New England - Connecticut Fishing Reports

I talked to Tyler at Fisherman’s World who said fishing was good again this week but bites were changing a bit as the summer wears on. The biggest change in the region is the flood of bunker that has moved inshore. Schools of menhaden can be found frfom Stamford to Fairfield in shallow water. The bait has brought the gamefish in with it and where the deep water structure in the area had been the best bet for the last month-plus, finding the schools of bait is now your best strategy if you’re looking for striped bass. Live lining has been the best strategy for tangling with a lineside this week as the fish are pretty keyed in on the real thing. That said, topwater lures have had their moments during low light periods. There are some bluefish mixed in with the bass but they aren’t yet present in big numbers. Tyler said he expects that to change very soon and the blues will find the mass of bait. Scup fishing is incredible and every piece of hard bottom is holding fish. Shore anglers are doing very well around Calf Pasture and Sherwood Island. If you’re looking to catch some fluke heading to the north shore is still the play even though that bite is cooling down to some degree. Fishing around Eaton’s Neck, Smithtown Bay and Port Jeff is good idea. Jigs and Gulp are working on both sides of the sound but the fish have shown a clear preference for bait. Customers reported doing well with squid, Peruvian smelt and especially frozen sand eels which the shop has in stock. Sea bass action is getting going and anyone who’s caught them large enough to keep is fishing deep water, from 60 to 80-feet. The bunker also brought some big bluefish inshore with them and the topwater fishing has been good during low light periods. Live lining and chunking have been good during the day. There are also large schools of bluefish mid-sound and they can often be found finning on the surface, making for fun top water and fly action. Fluke fishing is still good across the sound along the north shore. Anglers out looking for them are reporting catching summer tog in 20 to 40-feet of water.

Bobby J’s said local fishing was good again this week although the red-hot bass bite is starting to slow and change a bit as the fish set up in their summertime spots. Water temperatures are climbing and they’ve been seeing anything from 70 to 74 degrees depending on where they happen to be fishing. Warmer water means fishing during the coolest parts of the day, or better said, at night. Both boat and shore anglers are reporting that there is good striper fishing to be had, almost exclusively with bait at night. Boaters are live lining and chunking and surfcasters are fishing chunks for fish from schoolies to 30 pounds. The area is loaded with bunker both inside the harbor and out along the beaches so making bait has been a breeze before you head out. There is a lack of local bluefish and other than the occasional bunker bit in half the blues have been absent. Anglers fishing in the New Haven area have been reporting they are into bluefish tight to bunker schools. Porgy fishing is lock and load and if you’re just looking to get out and bend a rod this is the bite for you. Just about any rock pile or jetty is loaded with scup and sandworms and clams have been working well. There were a handful of keeper fluke caught this week to 22 inches and any keeper sea bass they’d heard about were caught in deep water.

Captain Morgan’s emailed over their report to say, “Striped bass continued to defy disbelievers who questioned the good season. Although the recent heat wave thwarted some days on the water, all the stripers did was to move around to cooler more oxygenated water that in fact drew forage. Menhaden schools became spread out in some spots and in others, dense schools formed. Linesiders fed on them, live eels and diamond jigs without much hesitation. They also tried to eat bucktails that were either jerked or three-wayed. Prior to sunrise and around sunset hours stripers could be found in shallower water along the beaches, in bays and key tidal river channels. As the weather broke, sparse large weakfish took a back seat to runs of small weakies near shore, along jetty rips, beaches and in bays. Bluefish on the other hand have been hit or miss. Although snappers have shown up and sporadic schools of blues have been feeding, overall, choppers have been running late when taking in the Sound as a whole. If the stormy season doesn’t really ramp up as expected, fall could easily bring about some serious bluefish blitzes. Good scup are being caught offshore however closer in, porgy fever set in and these scrappers are going at it on most reefs and humps. Squid, sea worms and scented strip baits are being used successfully. Fluke catches are mounting up, but shorts still dominate the hookups. Both shore and boat catches are being made however, the Sound is not producing the numbers of mini-doormats and doormats as in the past. Putting in the effort in the main tidal rivers and in the Sound has been netting keepers. Conversely, the rest of the bottom fishery as a whole has been very active with dogfish taking the lead. Northern kingfish, skate, toadfish, striped sea robins and the like fall for chunk baits and seaworms, when seasonal shortages compounded by over-exporting are not affecting the supply. By now, one would think there would be a slowdown in demand and catches inland. Yet, freshwater keep on drawing a diversified group of anglers that are pursuing trout, bass, panfish and other species with and without meaningful dental work. Overall, the freshwater scene is ahead of the curve as anglers use everything from live natural baits to artificials and scented ones - including flies. Pay us a visit at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison and you will see why we say, ‘We don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better.’”

