August is here and mid-summer patterns are right on track. Warm water is creating some new angling opportunities – bonito, mahi mahi, and even red drum have been caught or spotted locally this week. At the same time, rising temps are making species like striped bass a little trickier to catch, while hordes of bluefish, from gator-sized to snappers, are thriving in the bathwater. Fishing for fluke and black sea bass remains strong, albeit you may have to venture a little deeper these days. Porgy action continues to impress over just about any rock pile you can find and blue crabbing is picking up across the board, rounding out a healthy list of saltwater options for anglers in early-August. Last but not least, in the freshwater scene, a famous insect hatch is occurring now that is driving smallmouth bass and trout into a feeding frenzy on the Housatonic River.
Rhode Island
The most interesting piece of angling news from the Ocean State this week was a giant red drum being caught at a certain breachway. The lucky angler was Brad Thompson, who landed the 48.9-pound surprise just after midnight Saturday on a bunker chunk! Our warm water temperatures likely extended the invitation here, and other species are following suit. Arden at Saltwater Edge said it’s about time to begin seeing bonito with more frequency. There have been a few sightings so far around Newport and there is no reason to not start looking for them now.
Warm water is also the reason why striped bass anglers turn nocturnal for the most part during summer, save for boaters who can easily target deeper, cooler water. Arden has been hearing of big stripers in the 30- to 40-pound range in Newport proper being taken pretty consistently, both from boat and shore. Even though live eels produce all season long, they can especially benefit striper anglers during the August grind. Try rocky areas in close proximity to deep water well after dark. Bring enough eels in case you have to donate some to bluefish teeth before finding the target species. Surprisingly, despite the bathwater-like temps, Arden said many 10 to 20-pound bass are feeding on crab hatches in the mid to upper Narragansett Bay too. Drifting live eels or trolling tube and worms have been the answer in the Bay as well.
Captain Steve from Breachway Bait and Tackle is also on the summer eel bandwagon. He said 30 to 35 feet of water on the reefs off Green Hill, Charlestown, and East Beach are giving up bass in the 35 to 40-inch range at all times of day, as long as the tide is moving. Steve’s rig consists of a three-foot fluorocarbon leader with a circle hook on one end and a barrel swivel on the other. Above the barrel is an egg sinker, usually 1/4- or 3/8-ounce, to help get the eel down. Even still, Steve talked about usually battling through eight to 12-pound bluefish before finding some quality bass.
The fluking along Rhode Island’s south shore beaches remains productive. Steve told me the ratio of keepers to shorts is improving as well. He’s been seeing a fair amount of 5 to 7-pounders along with a few 9-pound fluke coming into the shop, mostly from 35 to 55 feet of water in the East Beach to Green Hill area. Many fluke are puking up squid after capture and some anglers are catching squid on their jigs, so be sure to have some fresh strips on the business end of your offering. Steve also noted that blackfish season opened up on August 1, although they aren’t as easily found now as they are later in the fall. If you go, try pitching Asian crabs on your favorite rock pile. Keep in mind there is a three fish limit with a minimum of 16-inches until October 14, when it’s bumped up to 6 fish per angler.
Block Island
Dave at River and Riptide and some friends went sharking over the weekend southeast of the Island near the Fairway Buoy. After landing an 8-foot blue shark (they were hoping for mako) on mackerel, a flash of a nice mahi mahi ripped through their slick. Before they could grab their fly rods, the mahi grabbed a half of mackerel and took to the air. Dave had a ball fighting the acrobatic and colorful fish of about 15-pounds and put it on ice for dinner that night. Mahi are fun addition to the list of species you can catch around Block this time of year, which will take anything from bucktails tipped with squid to cut bait to flies.
When it comes to striped bass, the Island continues to impress in terms of size and consistency of fish. Dave of River and Riptide has been making the ride over to the North Rip for some epic top-water action on the fly rod. Last Thursday, he and some clients found acres of bass, none smaller than 29-inches, leaping out of the water ferociously feeding on 4-inch baitfish. Fly choice didn’t seem to matter, as bass seemed to be fighting over their offerings, while birds were working overhead. To make things more interesting, Dave spotted bonito just west of the rip – so “hard tail” fanatics should be prepping their gear for action soon.
John from Twin Maples said big bass are cooperating again after a few days and nights of finicky fish due to a worm hatch brought on by the new moon phase. He said the whole Island was littered with cinder worms and bass weren’t feeding on much else. Now it’s back to business as usual with bass eating drifted eels like Tic-tacs. John noted that Captain Eric of The Rooster brought in a heavy bass around 50-pounds on Wednesday. Captain Blaine of Anderson Guide Services shot over from Connecticut on Wednesday and landed some bass near the 50-pound class as well, again on live eels.
