Captain Morgan: Chutes are Good. Eels are Good. Together?

• Thunderstorms erupted as the day ended, doing little to quell the blistering heat and humidity. Previously, reeds and rushes along the wetlands stood erect with hardly a sway or resting bird in sight. Rumbles of thunder could be heard from a distance, getting closer as the sky darkened, encircling the area from both the east and west. Several hours later, before the rising sun melted the heavy haze, Long Island Sound was placid. Some tide left before dead bottom, there was time for a few slow drifts before flipping. One drop, one eel, and one striped bass around 30 pounds made the run and wait for a new tide worthwhile. Drifting on humid hot days has its challenges, often times resulting in cranking up for a slow troll.
• Overcoming a dog day may be accomplished by using a polly chute and imparting a pulsating action by quick, consistent hand jerks on the rod butt while trolling a reef’s edge. Other times, deepwater chunking/chumming may be the answer. This day, working the chute dressed with a partial eel—one that a blue visited earlier—was the winning combo. Perhaps the action, scent, or entire profile enticed bass to hit. With just enough synthetic hair, this chute allowed the undulating outline of an eel body to be visible through its sheer appearance. The parrot head cut through water easily reaching the desired depth without additional terminal help.
• Under the influence of a full moon, it worked effectively through a slowly rising tide building to just shy of two knots. Creating a productive pattern is not complicated if an angler understands the variables (wind, tide, current, time of day, etc.) and how they affect fishing conditions. Don’t resist change. Trying something new every so often can only enhance your fishing experience.

Fishing Report:

• As July came to an end, sweltering heat, fog, and intermittent thunderstorms set the backdrop for August, which could easily hold some real dog days. With menhaden slowly working their way back after a late spring run, we’re looking forward to those thick schools that blanketed our area last season. Meanwhile, there appears to be plenty of other food for which to satisfy apex predators in the Long Island Sound food chain. More foraging schools of bluefish are gathering, prompting gulls to peck away at the remains of the hunt. From taylors to choppers, blues seem to sense August and the coming of fishing contests held in their name. Driving and encircling smaller finfish—in some cases equal to their size—these feeding machines seem to show little preference when feeding, provided there is an end reward. Reach for one of those tension lures or Grim Reefers.
  
• Top water action is heating up especially by the local reefs. While smaller fish are hooked and fought above, below larger ones are taking chunks and jigs. Throughout the immediate shoreline, larger and sturdier rigs are becoming necessary to help deter cutoffs. While trolling for blues, deeper setups are finding weakfish in the 12-pound range. Look to Faulkner’s Island and Kimberly Reef for the weakies. Seemingly a much better year than last, black seabass are making a showing. Fish in the five- to six-pound range are being caught from deep offshore reefs of LIS.
  
• Flukers ought to be in their glory as these summer flounder continue to pour into the Sound. Catches are being made in water as shallow as six feet and as deep as 60, which mean rods are bending on/offshore. Rig up a little rhody or hook’m rig, add squid, and watch catches improve.
• Another daytime fish, the porgy, is reigning supreme on the reefs. Another solid season for these saltwater panfish, fishing for them is sizzling. You won’t find another fish in the Sound that will bring as many smiles and comments from young/old than good ‘ole scup. Just about every notable underwater structure can hold this delectable table fare.
  
• Striped bass to 30 pounds are lazily being plucked from local reefs (boat, shore, jetty) from Hatchett’s to New Haven harbor. Without major concentrations of bunker, linesiders are feeding from a varied menu—in the tidal rivers, for instance, stripers were feeding on new worm hatches. Polly Chutes are becoming jigs of choice with trollers. Eels, chunks, and jigs are scoring with drifters and poppers are working in the tidals as well as along small islands. Scented T/W’s are catching shallow feeding bass along with soft plastics when blues aren’t bothersome.
  
• For a break, some anglers are hitting the lakes/ponds for early or late day bass fishing since many of the local rivers and streams are at low levels despite recent rainfall. Case plastics are pulling in good catches of largemouths especially the Case Crawl, lizard, and frog. Smallies, walleye, pike, cats, and sunnies round out what’s happening overall. (Captain Morgan, Shoreline Publishing).