New England - New England Offshore Fishing Reports

Surf striper action seems to best in the eastern reaches of Connecticut, from the border to beaches adjacent to the Connecticut River. There are tons of the same class of fish we’re seeing in Rhode Island, 25 to 34 inches, but a few fish into the 40-inch class have also been reported. Things seem to be a bit more tactically ‘typical’, along this stretch, probably because there aren’t mullet in the area to force a change. Needles, big paddletails and soft plastics eels at night. Big spooks, pencils and paddles in daylight. Of course, live eels and fresh chunked bunker are also scoring and stand as the best shot at hooking a serious fish right now. Albie action remains strongest in Connecticut, but it’s like 95% boat. If you have a spot with a good rip and a lot of bait, particularly in the western sound, you might have a shot at hooking one from the rocks, but overall, the albie numbers are off this year and I think you’re going to have work hard to get that fish.

Other than the weather, not much has changed on the Rhode Island surf scene. We still have heavy concentrations of stripers spanning Newport to South County. We still have a ton of bait running the beaches that includes mullet and peanut bunker. And we’re still hearing reports of big number days and nights with bass mostly sitting right around slot size. Paddletails, bucktails, bottles and bottle darters are doing the heavy lifting at night. In daylight the bucktails and paddletails are pulling double shifts, but one of the best baits has been a 2-3/8 ounce Little Neck Popper, swum through the whitewater, with very little popping. Pencils and mid-sized spooks are also pulling some fish. Better fish seem to be coming to the guys fishing live eels from the rocks, but they are feeding a lot of these same fish in between, making it necessary to carry a heavy supply of snakes. Albies almost feel like a lost cause in Rhody, but we can’t blink just yet. I did get a few reports of albies landed from the West Wall this week, along with a few more Spanish macks.