekend are of course bluefish and porgies, pretty much any place you care to look for them. Stripers are around more so in the eastern half of the Sound and around deep-water reefs where they are being caught by dredging the bottom with live baits by day or eels after dark.
56. Look for possible encounters with bonito or even a stray bluefin in The Race off the southwestern corner of Block Island or east of Newport. It looks like the great inshore school bluefin tuna bite of 2005 may be over, at least for the time being. Look for a return later on in the season.

NY side of LIS

1. Western Long Island Sound: Awesome fluking in the Sound as 'Popcorn' Pete brought an 11-pounder into Jack's B&T last weekend and lots of anglers are limiting out on 4-5 pounders. The fish are taking spearing, live killies and sand eels. The harbors are filled with bluefish taking chunks, and porgies are biting at the points.

2. Huntington/Northport bays: A great week of fluking as the warm water stabilized and the fish were stacked up along the drop-offs. Anthony DeMaio broke the shop record at Four Winds with a 31-inch, 14.51-pounder on a live snapper. There were a few 9-pounders and Corrine Valentine from Four Winds took a 10.15-pounder. Scup have been a little hard to pin down and cocktail blues pop up sporadically. For bass and bigger blues, try 50 feet of water south of 11B.

3. Smithtown Bay: Some very good fluke results, but anglers at Swaine's say you have to work for them. Little Haley Perez took a 6.5-pounder over the weekend and Roy Acquista limited out on fluke from 19-24 inches on the east side of Cranes Neck. Tom Schlitz caught an 18-pound bass in Stony Brook Harbor. James Barabash had four fluke to 22 inches but also nailed a 23-inch, 5.5-pound sea bass off Cranes Neck. Porgies are skittish, so chumming is the key.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Rocky Point Fishing Stop reported plenty of small blues and stripers along the local beaches in the morning and evenings with some bonita mixed in. Celtic Quest reported lots of 2-pound porgies Tuesday night. It's time to scup! Bluefish are pretty available. Fluking has slowed to a grind.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: Still plenty of 30-pound bass around on bucktails and eels, but you pretty much have to wait for dark so the bluefish settle down. Albacore showed up this week for the spinning rod and fly guys, who have also been catching bluefin tuna to 25 pounds.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: Capt. Mike on the Prime Time III reports ridiculous porgy fishing with easy limits for anglers. He said when the limit goes to 60 for party and charter boats Sept. 1, anglers will probably still hit that number. Clams and squid are doing the trick and drawing an occasional bluefish, striper or sea bass for variety."

On The Water 8/15/05

1. To everyone’s surprise, there are still some of those school bluefin tuna, dense little footballs anywhere from 20 to 40 pounds, running around in the waters of Block Island Sound, across the mouth of Narragansett Bay and east to Sakonnet, Rhode Island, and the Cape. The reports of these fish are still coming in from the south shore beaches to Watch Hill and out along Fishers Island to The Race, but those reports have faded a great deal since the last one. It looks like many of the bluefins that had been ripping around the beaches have pulled out around Block Island, which is the epicenter of sightings and catches this week.
2. Overall, fluke reports remain constant, with most shops talking about more, but smaller fish, along with a high percentage of 5-pound or better fish being brought in to the scales on a regular basis. Bass action has slowed with the heat while bluefish have improved. Porgies are everywhere in such abundance that the shops are not talking about them because they are so easy to catch."
3. Al Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic, said they had a quiet Sunday due to a scary forecast with that hurricane moving up the coast. It got rough Saturday as that storm moved by offshore. The open ocean is kicking up as a result, scaring some anglers off.
4. Everyone was doing well on fluke again this week. Fluke fishing is still holding up both in and around Mystic and Stonington, as well as along the Rhody coast and Fishers Island. He said it’s been great for the guys with small boats who are taking fish in the waters from Ellis Reef, Buoys 6 and 4, on east to White Rock. This is a low-traffic area, so it’s safer and more comfortable for anglers fishing from small boats. Al has seen many 5-pounders this week like he has all season, but nothing much larger than that. Glen Brotherton of Mystic took a pair of 5-pound fish on Monday from the south side of Fishers Island.
5. Al went out chartering Thursday and Friday, and said he’s having trouble finding fish in along the shore near Mystic. On Thursday they had to run to Race Rock where they caught a ton of blues and bass of 34 and 36 inches on top with poppers. After a while they did some fluking along the south side of the island where they caught a 25-incher, along with three other decent keepers and a bunch of shorts in 63 feet of water using a fluke ball and teaser. When the tide changed, the opposite side of Race Rock was again loaded with blues and bass, so they had another round of popper action on their return trip to Mystic.
6. The striped bass are out chasing bait and therefore moving all over the place. One angler was chunking off Sugar Reef and caught a bunch of bass on whole squid he was dropping down with leadcore line, an effective method for fishing these shallow reefs. The rough water had them turned on pretty well over the weekend. Wednesday, Al himself caught fish up to 30 inches along the eastern end of Fishers Island, during low tide when the fishing was difficult. Porgies are providing excellent fishing throughout the area. Rental boats are slaying them, so everyone is pretty happy.
7. No reports of bluefin in close in a week. No false albacore or bonito in the area yet, either.
8. Fluke fishing is decent fish from Groton over to Harkness Park. No monster doormat catches this week, but plenty of keepers and many more shorts being caught than a month or so ago.
9. Sugar Reef, Sandy Point and other places where there’s deep water where the bass can get out of the heat are holding good stripers at the present time. But catching them is a matter of fishing the tides early and late in the day, preferably with live baits to catch the bigger stuff. Tube-and-worming is becoming less productive for bass due to the porgy factor.
10. Small bluefish are all over the place off Race Point and along the island. One customer caught some of those big anchovies or possibly herring off Ocean Beach on Sabiki Rigs. They are also catching Atlantic herring out in The Race. Joe noted there are good numbers of small squid around that the bass and fluke are chowing down.
11. Crabbing is very poor this year.
12. Freshwater lakes have been producing good fish, but the weeds and algae are tough in many of them. Amos, Avery, Glasgo and Long Pond are all producing some fish.
13. Lou at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford said they have been seeing lots of fish. The fluke size has been coming down, but the numbers are up. One angler was fishing off Horse Shoe Beach and caught a couple keepers and some shorts from the shore in 12 feet of water. These fluke were apparently feeding on anchovies. There was a huge school of round herring that appeared recently in the area and brought some bass and blues in with it. Howard Beers has been taking Sunbeam fluke trips to The Ruins and said the boat did well out there last week. So, overall, fluking has been pretty good in the general area for the past few weeks. It seems anglers are even out picking up blackfish lately based on increased green crab sales.
14. Bass have been good at night off Harkness Park, where the beach meets the rocks on eels. But anglers are leaving their cars illegally in the lot and may be locked in. The park closes, so anyone who wants to fish there after dark must leave his car on the road and walk in or risk being locked in for the night.
15. There are loads of bluefish all over the place in the waters from Groton, up inside the Thames to Norwich and west to Niantic. The die-hard bass anglers are getting beaten up pretty bad, so they are not very happy.
16. Hickory shad fishing was hot between the bridges last week. But they thinned out this week. Lou said they are probably still around the area and will likely come back in numbers as we head into fall. Porgies are excellent here like everywhere else.
17. No reports of bluefins in Hillyer’s for about four days. No albies locally yet. The West Wall had a few around but just out of reach, according to Niantic Bob who is champing at the bit to get at some false albacore with his fly rod.
18. Pat Abate of River’s End, Saybrook, said the fluking is really good, with reports of big fluke from Madison to the Connecticut River. Sound View, Hatchet Reef and Long Sand Shoal are all producing. The average fish they are seeing are keepers with fewer small fish than anglers are reporting farther to the east, where most years the fluke fishing is normally much better.
19. Bass are being caught in good numbers out on the local reefs, including Hatchet Reef and Cornfield Point, while The Race has slowed down a tad. Bunches of schoolie stripers have been chasing baby bunker, small herring, tinker mackerel and large herring around the Lyme to Saybrook area. Fishing evenings and early in the day have been good from both shore and boat.Bluefish are all over the place, mostly small stuff to fill in the action gaps between the stripers and fluke.
20. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison said that one of his customers reported seeing some much-bigger-than-football bluefins chasing bluefish out of the water Tuesday a mile off the Charlestown Breachway. The fish were evidently medium or giants that were feeding on bluefish in the 10-pound class. Details of exact location were sketchy, but he said that this guy, who is a charter captain, told him the big tuna were actually grabbing the bluefish in the air as they tried to escape.
21. The weather and heat have taken their tolls. Tons of bluefish are chasing bunker ranging from 12 inches on down, in close to shore, which makes fishing better for the surfcasters and small-boat owners. The captain said that timing is perfect for the big bluefish contest that’s coming up the last weekend in August. Snapper bluefish are abundant from all the inshore jetties, piers and bridges.
22. Captain Morgan said that one guy came in saying he caught a false albacore on his dinky, 6-pound-test ultralight snapper bluefish rod. When he described the fish in detail, Captain Morgan had to put him straight – he’d caught a hickory shad, not a false albacore. An instance like this shows us how easy it is to get rumors started, especially when all the people are seeing is boils and splashes.
23. Porgies are plentiful, with both anglers and striped bass hitting them hard. The heat has slowed the bass catches. Anglers using eels or live scup for bait are taking big bass from local reefs and rock piles.
24. There have been a couple of small blue sharks caught in deep water mid-Sound off New Haven and the Thimble Islands, which is typical for this time of year. He said that hot summers like this one always bring some oddball stuff that often goes unnoticed into the deeper waters of Long Island Sound.
    
