New England - New England Offshore Fishing Reports

CONNECTICUT
The guys at Fisherman's World in Norwalk said the western Sound continues to fill with large striped bass from 20 to more than 50 pounds. The bulk of the surf reports they're getting tell of smaller fish from the harbor and estuaries like the inlet at Sherwood Island. But there is opportunity for the surfcaster in this area. The big bass are on schools of bunker and mackerel, fishing some of the prominent points out that way is going to put you in a better position to cross paths with these fish from the shore. And chunking fresh bunker might represent your best chance at hooking one of these migrating monsters from the shore.
Over at Bobby J's in Milford they were hearing some news of much larger stripers in the area as well, but most of those fish were coming from boats. The mouth of the Housatonic River is always a good bet for anglers looking to tangle with a larger bass, darters, large soft plastics on leadheads and drifted eels on a circle hook are all good bets there. Weakfish catches have been really good for – pretty much – the entire month. Anglers have been hooking these fish on Mag Darters, SP Minnows, small bucktails and small paddletails on light heads. Some are saying it's the best year for weakfish they have seen in quite some time. Most of the fish are in the 4- to 6-pound range, with the occasional larger specimen pushing 8 pounds.
Andrew at Fishin' Factory 3 in Middletown said pushes of larger bass are beginning to make landfall in the vicinity of the Connecticut River. If there's one thing that might be just as much of a blessing as it is a curse for the surfcaster it's the huge amount of bait in the area. There are butterfish and sand eels on the reefs which is keeping a lot of the fish out of reach of the surfcaster. Bunker schools are showing in greater numbers now too though and these will command the attention of some of these bass and (hopefully) pull them in to the beach. Not many guys are talking about big stripers from the local beaches, but the guys tossing eels or drifting fresh chunks are definitely catching a few, they're just staying quiet about it.
Karen at AW Marina in New London said the Thames River has good numbers of bass and some large bluefish as well. Anglers are pulling some decent fish from the shores of the river using chunks and sandworms and the early morning crews are doing it with topwater poppers. Bass to 37 inches and bluefish to 14 pounds have been landed from the banks of the river. Anglers dunking bait at Fort Trumbull Pier have found stripers, blues and porgies. The pogy bite at Avery Point is also picking up.

RHODE ISLAND
Mike Wade from Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly said there has been news of good striper fishing from the local beaches and inside the salt ponds this week. There were no really big stripers reported, but the action overall has been solid by most accounts. Worm hatches are starting to fire off in the ponds too opening up a fun opportunity for fly guys. The breachways have been putting out some stripers too along with some large blues into the low teens. Squid are starting move in along the South County beaches now which is fueling some better fish across the board.
The guys at Weekapaug Bait and Tackle in Charlestown said surfcasters have been seeing steady action with 30- to 40-inch stripers from the breachways this week. Darters and swimming plugs have been leading the way there but a few guys have been fishing bucktails inside the breachways too for some good action on similar sizes of stripers. There have been some blues around as well but their numbers have been declining more recently. Early morning anglers have been doing especially well on things like Super Strike Poppers and medium-sized spooks like the Game On X-Walk and Top-Knock pencil from Yo-Zuri.
Over at Crafty One Customs in Portsmouth most of the striped bass focus has been on the Bay where boaters are putting up some good numbers on live bunker and large surface plugs like the Doc. Surfcasters are taking advantage of this daytime bite by finding ways to get down where the boats are concentrated and throwing large surface plugs; their success is far from guaranteed, but when it works, it’s typically a big reward. Nighttime fishers report a lot of casts for very few hits in these same areas. The better night bite has been out front where anglers slinging needlefish and darters are finding action when new waves of stripers move along the south side of the island or slip up into the Bay. Shore anglers might find a weakfish at night on smaller swimmers at places like Goddard Park or the Bristol Narrows.