Noreast.com, Eastern CT, 7/22

• Although the bite has been off over the last couple weeks, the days leading into the weekend showed signs of improvement throughout the eastern Connecticut shoreline.
• Mark Beers of Block Island Tackle in Westbrook described the reef action as “very good,” especially over the latter part of the week. Long Sand Shoal has been highly productive for stripers and fluke, especially near the “W” can. Crane Reef has produced a reliable bite consisting of 30-40-inch stripers.
  
• Plum Gut, the Sluiceway, and Six Mile Reef have also been very accommodating for local anglers. As of Friday morning, Southwest Reef was “absolutely loaded” with large blues and bass, according to Mark. For the surfcaster, the entire Westbrook shoreline over to Pilot’s Point is loaded with schoolie bass and small to medium sized choppers. The main concern for anglers in this part of the state is finding live bait. Although there were reports of juvenile and adult bunker at the mouth of the Connecticut, fresh bait has not been easy to find.
• On a side note, if you are in the area, I strongly recommend you take a run down to Mark’s establishment. For folks familiar with the shop, it has changed greatly, and for the better since Mark took over the operation. You won’t find a nicer man in the industry.
• At Rivers End, Pat had mixed reviews when we discussed the local bite. The bass have been a finicky at times, but still can be found if you work hard enough in the typical haunts. At The Race, trollers are picking up bass and blues, but still complain that the day and night drift has been “off.” Along the shoreline, anglers employing the tube and worm have done fairly well trolling the rocky structure and nearby reefs.
• Fluking has been strong throughout the region. Isabella and Black Point continue to yield a steady pick of keeper fluke. While fishing Black Point, focus on water depths in the 70-foot range. The Connecticut River has also produced a surprising amount of keeper fluke over the last week, but by no means can the river match the production of the aforementioned locations. Anglers are also picking up medium to large sized bluefish in the river fishing bunker chunks under dark skies.
• Over at Hillyers Bait and Tackle, Jim was optimistic of a good bite leading into the weekend. The striper bite, according to Jim, has been very good at Valiant Rock, Race Rock, the Sluiceway, Bartlett’s Reef, Hatchet’s Reef, and the waters around Harness Memorial Park. Diamond jigs, bucktails, umbrella rigs, dead-sticking bunker, and tube and worm have all been effective during the daylight hours. At night, drifting bunker and eels has been the method of choice for most anglers fishing these locations. There is also no shortage of blues, as Millstone Point, Pigeon Rip, and Bartlett’s have all become a nesting ground for these meat grinders.
  
• If you plan on fluking, especially in the Niantic area, you need to start focusing on deeper water. Locals have realized that the fluke have moved from 50-70 feet of water to approximately 100 feet. Peruvian smelt has been the number one bait choice, followed by squid and mummies. The blackfish continue to be cooperating as anglers have experienced a decent bite at Three-Foot Rock, Black Point, Jordan Cove, and between the bridges leading out of Niantic River. Lastly, there is no shortage of porgies at Black Point, White & Black Rocks, and the Bartlett Reef spindle.
• Along the Thames River, most of the bass have moved down towards the mouth. The bunker in Trading Cove has been consistently harassed by a large a contingent of blues - some large - for well over a week. The tube and worm has been especially effective for anglers working the edges of the river and out along the shoreline on the Groton side. Fluking continues to be “decent” at the mouth as well. Check out a few navigational charts and you should have a good idea of where to begin.
• In Stonington, Bill from King Cove Marina and Outfitters claimed of no slow-down in his area of the state. Just this week, several fish in the 30-50-pound range have been placed on the scale at the shop, as evidenced by Dan Territo’s 42.5-pound striper. Watch Hill Reef and many of the other nearby reefs have been teaming with bass and blues, both of which appeared to be honed in on the mess of squid in the area. Fluking continues to be strong, especially at Isabella and Misquamicut. As compared to the folks fishing 30 miles west, anglers in this region have actually begun to fish shallower water in 30-45-foot depths. Temperature variances have much to do with this phenomenon. In Stonington Harbor, there is still a tremendous amount of sand eels working the channel near Sandy Point. Each morning, there is a good chance of finding furious surface activity as bass and blues begin each day by gorging themselves on the local table fare.
• On the charter front, Claire Glas forwarded the details of the action experienced by paying fares of the Hel-Cat II. Fishing this past week showed a slow but sure increase in production on the blues and a quick increase in production of striped bass. The 4pm to 8pm fluke trips are producing better and better each week, but they are very sensitive to local conditions on any given day. Get the right drift conditions and the fishing is fabulous, get the wrong conditions and, well....you get the picture. We had fluke to 6 pounds over the past week. Fish of the Week Award goes to Claude Vinhateiro with a 24-pound striped bass. Since Claude sails with us several days a week, we'll have his free trip waiting for him on the boat. The schedule goes back to normal for the rest of the season: 9am to 3pm every day for blues and bass and 4pm to 8pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoon for fluke through August 18th.
• Lastly, John Groff of Benmar Charters provided the following report. We made four trips this week and the fish are still cooperating! On Tuesday, Mark and Joe who are regulars on the BENMAR fished for porgies and did quite well. Mark caught two that were so big he is having them mounted!
• Thursday, Bill P. brought out a group of law students who didn't have a lot of experience with saltwater fishing but they applied themselves and as a group, managed to catch 4 keeper stripers and about 15 throwbacks, plus some blues, scup and even a dogfish. Yesterday, the boys from Willimantic Public Works, some of whom had been out with us last year, fished through some bumpy weather and boated 5 keeper bass with 20 throwbacks and a good number of blues. Today (Sunday), our group of four scored 7 keeper stripers, 10 throwbacks, 2 blues, 2 dogfish and 1 fluke while chunking on the reefs right outside the harbor.
• So the season goes on and the fishing has been quite consistent. The bluefish count has been increasing but the stripers are holding their own. Even the undersized bass are really fat and healthy. So far I would say this is one of the best years for stripers in recent history! (Roland St. Denis)