Nor'east Mag E.CT 6/12-18/06

1. The blackfish season opened with a bang on the 15th of June! Many eastern Connecticut anglers found a lively tog bite at rock piles, pilings and reefs, especially in the Niantic area. A diver confirmed this visually and the weigh stations tallied up some impressive blackfish poundage. Porgies continue to filter into our waters, with some decent catches of scup on the reefs. Shore anglers had an occasional scup, but there is plenty of time to reach full strength for this fishery. Warmer weather and water temperatures also helped the fluke fishery, with doormats off Isabella Beach, and an improving short to keeper ratio at Long Sand Shoal. Accounts of striped bass fishing differed. Structure near the mouth of the Connecticut River delivered cow bass, everyone in the Niantic area had fish in the twenty pound class, the Race and the Gut may have slowed down over the weekend, while the Branford reefs held still fewer bass. With larger bait such as bunker still in the New Haven Harbor and porgies still spreading out on the reefs, the bass seemed to behave in a spring-like manner. Larger and more abundant bluefish in the Race is just the first sign of warmer water temperatures. The choppers may still be a ways from their summertime stranglehold on prime bass haunts, but their behavior reminds us of the window of opportunity for drifting live bait on the reefs for cow bass. It might make sense to anticipate the effect that this sudden change of weather will have on the fish in choosing a method or strategy.
   
2. Captain Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat II charter boat, 860-535-2066, reported, “Great fishing all week, with a bit of a slow down over the weekend.” The timing of the tides or the heavy weekend boat traffic explained the less enthusiastic weekend bite. The catch consisted of the full spectrum of bluefish sizes. The bluefish bite remained consistent through the week. Plenty of keeper sized striped bass also came over the rails, which outnumbered short fish. The shorts outnumbered keepers on only one outing. Dave Coons of Sheffield, Massachusetts earned the fish of the week award for his 20-pound striper, which entitles him to a free trip. The Hel-Cat II will continue to sail their banker’s hours special daily from 9 AM to 3 PM for the rest of the summer.
   
3. Joey of Dee’s Bait and Tackle said, “The porgies are in pretty good around Falkners.” The scup appear to be working their way into the Branford area, and perhaps not yet reaching the New Haven Harbor. Six Mile Reef delivered the largest scup. Unlike the porgies, there were plenty of blackfish in the New Haven Harbor on the break walls, with slower action on the reefs. Tony Cachase landed four blackfish between 4 and 6 pounds at the breakwater, and a 12.9-pound weakfish on a bunker chunk!
   
4. Weakfish may be on the move to deeper water as the harbor area usually peaks in early June. Copious amounts of bait such as bunker attracted bluefish and striped bass to the New Haven Harbor, as bass anglers worked hard for a few keepers weighing 15 to 20 pounds at Southwest Reef. The Quinnipiac River also bustled with bunker and shore anglers found bass and bluefish on the feed, with an occasional fluke. Many of the early fluke arrivals run right up into the rivers in search of an easy meal. Try a mummy or a squid strip in the Quinnipiac River near the I-95 bridge.
5.  Captain Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Bait and Tackle attributes the sudden increase in bluefish size to warmer water temperatures in the Madison, Guilford area. Bluefish in the ten-pound class roamed the areas shores. Warmer water temperatures might also explain the improved size and short to keeper ratio for fluke. You might have to sort through five or six fluke for a keeper off of Hammonassett State Park or Falkners Island, versus eight fluke for one keeper a couple of weeks ago. The timing could be perfect for the upcoming Flukemania Smackdown on July 15th and 16th. The recent worm hatch may have inspired the activeness of striped bass on both tides near Branford. Southwest Reef, Six Mile Reef and Falkners Island proved very productive for stripers in the low twenty-pound range. A few obese bass in the high thirty and low forty-pound class sporadically mixed in with the catch, keeping things interesting. The bass seemed to be attracted to areas burgeoning with porgies. Skates and sea robins rounded out the menu. Blackfish season opened with mixed reviews, which is partially due to the unsettled weather. As things settle down, look for more blackfish holding on the reefs. The same theory applies to black seabass.
6.  Ed of Rivers End Tackle noted that it’s the time of year that the striped bass come out of the rivers. Action at Plum Gut slowed down the last few nights but held up during the day on drifted bucktails. The Race produced fewer hook-ups on bucktails and better results for bait drifters. Tube and worm practitioners did well with medium sized bass measuring between 30 and 32 inches at Hatchett Reef. The Watch Hill reefs are holding nice bass. Fair to good bluefish action with fish in the 5 to 10-pound range existed in the river mouths, Plum Gut, Pigeon Rip and the Millstone discharge. Fluking at the river mouths produced mostly shorts. Misquamicut took the prize for the fluke hot-spot.
   
