Norwich Bulletin

• Striped bass: Joe Balint of the Fish Connection said the menhaden have once again moved up the Thames River to Norwich, where local anglers who are able to snag a fish or two and fish them as live or chunk baits are cashing in on stripers ranging from 35 to 40 inches along with some bluefish. The bulk of the bunker in the river are concentrated between the Pequot Bridge and Dow Chemical.
• Bluefish: Race, Plum Gut and the Millstone Power Plant Outflow are the local hot spots, but bluefish are showing up everywhere. Most are small- to middle-sized fish, but there continues to be some 10-pound-plus fish being caught randomly throughout the region. Balint said he's seeing bigger blues coming from the middle reaches of the Thames, where the menhaden are holding, between Dow Chemical (Buoy 27 area) and the Pequot Bridge.
• Fluke: This week, as waters warm, there seems to be a few more fish moving into the eastern end of Long Island Sound, where Shaffer's has seen more fish coming in from Mystic River, while HIllyer's and Fish Connection are weighing in summer flounder caught off Groton Long Point, Vixen Ledge, Sara Ledge, Ocean Beach, Two Tree Channel and Niantic Bay.
• Porgies: Not many people are targeting this species yet, but those who are finding them around pretty much any reef or rock pile. Reports of both size and numbers of scup came from Jordan Cove, Bartlett Reef, Cornfield Point, Hatchet Reef and the Mystic River.
• Blue crabs: Reports of excellent crabbing are coming from Barn Island, Stonington, Mystic, the lower Thames, lower Connecticut River and Niantic Bay. Many are throwbacks, but it looked like there was a molt recently, so the percentage of 5-inch keepers should be better.
• Bait: The primary bait in the region is sand eels, with adult menhaden present in the major rivers and estuaries.
• Freshwater Fishing is productive, but no one is bragging about it very much. None of the shops have seen a big bass, pike or walleye in a couple weeks, but customers are all reporting catching bass, sunfish and catfish from area lakes.