As we flip our calendars from May to June, there are bountiful angling opportunities in our local waters. Just like the cover of this month’s OTW illustrates, striped bass fishing is leading the charge. Bigger stripers are showing up along Rhode Island and Connecticut coastlines with more consistency, gorging on copious amounts of bait from menhaden to squid. In addition, soft-plastic lures are no longer safe in our briny waters as bluefish are returning with a vengeance. Fluke fishing is improving too, especially with quality if not quantity over the weekend. Porgy fishing is beginning to pick up and right now is one of your best shots at what has become a saltwater unicorn, the weakfish. In freshwater, trout fishing is still holding strong thanks to recent stockings, ample rainfall, and strong bug hatches.
Rhode Island
Striped bass fishing across the Ocean State keeps getting better. To start, Narragansett Bay is hosting lots of bass and bait, though rising water temperatures could force things outside sooner than later. I was lucky to get Steve McKenna on the horn Wednesday at Quaker Lane Outfitters. He’s been doing well lately from shore after dark in mid-Bay using 9-inch black Slug-Gos, as well as black and purple plastic swimmers. Steve has landed three bass between 20 and 25-pounds over the last few outings during high-dropping tides. He also told me about an impressive catch by Captain Jim White’s grandson, DJ. The youngster landed a 47-inch, 41-pound striper while boating on the Bay with his father over the weekend! For bait, Steve said there is still a great deal of bunker roaming about, as well as silversides and worms.
In the Newport area, birds have been working over school bass and baitfish this past week. Peter at Saltwater Edge reported that stripers from five to 15-pounds are being caught on top-water lures during daylight hours and larger bass well after dark on bucktail jigs. He also mentioned that bluefish are around though not overly thick yet, but somehow seem to magically appear after tying soft-plastics on!
The South Shore continues to produce its share of stripers. Ron at Breachway Bait and Tackle caught a 32-pounder from the reef off The Cottages while drifting a live eel without any weight. Robin at Quonny Bait and Tackle told me about one of her regulars who landed over 20 keeper bass near Watch Hill Lighthouse late at night this past weekend on black Super Strike darters and live-lined porgies. She also noted that customers have been scoring keeper-sized bass in salt ponds while trolling pink or green tubes tipped with sandworms. Dave at River and Riptide said the worm hatch is losing steam in the salt ponds, but there are still some bass to be had. He did well plying the edges of a pond over the weekend with foam worm patterns stripped slower than slow across the surface.
Fluking news was rather positive this reporting period, especially for big fish along the South Shore. Elisa at Snug Harbor Marina said larger fluke are moving into the stretch between Matunuck and Charlestown and that Henry Bernachi weighed-in an 8.1-pounder from there over the weekend. Ron at Breachway Bait and Tackle gave us an idea of his keeper to short ratio lately, with 10 of his last 40 fluke being keeper-sized. Ron also shared the results from the 2nd annual Thad Gruczka Memorial Fluke Tournament, which raised over $2K for the food bank. The winner was Jeanne Jones with a 9.97-pound doormat from just off Charlestown breachway, 2nd place went to Frank Jenson with a 5.92-pounder and Tom Dube took 3rd with a 5.89-pound fluke. Ron said the hottest offering has been a green Thom Cat Glow Baby tipped with squid and spearing.
Blackfish season wraps up June 1 until August 1, but action has been quite good for those still trying. Ron at Breachway Bait and Tackle said anglers are catching them right off the end of Charlestown breachway with sandworms. Robin from Quonny Bait and Tackle said a camper named John caught several keeper blackfish on green crabs from a South County beach over the weekend. He released them knowing they were in tight to shore to spawn because the females were full of eggs and the males were secreting.
