Eastern LIS, T. Coleman 6/ 5/09

Captain Jack Balint was pleased to report a nice charge of smaller bass on top chasing a mix of squid, small butterfish and sand eels from Wicopesset over to Sugar Reef off Watch Hill. The Mystic River also had bass that will respond to casting tackle as does Race Point, those fish coming to the surface usually at the end or start of the next tide before the current runs hard.

If you fish in the Thames River, please note you need a freshwater license to fish above the 95 Bridge and now a saltwater license to legally fish south of the span.

Allen Fee at Shaffers Marina told me Scott Trainor from Massachusetts had a great day on Wednesday catching stripers on spinning tackle in Lord's Passage. Others found smaller bass on top at the south end of Mason's Island, a perfect spot at times for those with smaller boats. Shore fishermen are catching a small number of large porgies from the Cottrell Street dock or schoolie stripers from the Mason's Island Causeway.

Red at Bob's Rod & Tackle reported some larger blues in the Thames River, chasing around bunkers with bass from the 95 Bridge up to the Sub Base. A few porgies were caught from the rockpiles just outside the Thames River but the opening of fluke season in state waters is still a few weeks away.

”Holding up” was how Captain Howard Beers at Hillyers Tackle described the striper catches in The Race. Hammered or red and white diamond jigs were very popular and effective. Besides the bass, one boat landed 18 blues in a tide, but overall the blues are now around yet any where close to summer numbers.

Captain Kerry Douton at J&B said the offshore boats should make their first trips this weekend looking for sharks off Montauk. Their charter boats are catching well in The Race and also trolling up stripers at Black Point and Inner Bartletts.

Pat Abate at River's End in Old Saybrook called the striper fishing in the lower Connecticut River from Essex to the flats off Great Island just fair and inconsistent. There is a school of fish in the river along with some big blues but they seem to bite selectively said Pat.

You might catch a larger bass at the Sand Shoal after possibly locating some live bunker in the lower river just at first light. Bass catches from the Rhode Island beaches and salt ponds dropped off considerably from a week prior. Some locals opted instead for a long drive to successful fishing in the Cape Cod Canal or Pleasant Bay, fishing up inside the elbow of the Cape. [Tim Coleman, The Day]