Noreast.com, Eastern CT, 7/8

• Although many anglers hit a lull in the action over the past week, there are still plenty of good fish to be caught along the eastern Connecticut shoreline.
• I spoke with Pat from Rivers End Bait and Tackle on Saturday, and he described the bite as “fair.” For folks looking for bigger bass, Pat recommended Hatchett’s Reef, Long Sand Shoal, and Plum Gut. Most of the big fish are coming on live or chunked bait. Southwest Reef, on the other hand, has seen a slow-down leading up to the weekend. There is no shortage of fluke as many anglers are limiting out in popular haunts such as Black Point and Sound View. The Connecticut River is still holding a decent mix of blues and bass, but this has become a “nighttime game,” according to Pat. Niantic River is once again playing home for hordes of schoolie stripers and the occasional 20-pounder. The area near and around Kiddie Beach has been fantastic for light tackle enthusiasts.
• Kyle at J&B Tackle reported “fair to good” action in and around Niantic. Fluking has been very strong on the south side of Fishers Island near Isabella Beach. You still need to pick through the shorts to find the keepers, but they are definitely there. There is actually a better keeper-to-short ratio in Niantic Bay, but the number of fish can’t be compared to Isabella. Most of the bigger fish in Niantic Bay are only taping out at 20-21 inches. Bassing along Bartlett Reef and Hatchett’s Reef has been very strong for the recreational crew, but not enough to sustain the charter operations. Anglers utilizing the tube and worm at Black Point have bailed fish in the 30-40-inch range consistently.
• It appears some better fish are making their way in a bit closer to shore as many decent sized fish have been landed in tight. At The Race, there is no shortage of bluefish. Anglers are pulling up “ol’ razor lips” at an alarming rate using diamond jigs and three-wayed bucktails. On the other hand, Kyle has not been incredibly excited about the striper bite in the same location. The offshore scene continues to improve by the day. The areas around 35 Fathom Edge, east to the Acid Barge, and over to Ryan’s and Jenny’s Horn have been producing a decent bluefin bite. Blue sharks, threshers, and even a couple of mako’s in the 100 to 175-pound range were caught near Ryan’s and Jenny’s during the second half of the week. The action is not incredibly hot, but good enough to garner the attention of the shark fleet.
• In Stonington, Bill from King Cove Marina and Outfitters continues to be pleased with the bite. There has been no shortage of cow bass along the rips and reefs, as evidenced by Frank Mauro’s 51-pound striper, Ken Zwarko’s 58.55-pound bass, and Pat Mauro’s 46.33-pound linesider. Fluking along Misquamicut and Isabella has been “fantastic,” according to Bill. One angler walked into the shop on Saturday morning to claim the fish were “practically jumping in the boat” at Isabella. For surfcasters, the bite has been steadily improving with anglers picking up a mix of schoolies and large bass. A live eel under dark skies has been the ticket for most.
• Watch Hill Light continues to hold a lot of quality bass up to 50 pounds, while Sandy Point and the inner and outer breakwaters have also seen their fair share of hefty bass. If you are looking for live bunker, you may need to head west to the Mystic River or the mouth of the Thames. If live-lining shad is your modus operandi, you may run into a few at the northern tip of Sandy Point as the sun breaks the horizon. The porgy bite has also improved greatly and Bill doesn’t see that changing in the immediate future.
• On the charter front, Claire from Hel-Cat II Charters checked in with an encouraging report from this past week. Another week has come and gone and the fishing has gotten better each and every day. The daily 9AM trips for blues and striped bass are producing very well on both species, and the bass fishery really improved over the last three days. Our fluke trips sailing at 4 PM on Thurs., Fri. and Sat. afternoons have, as predicted, really cut loose this week. This fishery doesn't get any better than it was this week. On a side note, the Saturday, July 14th trip (4-8PM) fluke trip has been cancelled. This is the day of the Groton, New London fireworks. We have no choice but to run the annual fireworks cruise as Thames St. closes to vehicle traffic at 6PM and does not open again until after the fireworks are over. The next Saturday 4-8PM trip is also cancelled because of a 20+ year commitment to an Alcohol Anonymous group that charters us for their annual Sober Cruise. Other than that, our schedule remains unchanged. Fish of the week award goes to Rhys Stockwell of Avon, Connecticut for a 20-pound striped bass. Rhys' free trip is on its way via snail mail.
• Captain John Groff of Benmar Charters provided the following late week report. What a difference a day makes. On Friday, the wind was blowing about 15 knots out of the west and there were big swells coming in from the Atlantic. These two elements combined to make for difficult fishing. Despite excellent efforts from our anglers, we managed only a few small bass, a bluefish and a couple of porgies. It was the worst fishing day of the season and hard to take for me because we had a great group on board! So we have asked them to schedule another day at no expense to them and hope to show them how a day on the BENMAR is supposed to go!
• On Saturday, the wind backed off to about 5 mph and the ocean swells subsided quite a bit. These small changes in the local weather translated into a much more fishable day and the group aboard took full advantage of it. They boated over 25 stripers with 4 nice keepers. They also had 4 blues, including a HUGE chopper measuring out at 35 inches, and 8 porgies the size of dinner plates. So again I say, “what a difference a day makes!”
• People often ask me “when is the fishing going to be the best?” I say the fishing is really subject to the weather on your particular day. We don't go out if the forecast is bad, but the forecasters often get it wrong.....especially the speed of the wind. Once in a while, the conditions are tough and we don't catch much. If that happens we'll make it up to you! (Roland St. Denis)