The Fisherman Magazine Weekend Video Forecast 6/30/2022 – New England
Trophy striped bass are being caught from Boston, down through Cape Cod Bay, over in the Monomoy Rips, out at Block Island and in the western portions of Long Island Sound. In any one of these spots, a 50-pounder is a real possibility. Fluking is picking up in Connecticut, and seems to be slowing down a bit at Nantucket Shoals. The sea bass seem to be moving a little deeper across the region, but the bite won’t quit.
STARS AND STRIPERS
As the fireworks displays blast us into the heart of summer, the fishing has exploded too. While certain species may not be at their peak right now, when taken as whole the fishing is as good as it gets in Long Island Sound. Each week after the next it seems as though striper fishing cant get any better and then, it does. The Sound is loaded with fish as are most tributaries, bays, beaches and harbors. Theres so much bunker around some areas the fishing could almost be described as easy. As one shop owner put it this week; if you cant catch fish right now it might be a good time to take up golf. The bluefish numbers are incredible too and porgies seem to be just about everywhere. Sea bass fishing is still going strong and depending on where youre fishing the fluking isnt half bad either. Whatever you preferred species, there really isnt a better time of year to take advantage of our local waters as they teem with life. Good luck and happy Fourth of July.
I talked with Max at Fishermans World who said the red-hot bass fishing is hanging on and hasnt really slowed down at all. The biggest of fish are coming at night, on bunker chunks. If youre l...
I talked with Max at Fishermans World who said the red-hot bass fishing is hanging on and hasnt really slowed down at all. The biggest of fish are coming at night, on bunker chunks. If youre looking for a true cow bass fishing the night tides and very early mornings around 28C and 11B are still the best bet. That said there is some very good fishing closer to the shop and off to the east as well. There are good fish from slot-size to 30 pounds being caught inside the islands, again, primarily on bunker chunks and live-lined bunker. Out to the east the fishing is picking up from the Bridgeport and Fairfield area and out to Middle Ground. Theres lots of big blues in the area as well. These fish seem to be spending their days out in deeper water before heading into the shallows under the cover of dark. Fluke fishing has been grind but those anglers who are still picking away are doing so in about 40- to 60-feet of water off cans 24 and 26. The porgy fishing has turned up to full volume and big scup can be caught by shore or boat. For the shore crowd, the beaches and Sherwood Island are good, easy access bets. There are some sea bass mixed in with the scup for the boaters but if youre looking to target them trying deep water reefs and wrecks will be the best bet. More
Jason at Bobby Js said hed have to flip a coin to help decide if the bass or the weakfish were the better bite right now. He said fishing for both species was absolutely lights out a great pro...
Jason at Bobby Js said hed have to flip a coin to help decide if the bass or the weakfish were the better bite right now. He said fishing for both species was absolutely lights out a great problem to have. The weakfish seem to be all over the place and are consistently running from 22 to 30 inches. They seem to prefer small soft plastics fished on jig heads, preferably of a pinkish hue. The bass fishing is as good as he can remember seeing it locally and fish of all sizes are spread throughout the area. The biggest fish are being caught on chunks at night but the smaller fish chasing around bait will fall for an artificial lure. There are tons of bunker in the area and a good way to find a bigger fish is to snag and live-line one on a circle hook or fish it as a chunk bait, on a circle hook of course. Big bluefish moved in shallow this week and blues from 10 to 15 pounds can be found around the harbors and estuaries. Out front, the Milford beaches have smaller cocktail blues. Most of these fish will eat topwater lures, fun for light tackle or fly. To the east, the West Haven beaches have another class of fish, 7- to 10-pound blues which seem to blitz every dawn and dusk. Fluke fishing is still a grind but the sea bass fishing picked up last week. Jason said fishing in 25- to 50-feet of water was a good bet and bucktails and gulp and squid were good choices of bait. Porgies are just about everywhere right now. Every rocky bump and hump has fish but they are coming from sand beaches and piers as well. Crab reports have been steady. There are not huge numbers but the size of the blue claws has been consistently good. More
Captain Morgans emailed over their report to say July Fourth weekend came in with a blast of summer heat, gusty winds and periods of rain and thunderstorms but gave way to a rather pleasant second h...
