Noreast.com Eastern Connecticut

Week of June 11-June 17:

• Our good friend “Q” from Rivers End Tackle was nice enough to once again provide a very detailed report for the waters in and around Old Saybrook. “The key to successful fishing these days is the use of fresh bait. What separates the men from the boys is finding the bait and using it at the proper times and right locations,” proclaimed “Q”. The bass fishing has been fairly good around most of the reefs and shoals. “Bartlett’s Reef, Long Sand Shoal, and Southwest Reef have all produced a decent pick of bass. “A lot of the fish that were staging at the mouth of the river over the last couple of months appear to be moving out into the Sound and taking up residence along the aforementioned reefs and shoals.” “Q” continued,
• “The mouth of the Connecticut River is still holding bass, but not nearly the amount we were seeing a couple of weeks ago. The internet and discussion boards have really made this area a very busy place, which hurts the bite. Regardless, anglers willing to wet the lines at night or before sunup are still having moderate success. The bluefish have been making a stronger and stronger presence at the mouth as well. Once the sun comes up, it won’t be hard to find them,” stated “Q”. I can concur with “Q’s” report as Kevin Mucha and I hit the lower Connecticut on Father’s Day to score fish to 36 inches, but the bite has certainly died down over the last couple of weeks.
• “As compared to the last few years, this may be the best fluking season we’ve seen in a while – which doesn’t say much about the current fishery. Long Sand Shoal, the mouth of the Connecticut, Misquamicut, and the south side of Fisher’s Island have all been productive, but you still need to weed through the shorts to find your table fare.”
• On Friday, I spoke with Evan from J&B Tackle in Niantic who provided a quick recap of the local bite. The offshore bite has been non-existent. He is hoping the action will pick up soon. Although anglers are catching their fair share of bass and blues at The Race, the bite did slow a bit leading into the weekend. Evan feels this week’s “bad tide” may be a factor in the slowdown. To the dismay of some striped bass anglers, the bluefish are everywhere ranging from small to large choppers all along the Niantic shoreline. Also, the fluking in Niantic Bay has been pretty good for those who enjoy matching wits with the flatties. Lastly, J&B Tackle will be carrying green crabs for the reopening of the blackfish season. The water is still cool enough where we may have a few weeks of good “toggin.”
• Hillyers Bait and Tackle reported several nice catches over the last couple of days. On Friday, Captain Joe Wysocki of Osprey Charters managed to put one of his clients on a 52-inch, 47.5-pound cow. Location and presentation were not yet known. On Monday, a local weighed in a 45-inch, 35-pound bass that was caught near Millstone on a green tube. Art Sylvestri had a lot of success near Black Point with the fluke. The big fish of the day tipped the scales at 8 pounds.
• Blackfish season is now open and the folks at Hillyers are anticipating a great season considering all of the accidental catches over the last two weeks. The bluefish really haven’t made a strong presence in Niantic, with the exception of those caught near the Millstone outflow and The Race. Fluking has been particularly strong at Black Point, Millstone, and Isabella. Also, the harbor is providing a great porgy bite. Local anglers have pulled 13-14-inch (or bigger) scup over the gunwales while fishing Black Rock and White Rock.
• The Thames River continues to hold a decent pick of striped bass, but the numbers appear to be thinning out as the fish make their way into the Sound. There have been a few occasions over the last week when a couple of lucky anglers scored 40-plus-inch fish, but the frequency of these types of landings has diminished. Just outside of the Thames, local anglers are periodically running into medium-sized bass near Two Tree Island. If you are lucky enough to run into some live bunker, livelining these fish near Bartlett’s may score you a trophy.
• In Stonington, the schoolie bite continues to improve. My buddy Dave Collins and I fished Sandy Point in Stonington on Thursday and found the inner bar stacked with pint-sized bass. Most of these fish are in the 20-24-inch range, but there are some bigger fish to be had. The amount of bait in this part of the state is astounding. There were several occasions throughout the morning where the fish finder was completely “blacked out.” The key here is to stay on the outside of those bait schools and fish bait or work the tube and worm along the bottom. Stonington Harbor is also holding a fair share of bait, but the bite has been very sporadic on the western side of Sandy Point.
• On the charter front, Claire from Hel-Cat II provided the following information on Sunday night. It’s been an excellent week of fishing. Blues were extremely cooperative and good size to boot. There were some striped bass mixed in, but to be honest, we were pretty much avoiding the bass areas because of extreme current velocities that made it all but impossible to fish - except for short windows of time. The areas we were fishing avoided most of those problems. Our 4 PM to 8PM fluke trips started this past week and the fishing was generally good to very good, with fluke to 24" being taken. No changes in the schedule for some time to come, as we are sailing daily at 9 AM, back in at 3 PM and then the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening trips set sail at 4 PM, returning at 8 PM. (by Roland St. Denis, Noreast.com)