Rivers End Tackle, Old Saybrook 8/3

• STRIPED BASS- Last weeks trend upward fizzled this week. The bait supply has stayed about the same but the bass on the reefs have been harder to come by. I don't think we can keep taking the summer residents off the reefs and expect them to be replaced. Southwest and Hatchetts have given up a few jumbos, the Race has been slow and Plum Gut has given up a few to live bait. Tube and worm trolling has been catching mostly schoolies along the Old Lyme to Waterford shoreline with an occaisional jumbo. Theres been a good bunch of schoolies on the surface at dawn and dusk near Hatchetts and at times they're at Bartletts too . The surface sipping bass are still in the Watch Hill to Plum Island area. A few anglers are scoring, mostly on flies imitating minute herring.
  
• BLUEFISH- Activity remains steady in the lower Connecticut River for both the shore and boat anglers with some choppers approaching the double digit mark. Fresh bunker or hickory shad has been the best producer. Southwest Reef has had some mixed sized blues hitting jigs, the same for Plum Gut. The Race has had some decent days on jigs but not everyday. The blues are also on the surface in the evenings along the Old Lyme beaches.
• SNAPPERS- They are here in decent enough size and numbers to make it worthwhile. The DEP Piers, Saybrook Point, Blackhall River and the Causeway have 4" plus snappers.
• FLUKE- Its about the same as last week. When boat traffic permits the River has had a mix of sizes with a fair percentage of keepers. The best reports are from the Black Point to Hatchetts in 50' plus of depth. Soundview in 30' of water has a mix of sizes.
• BLACKFISH- No reports and green crabs are hard to get but there are blackfish on the reefs all summer for the dedicated.
• PORGIES- Decent reports of them at Hatchetts and Bartletts.
• BONITO- Theres been a bunch of sighting and a few catches at Watch Hill, Plum Gut and Weekapaug
• BLUE CRABS- Good not great reports coming from the Oyster River, DEP Piers, and North Cove.(Pat Abate, Rivers End Tackle)