Norwich Bulletin

• Fluke: Across the board, they are behaving like they do in the fall -- they become harder to find. Hillyer's, Fish Connection and King Cove all reported their customers working harder for the fluke they are catching. Off the Rhode Island beaches, the best catches are being made in 70 to 90 feet of water or deeper. Same thing is happening in the Sound where John Hillyer and another angler caught nine fish, all of which were keepers in the deeper waters off Black Point.
• Striped bass: Striper fishing, typically for this time of year, is best between dusk and dawn. There are still some large stripers being caught after dark. Hillyer's weighed a 55-pounder from the Sluiceway, while King Cove saw one that was 51 pounds that was caught on a tube and worm off the Watch Hill/Fishers Island reef complex.
• Bluefish: Action is excellent with plenty of fish along the beaches, in the Sound, the Thames River, Niantic Bay, Millstone Point Outflow, the Race, Plum Gut and about any place else there's moving water and bait.
• Scup: Fishing is good-to-excellent throughout the region. Hillyer's reported mostly middle-sized fish being caught by their customers, while King Cove has been seeing some huge humpbacks being caught off the Watch Hill Reef area.
• Blackfish/Tautog: Blackfish catches continue to be reported throughout the area, though only a few anglers are targeting them this time of year. John Hillyer said based on the consistent catches of tautog this summer, he expects this falls fishing to be excellent. Blackfish season closes Sept. 7 and reopens on the Sept. 21, continuing through Dec. 14.
• Black sea bass: Fishing for this elusive species continues to be good as it usually is during the late summer when this warm-loving species seems to spark to life. The best catches have been reported off Block Island.
• Tunoids: Captain Jack Balint, Captain Don, King Cove and Hillyer's reported spotty-to-fair fishing for bonito and few, if any, false albacore in the area at this time. The Rhody Beaches and the Watch Hill Reef area had a good run of bonito last week that seemed to disperse during last week's cool spell.