I talked to Captain TJ Karbowksi at Rock and Roll Charters who told me they’d settled into a familiar summer fishing routine. Stripers and scup have been the main targets and fishing for both has been good. The bass are still holed up in pockets as the lack of adult bunker in the region has them roaming around, taking on whatever feeding opportunities they can take advantage of. The action has been consistent though, and there are plenty of fish around ranging from slot sized and larger. There are very few bluefish around locally, likely attributed to the lack of big bait. Scup fishing is lights out and making for fast action and plenty of fillets on every trip out. Good summer action is set up for the season and now is the time to give Captain TJ a call to book your spot.

Matt from Black Hall Outfitters emailed over their report to say, “Summer mode here for sure. Bass on eels, shallow at night and deeper during the day. Lots of bunker in certain places but not many fish after them, so grabbing some and going to a more typical summer rip/reef makes more sense than sticking around the bunker pods from what I've heard. Topwater on cloudy and windy days has also been very good, with some solid 40-inch class fish mixed into a bunch of smaller ones. One storyline this year has been bass on tiny bait that have been really resistant to eating anything else. It's frustrated a lot of folks, myself included. I'm trying to tell myself it's a sign of a killer fall run. Sea bass and fluke remain consistent, with guys tending to go after both pretty equally. The change this year has been in the successful fluking that a lot of people are getting fired up about. Most of my guys this morning have been heading for fluke, which is a big change from bass which would've been the dominant target for early morning guys the past few years. Squid rigs, Nomad Squidtrex, Daiwa SK jigs in blue/pink are all working for sea bass. For fluke, I'm seeing a lot of white, green, and chartreuse go out the door. Porgy are everywhere and eating pretty much anything. No surprises there.”

Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters emailed over his report to say “It was another week of solid striper fishing. The bass are fully set up in their summertime pattern and fishing with both live bait and lures has been effective. The water temperature in the river is 80-degrees and the bunker there is thick. Out in the sound the temperature is 67-degrees and there are fish on the reefs. There is lots of small bait on the reefs and smaller bass have been seen feeding on the surface most days. The larger fish, some to over 30 pounds, are taking live baits.” Captain Mike and his team have openings over the next two weeks, which should be primetime Give him a call today to book your spot.

Andrew at Fishin’ Factory 3 told me most of the customers that came through the shop this week were focused on either striped bass or scup. While others headed offshore or targeted groundfish in the sound, the striper and porgy fishing was keeping lots of folks busy. Striper fishing has been good from in the Connecticut River, to out at The Race and beyond to Block Island. In the river, live bait and top water lures like the Doc are getting it done but Andrew noted, with water temperatures exceeding 80 degrees, that any catch and release fishing needs to be done with some care. Other anglers are getting bunker inside the river and taking it out to reefs where they are scoring some nice sized bass to 30 pounds plus. The Race is still fishing very well for bass and now for bluefish as well. Diamond Jigs, bucktails and eels have all been working there. Boats headed to Block Island have been scoring big numbers of big bass as the bite there has exploded over the last couple weeks. Shore anglers have been stopping into the shop to buy sandworms and reporting excellent porgy fishing, especially around the mouth of the Thames River from Fort Trumbull and Avery Point. That said, porgy fishing is good from just about any rockpile or jetty from Black Point east to Rhode Island. Bottom rigs fished with Sandworms, squid or clams are the gold standard for some fast fishing. Fluke and sea bass fishing has been mostly slow this week with a few exceptions and a few anglers reported catching their limits of summer tog. Blue crabbing in the river and its tributaries is picking up and there were reports of soft shells last week with the full moon.

