On The Water 8/12/05

1. To the surprise of everyone in this area, those small bluefin tuna were still hanging around the Rhode Island coast earlier this week. However, as is the case with their smaller cousins, the false albacore and bonito, every report about tuna is old within minutes after it is printed because they are so mobile. If the bait is in the area to hold them, they could possibly become a fixture in the area as the fall approaches.
   
2. Don of King Cove Marina, Stonington told us: “All kinds of good stuff is happening out there right now.” Of course, he also mentioned the bluefin tuna first thing. His customers are mostly seeing, but a few are catching them outside of Fishers Island and east all the way to Narragansett Bay.
   
3. Striper fishing has slowed down due to the heat. The best this week was 47 pounds taken in the passage between Catumb Rock and Sugar Reef, after dark on an eel. The south side of Fishers has been doing O.K. for bass when the tubes can make it through all the porgies that are out there. The scup that take a tube with a 3/0 or so hook are hogs.
   
4. Napatree Point and Watch Hill have been the best places for surf-fishermen lately. The breachways have a mix of fish to catch, but the bass action has slowed and been replaced by bluefish in many areas. Warm temperatures are pushing them deeper and possibly to cooler waters to the north.
5. Bluefish have picked up a bit across the board and in some areas are getting in the way of serious striper fishermen. There’s a nice mix of bluefish around, ranging from those one- to two-pound cocktail size to three- to six-pound harbors on up to 12-pound or better major-league “fish choppers.”
6. Porgy fishing is at an all-time high, and they are easy to catch from shore, as well. The shore-fishermen are taking fish off the old Jetty at Monsanto and the New Stonington Town Dock in the harbor, which can be a productive spot.
7. Al Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic fluke fishing is very good, with high numbers of fish being reported, but lately there have been many shorts. Bigger baits seem to filter out some of the smaller fluke. I also contend that when there are many small fish around, don’t fish a “dead stick” because it makes for too many gut-hooked fluke, which are wasted after the hook is removed. There are good numbers of fluke also showing up in the Mystic River.
8. Al noted that water temperatures are spiking and variable, ranging from 65 to 67 degrees south of Fishers, and up above 72 in the Sound, with things maxing out in the shallow coves where the readings may get up to as much as 80 degrees in the heat of the day in the Mystic River.
9. He said that in his travels he’s seen loads of bait all over the place, with tons of unidentifiable “little things” breaking the surface, with something about 6 inches eating them that is also hard to ID. Balls and balls of bait are like static on the surface. So thick that some inboard engines are becoming plugged with them as they pass through the schools.
10. The south side of Fishers Island has been pretty good for fluke off the eastern end until just recently when the dogfish and skate moved in and started taking over. Misquamicut is doing well, but the beach is big and it’s hard to find the fish at times. Most of the good numbers are coming from areas near Weekapaug Breachway and to the east from water depths ranging from 20 to 80 feet.
11. Bass action is good with fish all over the place due to the preponderance of bait. The south side of the island has been hot lately, with eels after dark or early in the morning producing most of the larger fish. Lately the island has been red hot. Valiant Rock is still holding fish, but it’s not necessary to fish the big waters of The Race to catch stripers when tube-and-worming and eeling in along the rocks in much calmer, safer water has been so successful.
    
12. No bonito or false albacore yet locally, but they may be overshadowed by the presence of bluefin tuna that may be out-competing them for food. Or maybe they simply are not here yet, but expect them with the warm surface temperatures we have this summer. The fact is you have to keep a rod ready for them if they show up.
    
