Norwich Bulletin 6/24/06

1. Locally, people are fishing for and catching good numbers of flounder, but they are of the "summer persuasion." The best fluke fishing is still taking place along Rhode Island's south shore beaches from Point Judith to the "Pink House," east of Watch Hill and along the south side of Fishers Island. Niantic Bay, Ocean Beach, Mystic and Stonington also hold some fluke, but not in the abundance of the areas outside the Sound and along the north shore of Long Island.
2. All reports echo the same message. Lots of fluke around but most are under-sized. The "keeper" problem is due to the high minimum lengths that recreational anglers must adhere to.
3. Most of the fluke catching is taking place in water between 40 and 52 feet, with some larger fish being caught in deeper waters. The short-to-keeper ratio everywhere is ranging from 10:1 to 5:1.
4. This week a number of area shops reported weighing Father's Day fluke from 7 to 11 pounds, which is a definite improvement in quality, but none were the 10 pounder I asked for as a present from mother luck.
5. Blackfish action has been good from the season opener on June 15. Hillyer's weighed in a pair of 14 pounders that were caught on green crabs from shore off the mouth of the Thames River and in Niantic Bay.
6. Striper fishing was also a pick. We didn't see any surface action around the island but managed to troll up a few stripers on Fish Connection tube and worm rigs. The biggest was a 35-inch striper that weighed about 13 to 15 pounds. [Bob Sampson, Norwich Bulletin]