On The Water 7/3/06

1. The plentiful bait of mid-summer is maintaining excellent fishing in certain areas despite the hot weather and water. Bunker are still schooling along the Connecticut shoreline, and they are especially thick in certain locations from Norwalk to the Connecticut River. Rising water temps and the corresponding drop in dissolved oxygen levels has forced the menhaden to move out of rivers such as the Housatonic, where they could be found schooled up just a few weeks ago. Those bunker are now stuck between a rock and a hard place, as schools of big blitzing bluefish and even some stripers are keeping them pinned close to shore – and providing some excellent action for anglers.
2. In the Western Sound, striper fishing has gotten tough for surfcasters and shore-fishermen according to the report from Fishermen’s World in Norwalk. If you have a boat, deep and cool water is where you’ll still find some good striper fishing, and the deepest water out of Norwalk is on the west side of Buoy 11B where the bottom drops down to about 125 feet. Fishing deep with a three-way rig baited with sand worms or a heavy bucktail and pork rind is a good way to fool fish from 30 to 42 inches this week.
3. The boatless still have a reason to head to the shore however, and that reason is tremendous bluefish action. Those schools of bunker are popping up close to shore, and are being harrassed by 6- to 8-pound bluefish from Cedar Point and Compo Beach to Southport Harbor, off of Calf Pasture Beach, around Black Rock Harbor and the pier at Seaside Beach, and from Long Beach in Stratford. For most anglers, the first few hours of a dropping tide have provided the best bluefish action. The biggest bluefish – 10-pound-plus “alligators” – can be taken on the reefs and ledges using chunked bunker. If you have a kayak, there’s plenty of fishable water that can be reached by launching off of Calf Pasture Beach and paddling out toward Goose Island. You can chase blitzing bluefish, or drop down a fluke rig and drift for dinner.
4. Out toward Stratford, there are the same marauding schools of bluefish hammering pogies, but there are also plenty of big bass hanging around. This past week the bunker that dropped out of the Housatonic River moved out in front to join the bunker schools in Bridgeport Harbor, off Long Beach, and from the mouth of the Housatonic to Charles Island. Chris of Stratford Bait and Tackle said the fishing has been “phenomenal,” as a 50-pounder was just weighed in at the shop and loads of bass in the 19- to 25-pound range being taken on plugs and poppers.
5. Just about every harbor and the mouth of every tidal river along the shore from the Housatonic to the Connecticut River may be holding bunker and blitzing bluefish – start with Guilford, Clinton, and Westbrook harbors and keep your eyes peeled. Again, with temps near 80 degrees in the tidal rivers, bunker are being forced to seek out better-oxygenated water but are finding themselves herded and pinned by bluefish. East of the Connecticut River, Hatchett Reef, Black Point, Niantic Bay, Millstone Point, Bartlett Reef, and Avery Point all have excellent bluefish action on plugs and metal, while the biggest blues are coming from The Race on diamond jigs and bunker chunks.
6. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison said that if you want bass, look for deeper and cooler water. He recommends fishing anywhere within a triangle drawn from SW Reef to the western edge of Long Sand Shoal and out to Six Mile Reef. Look for marks on the fishfinder in water from 60 to 80 feet deep. Bunker chunks or whole live bunker are also taking bass in the North Rip at Falkners Island. Some good-size bass are popping up in shallow water, such as in 10 to 15 feet of water over Bartlett Reef. Cooler water sweeping up over the reef from adjacent depths has kept things comfortable for the bass, which are happy to feed on the scraps underneath surface-feeding bluefish schools. Trolling tube-and-worm rigs near the bottom around the edges of the reef is another way to target these fish. Parachute jigs and live eels at the Spindle on the south end of Bartlett Reef will also take big bass.
   
7. The backside of Fishers Island is holding bass in the early morning, try trolling a tube and worm in 10 to 20 feet of water to locate them. Out at Race Rock Light, large stripers are being taken at night and very early in the morning.
8. Good light-tackle action for spin and fly-guys is available in the lower Thames, Mumford Cove, and Mystic Harbor on small schoolie bass and 1- to 3-pound harbor blues. For bigger blues, try out around Ram Island Reef, Middle Clump, or Seaflower Reef. For bigger stripers in the mid-20- to 30-inch range, try fishing the same locations just after sunset.
9. Along the Rhode Island coast from the South County beaches and breachways to Narragansett, striped bass fishing is about being there late at night or very early in the morning, preferably slinging eels or rigged soft plastics. Colby at Breachway Tackle in Charlestown recommended East Beach and the Breachway, while Mrs. Dangleo at Maridee Bait and Tackle in Narragansett recommended Scarboro Beach, Black Point, and Narragansett Town Beach. Most of these bass are in the 10- to 20-pound range, but increasing numbers of big bluefish in the area are chopping up eels and making bass fishing tough on the wallet. Boat anglers that are able to avoid the bluefish are still taking big bass by fishing for hickories at first light in the ponds, then live-lining them off of Watch Hill Reef or Green Hill Point. If bluefish chop up your bait, sink the heads and pieces below the blues and tempt the lazy stripers down there feeding on scraps.
10. Acres of 2- to 4-pound bluefish breaking off Narragansett during the evenings and in the Newport area are an easy target for anglers with the means to chase down the nearest flock of birds. There are some bigger bluefish mixed in, and potentially some stripers lurking beneath the blues, but the biggest stripers will be found 40 to 60 feet deep. Fishing deep with live bait will take some big stripers during the day, but if you want to throw plugs you’d better be on the water before first light. Earl at the Saltwater Edge in Newport said that they have been taking good numbers of 20- to 30-pound bass in the very early morning by throwing topwater plugs anywhere there is structure and current.
11. Out at Block Island, John at Twin Maples Tackle said that good numbers of bass up to 20 pounds are being taken off the beaches after dark by surfcasters throwing needlefish plugs from West Beach on the west side of the Island, casting into the onshore wind and surf. Bass up to 40 pounds have been taken by anglers drifting eels in 15 to 25 feet of water around Southwest Point and Southeast Light. No need for a lead weight, just lob the eel out, let it swim for the bottom and retrieve slowly. Albacore and bonito could show in fishable numbers any day now in the Coast Guard Channel leading into Great Salt Pond. This is a great spot to take an albie from shore; the fish cruise along the sandy drop-off picking off sand eels so try throwing a Deadly Dick or fly-casting a sand eel imitator.
12. Wildwood Outfitters in Wakefield this week reported another cobia landed in Rhode Island waters, this time a big one estimated at 60 pounds! Rhode Island doesn’t even include cobia on its list of gamefish eligible for state records, but their largest documented catch for a cobia in RI waters listed on the RIDEM Web site is a 35-pounder caught in 1995 in Narragansett Bay.
13. Fluke are fishing well across the region, from the western Sound to Newport. Not many big doormat fluke, but good numbers of keepers in the 3- to 5-pound range. Bigger fluke are typically found in deeper water, but this time of year some good-sized fluke start to move into some surprisingly shallow waters to feast on snapper blues and peanut bunker.
    
