Norwich Bulletin

• Freshwater: No one reported any particularly unique or large fish. Bass action is the typical summer time dusk-through-dawn bite, often with a short period of action around midday. Walleyes are most active under low-light conditions, with one neighbor reporting his brother caught an 1 1/2-pounder one night a couple of weeks ago from Gardner Lake. Walleyes that are pushing 20 inches or more are now present in Coventry Lake, Beach Pond and Mashapaug Lake.
• Striped bass: They are literally being caught along the entire coast at the moment with some real monsters in the 40- to 60-pound range being reported between Madison and Newport, R.I. Most of the larger fish have dropped out of salt ponds and the upper portions of coastal rivers, with the Thames River being an exception.
• Bluefish: Action continues to build as inshore waters heat up for the summer. No one was talking about any specific monsters lately, but all the shops from Newport to River's End on the Connecticut River are hearing about large schools of small bluefish with the occasional bona fide 10-pound plus chopper in the mix.
• Fluke: On Sunday I had the pleasure of finally fluke fishing with a fellow outdoor writer, Keith Reynolds, that Fisherman Magazine readers will know. We made a huge circle around Fishers Island into Waterford, then hit various spots from there to the Mystic River, where he keeps his boat. We caught fish every place we made a drift, but didn't kill them anywhere in particular.
• Scup/porgies: This year is starting off with excellent catches of jumbo porgies coming in from many areas. Most of the people we talked to this week were reporting fluke and striper numbers.
• Bait: There are still reports of menhaden, but in smaller numbers in the lower Connecticut River and the Thames River, with Narragansett Bay still holding the largest concentration of this primary food source for top end predators.
• Crabs: On Monday I saw my first crab while peering off a dock in the Mystic River. I was tempted to jump in and grab the darn thing, but it might have been a tad short.