Captain Morgans emailed over their report to say July Fourth weekend came in with a blast of summer heat, gusty winds and periods of rain and thunderstorms but gave way to a rather pleasant second half. Long Island Sound water temperature hung in around the low 70s and fishing opportunities varied depending on tide and time of day. The striped bass bite remained good with schoolies working many of the tidal rivers and other nooks and crannies along the immediate shoreline and nearshore structures. Early morning and late evening are the time for live eels especially, in the shallow bays and as an added backup, soft swimbaits and topwater plugs produced solid hookups. Out on the reefs, jigs, bucktails with trailers and deep-running, large swimmers got action while along drop-offs, trolling tube and worms had the edge. Flood tides saw some bluefish activity as ;choppers sliced into schools of abundant Atlantic menhaden and took chunks as well as poppers when topwater activity was evident. The weakfish bite remains good from mid-Sound to many of the key lower tidal rivers as they take squid and sea worms. Mid-Sound catches have been made drifting or trolling a bucktail and trailer. Keeping that setup on/or near bottom or switching to a hi-lo rig with a teaser can result in a fluke. Some better ones have been boated this past week although, shorts still dominate the release to keeper ratio. If you are looking for some family fun, then porgy fishing is the way to go. Sizes are mixed, catch numbers are up and most humps and reefs throughout the Sound are productive. Black sea bass action remains very good both on the CT and NY side of the pond. Check out depths of 40 to 95 feet using squid as your prime bait rigged on either on rigs or jigs. There are good humpbacks being caught and the periodic weakfish being picked up while sea bass fishing. Good size dogfish are bending rods, large sea robins are taking bottom baits as are skate and oyster crackers while northern kingfish are more apt to pick up a worm. Inland waters have been quite active as largemouth and smallmouth bass take live baits and artificials, pickerel are biting hard on inline spinners and spoons, catfish are on bottom baits, perch are taking worms and small jigs along black crappie. A light fly rod has been a ball on panfish and crank it up to an 8wgt for the bass. More
Captain TJ Karbowksi at Rock and Roll Charters said the fishing had been very steady over the last week of trips. He noted that everything seemed to be right on schedule this year in terms of bait an...
Captain TJ Karbowksi at Rock and Roll Charters said the fishing had been very steady over the last week of trips. He noted that everything seemed to be right on schedule this year in terms of bait and reliable bites and said he hoped the action would continue into the coming days and weeks. The big change this week was the massive schools of bluefish that joined the bass party. The blues are making for rod bending, arm burning fun and lots of happy anglers. Even though there are lots of blues around, striped bass fishing in the area has remained the bread and butter of most trips with plenty of slot-sized bass in the mix. The sea bass fishing remains good and there are plenty of porgies around to round out the trips. Many slots for the season are booked but they do still have some prime open dates so contact Captain TJ today to book your slot. More
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters emailed over his report to say, The class of stripers around right now is fantastic. Beautiful fish, healthy, filled out and fighters. Theyre strong! The CT river is ...
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters emailed over his report to say, The class of stripers around right now is fantastic. Beautiful fish, healthy, filled out and fighters. Theyre strong! The CT river is still producing but as temps heat up those waters become less safe to C&R fish, so Im seeing more guys out front although the river has been a parking lot many times as well when Ive driven by. Large topwater plugs, diving plugs, and live eels or bunker have been good along with GT Eels. The night bite is also consistently producing if you can set up somewhere with current and structure. I always think this is a good time of year to remind anglers to take as long as the fish needs to properly revive them but turning them into the current and slowly swimming them side to side. As temps increase so does release morality which no one wants. Bottom fishing has been solid. Lots of decent fluke around and sea bass and porgy are getting shallower. I got porgy in 18 feet on Saturday jigging a small metal. I definitely recommend slow pitch jigs for sea bass like the Daiwa SK, as theyre much more fun than bait or bucktails in my experience. Overall, fantastic July fishing! More
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters told me fishing has been really good this week. They are seeing new schools of migratory fish arrive daily, as evidenced by being covered in sea lice. The fishi...
