New England - Connecticut Fishing Reports

Rich at Fisherman’s World told me that while bass fishing remains the biggest draw for most customers they’re hearing from, ground fishing is starting to pick up a bit as well. The great bass bite in the area’s deep water structure is no secret and the well-known areas, 28C, 11B, and all off of Eaton’s Neck are holding a ton of big bass. Multiple methods are catching fish but trolling seems to me most popular. Bunker spoons, mojos and deep divers have all been effective. Plugs including topwater lures and big metal lips have been a close second in popularity both with anglers and bass alike and large wooded lures seem to be having a bit of a renaissance this season. Spoons and Diamond Jigs are having their moments but live bait, either fresh bunker or eels seem to be third in popularity. Rich said that chunks are working well but when the fish get picky, live eels seem to be the secret to cracking the code. Much like weeks before, the bulk of the bass in the region seem to run from 36 to 42 inches with plenty of cows to 40 pounds mixed in. There is a ton of squid in the area and bunker too, though the menhaden are not particularly concentrated. Rich said that more reports of better bottom fishing opportunities are beginning to grow in number. Scup fishing is picking up, mostly along the rocky points of the north shore. Fishing and chumming with clams is the gold standard and targeting rocks in 30 to 50-feet is a good starting point. Fluke fishing is also coming alive. Most of the angler effort and reports they are hearing are coming from the north shore but Rich said there are some fish on our side of the sound as well. He said drifiting at 28C, Green’s Ledge, Middle Passage and off Fairfield are all viable options for a local flatfish. Bucktails tipped with fluke bellies, squid, smelt and spearing are all good bets as is Gulp. Sea bass has been a bit slow to start but if you’re looking for a few big ones, fishing the deep water reefs wrecks is your best bet. Targeting 50 to 80-feet plus with Diamond Jigs or butterfly jigs is a good way to find them. The shop is open seven days a week.

Bobby J’s told me striper fishing seems to get better with every passing week. There are bass spread throughout the region and reports from customers are good from shore and boat. The bite on deep water structure is likely the most consistent and as water temperatures warm and more bait filters into the region, live bait has been the golden ticket for producing quality linesides. Bunker fished on three way rigs have been the most effective presentation but other methods are working well. Topwater plugs, glide baits, flutter spoons and soft plastics all have their moments. Most of the fish seem to range from the 15- to 25-pound class but there are some bigger bass in the 30-pound plus range as well. The inshore bass bite has been steady. Anglers fishing from shore have been steadily producing bass with glide baits and live eels ranking top producers. They have been selling fresh bunker at the shop and chunks have wormed well from shore and boat. Fluke fishing is getting a bit better. There are still a ton of short fish around but dedicated flatfish anglers are picking away at a few keepers. Scup fishing is getting better as well, though the fish are still deep. Most porgy catches have come as bycatch for fluke fisherman. There are a few short sea bass mixed in as well but there isn’t a steady bite to speak of yet. The shop is open six days a week closed Mondays.

Captain Morgan’s emailed over their report to say, “A heat spell will drive striped bass into their summer mode. This recent one pushed some of these shallow linesiders onto the reefs of Long Island Sound where they will begin to settle in for the summer. Trolling, drifting and jigging has taken the reefs to another level, both on flood and ebb tides. Casting topwater plugs and swimmers during dawn and dusk hours has paid premiums on flood tides. From live eels to chunks baits, striped bass have slurped them up in the lower tidal rivers and nearshore structures during peak feeding hours and before/after daylight. We’re talking stripers to 50 inches! Bluefish are in (mostly cocktails) and making a showing. Topwaters, spoons and chunkbaits. Wire leaders! Quick passing severe thunderstorms were something to watch for, but given enough settling down time, fish quickly got back to feeding as foodstuffs were uprooted from the bottom. Any fluke that may have been around fled the coffee water dumping out from the tidal rivers and into the Sound. So far, any summer flounder hooked locally were generally short unless caught in much deeper water - mostly outside the sound. Although June has given up winter flounder blackbacks in the past, warm water has had a negative impact on the recreational catch. Black sea numbers are up as are catches. Expect to crank up more shorts to keepers at a roughly 20:1 ratio - even when fishing the known hotspots. A few boats that hit the sandwaves came up with something that was not the norm. Squid! “Where are the weakfish?” said one sea trout hunter. Humps and reefs are beginning to liven up with porgy - even a few spot. Lay out some chunk bait anywhere near the bottom and a dogfish will most likely take it unless a sea robin beats it to it. They are in and schooling throughout the Sound. For more, head over to Captain Morgan’s fishing blog to read about other going’s on. We are open for business as usual and still unloading weekly deliveries to meet demand. Pay us a visit at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison and you will see why, as a seasoned full-service fishing outfitter, we say, ‘We don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better.’”

