The Day, 6/16/06

1. Finally, a spell of settled weather that allowed small boaters some comfortable time on the water. Fluking improved since last report but there are still a lot of shorts around for every keeper or doormat.
2. Bass catches in The Race in the day were good one tide and poor the next. And, the live bait sharpies found a source of bunker and turned those into some jumbo bass in the mornings on the Watch Hill Reefs.
3. Al Golinski of Misquamicut fished on Monday with Bruce Vass and Pat Matlo, both of Meriden, for bass of 42 and 48 pounds on live bunker then went down the beach for fluke to 7.8 pounds, his best trip this year. On Thursday morning they managed to find a few baits then turned those into three bass from the mid-30s to one just over 40 pounds, also on the Watch Hill Reefs.
4. Capt. Don's in Charlestown reported the surf people landed school bass from the breachway rocks at certain stages of the tide, mainly after dark. One local three-wayed an eel at Southwest Ledge for a 49-pound striper while others used lures and flies on the Watch Hill Reefs for small and medium bass and some small bluefish.
5. Fluking has improved over last week's poor weather but you must work your way through X number of shorts for every keeper that goes in the cooler from the Pink House east past Green Hill. Fly rodders, wading ands casting in Quonny Pond, were very happy with lots of hickory shad and small stripers, primarily at dusk and first thing in the morning.
6. Striper fishing is still good at Block Island, said Capt. Al Anderson. He fished the North Rip in the evenings with fly-rod charters, catching 61 fish total in two trips from roughly 6-9 p.m. each time out, all on the flood tide. People trying for a big bass with live eels were mad about all the dogfish taking the baits drifted out in deep water from Clay Head over to Black Rock. Al noted it will soon be time for sharking out in the Fingers.
7. King Cove in Stonington put on a Kayak Fishing Tournament over the windy weekend. All entrants put up with the stiff wind to bring in bass up to 20 pounds, the winning fish. Best fluke of the week was an 11-pounder by Miss Davies from Groton on Sunday. Others had more keepers and also more fish in the 5-pound range. Casters continue to get smaller bass from the Watch Hill reefs and live baiters, the bigger bass in the morning.
8. Moving on to Mystic, I spoke with Cheryl at Shaffers Marina who said Glen Davis of Groton land fluke of 7, 7, 8 and 11 pounds from an undisclosed location on Sunday. Bill Ambot of Hebron from at Misquamicut on Monday for four keepers plus shorts plus two 8-pound bluefish that grabbed his fluke rigs.
9. Team Dixie from Noank was out with a live bunker on Saturday and brought back a 43-pound striper. A few of the smaller boaters got bass from The Race in the middle of the day just as the tide eased then turned. So far there hasn't been any number of porgies caught from all the usual spots in Fishers Island Sound.
10. Fish Connection in Preston said the ratio of shorts to keeper fluke remains about 10-to-1 but more people got out over the week thanks to more summer-like weather. Casting lures and flies on the Watch Hill Reefs and diamond jigging on the slower parts of the tide in The Race produced small and medium stripers and some bluefish. One day the jiggers found themselves hooked up to 10 to 13-pound blues in The Race but those were gone the next time out. Last bit of news was one steady customer who missed a nice bass in the cove at Brookside along the Thames on a live eel on Thursday morning.
11. Stephanie Cramer fished in the Salt Pond at Point Judith with Bill Krueger with fly tackle and landed and released 50 small stripers. Last Sunday she joined a group of fly fishing enthusiasts at Quonny Pond, catching bass in a strong northwest wind on 8 and 9 WT rods with an 11-weight line. Her last trip was with Capt Al Anderson in the North Rip on Monday evening. Along with Dennis Kelly they boated 31 bass to 31 inches on a 12-weight rods and squid flies she tied up.
12. We are sailing daily now said Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat, with a good catch of medium blues and some keeper stripers. Sunday's catch was somewhat less than Saturday due to a wind and tide conditions. On Monday, however, they recorded an excellent numbers of blues and more keeper bass. He also noted Steffan Danz, one of the mates, is now the proud father of a new baby girl, Victoria, weighing in a 9.92 pounds and 21inches long, a keeper.
13. Richard at Hillyers Tackle had news about bass of 22 and 25 pounds caught on chunk herring fished from the beach on the west side of the Niantic Railroad Bridge by Mike Carroll on Monday. Geoffrey Gratton and friend launched their boat in the wee hours yesterday behind the store then returned around sunrise with bass of 25 and 41.8 pounds, method and location kept a secret. Blues are around some days at Millstone and also along the shore but not in very steady numbers.
14. Capt. Kyle at J&B Tackle said their charter boat is finding good bass action in The Race one tide and poor the next trip, the catching done with bucktails or Butterfly jigs. No one came in to date with a single report of any sharks hooked up wither south of Montauk or Block Island. On Saturday they held their Inshore Tournament in all the wind. Winning fish was a 9-pound fluke from the south side of Fishers Island. That was followed in second place by an 8-pounder and a couple others down to 5 pounds. One of the bigger boats came back from the Dip with a report of 12 bluefin tuna to 49 inches caught both trolling and chunking.
15. Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme took out Bill Sisson, editor of Soundings and this writer on the Monday evening flood tide for 11 bass to 22 pounds and six blues, caught both diamond jigging in The Race and casting around Fishers Island with plastic worms and live eels. He also reported the sea bass catches in the eastern Sound and the wrecks and rockpiles off Rhode Island are very poor just yet. [Tim Coleman, The Day]