Heather at The Blackhawk office reports, “The action continues to be red hot aboard the Black Hawk! We had some great pogy fishing all week, with some nice sea bass in the mix as well. We had a great time on our kids trip on Saturday afternoon, with the kids catching porgies all afternoon. Another great kids trip, thanks to everyone who joined us, especially our new friends from Ohio, who made the trip and were happily reeling in the porgies all day! The bluefishing remains excellent, with anglers exhausted and sore after reeling in the giant bluefish we've been catching! We'll continue to bluefish on our After Work Special trips on Fridays, and our Sunday afternoon trips. Our "Christmas in July" fireworks cruise on Saturday night for Celebrate East Lyme Day was wonderful! Thanks to all who joined us for the trip!  We filled a van with toys, and had four big boxes of books as well.  The fireworks were fantastic, and everyone enjoyed a night on the water.  Join us for our next sunset cruise on July 27th.  These trips are all part of our Black Hawk and the Community program, and we're honored to be able to help the community in a meaningful way. New tickets for each week will be posted online on Monday night at 8 p.m., just like in past years.  Be sure to check out our calendar so you see what's coming up! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!”

Ed at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle told me the thing they’d heard about most in the shop this week was big bluefish tearing through tackle. The amount of wire leaders they’d sold in the last week was proof enough that big blues have invaded The Race. The Race has consistently been the site of some the best fishing the region, or the eastern sound in general has had to offer for most of the season. The blues have joined the big schools of bass and really turbo charged the action there. If you’re looking to cull out the blues to some degree Ed suggested fishing at night with eels or black bucktails. During the day Diamond Jigs and bucktails have been the best bet for both species. Black sea bass fishing is still fairly slow but again, The Race at slack tides has some bigger fish. Anglers fishing deep, from 80- to 110-feet of water are finding the best quality fish. Fluke fishing hasn’t changed much, it’s still decent for dedicated anglers and there are lots of short fish around. Ed mentioned that the anglers that are having the best success are avoiding the fleets and finding their own spots where the better quality fish haven’t been picked over. The other key to finding a few keeper flatfish has been staying on the schools of bait whether squid or sand eels. Scup fishing is very good. By shore or boat, anglers report good action from the mouth of the Thames River west to Black Point. They heard a few more blue crab reports in the shop this week from folks who’d been out scooping them with decent success.

J&B told me the best bite they’d heard about at the shop this week was at The Race for striped bass. The area around Valiant Rock has been hot and with offshore options limited by weather most of the customers they’d been talking too had been cashing in on the good bass fishing.

Captain Mike at Tartan II said fishing had been very good for another week. His crews found pockets of big bluefish mixed in with stripers making for some fast action and sore arms. The striper fishing has been very good all season and this week was no different except for the influx of the bluefish. Scup fishing is almost a guarantee and the overall size of the fish has been excellent. They also found some sea bass this week fishing deep, hopefully a sign of good things to come for the rest of the season. Some of the more popular weekends are already booking up so give Captain Mike a call now to secure your spot while you still can.

Karen at AW Marina told me summer was humming along at the shop and it had been a very busy weekend. They sold bait of all kinds all week long from fresh bunker to sandworms, squid, clams and crabs to ballyhoo, buckets of chum and flats of butterfish. The variety and volume of bait moving through the store reflects the wide array of bites available in the heart of summer throughout the region. Local action has been “off the hook” as one customer put it. Fishing for porgies in the mouth of the river, especially at the Fort Trumbull Pier. Striped bass have also been common catches for shore anglers fishing chunks in the same areas. The anglers in to buy crabs have reported good blackfish action and it hasn’t been too much of a challenge to catch their two keepers. Boat anglers also had success this week, especially Laurie Macha who weighed in an 11.4-pound fluke she caught in Connecticut waters on a homemade rig fished with squid. Other boats headed to The Race and continued to hammer the striped bass and bluefish. Diamond Jigs and bucktails have been the tools of the trade in the deep water rips there all summer.