25. Blue crabs are the best he’s seen in a couple years. People are taking a few but no filled bushel baskets.
26. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle in Stratford, said he weighed in a 60.26- pound striper that was caught off Long Sand Shoal, off the mouth of the Connecticut River late last week by one of his customers. However, due to the heat, bass are becoming hard to find and harder to catch.
27. He’s been receiving excellent reports of bluefish all over the place that are reportedly blowing up on peanut bunker. Most of the bluefish are seven pounds and down, with tons of the 1- to 3-pounders dominating the scene like everywhere else in the region. Two weeks ago, an interclub bluefish tournament yielded a top fish of 14 pounds, but not many big prize-winners have been reported lately. This is due in part to people not wanting to give away their spots, with the $20,000 World’s Greatest Bluefish Tournament coming up in two weekends.
28. Snapper blues are also abundant up in the river and along the beaches. Fluke action has been consistent for a few hard-core anglers, but for the most part Chris’s customers are out after the bass and bluefish. One angler caught fish to about five pounds with his wife off the West Haven breakwall, but they had to pick through about 20 or 25 fish to catch a limit.Porgy fishing is excellent. Anglers are not chasing them like they usually do for some reason this year. The river temperature is up to 79 degrees, so don’t expect many bass. It’s going to be pretty much all bluefish in the Stratford area for the time being.
29. Scott from Fisherman’s World, Norwalk, indicated to us that the warm weather has been a factor in both what they are catching and the number of anglers out lately. But their anglers are still doing some damage on the abundant bluefish. Todd’s Point in Greenwich has been a hot spot, along with the Norwalk River mouth, which is consistently holding good numbers of fish that are chasing bunker. The Saugatuck River has slowed down a tad lately. The bluefishing is pretty good overall, with mostly small fish under three pounds being caught, but there are some midteen-size fish in the mix. No one is reporting the bigger fish due to the upcoming bluefish contest, which is coming up the weekend of August 26 through 28.
30. The tides are swinging around to favorable bass fishing again this week.
31. Fluke fishing has been steady on the Connecticut side of the Sound, although the best catches consistently come from the waters off Long Island where eight-year-old Daniel Epstein caught his first big fluke, a 5-pounder, while fishing with his dad, Michael, off Smithtown Bay. Locally the action is so-so, with limits of barely keepers being caught off Todd’s Point, with fish up to five or six pounds topping the catches. Fishing for fluke has been good off Greenwich lately. A couple of anglers are catching them in the Middle Passage in the Norwalk Islands up to five or six pounds. They are working for the fluke that are being caught in these two areas.
32. Best bet this week is still, provided you have a permit that can be obtained online at www.nmfspermits.com, bluefin tunas anywhere in the waters from Montauk Point to Sakonnet, Rhode Island. They are jetting around, so it’s a matter of spotting the schools and getting quality casts into the fray. This could be the chance of a lifetime for small-boat owners to catch these bluewater fish within sight of land. Fluke fishing appears to be holding its own or improving with the summer’s heat, so that’s a viable option. Bass are more difficult to find and catch unless you fish after dark. Bottom fishermen will find porgies, and light-line casters and fly-rodders will find bluefish everywhere in abundance – the best bet for a bent rod any place in the region on any given day.

Newsday, NY side of LIS 8/12/05

1. Western Long Island Sound: The typical summer trio of fluke, bluefish and porgies are providing nice targets. Fluke are along the points on the North Shore and off Hart's Island, according to Jack's B&T, taking basic squid and spearing or live killies. Porgies are on just about any structure in 15 to 25 feet of water and bluefish are attacking chunks in all of the bays and harbors and between the bridges.

2. Huntington/Northport bays: All the peanut bunker and snapper bluefish are providing bait for big fluke. Rusty Schneiderman caught a 10.32-pounder Wednesday on a bucktail fishing the Noli Eileen out of Huntington and Monday, Harry Larsen had a 9.53-pound fluke as part of his limit fishing bucktails off the Lilco dropoff, according to Four Winds. Cocktail blues are all around with bigger ones and stripers in 40-50 feet of water.

3. Smithtown Bay: Fluking is good off Cranes Neck with fish to 23 inches, according to Swaine's B&T, as Dave Ciotti surfcasted using live killies in 12 feet of water and Rich Doyle reported a mix of fluke and bluefish. Melanie Cozzolino, 11, caught her first keeper of the season, a 22-inch, 2-pounder on squid and spearing. Harrold and Louis Townsend limited on porgies with bluefish banging against their boat and John Tartaro hooked a 16-pound bass off Long Beach.

4. Port Jefferson to Mattituck Inlet: Bill Fulta took a 28-pound striper near Broadway Beach in Rocky Point using clams Sunday, according to Rocky Point Fishing Stop. Bluefish are gorging on peanut bunker along the shore with fish to 10 pounds and some stripers taking bunker chunks in the Middle Grounds. Porgy fishing is still quality over quantity in deeper water. Nice sea bass action, mostly to the east.

