TheDay 11/4/05

1. Black fishing is still king with fish caught from Weekapaug through Black Point; the only limiting factor was the wind. When it lays down, look for a small boat flotilla to gather on some of the popular spots. Bass are still on most of the reefs between Watch Hill and Long Sand Shoal and shore fishing along the Rhode Island beaches is much better than previous reports.
2. Al Golinski of Misquamicut counted seven boats on the Stone Pile off Weekapaug when he went by early in the day on Sunday. He turned around, went to the west and found a limit of tautog to 8 pounds on green crabs. They next day he and his friend couldn't locate any live baits for stripers then they returned to the same spot for about the same results. A couple of 40-pound bass were pulled from the Watch Hill Reefs on live hickory shad caught around Niantic.
3. Capt. Al Anderson will be putting his big boat away soon and in the meantime is fishing his smaller boat in the Thames. On a windy Thursday morning they landed 30 small stripers from 16-22 inches in a cove around EB along with a few blues. By 11 a.m., the southwest wind got to the point they had to head back to the ramp.
4. Capt. Don's in Charlestown said some Connecticut surf fishermen caught schoolies and blues after dark last Saturday night in awful conditions of wind and rain. Freddy Tercic and Carmello Meli made a run to Block Island for four bass from 15-32 pounds drifting eels. Toward the end of this week, the daytime surf action was better than the night with blues and schoolies caught on bait on the bottom and a variety of lures. This writer landed seven blues from 5-14 pounds on a topwater plug at the Fire District Beach from 1:30-5 p.m. on Wednesday. Large bunker are moving past on some of the days. They sometimes become stranded on shore where they are promptly captured and used for fresh chunk baits.
5. King Cove Outfitters said the shore fishing took a turn for the better from about last weekend through yesterday. People out at daybreak had blues and schoolies on poppers and plastics on at least five of seven mornings. Frozen or fresh chunks of bunker or mackerel fished on the bottom accounted for numbers of large blues during the day from Misquamicut to East Beach near Charlestown Breachway. Black fishing is very good if you get a window in the wind from Weekapaug through Seaside.
6. Allen at Shaffers Marina weighed in a limit catch of blackfish to 9.8 pounds from Red Reef for Cora Trimble of Mystic and two friends. People are buying eels consistently so the striper fishing is still alive and well. Their last day will be Nov. 12. Another season on the waters of the Sounds is coming to a close.
7. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection observed all his customers are getting blackfish at Frank's Ledge, the reef southwest of Seaflower and Race Rock on the days they can get out. Look for schoolies in the morning between Pine Island and Groton Long Point and maybe some blues to 14 pounds at Millstone. The best bet for catching bass in the Thames seems from the I-95 Bridge to the mouth.
8. Stephanie Cramer sent in her regular e-mail saying she didn't have much luck casting in the evening from the banks of the upper Thames. However some of her fellow fishing club members caught lots of schoolies on Wednesday just north of I-95 and others also found them in the early morning the same day around Bushy Point.
9. Over at Hillyers Tackle, I found Capt. Howard Beers minding the store. He reported good black fishing with several fish from 9-13 pounds weighed in. Lots of big blues are in the area, taking diamond jigs, bucktails or showing on top. A school of small to medium bass were also showing on the surface at times between the mouth of the Thames and Ocean Beach, sometimes coming within range of those on shore.
10. Roger at J&B Tackle said the black fishing is very good right now at various spots like Ram Island Reef and the Weakfish Hump. False albacore put in a quick flurry off New London one day but disappeared after that. Their charter boat is still getting large blues and some bass in The Race. They have another eight trips on the books then will call it a year.
11. Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme tried black fishing off Black Point one windy morning but the weather got so bad they had to turn around and come back in. Since then the boat sat in at stack rack waiting for a calm day.
12. River's End Tackle had news about some good numbers of stripers to 30 pounds and large blues caught on three-wayed eels at Long Sand Shoal. The lower Connecticut River had been very poor for those looking for casting opportunities for school bass. The river is full of floating logs and debris that unfortunately some boaters located the hard way. Along the local shorelines, there's a mix of large hickory shad, bass to 24 inches and a few very fat bluefish, best at daybreak and again at sunset. [by Tim Coleman]