On The Water, 9/16/05

1. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic said that two of their regulars, Sean Ross and Larry Strickland, caught a 4-pound sea bass, a pair of 7-pound blues and a 20-inch fluke off the south shore beaches and saw tunoids of some sort ripping around in the reefs on their way back to Mystic on Wednesday afternoon.
2. Keeper-size fluke were on the wane over the weekend, and Cheryl said that even the porgies were slower this week than they have been lately. Those big waves last week were probably a factor in the reduced angler activity and catches.
3. There are loads of snapper blues inside the river and all the harbors in the area, with high concentrations of bigger blues in The Race, along the south side of Fishers Island and locally out off The Dumplings, and occasionally pushing into the mouth of the Mystic River.
4. Shaffer’s didn’t hear anything about albies or bonito over the weekend – a sign they are still not around at levels anyone can get excited about.
5. Right now many of their bottom-fishing fans are patiently waiting for blackfish season to reopen on September 22. By then the fishing for this species should be improving as fall approaches. So far, all indications are that this fall’s run of tautog is going to be a good one.
6. Joe Balint of The Fish Connection, Preston said things have been red-hot in the Thames River for both schoolie bass and bluefish. These fish are chasing baby bunker all over the place. The blues in the river are mostly little rats, but they are a ball to catch. Joe says that after work he’s catching five fish in five casts in some places on poppers when they are bunched up and feeding. Norwich Harbor is holding big bass and chopper bluefish that are feeding on a small school of adult bunker that moved into the river a couple of weeks ago. These fish are being caught by local sharpies from the harbor downriver to the oil docks. The river is absolutely full of snapper bluefish if all else fails.
7. The Race and vicinity are loaded with bluefish that are spilling out into adjacent reefs and rip lines. It’s a matter of cruising until fish are encountered, then having some fun with them.
8. Joe says there are still a few fluke coming off Sara’s Ledge, Harkness Park and Vixen’s Ledge. But they are getting harder to catch every week.
9. With all the bunker in the river, I’d take a run up the Thames with some small jigs, squid strips and live mummichogs or freshly caught peanut bunker, and drift the channels from Buoy 27 on down to the mouth. There may well be many fluke to be caught with a small investment in gas and effort.
10. Bass action is pretty much an evening bite out in The Race if you can get through the bluefish. In along the island and area reefs the best bass catches are being made from dusk through dawn due to the bright sun and warm water temperatures.
11. Not much word on false albacore and bonito. There are no real hot spots to talk about, but fish have been seen or caught off Bluff Point and west to the Millstone Outflow, although not in consistent patterns so far this season.
12. There are still the occasional school bluefin tuna catches being made in The Race, but other areas are empty of these fish till you get nearly to the Cape.
13. Freshwater has been fair to slow due to the heat and low water levels. Rennie Robinson has fished bass hard lately, with only a few small fish to show for his efforts in both Bashan Lake and Gardner Lake. Some launch sites are hard or almost impossible to use due to the extremely low water levels in many lakes. Rogers Lake is a pole your way to the lake if you want to fish deal, same thing for other shallow launch sites such as Bashan Lake and across the border in Watchaug and Worden Ponds.
14. The Fish Connection is celebrating its 15th anniversary from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday at the shop. There will be food and drinks all day, and everyone is invited to stop by. There will be factory reps from Shimano, Berkley/Fenwick, Pelican Rods and more. I plan to be there to tell fish stories and sign books for anyone who wants them. The event will go on rain or shine and all are welcome.
15. Lou at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said an angler caught a 42-pound striper between the bridges at high noon Wednesday, using a live hickory shad he snagged. A short while later this lady’s partner caught a 40-incher. Looks like the big bass have found the hickory shads’ hiding place once again this year. The bass are lying right in there as of Wednesday, providing a great chance for shore-based anglers to catch a big striped bass. Two years ago a 50-pounder was caught in this area on a live shad.
16. A few anglers are doing well using leadcore line and live eels off Bartlett Reef. But the guys fishing The Race are working hard for fish because they are having such a problem getting their baits and lures through all the bluefish. Bluefish were thick off Hatchett Point all weekend. There are always a few ripping around in the Millstone Point Outflow, as well.