5. Orient Point to Fishers Island: The heat is limiting the best bass action to around sunrise and sunset, but the Gut and Race are filled with bluefish the rest of the time. The blues are being taken on diamond jigs, according to Wego Fishing. There are some big 2-pound porgies off Plum Island.

6. The Peconics and Gardiners Bay: There's still a nice pick of fluke off Gardiners and around Shelter Island with fish to 5.5 pounds taking squid and sand eels. Anglers are pounding limits out of the porgies, getting big blackback scup off Gardiners, according to Wego. Two- to 5-pound blues are at Jessups on the flood tide and a few keeper-size weakfish have been taken around buoy 16 off Noyack.

7. Montauk Point: The Oh Brother caught a 440-pound hammerhead shark and Rainbow Runner took a 486-pound mako. Also a lot of nice threshers out there. The local bluefins have moved on but there are still a few offshore with yellowfins and longfins. The heat is hampering the striper bite. Not a lot of big fluke but a nice pick of fish to 4 pounds.

8. Shinnecock Bay: Capt. John McEntyre and crew on Doctor Roof hit 18 mahi to 30 pounds and a 45-pound albacore about 65 miles offshore Sunday and the gang on Snoozer had three ablacore and a yellowfin west of the dip, according to Molnar's Landing. The Hey Jude has been limiting out on fluke to 6 pounds just about every day at Mecox using squid and spearing. There are also sea bass to 4 pounds at the sea buoy.

9. Moriches Bay: Mastic B&T reports plenty of fluke outside and inside the inlet hitting when the cool water comes through at the top of the tides. A few stripers are still being taken in the inlet and triggerfish are along the rocks taking clams. Snappers are in the creeks and crabbing should perk up with the full moon next week.

10. Great South Bay/Fire Island Inlet: Bruce from Augie's reports a lot of exotics drawn in by warm water with bluefin and mahi in about 60 feet of water. One boat had a white marlin only 5 miles from the inlet while trolling for bluefin and Augie's also had a report of a 4-foot wahoo at the Virginia wreck. Fluking has slowed in the ocean but the bay is filled with fish. Capt. Ken Higgins on the Laura Lee in Captree reports 400-500 fish caught per trip lately with 50-80 keepers.

11. Jones Inlet/Western Bays: The crew on Outer Line brought back 15 tuna, including a 97-pound yellowfin, a sign that the Canyon is primed, according to Woodcleft Fishing Station. Quite a few white marlin reports and bluefin tuna from 65 feet of water all the way to Cholera. Fluking is good with deeper waters working best for keepers. Nice stripers are around the bunker schools, taking chunks or live bait.

12. East Rockaway Inlet: Bay Park Fishing Station adds to the terrific Canyon reports with Momentum coming back with a 214-pound bigeye and yellowfin to 60 pounds and Fish On taking a 100-pound swordfish and a 200-pound bigeye last weekend. Also lots of yellowfin and longfin. Keeper fluke at Atlantic Beach Reef and off Rockaway Beach, with some stripers.

13. New York Bight: Alan Rubin was on the Bullet out of Sheepshead Bay, fluking, when he fought a 19-pound yellowfin for half an hour and got it in the boat. The fluking was good that day, too, he reported. Weakfish are coming up as The Angler reported Marie Koumbis took an 11.5-pounder surrounded by 10-pound blues on jigs. [org pub Newsday, Tom Rock]

TheDay 8/12/05

Bluefin tuna fever is still running strong with fish popping up anywhere between The Race and the waters between Block Island and Point Judith. Most people are tossing small metal lures at the fish when they surface, chasing baitfish in the 11/2-2-inch range. With all the bait in both the eastern Sound and along the Rhode Island beaches, it looks like we'll have a good September.

Capt. Al Anderson gave us a report via cell phone from 60-80-feet of water between Block and Point Judith, saying he spent a week chasing the school bluefin. His best trip was 14 fish tagged and released but as this goes to press he felt the schools were thinning. He also said the thick fog in the mornings hurt efforts because it was difficult to see the breaking fish until too late.

Schools of bluefish are in these areas also, sometimes hitting so fast and frequently you had to leave the spot. Best success of late was casting small metal lures like the Deadly Dick not trolling. Al uses a troll valve on his 42-footer to slow his speed to cautiously approach the surfacing schools quietly then cast across the school, not running wide open into the fish, a sure way to chase them elsewhere.

Stephanie Cramer fished with Capt. Anderson once last week, getting three shots casting at the school bluefin with her fly rod but didn't connect any of the times.

Zach Harvey, editor of The Fisherman magazine, got out chasing bluefin and watched his buddy land a 60-pounder near the can outside Nebraska Shoal. He called it quite an afternoon, seeing bluefin come clear out of the water, the bathing beaches right in the background only a mile away.

Capt. Don's in Charlestown is selling the 5/8-ounce Hydro-Metal and gold, small Crystal Minnows to people hooking and landing bluefin in the 20-25-pound class. These are small boat anglers looking for fish on top then casting the lures on mostly spinning rods into the breaking fish. Plenty of kids and tourists are out on our waters, catching fluke at times in 30-40 feet off Quonnie or school bass in the pond. Scup are on most rock piles, grabbing anything put in front of them including larger baits meant for doormat fluke. They were also caught on a red tube and sandworm trolled for striped bass.

Al Golinski of Misquamicut spent the week wrestling with a balky outboard, cutting back his trips to just Sunday when they started with two stripers in the 20s on the Watch Hill reefs then a dozen sea bass to 6.8 pounds in deep water off Charlestown.

Shaffers in Mystic reported a slow weekend for fluke but better catches as this week progressed around buoys four and six and in 60 feet off the Rhode Island beaches. Bass were caught on the reefs on live eels and at Valiant, drifting chunk mackerel just like you would a bucktail. Tube and worm trollers scored on both sides of Fishers Island in the evenings and also some around Dodge Island. Residents of Lord's Point landed keeper bass in the evenings at the Eel Grass Grounds on live eels. Bonito were caught off Napatree on Saturday but none were reported since. Porgies as large as 14 inches took fluke baits drifted in the Mystic River.

The Fish Connection in Preston had word about lots of blues in The Race and fluke for those who put in their time from Seaflower to Weekapaug. Porgies are large and at a summer high, so much so some people are taking them for granted. Bluefin were sighted from the south side of Fishers to Point Judith, hitting small lures one day, ignoring everything on other days.

Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat said the day trips were good overall but some trips were better than others. On the night runs to Alligator Ledge he said fishing was OK, the numbers kept down somewhat by lots of bait that the blues chase around rather than concentrating on the hook baits down deep. The regulars though had their bags full while the newcomers had some frustrations. Big fish of the week was a 19-pound bass caught by Joe Morais of West Hartford.

Jeff Frechette of the “Snafu” sent in his regular report stating they made a run off to Block Canyon, landing an 8-foot tiger shark at night. They next morning they hooked and lost a blue marlin after a short fight then missed “several knockdowns during the day...” On the way back, they tossed squid bait around the high flyers for two medium mahi and lost others before it was time to open the throttle and head for Niantic.

Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme got out on Wednesday off Black Point for a fluke limit to six pounds, two sea bass and all the porgies anyone could want. There were lots of two-pound blues chasing bait on top. Some of the bait balls were made up of five to six-inch mackerel that can be jigged up for fluke bait.