14. In the western Sound, you don’t have to travel all the way to Long Island for consistent catches of keepers; save your gas money and stick to the deeper channels leading into Norwalk Harbor or try drifting the outside of the Norwalk Islands. Fishermen who can ignore the bunker, bass, and bluefish show and target fluke have been doing well in the lower Housatonic River, and excellent around the New Haven Harbor breakwaters.
15. Further east, try drifting off of the Guilford – Madison – Clinton shoreline or south of Falkner Island for big fluke in the mid-20-inch range and the occasional 30-incher. By the way, the waters south of Falkner have also given up several weakfish, which tend to hit best on an incoming late in the day according to Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison.
16. Cheryl at Shaffer’s Marina in Mystic said “everybody’s fluking” in the eastern Sound. The biggest fluke have been taken from deep water, such as the 90-foot depths at the bottom of the drop-off just off of the Black Point side of Niantic Bay, and the backside (south side) of Fishers Island in 80 to 100 feet. Cheryl said the ratio has improved to about eight shorts for every keeper in 40 to 50 feet off Isabella Beach, Napatree, and Misquamicut.
17. Fluke worshipper Captain “Thomcat” Pelletier of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown traveled all the way to Nomans to target fluke on his vacation, but admits that he would have been better off to stick to the waters around Point Judith. From the Center Wall west to Green Hill fluke fishing has really turned on; Thom took a 7.5-pounder and a 7.8-pounder from those waters on Sunday. You can tell the fluke fishing is hot when the fluking flotilla fills in from the West Wall to Green Hill Point. Targeting depths from 45 to 55 feet in this area seems to be the key, any deeper and you’ll find yourself fishing for dogfish and not summer flounder. There are also plenty of fluking spots around Newport, pick up this month’s issue of On The Water for some great advice on spots to fish from shore, kayak, or boat.
18. Scup fishing in August is easy, joked Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford – all you have to do is go fluke fishing. Several folks this week remarked on the extra-large scup that have appeared this season. Some notable spots to target scup include Smith Reef off of Stamford, Buoy 28C off Norwalk (which marks Cable and Anchor Reef), Goshen Ledge and Bartlett Reef out of New London, and the East Wall at Point Judith.
19. Nearshore bluefin tuna action is “pretty grim” said Earl at Saltwater Edge in Newport. Tuna guides searching from Montauk to Block Island to Cuttyhunk have found nothing in the way of school bluefin. After a spate of action around Block Island a couple weeks ago, the tuna quickly moved on, but local Captains are ready to drop everything should they reappear. Farther offshore, bluefin tuna have been taken between The Claw and the Mudhole, at the Acid Barge and the Fingers, with plenty of blue sharks available near the Mudhole. Yellowfin tuna action has been “slamming” for trollers working Fishtails and the Canyons.
20. In Connecticut, hot weather has the freshwater trout fishing at a standstill. Most people aren’t targeting them because even though they are catchable they are tough to release alive when the water is warm. The CT DEP reminds anglers that thermal refuge areas on the Housatonic, Naugatuck and Shetucket Rivers are now closed to fishing and will reopen on September 1. There is no fishing within 100 feet of the mouths of posted tributaries to these rivers. In ponds and lakes, evening and post-sunset fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass is excellent right now. Try an 8- to 10-inch black worm, a dark-colored spinnerbait, or the classic jitterbug. In the New London area, Rennie from the Fish Connection in Preston on the Thames recommended Rogers Lake in Old Lyme, Pachaug Pond in Griswold and Gardner Lake in Salem. Smallmouth bass are also hitting well in the Housatonic River. Northern pike fishing is an option in the Connecticut River, try fishing the coves from Wethersfield south to Middletown. The upper Connecticut River offers good smallmouth fishing around Enfield and Windsor.

Best Bets for Connecticut and Rhode Island:Hot, hazy, humid weather will push striped bass deep, but they are willing to break the rules at night when bait is thick and the eating is good. Launch the boat before first light and live-line bunker to the stripers feeding along the Connecticut shoreline, toss eels along the rocky southern shore of Block Island, swim hickory shad off the Rhode Island breachways, or if you prefer to throw plugs just look for that magic combination of structure and moving water. Once the sun gets high and the striper bite dies down, you can switch over to fluking, keep yourself entertained with blitzing bluefish, or grab a coffee and head to the air-conditioned off