TheDay - Time For A season Of Changes

• We open with a reminder to all that fluke season is closed until 2008, that from Capt. Allen Fee at Shaffers Marina. Black fishing will close tomorrow in state waters and reopen on Sept. 22.
• In the meantime, you can have fun looking for blues on the surface in the early morning from Middle Clump to Watch Hill or maybe Race Rock lighthouse. A few bonito are in the mix but as of this report it's much better off Rhode Island than Fishers Island Sound.
• Kids are catching snapper blues from the Mason's Island Bridge and porgies from the dock at Mystic River Park.
• Al Golinski of Misquamicut fished all week for stripers, including a day when it was blowing over 20 and he broke the hinges on his motor cover as a result of the rough water. He caught a nice number of bass on live bait on the south side of Fishers, the biggest around 37 pounds.
• One of Al's friends returned from a cod trip on Thursday off Gloucester, Mass., where they caught a cooler of cod to 12 pounds, haddock, cusk and two pollock. When cleaned the fillets filled 11 bags of tasty seafood dinners.
• Capt. Al Anderson had nine bluefin tuna to 48 pounds trolling one day with cedar jigs and Hex Heads in the Mud Hole off Block Island. On Thursday however, the fishing slowed way down, the party losing two small fish by mid-morning, the trip shaping up to be something of a struggle.
• Striper trolling was good in the North Rip with bass and bluefish taking the umbrella rigs and parachute jigs. On Sunday they found a tremendous school of bonito off the West Wall and Matunuck but could not get many of the speedy fish to hit even with fly tackle.
• Capt. Don's in Charlestown reported overall good surf fishing for blues in the morning and evening from Watch Hill to the Blue Shutters. Most people are using poppers for the bluefish or plastic shads trying for a striper off to the side of where the blues have the small bunker penned up against the beach. This is the time of year when you can wade the surf in shorts and bare feet, catching bluefish as you walk along.
• We had bass into the high 40s on the scales over the past weekend, said Don at King Cove. The biggest during the week was a 36.15 striper landed by Michael Galanti, all fish landed from the Watch Hill Reefs. There is just a glut of bluefish around, feeding on top lots of the time or taking baits meant for bass at others.
• Porgy fishing is good to excellent and small snapper blues caught by the little people or bigger kids around Lambert's Cove. Those fishing from shore at Stonington Point landed blues and small stripers on small poppers.
• Bob's Rod & Tackle said you might catch blues from snappers to 12-pounders in the Thames on chunks on the bottom or Snapper Poppers. Bass took the tube and worm trolled slowly during the day or live eels drifting along after dark. The river is also full of porgies, many too small to keep but with enough keepers to get people buying more bait.
• The Fish Connection folks told me on Wednesday a large school of blues stretched from Napatree Point all the way down into Rhode Island. Those fish were very fussy, maybe full of peanut bunker, hitting lures only now and then. On his last fluke trip of the season, drifting about 300 yards east of Watch Hill, Joe Balint caught a 28-inch fluke and several nice sea bass on the fluke rigs.
• Porgies and sea robins are as far up river along the Thames as buoy 27 and bigger blues were chasing bunkers between Trading and Horton's Coves.
• Capt. Brad Glad of the Hel-Cat said the blue fishing last week was very productive and bass caught during the “right piece of the tide.” They will continue fishing daily for blues through the end of October and will also offer two night trips to Alligator Ledge for ocean blues this month. Big fish of the week was a 23-pound striper landed by Chris Tietjen of Lisbon.
• Hillyers Tackle reported large bass caught at Valiant Shoal and Outer Bartletts early in the morning on live bait or after dark with live eels. Kayakers trolling the tube and worm slowly along the shoreline landed some medium bass plus bluefish. Black fishing closes Saturday. Just prior, they weighed in 8 and 10-pounders, raising hopes for a good fall.
• Blues have been in and out of the beach at Harkness including an 18-pounder caught on a chunk of bunker during the day on Wednesday. A few bonito are around our shore but it's better off to the east. Porgies are big and eager on most of the rockpiles around Niantic Bay. One shore angler landed 14 hickory shad between the bridges yesterday morning on a Sabiki rig.
• Roger at J&B Tackle advised the sea bass fishing is good right now at the Hooter off the southwest corner of Block Island during slack tide. Blues were on the surface early in the day from Ram Island Reef over to Latimer Light. Chunkers caught blues and a few bass at Sugar Reef on bunker or mackerel chunks fished deep in the rip with the help of lead core line.
• The fellow at River's End told me bluefish have been in and out of the beach between Waterford and Old Lyme, hitting best early in the day or later in the evening just before dark on poppers. Diamond jiggers caught blues at times in The Gut and Pigeon Rip. Fluke season is over until 2008.
• Jeff Frechette provided our last report, sending in an e-mail about an offshore trip to Block Canyon prior to the long weekend. They had a windy, slow time at anchor during the night and in morning started trolling lures before daylight, hooking some large creature that took a lot of line on a very tight drag then came off, not the first time that happened wrote Jeff.
• Later, up on the flats north of the canyon they landed a 50-pound albie, 80-pound yellowfin and lost a third fish when a brand new reel locked up. They also lost a Green Machine lure to the teeth of an aggressive wahoo. Moving northwest of the flats, they landed a 45-pound long fin that grabbed the lure as it was free-spooled out, not 10 feet from the boat, almost pulling the rod from the surprised fisherman's hands.
• The day ended with some medium mahi caught near a floating cardboard box found on the troll back to port. (Tim Coleman, The Day)