Matt at Hillyers said we have a bumper load of blues in The Race, making it hard to get bass during the day. Even after dark, the blues made their numbers felt, chopping up a lot eels meant for bass. One local used a diamond jig in The Race for two bluefin he released because he didn't have the federal permit needed to keep one. Fluking is pretty steady along the Rhode Island beaches but you'll have to put up with dogfish on some days. You'll catch a few sea bass in the eastern Sound but have steadier action on the west side of Block Island. Look for hickory shad at daybreak and again at dusk around the Niantic Bridges.

Pat Abate down at River's End in Old Saybrook gave the fluke catches a good rating, the first one this season. You can catch keepers and maybe a limit in the lower Connecticut River on weekdays when boat traffic is down. Striper fishing was generally slow during the day with the exception of some casting to small and medium fish tearing into bait balls about two miles off Watch Hill. It's better after dark with eels if you can keep the blues away. Porgies are very numerous and make a nice way to round out a day after chasing blues in the morning. [TheDay, Tim Coleman]

On The Water 8/12/05

1. To the surprise of everyone in this area, those small bluefin tuna were still hanging around the Rhode Island coast earlier this week. However, as is the case with their smaller cousins, the false albacore and bonito, every report about tuna is old within minutes after it is printed because they are so mobile. If the bait is in the area to hold them, they could possibly become a fixture in the area as the fall approaches.
   
2. Don of King Cove Marina, Stonington told us: “All kinds of good stuff is happening out there right now.” Of course, he also mentioned the bluefin tuna first thing. His customers are mostly seeing, but a few are catching them outside of Fishers Island and east all the way to Narragansett Bay.
   
3. Striper fishing has slowed down due to the heat. The best this week was 47 pounds taken in the passage between Catumb Rock and Sugar Reef, after dark on an eel. The south side of Fishers has been doing O.K. for bass when the tubes can make it through all the porgies that are out there. The scup that take a tube with a 3/0 or so hook are hogs.
   
4. Napatree Point and Watch Hill have been the best places for surf-fishermen lately. The breachways have a mix of fish to catch, but the bass action has slowed and been replaced by bluefish in many areas. Warm temperatures are pushing them deeper and possibly to cooler waters to the north.
5. Bluefish have picked up a bit across the board and in some areas are getting in the way of serious striper fishermen. There’s a nice mix of bluefish around, ranging from those one- to two-pound cocktail size to three- to six-pound harbors on up to 12-pound or better major-league “fish choppers.”
6. Porgy fishing is at an all-time high, and they are easy to catch from shore, as well. The shore-fishermen are taking fish off the old Jetty at Monsanto and the New Stonington Town Dock in the harbor, which can be a productive spot.
7. Al Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic fluke fishing is very good, with high numbers of fish being reported, but lately there have been many shorts. Bigger baits seem to filter out some of the smaller fluke. I also contend that when there are many small fish around, don’t fish a “dead stick” because it makes for too many gut-hooked fluke, which are wasted after the hook is removed. There are good numbers of fluke also showing up in the Mystic River.
8. Al noted that water temperatures are spiking and variable, ranging from 65 to 67 degrees south of Fishers, and up above 72 in the Sound, with things maxing out in the shallow coves where the readings may get up to as much as 80 degrees in the heat of the day in the Mystic River.
9. He said that in his travels he’s seen loads of bait all over the place, with tons of unidentifiable “little things” breaking the surface, with something about 6 inches eating them that is also hard to ID. Balls and balls of bait are like static on the surface. So thick that some inboard engines are becoming plugged with them as they pass through the schools.
10. The south side of Fishers Island has been pretty good for fluke off the eastern end until just recently when the dogfish and skate moved in and started taking over. Misquamicut is doing well, but the beach is big and it’s hard to find the fish at times. Most of the good numbers are coming from areas near Weekapaug Breachway and to the east from water depths ranging from 20 to 80 feet.
11. Bass action is good with fish all over the place due to the preponderance of bait. The south side of the island has been hot lately, with eels after dark or early in the morning producing most of the larger fish. Lately the island has been red hot. Valiant Rock is still holding fish, but it’s not necessary to fish the big waters of The Race to catch stripers when tube-and-worming and eeling in along the rocks in much calmer, safer water has been so successful.
    
12. No bonito or false albacore yet locally, but they may be overshadowed by the presence of bluefin tuna that may be out-competing them for food. Or maybe they simply are not here yet, but expect them with the warm surface temperatures we have this summer. The fact is you have to keep a rod ready for them if they show up.
    
13. Porgies are also hitting well. Al said that one regular customer has been catching huge porgies off the Watch Hill Lighthouse every time out. This area is a good one for every species, although most of the people who fish this riled place are targeting bass, blues or tunas, but it has always been a great place for jumbo scup.
14. Joe of The Fish Connection, Preston on the Thames. Joe said there are tons of bait out there that many anglers can’t identify that could be tinker mackerel or maybe even mullet. Water temps inside are 69 to 70 degrees off Intrepid Rock, but offshore they are much warmer. The abnormally warm inshore temperatures are screwing things up because the fish are not as easy to find in the warm pockets of hot water that are usually targeted for tunas. He said anglers fishing offshore are not doing well because the warm water is so spread out the fish are harder to find and they aren’t as concentrated when they do locate fish. “Everything is in turmoil due to this heat wave.”
15. Bluefish are all over the place from Norwich on out to The Race. Schoolie bass are abundant out around Bluff Point, Seaside and Harkness Park, while deep-water reef areas such as Bartlett and The Race are holding big bass. Everywhere, the best action is after dark.
16. Fluke fishing is good, but like Al reported in Mystic, there are loads of shorts to cull for every keeper. The waters around Groton, Ocean Beach and Harkness have all produced some nice catches lately. Porgies are super abundant and people are having fun with them everywhere. They are starting to get in the way of the fluke.
17. This warm water will most likely draw in all sorts of oddball tropical stuff, including trigger fish, cobia, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, jack crevalle and even tarpon by the time the summer is over.
18. Mark at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said it’s been a really good week, catch-wise. The fluking has been red hot. The fish are moving into the bay and are being caught in shallower waters like Two Tree Channel, Harkness Park and Seaside Park. Whole squid or mackerel are the best big fish bait. There have not been any monster fluke caught this week, but plenty of fish to 7 pounds are coming in to the scales on a regular basis.
19. Big bass are being caught from The Race, Hatchet and Bartlett Reef. Tube-and-worm trolling has been red hot in close to the rocks, while diamond jigging and three-ways with live eels are producing 40- to 50-pounders in the deep-water areas after dark. Most of the better bass being caught are in the 15- to 25-pound range.
20. Bluefish action is hot, as well. Some are being hooked from shore along the beaches, but most are being caught on chunk baits worked from boats along the coast from Black Point to the Thames River. Trolling with umbrella rigs is catching bunches of blues. The fish are ranging in size all the way from 1-pounders up to 10 pounds or better. Many large blues are in right now, providing anglers with plenty of action and fish-catching fun.
21. Huge porgies are being caught out in the bay and around Two Tree Island. These are reportedly the biggest scup local anglers have ever seen. Sand worms and squid strips are the ticket for success when fished around any rocky structure, channel marker, jetty or reef.
22. Anglers diamond-jigging in The Race are taking bluefin tuna incidentally while fishing for blues.
    
23. Pat told me over the weekend that the fluke fishing in the mouth of the Connecticut River is the best in four or five years, with anglers consistently limiting out on quality fish in most catches.
    
24. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that bluefish are all around to provide great topwater action, with some huge dense schools, and with others small and moving fast. Bluefish are around ranging from snappers in the rivers on up to double-digit choppers off the deep-water reefs, and anywhere bunker schools can be located.
    
25. Bass are hitting early in the morning on tube and worms, hickory shad, eels or live bunker, if you can get them. Bucktails are also doing well in deep water, fished off three-way rigs or trolled on wire.
26. Porgies are easy to find, with a few blackfish still mixed into the catch. Again, the blackfish are around, but few if any anglers are targeting them when other species are so much easier to locate and catch.
27. A few decent weakfish came through the shop over the weekend. They were in the 10- to 12-pound range, and all were caught incidentally to striper and bluefishing activities out around Falkner Island. He noted that, “No one has caught a weakfish while fishing for weakfish in a long time.”
28. Fluke fishing is picking up along the beaches such as Hammonasset, as well as up inside places like Clinton Harbor where they are moving in to feed on baby bunker and other small abundant bait sources that move inshore this time of year.
    
29. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford, said it’s slowed back down lately. Falkner produced a 26-pound bass, a 32-incher off the Stratford Light on tube and worm, a 44-pounder on an eel off Block Island from a boat, a 22-pound bass locally on an eel and a 5.25-pound fluke off the New Haven breakwall.
30. Aside from these scattered catches, it’s been all bluefish. Small blues are most abundant, and there are also good numbers of snappers around to play with. The snappers were late in showing this summer, but appear to be abundant, which is an indication of yet another strong year class from these future tackle busters. There are a few large bluefish being caught by fishing deep with baits mid-Sound, but in close it’s mostly the smaller stuff that is dominating the shore, based on inshore boat catches, for the moment.
31. Scott at Fisherman’s World, Norwalk is still seeing tons of bluefish that are feeding on bunker in the river. Blues are of all sizes, but the odds of taking a “ripper” are best when fishing in and around the adult menhaden schools that are still in the waters from Norwalk to Saugatuck. Shore-based customers continue to do well from Calf Pasture Point from shore on chunks of bunker or mackerel.
32. In the evening on Monday, Scott said he hit a worm spawn in the Norwalk River. The same event is taking place in the Saugatuck River and other local creeks, as well. He said that the spawns will probably take place again around the full moon in a couple of weeks.
33. Big bass have been caught by fishing deep, in 100 feet or more of water on worms with three-way rigs out around Buoy “28C.” Burt from the shop has been catching a mix of fish from schoolies on up to keeper size by three-waying whole sand worms out in the depths. Bass action is currently best at night or in deep water due to the warm summer temperatures.
34. SUMMARY: Fluke fishing pretty much anywhere along the coast by day and bluefish early and late in the day are the best bets for action. Bottom fishermen can’t go wrong when fishing for porgies anywhere in the entire region. Be on the lookout for tropical visitors that always show up when we have these long hot summers.

CT DEP: 7/25/05 - Weekly Fishing Report

Week of July 25, 2005
INLAND REPORT
LARGEMOUTH BASS fishing is reported as good to excellent in many lakes and ponds including Lake Williams, Lake Lillinonah, Candlewood (5.6 lbs.), Congamond (5 lb), Winchester (4.5 lb), Billings (8.25 lb bass), Coventry, Quonnipaug (4.5 lb bass), Winnemaug (6 lb ), Bantam, Pattaganset and East Twin (5.45 lb) Lakes, Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Moodus Reservoir, and Pachaug, Long, Avery, Glasgo, and Ball Ponds.
SMALLMOUTH BASS action reported at Lake Housatonic, Hatch Pond, Squantz Pond, Coventry Lake, Candlewood Lake, Bashan Lake and in the Farmington (Tarrifville area), Quinebaug (very good), Pomperaug, Natchaug, Willimantic (very good) and Housatonic (excellent) Rivers.
NORTHERN PIKE fishing is reported to be very good in Lake Lillinonah, Bantam Lake, Winchester Lake, Hopeville Pond and Pachaug Pond.
Good YELLOW PERCH catches at Candlewood (big fish), Lake Housatonic, Squantz Pond and Crescent Pond.
Good reports for CATFISH from Winnemaug Lake (7.5 lb catfish) and the Housatonic impoundments (Lakes Lillinonah, Zoar and Housatonic).
Anglers are catching KOKANEE by trolling West Hill Pond at 3 colors of lead line or still-fishing at night with corn.
Some WALLEYE action reported from Coventry Lake, Squantz Pond (drifting alewives), and Beach Pond.
CALICO BASS are keeping anglers busy at Avery, Glasgo, Dog, Park and Pachaug Ponds, and Silver Lake (Meriden).
SUNFISH are providing excellent action using poppers on a fly rod. Try Crescent Pond, Mudge Pond, and Quinebaug, Amos, Billings, Crystal and Mamanasco Lakes.
Connecticut River- It’s primetime for CATFISH, plenty of action, frozen cut bait is working great. NORTHERN PIKE fishing is excellent (coves, Haddam Meadows). SMALLMOUTH BASS fishing is good north of Hartford. LARGEMOUTH BASS action remains fair below Middletown. Some large STRIPED BASS are still being taken in the lower river on live eels, hickory shad and scup. Good CALICO BASS action on small minnows reported in the coves (try deeper areas).

TROUT
Rivers & streams -Good catches of trout reported from the Farmington (including some 18-22” fish), Natchaug, Housatonic and Salmon Rivers and Salmon Brook.
The Farmington River remains quite fishable, with water temperatures in the mid to upper 60’s°F and comfortable flows (235 cfs at Riverton, plus an additional 20 cfs from the Still River as of 7/28). Last week’s trout fishing on the West Branch Farmington River TMA was described as “red hot!” by some.Although the heat early this week did slow evening fishing by delaying insect activity until later in the night, the cooler air temperatures forecast for the next week should restart evening action. Current successful patterns include Needhami (#24-26, early morning),Stenonema (Cahills #14),Isonychia (#10-12, evening), Blue Wing Olives (#18-28, mid-late afternoon), Sulphurs (Vitreus #14) duns (#14-20, morning; afternoon to early evening for spinners), Caddis (tan #16-18, all day; green #22-26, evening), Midges (#22-28, morning), Black Ants (#14-18, morning in fast water), Black Beetles (#16-18), Flying Ants (#18-22, when humid) and Golden Drake (Potomanthus, #10-14, late evening).
Housatonic River flows are currently moderately clear and low (about 290 cfs at Falls Village). Water temperatures remain in the mid to upper 70’s °F. ANGLERS ARE REMINDED THAT THESE WATER TEMPERATURES ARE VERY STRESSFUL TO TROUT, EXTRA CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN WHEN HANDLING TROUT THEY PLAN TO RELEASE (smallmouth bass are a alternative for anglers on the Housatonic River). Insect hatches include: Alder Caddis (#10-12, afternoon-evening near overhangs), Sulphurs (#14-16, evening), Blue Wing Olive (#18-22, early morning; spinner fall in evening), Isonychia (#12-14 evening), Light Cahill (#12-14, evening), and tan/green caddis (#14-16, early morning & evening). Don’t forget streamers (morning and evening). Patterns to try include: White Zonkers, Wooly Buggers, Muddlers, Micky Finn, Grey or Black Ghosts (#4-10).
Lakes & Ponds –Good trout fishing is still being found in some lakes and ponds including Crystal Lake (Ellington), Wonoscopomuc Lake, Highland Lake, East Twin Lake, West Hill Pond and Squantz Pond.