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters told me fishing has been really good this week. They are seeing new schools of migratory fish arrive daily, as evidenced by being covered in sea lice. The fishing is good inside the Connecticut River but is just as good if not better in Long Island Sound from Clinton over to Watch Hill. There are more blues around this year than they can remember seeing in a long time, maybe they are making a comeback. Give Captain Mike a call and plan your trip today. More
Andrew at Fishin Factory 3 said talk of excellent striped bass fishing is still top of the ticket around the shop. Just about any likely bass water is holding fish right now from the shallow flats ...
Andrew at Fishin Factory 3 said talk of excellent striped bass fishing is still top of the ticket around the shop. Just about any likely bass water is holding fish right now from the shallow flats of the Connecticut River out to the deep-water rips like The Race and Plum Gut. Bass can be taken just about any way you prefer to fish for them depending on where youre looking and when youre there. Artificial lures are taking fish off the beaches and rocky points at dawn and dusk. Jigs are working out in the rips. Bunker, chunked and live-lined and live eels are all fooling bass. Both shore and boat anglers are scoring and there are some really nice sized fish around to boot. Andrew said hed heard one report of several bass in the 30- to 40-pound class from a surfcaster in the shop buying eels. The bluefish numbers are also incredible this year and more people might be talking about the resurgence of blues if it wasnt for all the stripers. Fluke reports were positive and the eastern sound and south side of Fishers Island each had their moments. The area around the Thames River is still loaded with squid and a good starting point if youre in search of a local flatback. If youre willing to burn the fuel, Block Island produced some very good fluking last week and theyd heard reports of fish to nearly 10-pounds. Sea bass reports were good, mostly from deeper water. Porgy fishing has now earned the on fire moniker and that shouldnt really change until we reach the fall. Crabbing reports from the River were good last week but it sounds like you have to weed through a lot of shorts to find some bigger blue claws. More
J&B told me the striped bass fishing is off the charts with really no change in the numbers and size of fish in the area. There are plenty of fish of all sizes and that includes plenty of big fis...
J&B told me the striped bass fishing is off the charts with really no change in the numbers and size of fish in the area. There are plenty of fish of all sizes and that includes plenty of big fish to boot. Fluke fishing got better last week as well with Block Island and Montauk being the best bet for a doormat. Sea bass fishing ticked up last week as some of the fish from the Branford/Clinton area have begun to spread east. The sea bass fishing off of Black Point should be getting better week by week as we move into the summer. Locally, the fishing for scup is very good and the quality of the fish is impressive. Shark and tuna fishing are getting going and some boats have had some success while others have struggled. The jig bite for tuna has been good. More
Captain Bob of The Sunbeam Fleet reports another great week of fishing. Blues and bass were excellent all week with Friday being a real beat down on the blues. The weekend was a little slower due to t...
Captain Bob of The Sunbeam Fleet reports another great week of fishing. Blues and bass were excellent all week with Friday being a real beat down on the blues. The weekend was a little slower due to tides and crowds, but still decent. Porgy fishing remains excellent, right close to home. Nice fishing with a few sea bass mixed in.
Summer is here, come on down! Call us at (860)443-7259 or visit us at www.sunbeamfleet.com for more information. More
Heather at The Blackhawk office reports that we had a busy week on the Black Hawk! Our day trips all showed excellent porgy fishing, with good sized porgies filling up the coolers. Our fluke trip on...
