Connecticut Post - Fishing report

• Just how good the fishing is this week depends on who you ask. Some bait-and-tackle shop owners are bubbling with enthusiasm while others say things have slowed. When this happens the best thing anglers can do is venture out to find out for themselves.
• One observer on the positive side is Eric at Westport Outfitters, who declared in his usually reliable fishing report: "Our local inshore fishing is ON FIRE! Fly and light tackle fisherman are having one of their better seasons in a while with many of our outflows and estuaries providing numerous schoolie bass and keeper bass as well with some concentrations of bluefish in certain areas." An unusually high number of dogfish catches are being reported. This toothless shark rarely grows larger than four feet long but can put up a mighty fight on light tackle.
• Striped bass — Fishers throwing bunker chunks from jetties and from boats are doing well, taking many keepers from Gulf Beach and in the waters behind Milford's Charles Island. Jason at Bobby J's in Milford reports that one customer took 10 keeper bass (28 inches and longer) in two trips. The mouth of the Housatonic has slowed markedly for both bass and blues, but a couple of dedicated fly fishers reported take near-record sized sea robins while wading the sandbars in front of the Audubon Coastal Center this week. Bridgeport anglers are finding the striper fishing running hot and cold. One night a trip will yield lots of big fish the next nothing.
• Bluefish — Blue fishing seems to have died, at least temporarily, in the Bridgeport area. Anglers looking to hook up with small- to-medium-sized choppers should try walking out on Pennfield Reef where the blues are energetically chasing rubber shad, surface poppers and almost any hunk of hair and feathers in the fly box. For boasters cruising off Burial Hill Beach in Westport has been successful.
• Fluke — New York waters off Long Island's north shore are still the best bet for fluke.
• Weakfish — Very few reports of weakfish. What catches there are come mostly from New Haven Harbor.
• Trout — Trout fishing slowed this week as water temperatures began to rise, but there are still lots of stocked fish in the usual rivers, ponds and lakes. The upper Housatonic is reported to be low and warm. The best action comes before dark. Adler hatches are slowing down, but Cahills are plentiful at dark. (by Charles Walsh, Connecticut Post). 6/22