MARINE REPORT
Striped bass
The surface water temperature in Long Island Sound (LIS) is in the low 70’s °F.
STRIPED BASS fishing remains good on the local reefs for “cows” using live scup, hickory shad and eels on three way bottom rigs. Also don’t forget about using chunk baits (cut bunker, etc.).
STRIPERS and BLUEFISH can be found off Watch Hill, Ram Island Reef, the Race, Plum Gut, Bartlett Reef, the humps south of Hatchett Reef, Long Sand Shoal, Cornfield Point, Sixmile Reef, the reefs off Madison and Branford, New Haven Harbor, Charles Island area, Penfield Reef, and around the Norwalk Islands. Schoolie stripers are in the Mystic River and lower Connecticut River off South Cove to the breakwaters and the Housatonic River. Most bluefish are in the 6 to 8 lbs. range.
SNAPPER BLUEFISH have been reported in LIS but are only about 3 inches in length.
SUMMER FLOUNDER (fluke) fishing remains a slow pick for legal sized fish. Patience is the key in finding doormats and large baits including whole squid are the ticket.
BLACK SEA BASS and WEAKFISH spots include the Falkner Island area, New Haven Harbor, Niantic Bay (Black Point), and the “dunes” off Mattituck although fishing is spotty.
TAUTOG (blackfish) can also be found along with SCUP (porgies) on any of the major reefs located in LIS. Large scup in the 14 to 15 inch size range have been reported so far. Scup fishing is an easy and great way to get kids started in fishing saltwater since the action can be non stop.
Try the Mystic River, Niantic River or the Connecticut River for HICKORY SHAD. Often, hickories will school with schoolie stripers.

Conn Post 8/5/05

The summer heat is starting to take its toll on the angling activities around the state. Fish are now finding the conditions as uncomfortable as the fishermen. Water temperatures on Long Island Sound are in the 70s, too hot for most marine gamefish. Lakes and ponds have water temperatures pushing 80 to 85. What this heat has done is push the fish out into deeper water. For example, many of the better striped bass reports have come offshore on the deep reefs, such as Buoy 28C, Buoy 11B, Middleground, the outer Thimble Islands, Faulkner Island, Six Mile Reef, Long Sand Shoal, Hatchett Reef, Bartlett Reef and Race Rock. Mike Roy and Mike Morsenzini of Stratford went out to Block Island last weekend to find their striped bass. The pair caught over 40 bass, including a 35-pounder.

Not all the striped bass are in deep water. You can catch some fish in the lower Saugatuck River, off Sherwood Island, in Southport Harbor, off Penfield Reef, around the tip of Fayerweather Island, at the mouth of the Housatonic River and around Charles Island. Most of these nearshore fish are small, running between 16 and 24 inches. Your best chance of hooking something in the 28-inch keeper range close to shore will come after sundown.

Bluefish are around in good supply in all the above striped bass locations. And like the bass, the bigger blues have been taken from deep water and the smaller one-to-four pound fish are in the harbors. Offshore, bunker chunks are the ticket. The harbor bluefish are taking swimming lures and poppers. Jessica Gluhanich, age 3 of Milford, caught her first bluefish last week off Charles Island.

Elsewhere on the Sound, fluke fishing is slow. You can catch plenty of fish, but the keeper-to-short ratio is very low. Skilled flukers report that patience is the key in finding keeper fluke. Large baits, like whole squids and giant willowleaf blade rigs, increase your fluke odds. Black sea bass and porgy are available in good supply on all the reefs and rock piles between Stratford and Rhode Island. Many of the porgy are big, bruising 14 to 18-inch fish. Ian Smith and Laura Gallagher of Stratford went to the New Haven Harbor breakwaters last week where they caught two black sea bass, two fluke and several porgy.

Large and smallmouth bass fishing is good in the larger lakes and ponds where the water is somewhat cooler. Look for largemouth bass on Congamond Lake, Winchester Lake, Quonnipaug Lake, Bantam Lake, East Twin Lake, Rogers Lake and Moodus Reservoir. Smallmouth bass options are Squantz Pond, Coventry Lake, Bashan Lake and Rainbow Reservoir. Try Lake Lillinonah and Candlewood Lake for either bass species.

Matt Silva, age 15 of Stratford, reported to Stratford Bait & Tackle after a fishing trip to Bantam Lake last weekend. While fishing for bass with a tube jig, the youngster caught a 9-pound northern pike. Meanwhile, Henry Wilk of Easton dropped by Ted's Bait & Tackle with a 3.90-pound walleye. He caught the fish in the Saugatuck Reservoir on a live minnow.

Trout can still be caught in spite of the summer heat. The best places to find these fish are in the deeper rivers, such as the Housatonic and Farmington, or the larger lakes, like Candlewood Lake and the Saugatuck Reservoir. Also, kokanee salmon are available at West Hill Pond. Ben Horwath of Stratford found his own 2.36-pound brown trout last week at the Saugatuck Reservoir. The fish hit a live minnow and was weighed by Stratford Bait & Tackle. [orginally published Connecticut Post Online, written by Frank McKane Jr]

NB Hearld, B Salerno 8/5/05

Fishing Report: Consistent trout fishing is still being reported from the Natchaug, Salmon Housatonic and Farmington Rivers. Best times to fish remain at day break and dusk. Anglers fishing after dark on the Farmington are being rewarded with some hefty brown trout of over 20-inches. Current successful patterns include Needhami, Stenonema, Isonychia, Blue Wing Olives, Vitreus, Caddis, Midges, Black Ants, Black Beetles and Golden Drake.

Largemouth bass fishing is reported as good to excellent in many lakes and ponds including Lake Williams, Lake Lillinonah, Candlewood, Congamond Winchester, Coventry, Bantam, East Twin, Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Moodus Reservoir, and Pachaug Pond. Smallmouth action reported at Lake Housatonic, Hatch Pond, Squantz Pond, Coventry Lake, Candlewood Lake, Bashan Lake and in the Quinebaug, Pomperaug, Natchaug, Willimantic and Housatonic Rivers

The Connecticut River is fishing excellent for catfish. Frozen cut bait is working great. Pike fishing is excellent in the Haddam Meadows area. Smallmouth bass fishing is good north of Hartford.

In saltwater, striped bass fishing remains good on the reefs for "cows" using live scup, hickory shad and eels on three way bottom rigs. Stripers and bluefish can be found off Watch Hill, Ram Island Reef, the Race, Plum Gut, Bartlett Reef, Hatchett Reef, Long Sand Shoal, Cornfield Point, Sixmile Reef, New Haven Harbor, Charles Island area, Penfield Reef, and around the Norwalk Islands. Most bluefish are in the 6 to 8 lbs. range. Fluke fishing remains a slow pick for legal sized fish. Patience is the key in finding doormats and large baits including whole squid are the ticket.

