On The Water 5/28/09

Best Bet: Time to consider trolling the wire line or setting up to drift some chunk bait or whole squid over offshore, deep-water structure for the push of large striped bass that continue to work their way into our waters. Western Long Island Sound is seeing the largest fish most consistently, while eastern waters are a bit more sporadic. Forget scup for the moment and consider a last shot at flounder before the Connecticut season closes. Trout waters are all still producing fish, with ideal water levels and good temperatures. The Saugatuck Reservoir continues to yield large walleye and large brown trout, but don’t expect this to last if and when a heat wave moves into the region.
Captain Jack Balint at The Fish Connection in Preston reports a preponderance of striped bass to 15 pounds throughout the area now, with the mouth of the Mystic River and Pawcatuck River being very productive, as is The Race, which has been seeing good numbers of sand eels lately.
The reef structures off Watch Hill have been sporadic for bass. The Thames River continues to produce good fishing to school bass from the area around the Mohegan Sun to the Coast Guard Academy. Eels fished at night are taking bigger bass in the Thames. Bluefish are scattered about, but 8-pound fish are being taken in The Race. Bartletts Reef has been productive for stripers and blues. Largemouth bass fishing has been O.K., with Pachaug Pond being particularly productive. All trout waters are still fishing well, with the Yantic River and Shetucket River being top spots.
For Hillyer’s Bait & Tackle in Waterford, Mark reports The Race as good and Bartletts as very good, especially on tube-and-worm or umbrella rigs. Black Point and Harkness have been productive as well. Bluefish are around, and Plum Gut has been seeing some very hot action. Seaside has been producing good catches of flounder on sand worms with clam chum, and some sea bass are being turned up by flounder fishermen. The scup season is off to a slow start, with Jordan Cove, and particularly Rocky Neck State Park, producing the best catches.
From River’s End Tackle in Old Saybrook, Pat notes that larger striped bass have now moved into the Connecticut River and anglers are doing well using tube-and-worm or umbrella rigs. The bass are widely scattered throughout the lower river, and no monster fish have been weighed in yet. Bottom structure at the East Rip has been drawing the attention of the largest stripers so far. Bluefish are scattered about, with The Race and Plum Gut being top producing waters.
Captain Jerry Morgan at Captain Morgan’s Bait & Tackle in Madison has reports of decent topwater action to school bass in the Madison region, and that bigger bass have now staked out the various reefs and submerged deep-water structure offshore. Trolling any variety of baits and plugs is producing fish. Lots of bluefish are in the area now, although most of the fish are in the small-to-medium range. Scup season has opened, but no reports have come into the shop for this species thus far. The Hammonasset River is fishing very well, and several stocked breeder trout have been landed, and more are still lurking about. Local largemouth bass ponds are seeing lots of good action.
Rick at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reports that striped bass to 45 pounds are being taken on chunk baits, deep-diving Rapalas, and umbrella rigs in the Norwalk area. The area between Rye, NY, and Hempstead has been the most productive, coughing up the biggest bass. Bluefish are mixed in throughout the area and are providing some good topwater action. Most blues are in the 10-pound class, but a few are even bigger. Flounder fishing remains good, but is becoming more sporadic and is slowing a bit. A few more 10-pound-plus walleye have come from the Saugatuck Reservoir, as has at least one 10-pound brown trout. Local trout waters were restocked prior to the holiday, so there are still plenty of trout around for anglers to pursue.
From Westport Outfitters, Cody reports large numbers of sand eels through the area, as well as good numbers of large bunker. The combination of bait is drawing in large and small striped bass, as well as various sizes of bluefish. The Saugatuck River and Norwalk Harbor in particular have been producing impressive numbers of stripers. The area around Southport, NY is producing some larger stripers. Pennfield Reef is producing good school bass fishing, with a lot of the action on top, adding some excitement for fly-rodders and light tackle spin fishermen. Shore anglers in the Stratford and Bridgeport areas are finding larger striped bass when fishing chunk bunker or other fresh baits. Bluefish are plentiful, with most in the 8- to 10-pound range. Scup fishing is off to a very slow start in the Western Sound. [Alan Desbonnet, On The Water]