7. Carl of Ted’s Bait and Tackle said, “It was a great week of fishing, but it depends what you were fishing for.” Near the mouth of the Connecticut River at places such as Cornfield Point, Long Sand Shoal and even Hatchett Reef, striped bass in the high thirty to low forty-pound range hit live bait all week long.
   
8. The Ernit charter boat weighed in a 45-pound striped bass caught on fresh bunker on a pleasure cruise. Junior anglers fought bass up to 38 inches from the DEP dock on tubed-sandworms, a unique technique. Bartlett Reef hosted some scup. Blackfish season opened with a bang at all the major reefs and rock piles such as Bartlett, Hatchett, Cornfield Point, and Hen and Chickens. The togs aggressively slurped down sandworms in particular. Hermit crabs were a second preference and green crabs were the third choice. This diet could be explained by soft mouths devoid of hard molars, but that is a subject of much debate.
   
9. One thing is for sure, the Old Troll charter boat limited out so quickly on 4 to 5-pound blackfish Friday that they had to come back in for eels to finish the charter with bass. The blackfish opener overshadowed the fluke scene, as fluke anglers waited for warmer water temperatures. The good weather marked an end to the waiting game. Jack of Jack’s Shoreline Bait and Tackle said that, “The blackfishing is just excellent!” Most appetizing to togs were sandworms, with green crabs a close second choice. Although fluke fishing is picking up, short fish far outnumber keepers at Long Sand Shoal. Striped bass fishing slowed down a bit during the week, but still can be described as good. Porgy fishing picked up at Cranes Reef in particular. Six Mile Reef also gave up scup.
   Richard of Hillyers Tackle Shop announced 14.8-pound blackfish caught from shore near the railroad bridge in Niantic! Tautog infiltrated nearly every hospitable rock pile, piling or reef and anglers achieved limits with ease. Niantic shore fishing also boasted at least three bass measuring near 40 inches, caught off the beach near the boardwalk. Schoolies also tugged lines in the area. Fluke fishing is still a case of prospecting for a keeper. At each dusk and dawn, more and more hickory shad can be found in the Niantic River. Party boats in the Race found success with the bass, and a nice mess of bluefish. Al of Mackeys Bait and Tackle noted that the legal size for lobster will increase to 3.625 inches on July 1st.
   
10. Al got a look of the 14.81-pound blackfish caught in the Niantic area, which seemed to sum up the state of the fishery. The Niantic Bay produced decent porgy action with scup to 17 inches, as well as blackfish. It seemed like nearly everyone you spoke with had landed a 20-pound bass during the week. Almost as common were 4 to 7-pound fluke off Isabella Beach.
    
11. Henry of Hammonassett Tackle Company said, “It’s kind of slow here for bass and blues.” Bluefish strengthened their grip on the reefs, however. Shore anglers managed schoolies and an occasional keeper from the shores of Hammonassett State Park, “Nothing special.” Two locally caught 9-pound blackfish were weighed yesterday. Just this morning, a shore angler reeled in a 19-inch fluke. “It’s starting to get active, nothing crazy, but everyone is catching fish.”
12. Nor'east Saltwater, Eastern Connecticut, by Dixon Downey Week of 6/12 to 18

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