On The Water 8/4/05

1. Bluefin tuna that were ripping around off the mouth of Narragansett Bay two weeks ago were not only still around but more abundant and spread out in distribution. Now it seems anglers are seeing, reporting and even catching these fish, which are running 25 to 35 pounds on average from Newport, down along the south shore beaches and out along Fishers Island to The Race. Be aware that anglers must have National Marine Fisheries- issued permits to target and retain these fish. Severe penalties can be issued for those who do not comply. The permits are $22 and can be obtained online at www.nmfspermits.com. Be sure to read and follow all the regulations regarding these fish, including the rule that catches must be reported within 24 hours.
2. Thomcat Pelletier of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingstown told us that the bluefin tuna are in along the beaches from Point Judith to Watch Hill and east to Newport, based on what he is hearing. They are juvenile fish or “footballs,” as they are called, that weigh from about 25 on up to 30 or 40 pounds. The presence of large schools of sand eels is probably the reason these fish are still in the area. They are more easily put down and spooked than the albies that many anglers are waiting for, so if you are legal and plan to target these fish, approach them quietly. There is a great deal of speculation as to whether these fish will remain after another weekend of being run over and beat up by heavy boat traffic.
3. Fluke catches have been consistent from Point Judith to East Beach. No monster doormats reported this week, but four- to six-pound fish are not uncommon. Thom himself has been doing well. He has caught a bunch of keeper fluke, with many 19- to 22-inchers on his weekly fluke outings. A recent trip to Nomans Land produced fluke to 6 pounds, big sea bass and a 17-inch scup, but on the dark side, tons of dogfish. Fluke fishing was spotty for a while, but they have been caught on a more consistent basis lately.
4. Striped bass action is slowing with the summer heat, but there are enough big fish still in the area feeding on the abundant bait sources to keep things interesting. Captain Fred Bowman of Bottom Line Charters caught a 47 and two 40s off Block Island last week. Steve McKenna, the shop’s resident surf-fisherman, said the shore spots around Narragansett are slowing but are still pretty good for August. The bait is the reason for this late success. He’s heard tales of false albacore around, but there has been no verification of these reports, being that people may be confusing surface-busting bluefins with Little Tunny.
5. Peter at Saltwater Edge, Newport reported that the tuna seem to be heading east. It’s falling quiet around Newport and turning on to the east of there around Sakonnet.
   