Heather at The Blackhawk office reports that we had a busy week on the Black Hawk! Our day trips all showed excellent porgy fishing, with good sized porgies filling up the coolers. Our fluke trip on Thursday wasn't what we'd hoped for, but we did have some nice sea bass in the mix. Our After Work special on Friday evening was phenomenal, with huge blues and some bass in the mix as well. These trips have shown great fishing lately; we plan on adding a few more to the schedule due to popular demand! Grab your tickets soon, they fill up fast! We had private charters all week; we were once again happy to welcome the YMCA campers back on board, who had a great time pulling porgies over the rail all night long. The highlight of the week was our Thursday afternoon charter with The Fallen Outdoors. This group of veterans shared a great night of fishing, conversation and making new friendships while on board. We were honored to be able to donate this trip to get them out on the water, and we look forward to more trips in the future! We're looking forward to our upcoming fireworks cruises, as well as our upcoming scout night and sunset cruises. Family trip tickets are filling up fast, so be sure to grab yours before they're gone. These trips are perfect for those with kids, to get out for a shorter trip that is geared towards our younger anglers. Plan on joining us soon! We're running two trips on Saturdays and Sundays now, 5 a.m. and 1 p.m. We'll be fishing every weekday as well- check our website for the exact schedule. As a reminder, we post new trips every Monday night at 8 p.m., for trips approximately 3 weeks ahead of time. Grab your tickets right away if you have a particular date you'd like! We only have a few dates left for July charters, and our August dates are filling quickly too, so be sure to contact Heather and book your trip if you'd like a certain day. More
Captain Mike at Tartan II said the fishing has been nothing short of awesome. Bass and bluefish continue to bend rods and provide plenty of arm burning action. The bottom fishing is nothing to sneez...
Captain Mike at Tartan II said the fishing has been nothing short of awesome. Bass and bluefish continue to bend rods and provide plenty of arm burning action. The bottom fishing is nothing to sneeze at either. Porgy and sea bass fishing is lights out and they are even finding a few fluke in the mix. He thinks the good fishing is going to hold up through the summer based on the current setup of bait and fish in the region. Captain Mike reminded me now that weve reached July they will be running two trips a day for through August. This will include both open boat and private charters. Spots are filling quickly so be sure to give him a call to book your spot in advance. More
Captain Gerry from Drifter Charters told me the sea bass fishing had really lit up over the last week. They were finding good numbers of keeper fish and not too far from home either. The striper fis...
Captain Gerry from Drifter Charters told me the sea bass fishing had really lit up over the last week. They were finding good numbers of keeper fish and not too far from home either. The striper fishing hasnt changed, and thats a good thing as bass action has been red hot. They are finding all sizes of stripers with some really big fish mixed in. Anywhere they are on bass his charters are also finding plenty of hungry bluefish to keep things interesting. Spots are filling up but there are plenty of prime dates available so give Captain Gerry a call today! More
When I talked to Karen at AW Marina she was brining up some bluefish for the smoker to enjoy over the holiday weekend. Beyond culinary pursuits the first thing we talked about was the noticeable upti...
When I talked to Karen at AW Marina she was brining up some bluefish for the smoker to enjoy over the holiday weekend. Beyond culinary pursuits the first thing we talked about was the noticeable uptick in fluke reports from the last week. Better catches in both size and number came into the shop and the area out in front of the Thames was still stuffed with squid. The shore crowd is delighted by the number of porgies coming from the Fort Trumbull Pier and Avery Point as well as the occasional striped bass for those soaking chunks. The bass fishing from the mouth out to The Race remains red-hot and shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The bluefish that accompanied the stripers in the mouth of the river seem to have pushed out and can now be found marauding around the sound and The Race. Sea bass reports were also better this week with anglers having an easier time locating keeper sized fish. Karen told me the shop had fresh bunker now most days and to call ahead if you were looking for some. More