As for fluke and black sea bass, the western side of the Island remains the place to be. John told me that another wave of 23 to 24-inch fluke are taking jigs tipped with squid strips and Peruvian smelt in 50 to 60 feet of water on west side down to the Hooter Buoy. Blaine targeted sea bass after his striper fill and landed 8-keeper sea bass in around 60-feet of water on a 2-ounce white Shimano Center Vortex jig.
Connecticut
Long Island Sound, especially the eastern portion, continues to produce some excellent striped bass catches, with two main ingredients being live eels and night tides. I had the pleasure of fishing on a boat Tuesday night with Captain Mike of Reel Cast Charters and another friend. While casting eels towards rocky shorelines, we landed four bass over 30-pounds, with the largest at 37-pounds. There are some big bass being taken during daylight too, you just have to change your approach and target deeper water. Cheyenne at The Fish Connection reported quality stripers falling for trolled tube and worms around Fisher’s Island, as well as other tried and true methods of three-waying bucktails and diamond jigging at the Race, the Gut and the Sluiceway. Another top producer for big bass has been three-waying baitfish like bunker or porgies, with the latter being much easier to find right now. Matt at Hillyers reported that porgy fishing is excellent right now on just about every rock pile in the Sound. There was a shortage of sandworms over the weekend due to poor tides for the diggers in Maine, but it’s back to business as usual.
Cheyenne also told me that shore anglers are finding a mixed bag of fish near the mouth of the Thames River at Avery Point and Fort Trumbull Pier. At Avery Point, porgies, school stripers, bluefish, and fluke are being caught on sandworms and chunk bait. The same goes for Fort Trumbull, especially for fluke because of the special shore limit there of one daily keeper at 17-inches. He also reminded anglers to bring a long net because he’s been hearing of many lost fish while trying to land them on the pier. For bait, fresh squid strips and chunked bunker or mackerel are working best there.
Cappy at Captain Morgan Bait and Tackle said the Sound has the “blues”, meaning bluefish and blue crabs. Bluefish, from snappers to gators, can be found spread throughout the Sound and the water column. Chunking baits like mackerel and bunker is a great way to locate them, but top-water plugs, live eels, three-waying bucktails, and diamond jigging are all good tactics for big bluefish. For snappers, the easy method of a silverside or mummy on a hook under a float at the town dock or rocky jetty should suffice. As for blue crabs, Cappy recommended using traps in tidal rivers baited with chicken drumsticks and he added a little secret of soaking them in bunker oil first.
Fluking around the Sound is very good at the moment according to Matt at Hillyers. He told me that already the fluke fishing has been noticeably better than last year, with a lot of 6, 7, and 8-pound fish being caught, all the way up to the occasional 11-pounder. For a good range of water depth, Matt recommended anywhere from 30 to 80-feet deep, saying that you may find bigger fish deeper, but less of them. Kyle from J&B tackle echoed the positive fluking as of late and noted the backside of Fisher’s Island, along Isabella Beach, in about 40 to 60 feet of water as a good of place as any to try for them.
In freshwater, Housatonic River Outfitters is reporting the start of the long-awaited “white fly hatch” in the Cornwall area of the river. For the next few weeks, expect to see white flies coming off the water beginning around 7:30 PM and peaking around 8:30 PM. If you’ve never seen this hatch, it’s worth the drive, as it can get so heavy it looks like a snowstorm. For imitations, a combo of a #10-#12 White Wulff trailed by a cream/white spinner can be deadly. With current water temperatures, however, expect to primarily catch smallmouth bass instead of trout during the hatch.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Bluefish seem to be everywhere right now and can be fun for both seasoned veterans and newbies to the sport. Give a kid a rod hooked to a feisty double-digit bluefish and you just might create an angler for life. Or, get their feet wet by introducing them to the fun and easy pastime of catching snapper blues off the town dock or local jetty. From Narragansett Bay to the south shore of Rhode Island to all of Long Island Sound, bluefish shouldn’t be too hard to find. Any type of chunked bait like mackerel or bunker will do. You may want to use a wire leader if you plan on keeping your tackle. For a more active approach, try your hand at luring them to the surface with a pencil or Polaris popper.
If your heart is set on striped bass, the best window for success is from sundown to sunup. Try casting live eels well after dark along rock piles in Newport or eastern Long Island Sound. Or, head to Block Island where big bass are seemingly always grazing day or night.
For freshwater fly anglers, head to the northwest corner of Connecticut on a nice evening to experience the famous Housatonic “white fly hatch.” Witnessing this whiteout of bugs is worth the ride alone if you’ve never seen it, but landing acrobatic smallmouth bass on dry flies will seal the deal.