Captain TJ Karbowksi at Rock and Roll Charters told me that the sea bass fishing is starting to keep pace with the striped bass action. While the last few weeks have featured fast and furious striper fishing, local bottom fishing took a bit longer to materialize. They are still catching plenty of nice stripers but dedicating more and more of each trip to pounding bottom with bait a more worthwhile endeavor. They have been finding limits of sea bass most trips, though, staying away from short fish means being on the move. When you do start finding some legal-sized fish it’s a good idea to try and stay put to capitalize. There have been the odd porgies mixed in with catches here and there but that bite needs another couple of weeks to come together. Striper fishing has slowed a tick but that is in comparison to what he’d called phenomenal action earlier in the year. Things seemed to be picking back up to the torrid pace they’d experienced as we head toward the next moon. There is a good bit of bunker in the area but it still isn’t super concentrated. Water temperatures are hovering around 65-dergees depending on time and tide. With the warmer weather it’s starting to feel like summer fishing and the bites are setting up nicely for the season. He’s reserving dates now for the season so give Captain TJ a call and grab your spot now.

Matt from Black Hall Outfitters emailed over their report to say, “The bass bite is excellent. Lots of big fish around. All the usual spits, the points, reefs, river mouth, the Race… ect. Spoons, topwater, glide baits, eels, live bunker if you can find it, it seems like most methods are working well. The nighttime bunker chunking bite is also very good. Sea bass starting to slowly pick up out deep. Porgy started slow but it’s now doing better for those fishing sandworms, squid strips and jigs.”

Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters told me that it’s been lock and load striper fishing across a variety of areas within the sound. This is typically the peak of the spring striper run here in our region and this year has not disappointed. He said the new moon had moved some fish around but they were catching quality bass just about every trip. Because they are fishing a variety of areas a number of different methods have been effective including throwing topwater plugs, soft plastics both unweighted and on jig heads. Flutter spoons and even live bait have all been effective depending on time and place so there isn’t just one presentation that has been out fishing the rest. They are seeing a variety of bait many trips from bunker, to butterfish and some smaller species as well. There have been a few bluefish mixed in, mostly around the deep water rips and reefs. They have some openings over the next couple of weeks and we’re right in the middle of a prime part of the season. Captain Mike and his team have availability over the next few weeks and the season ahead so give him a call to book a spot now.

Andrew at Fishin’ Factory 3 said as has been the case for the last several weeks, the best fishing they are hearing about from customers is for striped bass. This week the bite they heard the most about was at The Race where bass from slot to the low 20-pound range made up the majority of catches. Reports from customers who had drifted the deep water rip indicated that paddletails, flutter spoons, Diamond Jigs and bucktails were all effective in bringing linesides boatside. Word is there is bunker, butterfish and squid in the area driving the action and keeping the bass busy with the occasional bluefish mixed in. More consistent bluefish action can be found at the Millstone discharge. Other striper bites can be found on some of the reefs. The action in the upper Connecticut River is all but done and there are some fish in lower river but angler effort has been low due to the temporary closure of the Baldwin Bridge ramp. Fluke reports are slow. As Andrew put it, there are a few guys eating fluke sandwiches this week, but not many. Diehards are picking away at a few keepers but overall, it’s been a stunted start to the flatfish season. Sea bass fishing seems to be picking up mid sound as a few more reports trickled into the shop this week. A few anglers reported mixed results. One report had a 50:1 keeper to short ratio while others were able to piece together a limit. Andrew recommended staying on the move until you find a better sized body of fish if you’re looking to bring home dinner. Scup fishing is still a couple of weeks away. There are a few scup around but the most consistent action is still over in the Peconics. The shop is open seven days a week for the season.

Over at The Saltwater Edge they continue to see solid fishing for striped bass which should continue into this week as we come off of the new moon. There is an abundance of bait around the islands, including sand eels and squid, which can make the bass difficult to fool at times but there are plenty of fish around. You can expect to find some bluefish around as well often mixed in with the striped bass. Squid fishing is holding up surprisingly well with some of the best reports of the season this past week. It’s unlikely that the squid bite will continue much longer so get out for them soon if your freezer isn’t already well stocked. Fishing for fluke, black sea bass and scup are starting to heat up locally and they are feeding heavily on sand eels along with squid so adjust your baits accordingly. As of Sunday afternoon, there were some reports of bonito showing up in the waters off of Newport! And one of the shop’s regular customers, TJ Harris nailed a massive 55-pound striper on a bunker chunk, no word on exactly where the fish was caught.

