On The Water Magazine

• Best Bets for Connecticut and Rhode Island: Head into the coves and bays with some crabbing nets and crab baits, and take advantage of the abundance of these tasty coastal denizens. Banner years for blue crabs don’t seem to roll around that often, so get out there and enjoy this bonanza while you can. The Farmington River sounds pretty tempting, and it may be the ticket for any trout junkie who just can’t get enough. Big stripers are showing up all along the south shore of Rhode Island, so an evening trip with some live eels or other enticing bait ought to be lots of fun. I also suggest taking advantage of the abundance of large scup. Reports of really massive scup are coming from all points in our region, so grab your jigging rods and head out there this weekend.
• There are still plenty of stripers in the Thames River, according Rennie at The Fish Connection in Preston, though most of the fish are down in the lower reaches of the river. Anglers report mainly school bass, though there are some rather large bluefish mixed in with the schoolies. The bunker have dropped down the river and thinned out because the big blues are around and harassing them on a regular basis. There still appear to be a few jumbos around, as one shore angler picked up a 48-inch striper on chunk menhaden near buoy 27 on the river. Tube-and-worm rigs are also taking good numbers of stripers on the south and southeast sides of Fishers Island. For fluke anglers, Ocean Beach, Groton Long Point and Seaflower Reef appear to be the most productive spots at the moment, judging from reports coming into the shop. The really big news, however, is that blue crabs are more abundant than they have been in the past several years. Rennie received reports of excellent to outstanding crabbing in all the creeks and coves that you would expect to hold crabs. Inland, things are a bit slower now that the water has warmed considerably. Despite that, a 7.5-pound rainbow trout was taken from Mohegan Park Pond. Amos Lake is producing some good largemouth bass fishing, and Beach Pond is producing some walleyes for persistent anglers. River and streams are low and warm, so trout fishing is challenging in local waters.
• The Race continues to be the top-producing zone of water in the area, according to reports coming into Hillyer’s Bait & Tackle in Waterford. Shane received reports of good bass fishing at night – at Bartlett Reef in particular – while The Race is the number-one producer in the daylight hours. Millstone Point and Black Point are also yielding good numbers of stripers, with menhaden chunks, umbrella rigs and three-way bucktail rigs as top producers. Small bluefish are all over the place, and there have been reports of some intense topwater action during the day in scattered locales. Fluke fishing is sporadic at the moment, with Misquamicut being the most consistent producer of keeper-sized fish. Isabella Beach is productive, but very hit-or-miss over the past week. Squid and live mummichogs are the best baits. The scup are large and plentiful throughout the area; take lots of squid, and don’t overlook the area between the bridges, which is producing good numbers of large ones. A few reports of snapper blues have come into the shop over the past few days.
• For eastern Long Island Sound, Capt. Morgan at Capt. Morgan’s Bait and Tackle has had reports of some excellent fluke fishing out near the Falkner Island area. Keeper fluke are pretty common and are taking any number of baits, including sandworms, squid and mummichogs. Thirty feet of water seems to be the target depth at Falkner. Capt. Morgan has received numerous reports of shorebound anglers taking keeper fluke in the same area as well, so a boat may not be necessary. School bass and small bluefish are all over the place, and some bigger stripers have been reported from Falkner Island. Reports have also been coming into the shop of good blackfish catches from Charles Reef. Reports for scup seem to be showing an upswing of smaller-sized fish, though large specimens are still being taken. A bit farther east, Capt. Morgan reported some of the most intense blue crab numbers in a long while, and people are taking good numbers of nice-sized crabs. Inland, the fishing is slowing down because the streams are low and warm. Fishing reports for largemouth bass continue to be good, particularly for those fishing live baits early and late in the day.
• At the western end of Long Island Sound, Patrick at Westport Outfitters in Norwalk reported that the action has slowed a bit over the past week. This is mainly because the hordes of sand eels are thinning out and breaking up, scattering the fish and making them a bit more difficult to find. Patrick also feels that the warming waters are driving the fish out to deeper, cooler areas, which is where they typically go at this time of the season. While the transition from small bait in shallow waters to chunk bait in deeper waters takes place, there are tons of small bluefish around to keep anglers busy. For those seeking out snapper blues, Patrick has received reports that they are now showing up in the area. The freshwater angling is getting more difficult with the warm temperatures and the low water levels, although Patrick mentioned that the Housatonic River is still fishing pretty well, and that the Farmington River is fishing excellently, with some good ongoing hatches. (Alan Desbonnet, On The Water).