6. The big news has been that surface poppers like a Chug Bug or pencil popper have been drawing strikes from these fish more readily than the standby Deadly Dicks and other metal lures. The metal simply has not been working as well. Peter said that the other night he and a friend caught two fish on metal while another boat that was tossing topwater lures said they caught and released at least 20 fish.
7. Bass action has been O.K. but more difficult now that the peanut bunker are in strong and have become the primary forage. They continue to feed on the tiny bunker, so use teasers or smaller baits to hook up, but it’s getting tougher when they are on the small stuff. No real monsters this week, partly because much of the striper effort has been targeted toward the bluefins that were so prevalent. The small blues are around, but they are not as thick as they have been, which is to the liking of most hard-core striper anglers.
8. Rumors of bonito continue to come into the shop, but no one he knows has caught one so far. They typically run with the bluefins, but none have been caught yet for some reason.
9. Ronnie at Breachway Tackle, Charlestown was on the water when we talked to him Wednesday. When we called, he had a youngster who was pulling in a 25-pound striper that was heading for a lobster pot. Minutes later another kid in the boat hooked up, making for some mayhem that preempted our conversation. The bluefins are running up and down the beach, but Ronnie didn’t see them on Wednesday.
10. Fluke fishing has been better for the same reason the tunas are here – bait and lots of it.
11. Bob of Wildwood Outfitters in Wakefield, the person who first told us about the tunas along the Rhody Beaches, said he’s still hearing of these fish around, with a few people getting permits and actually taking fish on flies and by trolling. Scarborough Beach is one of the hot spots. One angler caught a fish on fly tackle earlier in the week. They are ripping around and showing, but there’s not much catching, which is typical for all the tunas.
12. Bob and two people from the shop fished one day early this week with Sea Ferra Charters and caught 20 keeper fluke, with 6 in the 4- to 6-pound range. They caught most of their fish off the Center Wall at Pt. Judith. They caught 15 of their fish right off the bat in the first hour, then it slowed. Fluking has been good from the walls to Five Cottages area.
13. Bob had a great week on the water. Over the weekend he went striper fishing off Matunuck Beach and caught a 42-pound, 48-inch bass. He took his monster from the beach on a dropping tide Sunday night on a live hickory shad. He said he had three baits stolen, but the fourth bait was the charm.
14. Fishing has generally been spotty for stripers overall as water temperatures rise with the midsummer hea, but obviously there are still nice fish around to catch.
15. John Swienton, owner of Twin Maples Tackle out on Block Island, has been hearing about and seeing loads of bass this past week. The fire department put on a fishing tournament that brought many fish of all species to the scales, so he was busy over the weekend. One guy caught a 50-pounder after the event started but couldn’t sign up, to his chagrin.
16. Many bass weighed were in the upper 30s, with the first-place prize something like 38 pounds. On the beaches, poppers did well over the weekend. Most of the winners were caught on eels after dark. The first place fluke was in the 5- to 6-pound range, and a 12-pound-class blue won that division. The event drew 70 people and is expected to become an annual event, so look for it next summer.
17. The biggest stripers are being caught off Southwest Ledge, Black Rock, below the Southeast Light and along the beaches. The charter boats have been hitting bass on umbrella rigs with small, fluorescent green and pink tubes. Sandy Point has been producing mixed blues and smaller bass that measure in inches not pounds like the southwest corner.
18. The bonito showed up at the Coast Guard channel on Monday, the first of the season. Deadly Dicks tied directly to 12-pound-test are the way to go for these things.
19. The tuna are in close to the island, with both bluefin and yellowfins reportedly caught by private and charter boats. The tri-state tuna tournament is going on, which should bring in better catches for next week’s report. First day of the tournament, fish to 90 pounds were brought into the scales.
20. Captain Don of Captain Don’s Tackle, Charlestown, Rhode Island reported that there are plenty of fish around to catch. More anglers are seeing bluefins than catching them. One woman caught three in the 25- to 35-pound range. They are off Nebraska Shoal, Bartlett Reef and other areas, but they move so fast that it’s difficult to pinpoint a particular spot to catch them. They are where you find them, as the saying goes.
21. The bass bite is good but slowing with the heat. There are lots of 20-pound-class fish being caught up and down the shore around rock piles and off breachways on tube-and-worm rigs or on eels after dark. Out off the Watch Hill Reef area, fishing has remained pretty good for both bass and blues. There has been a consistent bite off the reefs on tubes, and by three-waying eels. Block Island is also holding good fish, off the southwest corner. Angela Kelly from Warren, CT, caught a bass of 20 pounds off Carpenters Beach on tube and worm. Mike Megana from Manchester, CT, caught a 37.5-pound striper from shore on eels at night off Watch Hill.
22. Bigger bluefish are showing in the area. The key is that there’s still tons of bait around to hold the predators, including hickory shad that are showing up in the salt ponds. Big scup are all over the place for those who want to load up.
23. The first rumblings of tunoids showing in the area came in over the weekend but nothing specific. There is some confusion in separating bluefins and the small tunas. With albies off Block, it won’t be long before they move in along the beaches and into the breachways.
24. Kevin of King Cove Marina in Stonington told us that fish are everywhere. They’re running along the south side of Fishers and out into The Race, and were showing as close as the east breakwater in Stonington earlier in the week. The anchovies are in, and the bass are sucking them down like crazy, along with other predators that are in the area.
25. Nothing huge in the bass department this week but lots of 15- to 20-pounders are being reported.
26. Fluke fishing has been good this week, as well. The fish are hitting best off the Rhody beaches, with White Rock and Noyes Shoal producing inside the Sound when boats can’t get out or winds are too strong on the beaches.
27. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic said that some sort of tuna were all over the area around Napatree Point over the weekend. Their fly-fishermen are catching the tunoids there and have been following them west from Nebraska Shoal to Napatree for a couple of weeks now.
28. Fluke fishermen have been fishing in the river due to the fog lately, but on Sunday when the fog lifted, anglers got out to Rhode Island and did very well. No monsters, but good catches of fish in the low to mid 20-inch range.
29. Stripers are being caught by anglers who fish early and late in the day, but they are reporting nothing big, but good numbers of bass all over the place. Anglers fishing poppers and soft plastics are doing well off Latimer Reef and Ram Island. Diamond-jigging in The Race and three-ways have not been primary modes for many customers this year. Rather they are staying inside and fishing light tackle around the reefs and rock piles. Smaller boats are tube-and-worming and doing well off Mason’s Island and Dodge Island. One novice has been catching keepers on tubes up close to the rocks in the shallows for a month now from a 14-foot boat. Bass fishing is down a tad, but it’s that time of year.
30. The causeway bridge was closed, so anglers have been going downtown and catching porgies and small fluke from the railroad bridge and places in Mystic.
31. Sea bass and blackfish are dribbling in with porgy catches. Overall, bottom fishing is good. Porgies are all over the place. Not many crabs showing at this point. Many people are looking, but no one is talking or doing much catching.
32. Joe Balint of The Fish Connection, Preston on the Thames has been seeing bluefish all up and down the Thames. A few porgies have been caught up as far as 27, along with some fluke, which is typical for this time of year when the baby bunker enter the river. Schoolies are small but plentiful. There are adult bunker in the river that made it to Norwich over the weekend. These fish will eventually draw bigger fish into the river, providing they stick around.
33. Porgies are thick off little Goshen, Seaflower, Horseshoe and Latimer reefs. Anglers are doing well on fluke in the Mystic River, around Intrepid Rock, Vixen Ledge, Sara Ledge and off Harkness Park, where the draggers can’t scrape them up off the bottom. Fishers Island and the beaches have been hot some days and cold on others.
34. The bass scene has slowed. Anglers are working hard with eels off Valiant to catch some keepers after dark. Joe had a 44-incher come in last week for Northeast Taxidermy, and he also saw a 51-pounder caught off Valiant Rock last week. The surface temperatures are 68 to 69 degrees out in the Sound.
35. Largemouth bass fishing has picked up in area lakes, with Pachaug and Glasgo ponds both generating chatter over the past few days.
36. A few crabs have been reported in the Thames but none elsewhere. Joe said he hasn’t even seen them on the trim tabs on the boats in Gales Ferry Marina.
37. Lew at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said that he weighed in a 38.5-pound striper for a guy who gave no information on his catch. Dan Logan caught a 41.25-pounder off Bartlett Reef on a Houdini Shad. Shawn Gaska took a 43-pounder off Black Point after dark on an eel. These are the best out of many 20-pound-class bass that seem to be fairly common throughout the region. Howard Beers went to The Ruins and said the boat did well in general.
38. Hillyer’s was also hearing of those bluefin tuna in The Race and off the southwest corner of Block Island. There was talk of false albacore off Quonny Pond earlier in the week. Niantic Bob has been champing at the bit to get at these fish, and plans to fish them soon.
39. The hickory shad finally showed up in good numbers in the river which makes for some fun on light tackle and fly tackle, as well as a great big bass live hook bait.
40. Porgies are all over the place.
41. One customer has been fishing with umbrella rigs on wire line and loading up on small bluefish, with bigger choppers occasionally mixing up the catch. The Millstone Point has had big bluefish in right where you can’t fish at the inflow, and the outflow is also holding fish, as it always does this time of year.
42. Pat Abate of River’s End, Saybrook reported that the fluke fishing has improved. People are finally catching their limits in the Connecticut River and out along Sound View in Lyme. The sizes are better than he’s seen all season, with a 2:1 or 3:1 short to keeper ratio reported by customers. Pat fished off Gardner Island and caught just short of a limit of fish to four pounds himself over the weekend. The fluke are fat and eating well.
43. Bluefish action is very good. There are huge numbers of harbor blues that have invaded the Sound over the past couple of weeks. They make for fast action but can interfere when trying to fish for fluke or striped bass with bait.
44. The best news is the baitfish. Pat saw adult bunker by the railroad bridge in the lower Connecticut River, with peanuts farther downriver. Bay anchovies were thick off Fishers Island and Gardner Island, and they were being chased by tinker mackerel, which probably had some bass and blues feeding on them. Pat said, “This is a great setup for the fall if the bait stays around.”
45. There is some bass action around Bartlett Reef and The Race for the moment but nothing major or sustained.
46. Pat said two anglers hooked up on five of those bluefins with flies and landed three of these fish earlier in the week out around Fishers Island and The Race.
47. Things are on the good side of normal, overall. There are a few good catches from crabbers who know their stuff and have secret spots, but most are not doing anything.
48. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said the bass have been stacked up and feeding on small bunker and hickory shad all over the place. Early morning and evening bites have been hot. Anglers are picking up bass in the mid-30-inch range after dark along the shore and bigger fish than that from boats. Hot spots are off Southwest Reef, Six Mile Reef and Kimberly Reef, with the larger fish being caught more to the east. Falkner Island is a good place for fish to 30 pounds or more. The captain said he saw a worm spawn that came off last week in the river, but it’s over and done already.
49. There are good numbers of fluke and porgies around. The best fluke this week weighed five to six pounds, but nothing much bigger than that has come into the shop. No one is complaining, but they are working hard for limits of fluke. Blackfish are still being caught off the reefs and rock piles, but many catches are being made accidentally while porgy fishing.
50. Bluefish are all over the place, as well. Most are small, but anglers are taking choppers while bait-fishing for big bass out around the reefs. The World’s Greatest Bluefish Contest on August 27 and 28 is now taking registrations from those who want to go for the $25,000 first-place prize. Captain Morgan’s is an official weigh station for this event.
51. Burt from Fisherman’s World, Norwalk said bluefish are all over around Sheffield Island, on top all the way to “28-C,” feeding on sand eels and baby bunker. Most are smaller harbor bluefish, but the best so far are up to 12 pounds. The blues are showing at some time every day and sometimes all day long from the Sheffield Light to the wharf. If anglers don’t run them over too much, fishing action can be very good.
52. There are big bunker in the harbor, but none of the jumbo bass are on them right now due to warming temperatures. But there are a few big choppers on the adult bunker, as would be expected.
53. Fluke fishing has been slow, but a few have been caught off Buoy 28 and outside Copps Island. Porgies are abundant out around the reefs and buoy areas, where anglers are having no problem limiting out on this species practically on demand – wind and tides permitting.
54. There are no blue crabs in this area, either.
55. Best bet this week sounds like fluke to the east and along the Rhody beaches, where bait is holding them in place for a change. Be on the lookout for busting bluefin tuna, and don’t keep one unless you have the proper permits. Also be on the lookout for an influx of small tunas, bonito and false albacore that by most accounts appear to be heading our way. [originally published "On The Water" written by Bob Sampson, Jr.