On The Water, 9/23/05

1. The big story this week is the arrival of false albacore in the eastern end of Long Island Sound and along the south shore beaches of Rhode Island. It is far from a sure bet with these fast-moving fish, but apparently they are around in sufficient numbers that a scouting trip of likely spots should at least produce some sightings. The best, most consistent catches are coming from Montauk Point, with other “inside” areas the usual hit or miss.
2. Since the storm, bass and bluefish activity have improved as these fish moved inshore to chow down on the super abundance of bait that seems to be everywhere in the region.
3. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic said the full moon tides, combined with a miserable weather forecast for Saturday, kept many people away from the docks, so she didn’t see much to report this time around. Everyone tried to get out Sunday, but between local sports games and the beginning of football, there was not much angling activity this weekend.
4. Lots of bluefish are around, and one customer took a good batch off the East Clump where he said that bluefish and short bass were abundant and hitting well. Small bass have moved back into the river. There is plenty of bait around, drawing in fish.
5. Fluke fishing has definitely slowed. Cheryl has heard of fluke but not seen anything lately. There are still huge amounts of big scup around, based on the two-pounders being brought in by guys tube-and-worming for stripers. Bonito have b een reported as far east as Charlestown, but again she has not had any firsthand reports in a few days.
6. Snapper bluefish are thick in Mystic Harbor and around all the bridges and trestles in the area. Blackfish season reopens on September 22, and many Shaffer’s customers are anticipating the bite to start picking up anytime now.
7. Joe of The Fish Connection, Preston on the Thames River said there were bluefish of all sizes running up and down the Thames with the tides. Norwich Harbor was holding good-size fish feeding on a small school of adult bunker that showed up a couple of weeks ago. The bite is best during the early morning hours when Norwich Harbor lights up with bass of about 30 inches, mixed in with bluefish up to 6 pounds.
8. Fluke are still available in the lower river for those who want a last fillet or two. The Thames has been better for fluking than outside in the Sound or along the beaches of Rhode Island. They are not big, but it’s possible to take a limit of fish to about 18 or 19 inches with some effort. The river is still full of snappers, along with peanut bunker and other small stuff to hold the bass and bluefish.
9. Joe was in New Jersey over the weekend and said the bass, bluefish and weakfish are thick and hitting well along the beaches near Barnegat Inlet where, he said, there are absolutely tons of bait to feed the predators, just like here. Joe said things are shaping up for an excellent fall run of bass and bluefish all up and down the coast, based on the people he has been talking to. Crabs are few and far between in the Thames, but those around are big ones. Look for them hanging off pilings and abutments after dark.
10. Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford said that bluefish are all over the place. They are in strong this year, with fish of all size classes, from one-pounders to big choppers, running around in the Sound and The Race. Matt said you can’t get away from them in some areas, saying how lately he’s caught bluefish while fluking and fishing for porgies and bass.
11. Blackfishing opens today, and everything is shaping up to be a great fall for this species. Matt noted that his customers who are hard-core tautog fishermen were targeting and successfully catching these fish all summer long, which generally means there will be a strong run later in the fall.
12. There have been false albacore and bonito in the sluiceway and Plum Gut, where they are thick most days, with a few reported off Race Rock on the end of the ebb tide over the weekend. I was out that way on Sunday, and it was just snotty enough that I didn’t want to run the rip to check out the birds I saw working off the lighthouse. We opted to continue casting the calmer waters along the south side of Fishers Island.
13. Considering it was a sunny, bluebird day, we did a lazy man’s trip that ended late in the afternoon and caught about 20 stripers up to 17 pounds by casting to pods of bait (with no birds on them) and tube-and-worming. We also logged in a half-dozen big scup on the tubes and a pair of bluefish that were both big. One pulled the Boga Grip to 10 pounds, and the other got off, but was notably larger than the 10-pounder when it grabbed the Slug-Go five feet out from the boat.
14. Porgy fishing is excellent around all the rock piles and reefs in the area.
15. Every morning, anglers are taking big bass from shore between the bridges in Niantic where they are chasing baby bunker and, on occasion, hickory shad. Matt said one customer came in reporting big blues between the bridges on Monday, ripping into a large herring of some sort that he thought was probably gizzard shad.
16. There are unbelievable amounts of bait around, so it’s a matter of getting the weather to go out and catch the big stuff that’s feeding on this super abundance of forage.