17. Fluke were still being caught between the Connecticut River and Hatchett Reef over the weekend. Rich from the shop told Lou that one angler was snorkeling up inside the river and saw big fluke lying there, probably chasing peanut bunker as predicted in the nearby Thames.
18. Pleasure Beach was loaded with blackfish, according to Shane, who works at the shop. He was snorkeling this area with a class from his high school the other day and said the blackfish were thick around the rocks at the launch area.
19. No albies in Niantic Bay, yet. Black sea bass are the best bottom-fishing alternative, with Block Island producing nice catches for one guy who fishes out of Hillyer’s on a regular basis. That same person said the porgies they caught off Block Island while fishing for sea bass were the biggest he’s ever caught. Nothing on bluefins from The Race in about three days, but they are apparently still in the area.
20. The shore-fishing has been slow in most areas, other than between the bridges, due to the heat and bright skies.
21. Lou said that finally he had reports of a few blue crabs showing up in Niantic River, the lower Thames and lower Pattagansett River. I have been hearing scattered reports of crabs that appear to be moving west to east through the Sound, so all might not be lost as far as crabbing is concerned for this season. It may be worth a look at your favorite crabbing spot the next time the tides are low around dark.
22. Mark Lewchik of River’s End, Saybrook said he’s been on vacation for two weeks and doing a good deal of fishing near his home on Hatchett Point. He said Hatchett Point has been very spotty. There was a big school of peanut bunker coming through Tuesday morning that was totally unmolested by anything, even bluefish.
23. Bass and blues, mostly schoolies are in the lower Connecticut River early and late in the day chasing baby bunker like they are everywhere else. There are rumors of bonito off the West Wall, but they are reportedly not feeding very well.
24. The Race is loaded with bluefish, with the occasional bluefin tuna being caught accidentally. These fish apparently show up so briefly that it’s a real hit-and-miss deal in The Race, the only place in this region that still holds schoolie tunas.
25. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison told us there is plenty of bait, both adult and peanut bunker, snapper blues and hickory shad moving in and out of the rivers and bays that have schools of bass and bluefish following them all the way.
26. Crabbing is peaking in the Madison area and has been good for two or three weeks. It looks like the crabs in Niantic Bay may have been part of this local influx of crabs.
27. Bluefish of all sizes are all over the place from Long Sand Shoal out to Six Mile Reef and Falkner Island.
28. Bass are starting to stir but nothing really solid as far as striper catches at this time. The fish are being caught after dark on eels, but that’s about it. No one has brought anything in to the scales much over 20 pounds.
29. Porgy fishing is crazy, with fish up to nearly three pounds. There are also good numbers of small fluke out off the local beaches. Rhode Island has been slower than Hammonasset Beach, according to customers who have fished both areas. Locally the fluke are still hanging around and catchable, but most are small.
30. The conditions are right for bunker kills in the rivers as temperatures continue to soar and fish pour into these shallow areas from the Sound.
31. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford, told us that his area is loaded with small bluefish. There were good bass around until things heated back up, now it’s small blues on poppers. Chris himself caught four bass and three bluefish on Tuesday evening after work. One angler caught a 2.9-pound porgy on a tube and worm. His customers have been fishing The Race and loading up on diamond jigs.
32. Fluke fishing is still good. Many are small – there may be one keeper out of 15 to 20 fluke. One angler caught two keepers out of 16 on Sunday.
33. Nick Mola from Fisherman’s World, Norwalk said there are tons of bluefish all over the surface along the back side of the islands from Cockenoe to Greens Ledge.
34. Tube-and-worm fishing is taking most of the bass in close to the islands. Bigger fish are being caught by chunking and three-waying worms in 100 feet or more of water. Porgies are hitting well off can #1 in 30 feet of water. Fluke are hit and miss in 60 feet of water off Buoy 11-B.
35. There were some bonito caught off the same area by anglers who saw them come up top while chunking, and they managed to sling a metal lure into the mix and get lucky. Good chunking off Buoy 11-B as well for blues and bass.
36. Snapper bluefish are thick in the islands like everywhere else along the coast, which means that tons of “cocktail blues” in the one- to three-pound range will be around again next summer to play with.