New London, The Day: CT Fishing Reports

• WE HAD A GOOD TWO days of striper fishing, said Al Golinski of Misquamicut. On Sunday and Monday, using live and dead bunker on the Watch Hill Reefs, he and his fishing partner landed 27 bass between 15 and 25 pounds. He also said, since last report, two divers speared bass over 50 pounds on the reefs and a third that size was taken with rod and reel.
• Al also had a good report of 20 bass to 34 inches caught with topwater plugs on the reefs and the south side of Fishers Island, by people chartering Capt. Ben DeMario of Westerly, one of the area's light tackle guides.
• Bill at King Cove Outfitters in Stonington said he saw fluke to 12 pounds caught earlier in the week off Misquamicut before the northeast wind kept many small boaters off the water. Bass action on the reefs has been pretty good, weather permitting, with the biggest around 25 to 30 pounds.
• Capt. Allen Fee at Shaffers Marina said most people got out on Sunday, after the bad weather the day before. They fished mostly off the Rhode Island beaches for fluke, catching some nice ones but using lots of lead in the heavy tides. Schoolie bass and some early blues are in the Mystic River, ready to take a popping plug or chop up a small plastic lure. On days it was too rough to head down beyond Watch Hill for fluke, people landed shorts and some keepers around buoy 7 and the north end of Ram Island.
• The keeper bass of the week were caught on chunks of mackerel fished on lead core line on charter trips out to the Middle Clump. There are a few large porgies in the catches, those caught on fluke rigs.
• “We are selling lots of snag and live-lining rigs,” said Red at Bob's Rod & Tackle for all the bunkers in the Thames River. Find a school of bait, snag one and let it swim and you might get a bass from 36 to 45 inches or bluefish to 8 pounds. Shore anglers are catching some of these fish at places like Horton's Cove, Montville boat ramp and Fort Shantok. The northeast wind curtailed a lot of fluke trips for the smaller boats. Some porgies are on the rocky humps outside the river mouth but not in summer numbers just yet.
• Capt. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection saw bursts of bass activity on the Watch Hill Reefs and also periods when the fishing went slack altogether. A school of small blues was chasing sand eels from the castle on the east end of Fishers down to Schooner Reef along with a moderate number of bass to 22 pounds trolled up with the red tube and sandworm combo.
• People are scoring on blues and some bass in the Race trolling umbrellas at the shoal during the slack and bucktailing when current increases. Schools of bunker are moving around the Thames from Gales Ferry to Norwich. Jack cautioned people heading to New York waters for fluke that Conservation Officers are checking very closely for legal sizes at 19.8 inches and also all safety equipment aboard.
• Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat sent in his regular report stating they are now sailing daily from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Fishing was picky on Saturday, very good on Sunday and in the “wow” category on Monday. That trip they had bluefish to 15 pounds. Starting Thursday, they will run fluke trips from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.
• Stephanie Cramer also sent in her weekly e-mail saying she caught small bass in the upper Thames on fly and spinning tackle “in between wind and rain.” Steph had another letter from the American Littoral Society about a tagged striper she caught in the river on May 22. The bass had been landed by her on March 23, also in the Thames; caught twice by the same angler.
• Capt. Howard Beers at Hillyer's Tackle was pleased to tell us about a party boat milestone of sorts. On a fluke trip to Gardiner's Bay, Capt. Bob Wadsworth of the Sunbeam netted a muskrat swimming by the boat about three-quarters of a mile from the nearest land. To my knowledge this may be the first muskrat ever caught from a party boat. Congrats to Capt. Bob on a job well done.
• Next on our list is Capt. Joey Devine of the Mijoy who wrote they are now getting more blues than previous weeks, mostly on bait, a few on jigs plus a sprinkling of keeper stripers. They will start daily sailing on Saturday, two trips per day at 6 a.m. and again at 1 p.m.
• Capt. Kyle Douton was minding the store at J&B when I called, stopping long enough to say he's been out on their charter boat in the morning, catching lots of blues and a lesser number of bass than last week, all the blues making it harder to catch a striper. All the fish were spitting up small porgies when they hit the deck.
• Small boaters had keeper fluke around Two Tree Channel and the north end of Ram Island, maybe hugging a lee shore in the northeast wind. Trollers using the tube and worm had bass to 36inches between Hatchetts and Black Points. Offshore reports were a matter of rumors as few boats have made it out during the week.
• Mark at River's End reported shore anglers chunking up school bass at Saybrook Point and also talking about small numbers of weakfish that moved into the lower Connecticut River since last week. You might also find a few fluke along the river's main channel or the Old Lyme beaches. Diamond jigging and bucktailing produced blues and some bass in Plum Gut.
• We close the column with a situation that offshore anglers might want to comment on. Many of us get our marine weather over marine weather radios that broadcast 24/7. In our area the strongest signal comes from Brookhaven Laboratory in Upton, NY. That town is located in the 631 area code.
• For some reason they only now transmit the offshore weather, Hudson Canyon to the Great South Channel out to 1000 fathoms, every half hour and again on the hour. This contrasts with inshore weather continually given throughout the half hour. Making offshore fishermen and boaters wait 29 minutes between forecasts at this time of year seems short-sighted when many area boaters will head out for shark and tuna, some on overnight trips to the 100-fathom edge.
• If you would like to see this policy changed call 631-924-0227 and ask for Mr. Gary Conte to make your feelings known. (by Tim Coleman)