17. “Q” of River’s End Tackle, Saybrook said the albies finally showed up in sufficient numbers to get their fans excited. Montauk Point is loaded with them. The best bite has been right off the point, rather than out near Shagwong Rock. The Gut and Sluice have had them, as well, but you can hit them one time and miss them the next. He has heard of catches ranging up to as many as 18 per person on a boat, on down to zero. Not very dependable at this point but they are certainly worth looking for. “Q” also said there have been reports of scattered albie schools ranging around from Pine Island, Groton to Black Point. It’s a search-and-destroy mission for these things as is usually the case for this fast-moving and fickle species.
18. The bite is great for big slammer porgies around all the reefs and rock piles in the Saybrook and Lyme area, with sea bass mixed in when you fish deep. The problem is getting through all the scup to catch an occasional sea bass.
19. There have also been some fairly consistent evening blitzes of bluefish along the Lyme shoreline, created mostly by small bluefish. They are occasionally mixed in with schoolie stripers along the Old Lyme Beaches from Black Point to the mouth of the Connecticut River. These fish are being taken on soft plastics, flies and poppers. There has not been much chatter lately about big-bass catches. A couple of anglers did manage to catch a striper of about 48 inches over in Plum Gut on live hickory shad that they caught in Niantic between the bridges.
20. The Race has been good for bass by fishing eels after dark on three-way rigs. During the day this would not be advisable due to the hordes of bluefish ripping around its waters at all depths. They will even get in the way after dark, but not quite at such a high rate as during the day when they are about all you’re likely to catch.
21. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that bluefish are around in great numbers, with decent ones off Falkner, Six Mile Reef and Kimberly Reef.
22. A few sea bass have been caught in deep waters and around wrecks south of Falkner Island. Right now there are lots of anglers champing at the bit for blackfish to reopen, and it does today. Expect to hear more reports on this species in the coming weeks.
23. There are huge schools of peanut bunker around, with bass and bluefish on them just about everywhere. With the west-southwest wind midweek, the bait should be pushed up tight to the beaches and creating a good surf-fishing bite by the weekend. No sign of let-up from the fish or bait, so things look great for the next few weeks. There are a few bass around but not the big numbers that will come through sometime in the next couple of weeks as the migrations to the Hudson and the south begin to kick in.
24. Porgies are excellent around all the local reefs, and snapper blues are thick enough to kill with a rock in the harbors.
25. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford reported that conditions are about the same as they were last week, with lots of small bass and bluefish around to play with. One of his friends caught bonito off Old Lyme, but there is no word of this species in the western end of the Sound.
26. The bass they are catching in the Housatonic River and out to Charles Island are maxing out at about 33 inches, but no big stuff yet. The water temps are still kind of warm, but the bait is abundant and will hopefully be waiting for them when they finally arrive over the next few weeks.
27. No crabs, but snapper bluefish are thick enough to walk on in the river and local harbors. Little snappers are hitting the poppers anglers are casting for big blues and are occasionally being snagged or caught by the mouth. One customer said he caught six small weakfish in the six- to eight-inch range while chasing snappers in one of the local marinas. This bodes well for the future of this species.
28. Burt from Fisherman’s World, Norwalk told us that every day there have been tons of bluefish on top blasting poppers or taking chunk baits in the waters around Cockenoe Island. The fish are mostly small, but choppers up to 10 pounds have been caught. Buoy 11-B has been producing blues by jigging with diamond jigs between 40 and 60 feet. Tons of baby bunker are in and around the area to attract the bluefish. Calf Pasture Point has been producing mostly smaller harbor blues lately, with no catches of note being made in a couple weeks. The fish seem to be more out around the islands and in the channels where the bait is.
29. Bass up to 36 inches have been caught in the Westport and Saugatuck rivers by anglers tossing chunks after dark, but they have been working for these larger fish.
30. Porgies are big, abundant and in deep water out along the outside of the islands.
31. There are tons of blue crabs in Westport and Norwalk harbors where crabbers are scraping them off the pilings in large numbers. This year the crabs have been thick. One guy caught two buckets of blue crabs on Tuesday, brought them in and went out for more. Crabbing is having a banner year in this area, while it peters out fairly rapidly once you reach the waters east of Madison.
32. This week, it looks like a trip to search for false albacore might be worthwhile, especially if you have the boat and gas to make the run across the Sound to Montauk Point. Otherwise, look for the fish from Niantic Bay out to the sluiceway and Plum Gut; in The Race, Watch Hill and up the beaches, concentrating off the breachways; and, of course, out in the channel near the Coast Guard Station at Block Island. [org pub On The Water, Bob Sampson]