Noreast.com, Western, CT 7/15

• Summer temperatures have finally arrived in western Connecticut and the increased heat has done wonders for anglers who enjoy bottom fishing. The porgy bite and fluke action is now hotter than ever with keeper fish being caught at Penfield Reef, Sunken Island, Woodmont Beach and Fairfield Beach. Bluefish have continued to battle for the bait, and blackfish are taking sandworms with regularity. Unfortunately, the bass bite is starting to slow down, although some quality fish can still be had in the early morning hours and at dusk.
• At Stratford B&T in Stratford, Chris Fulton had solid news of good sized fluke being taken in New Haven Harbor and reinforced the reports of big bass still present, abound in the local Stratford waters. Pete Spada cashed in at Buoy 18 for a double header of bass and fluke where he used bunker chunks as bait and reeled in a hefty cow of 33.5 pounds. He then nailed an aggressive 9.8-pound fluke that inhaled a bunker chunk. Eli Jeff was equally as successful at Buoy 18 and he too used a bunker chunk to catch a 31-pound striper, while Bill Yario was just a little further away at Buoy 20 where he caught a 5.22-pound fluke on a mackerel chunk. Bill Casey drifted through New Haven Harbor where he used a more traditional setup of squid strips and killies to catch an 8.19 and a 7.46-pound fluke. It seems the fluke are very ravenous right now and will eat almost anything.
• At Jimmy O’s in Stratford, Jimmy Orefice raved about the fluke fishing and said that Fairfield Beach, Sunken Island and Penfield Lighthouse are can’t miss locations. Mark Lucabello fished Penfield Lighthouse and caught his limit of fluke to 6 pounds using squid strips and spearing, while Eric Monks hit Fairfield Beach with the same results using the same bait, only his fish were 4 pounds. Dennis Farrington had the grand slam of fishing while drifting sandworms at Sunken Island. Farrington took a keeper bass, limited out on blackfish, had two keeper fluke and a bucket of porgies. Angel Rivera found the blackfish at Penfield Reef and caught his limit with sandworms, while Sam Rutolos tipped the scales with a 2-pound porgy that was caught with a sandworm at Penfield Reef.
• Bryan Karchman of Ted’s Bait in Bridgeport had news on both saltwater and freshwater action, telling of Jorge Requejo taking advantage of a huge bluefish blitz that took place at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Requejo, who enjoyed non-stop action, kept three 7-pound choppers and left the fish biting. Ed Wargo III fished just north of the Middle Ground lighthouse with bunker chunks and caught six bass to 25 pounds. On the freshwater scene, Walter Speight landed an 8-pound pike while fishing with live shiners at Lake Zore. Sam Biggs fished the same location with the same bait and came away with a stringer of smallmouth bass that collectively weighed 19.8 pounds. Wayne Lauro headed over to the Saugatuck Reservoir, where he used a live shiner fished on the bottom to catch a 10.10-pound brown trout.
• Eric Johnson of Westport Outfitters in Norwalk said that he has had reports of small snappers stacked up in and around the Saugatuck River basin, offering bass and larger blues a change of diet after gorging on sand eels for the past two months. It may take a few more days to really heat up, but now is also a great time to get the kids into fishing for baby blues on a light tackle. Depending on the tide and time of day, some good size stripers are still being taken on the reefs between Stamford and Greenwich as well as behind Captain’s Island in 30 feet of water. The bluefish have already been hitting the bunker schools at Greenwich and Stamford and are moving east. Reports of bluefish to 16 pounds are coming in and some local bass up to 30 pounds. Most anglers report they are doing well with fresh chunked bunker for the bass and blues. Fly fishing between Fairfield and Norwalk using sand eel imitations are the main bait source for stripers and blues is going to be baby bluefish, bunker, silversides, shrimp, crabs and worms. Anglers should try rotating in some small deceivers in the blue/white pattern or snapper blue patterns to represent a 3-5 inch snapper on the move.
• Nick Massaro of Fisherman’s World in Norwalk told of the excellent shark trip that Kevin Valachi had while fishing with Frank Albano and 7-year-old Frank Albano Jr. 30 miles south of Montauk Light. The trio of anglers caught a 110-pound brown shark, a 227-pound thresher and little Frankie (with some help of course) hauled in a 170-pound blue shark.
• Glen Perez had a little smaller fish, catching a 34-inch striped bass in the Saugatuck River with a bunker chunk, and Eric Christie took a 44-inch, 35-pound bass in Stratford Harbor with a bunker chunk. (Rob Caluori)
• At Hillers Hunting and Fishing in Norwalk, Paul Hiller had news of some early yellowfin success where he and his 13-year-old son Tyler, along with Jeff Werrs, made the trip to Atlantis and took six fish to 60 pounds. One of the fish was Tyler’s first ever. In more local news, Adam Weathers fished Norwalk Harbor with bunker chunks and was rewarded with a 32-inch bass.
• Jason Jadach of Bobby J’s in Milford talked about Al Day’s day on the water where he took a 37 and 33-inch bass and a 10-pound bluefish while fishing at Welch’s Point with bunker chunks. T.J. Brothers enjoyed non-stop action with cocktail bluefish at Woodmont Beach and even managed two 20-inch fluke, while Tom Carboni caught two bass, a 39 and 33-inch fish while dunking bunker chunks behind Charles Island and Rich Haig live lined a bunker at the Race where he caught a 32.8-pound striper. Casey Stefco, Maria Jadach, Jason and his brother teamed up for a fluke trip to New Haven Harbor where they managed 12 shorts one sea bass and four stripers. Stefco had a 2.8-pound keeper fluke, while Maria Jadach did a little better with a 3.5-pound flattie. The fellas fell very short of that mark with their fish weighing in at just over 2 pounds.
• At Sportsman’s Den in Cos Cob, Mike Noyes reported that Chris Fitzgerald and Missy Perillo teamed up to catch 22-inch fluke at Buoy 42 while using Tsunami pro ball jigs tipped with mantra strips, while Ken White muscled in a 24-pound bass while fishing with bunker chunks and 10-pound test line in Stamford waters.
• John Santagaga of Rudy’s Tackle Barn in Greenwich could not stop talking about the terrific fluke action at Todds Point and Captains Island. He had Vinny Garza weigh in a 5.5, 25-inch fluke, which he caught on a squid and spearing combination at Todds Point, while Sean Grady had five keeper flatties to 6 pounds at the same location with the same bait, and Shawn Brennan took a 5-pound fluke while fishing with squid strips at Captains Island. Felix DoSantos reeled in a hefty 7.6-pound fluke at Todds Point, and Rich Gibson muscled in a 35-pound bass at Captains Island using bunker chunks as bait