Heather at The Blackhawk office reports, “Our Saturday night private charter was a bluefish bonanza! Blues were flying into the boat all night long, along with some nice bass, and several larger fish to 33 pounds that were released unharmed. A beautiful night with a great group! Our porgy fishing during the week remained up and down, with some customers on some trips getting their limits, and other trips on the slower, pickier side. Saturday showed some improvement, so we're looking forward to things to come as the season progresses. Congrats to 8 year old Gavin, who had a special catch on Saturday; a lobster! Our afternoon bass trips, both open trips and private charters, showed good bass fishing. Lots of slot sized fish, with some overs and unders released unharmed. We will continue these after work special trips all season, so grab your tickets and join us! Our calamari safari trip this week was good, with full buckets of squid all around the boat. Thanks to all who joined us for squid trips this week! We only have a few dates left for private charters for the summer, so email the office to get your date on the calendar! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!”

Tim at J&B Tackle emailed over their report to say “For inshore we are hearing striped bass fishing in our area continues to be great with no signs of slowing down. Big fish have arrived. Customers are coming into the shop catching their all-time high per trip or the biggest bass they’ve ever caught. Windy conditions have been the biggest obstacle of the week. Those who have been able to work around that have been rewarded with great action. Jigging big paddle tails like the Fish Lab Mack Attack continues to be the most productive with chrome Tsunami 9” heavy flutter spoons and three-waying bucktails is putting plenty of fish on the deck. Top water action continues to increase at slack tide in the race with Docs, Joe Baggs Skippers, Yo Zuri Mag Pencil, Shimano Splash Walk. Hot spots continue to be east of CT River, Plum Gut, Hatchett Reef, Black Point, Bartletts Reef, the Race, Fishers Island (all around) and Watch Hill. Fluke fishing continues to get better with keepers being caught in the Niantic Bay and Two Tree Channel. Still early but very promising. Not much to report on porgy and black sea bass but would expect that to improve very soon. For offshore a couple of boats have had successful trips with some smaller yellowfin and bluefin. There was a decent weather window this weekend and I assume that many boats took the early season canyon trip. We have been changing a lot of top shots this week at the shop. Don’t delay getting all your prep work done so you are ready for when the fish show up and the weather window allows for that first offshore trip of the season. Thank you to everyone that came to our Penn Van event. We all had a great day spent with the incredible Pure Fishing staff Connor and Drake. JB Tackle is open Monday–Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.”

Captain Mike at Tartan II said fishing has been good for stripers and scup just about every trip out. The striper fishing has been very good with fish mostly slots and larger. The consistency of the bass action has made for some sore arms as there are plenty of fish to pull on with the slot fish making their way into the fish box. Scup fishing has been good if not a bit less consistent. He said they are catching them every trip but some days they have to work harder than others. Still, there are plenty of tasty fillets headed home for the table. They will run charters as scheduled with open boats on Tuesdays and Thursdays for bottom fishing as well as open boat striper trips on Fridays at 4 p.m. They expect another great year on the eastern sound so give Captain Mike a call now to book your prime dates.

Karen at AW Marina told me that good fishing for striped bass is keeping most her boating customers busy as well as those jumping on charters or head boats and heading to The Race. The deep water rips at the Race and Plum Gut have featured very good action for stripers and the bite has steadily gained consistency over the past couple of weeks. She’s been selling lots of Diamond Jigs, flutter spoons and bucktails to folks in to stock up before they head out to get in on the action. Word is the size of the fish has stayed the same with most bass boated falling in the slot or larger, up to the 20-pound class. There have been a few bluefish mixed in here and there but there is not a steady bite for any choppers yet. Karen had heard of some better bluefish action at the Millstone discharge. There have been few short porgies caught from shore but nothing steady just yet for scup. She said her customers have been diligent in trying and she expects that they will be rewarded for their efforts very soon. Fluke fishing is the same. It’s been a grind for diehards putting in the time and picking off a keeper summer flounder here and there. A few folks were in buying ballyhoo over the weekend and headed offshore in search of tuna. The shop is open seven days a week for the season.