13. Porgies are also hitting well. Al said that one regular customer has been catching huge porgies off the Watch Hill Lighthouse every time out. This area is a good one for every species, although most of the people who fish this riled place are targeting bass, blues or tunas, but it has always been a great place for jumbo scup.
14. Joe of The Fish Connection, Preston on the Thames. Joe said there are tons of bait out there that many anglers can’t identify that could be tinker mackerel or maybe even mullet. Water temps inside are 69 to 70 degrees off Intrepid Rock, but offshore they are much warmer. The abnormally warm inshore temperatures are screwing things up because the fish are not as easy to find in the warm pockets of hot water that are usually targeted for tunas. He said anglers fishing offshore are not doing well because the warm water is so spread out the fish are harder to find and they aren’t as concentrated when they do locate fish. “Everything is in turmoil due to this heat wave.”
15. Bluefish are all over the place from Norwich on out to The Race. Schoolie bass are abundant out around Bluff Point, Seaside and Harkness Park, while deep-water reef areas such as Bartlett and The Race are holding big bass. Everywhere, the best action is after dark.
16. Fluke fishing is good, but like Al reported in Mystic, there are loads of shorts to cull for every keeper. The waters around Groton, Ocean Beach and Harkness have all produced some nice catches lately. Porgies are super abundant and people are having fun with them everywhere. They are starting to get in the way of the fluke.
17. This warm water will most likely draw in all sorts of oddball tropical stuff, including trigger fish, cobia, king mackerel, Spanish mackerel, jack crevalle and even tarpon by the time the summer is over.
18. Mark at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said it’s been a really good week, catch-wise. The fluking has been red hot. The fish are moving into the bay and are being caught in shallower waters like Two Tree Channel, Harkness Park and Seaside Park. Whole squid or mackerel are the best big fish bait. There have not been any monster fluke caught this week, but plenty of fish to 7 pounds are coming in to the scales on a regular basis.
19. Big bass are being caught from The Race, Hatchet and Bartlett Reef. Tube-and-worm trolling has been red hot in close to the rocks, while diamond jigging and three-ways with live eels are producing 40- to 50-pounders in the deep-water areas after dark. Most of the better bass being caught are in the 15- to 25-pound range.
20. Bluefish action is hot, as well. Some are being hooked from shore along the beaches, but most are being caught on chunk baits worked from boats along the coast from Black Point to the Thames River. Trolling with umbrella rigs is catching bunches of blues. The fish are ranging in size all the way from 1-pounders up to 10 pounds or better. Many large blues are in right now, providing anglers with plenty of action and fish-catching fun.
21. Huge porgies are being caught out in the bay and around Two Tree Island. These are reportedly the biggest scup local anglers have ever seen. Sand worms and squid strips are the ticket for success when fished around any rocky structure, channel marker, jetty or reef.
22. Anglers diamond-jigging in The Race are taking bluefin tuna incidentally while fishing for blues.
    
23. Pat told me over the weekend that the fluke fishing in the mouth of the Connecticut River is the best in four or five years, with anglers consistently limiting out on quality fish in most catches.
    
24. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that bluefish are all around to provide great topwater action, with some huge dense schools, and with others small and moving fast. Bluefish are around ranging from snappers in the rivers on up to double-digit choppers off the deep-water reefs, and anywhere bunker schools can be located.
    
25. Bass are hitting early in the morning on tube and worms, hickory shad, eels or live bunker, if you can get them. Bucktails are also doing well in deep water, fished off three-way rigs or trolled on wire.
26. Porgies are easy to find, with a few blackfish still mixed into the catch. Again, the blackfish are around, but few if any anglers are targeting them when other species are so much easier to locate and catch.
27. A few decent weakfish came through the shop over the weekend. They were in the 10- to 12-pound range, and all were caught incidentally to striper and bluefishing activities out around Falkner Island. He noted that, “No one has caught a weakfish while fishing for weakfish in a long time.”
28. Fluke fishing is picking up along the beaches such as Hammonasset, as well as up inside places like Clinton Harbor where they are moving in to feed on baby bunker and other small abundant bait sources that move inshore this time of year.
    
29. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford, said it’s slowed back down lately. Falkner produced a 26-pound bass, a 32-incher off the Stratford Light on tube and worm, a 44-pounder on an eel off Block Island from a boat, a 22-pound bass locally on an eel and a 5.25-pound fluke off the New Haven breakwall.
30. Aside from these scattered catches, it’s been all bluefish. Small blues are most abundant, and there are also good numbers of snappers around to play with. The snappers were late in showing this summer, but appear to be abundant, which is an indication of yet another strong year class from these future tackle busters. There are a few large bluefish being caught by fishing deep with baits mid-Sound, but in close it’s mostly the smaller stuff that is dominating the shore, based on inshore boat catches, for the moment.
31. Scott at Fisherman’s World, Norwalk is still seeing tons of bluefish that are feeding on bunker in the river. Blues are of all sizes, but the odds of taking a “ripper” are best when fishing in and around the adult menhaden schools that are still in the waters from Norwalk to Saugatuck. Shore-based customers continue to do well from Calf Pasture Point from shore on chunks of bunker or mackerel.
32. In the evening on Monday, Scott said he hit a worm spawn in the Norwalk River. The same event is taking place in the Saugatuck River and other local creeks, as well. He said that the spawns will probably take place again around the full moon in a couple of weeks.
33. Big bass have been caught by fishing deep, in 100 feet or more of water on worms with three-way rigs out around Buoy “28C.” Burt from the shop has been catching a mix of fish from schoolies on up to keeper size by three-waying whole sand worms out in the depths. Bass action is currently best at night or in deep water due to the warm summer temperatures.
34. SUMMARY: Fluke fishing pretty much anywhere along the coast by day and bluefish early and late in the day are the best bets for action. Bottom fishermen can’t go wrong when fishing for porgies anywhere in the entire region. Be on the lookout for tropical visitors that always show up when we have these long hot summers.