In freshwater, trout fishing remains a very good option. Dave at River and Riptide said two recent float-stockings have the Wood River loaded with trout. In addition, bug hatches have them feeding heavily on the surface in the afternoons and evenings. Dave relayed that lately Mahogany Duns have been hatching around 3 PM and on some evenings you can see a classic spinner fall around 8 PM. In the middle of the day, try tossing terrestrials (i.e. Chernobyl ant) or attractor patterns (i.e. Stimulator) along the banks. Robin at Quonny Bait said certain trout ponds still have plenty of fish too. Her customers Rev. Knost and Leo Arsenault landed trout after trout up to 3-pounds using small green Woolly Buggers in Meadowbrook Pond over the weekend.
Block Island
Sand eels and squid around Block Island continue to improve the bass and bluefish action there. Chris of Block Island Fish Works has been replicating the baitfish with soft-plastic baits on 3/8-ounce jig heads. Fly fishing is another great option; one of his clients nailed six bass up to 36-inches over the weekend using olive/white sand eel patterns. Chris also said the beaches have turned on pretty good for surfcasters, with one recent catch rumored to be 40-pounds on a white Bass Assassin. Elisa of Snug Harbor Marina reported that anglers diamond jigging the North Rip were catching plenty of bass and blues and some larger fish have been cooperating for those trolling parachutes around the SW Ledge. She is also hearing decent fluke reports along the western side of the Island.
Connecticut
While no 70-pounders were caught in Long Island Sound this week, striped bass fishing remains lock and load, especially in the east and west. Cheyenne at The Fish Connection reports that eastern Sound hotspots like The Race, Sugar Reef and Bartletts Reef are chockfull of squid, and lures like Yozuri Hydro Squirts and soft-plastics are good representations. Kerry at J&B Tackle echoed the reef action, but stated The Race is the most consistent bite. He suggested three-waying bucktail jigs with 10 to 20-ounces of lead depending on the current. Pat at River’s End also cast his vote for reef fishing, especially live-lining bunker at places like Plum Gut. He said anglers are finding bunker in the mouth of the Connecticut River before heading out.
The Connecticut River mouth is also hosting striped bass in addition to bait. Andrew at Fishin’ Factory III said warming water temperatures upriver have fish dropping downstream. He reported anglers scoring bass in the 35-inch class casting soft-plastics tight to the bank of Great Island and the western shore of the mouth. Where the Housatonic River dumps into the Sound is experiencing similar fishing. Chris at Stratford Bait and Tackle reported that Josh Cohen landed a 31-pound striper early Sunday morning from shore there using a live eel.
Striper fishing in the western Sound is good thanks to the strong presence of bunker there. The bigger bass reported this week all fell to either fresh bunker chunks on bottom or live-lined bunker under the schools. Rick at Fisherman’s World has been finding roaming pods of bunker, snagging his share of live ones, re-hooking them on 9/0 octopus hooks, and sending them back into the fray. The struggling baitfish should stand out in the crowd, helping get attention of opportunistic bass and bluefish. He and his friend Jay landed several nice stripers up to 30-pounds this way between Stamford and Norwalk over the weekend. Rick also read off a long list of anglers that have been doing just as well or better using fresh bunker chunks, including George DiScala who boated a 45-pound cow along Greens Ledge off Norwalk on Sunday. Other hot chunking areas consist of Buoy 11B, where Art Tomasullo hit bass up to 35-pounds on Sunday, and 44 feet of water near Penfield Light, where Dave Redford and Bob Campbell landed bass up to the mid-30-pound range, with big bluefish mixed in, on Saturday. The moral of the story for the western Sound – find the bunker!
Fluke fishing in Connecticut waters is fair overall in the early goings, though some anglers are opting for greener pastures in New York or Rhode Island until action improves closer to home. Cheyenne at The Fish Connection said some fluke in the 7 to 9-pound range were weighed-in over the weekend from the Black Point area using bucktails and squid strips. Andrew at Fishin’ Factory III recommended trying about 50-feet of water along Isabella Beach on the south side of Fisher’s Island for a good shot at a nice fluke. Kyle Pellegrini weighed-in an 8.14-pounder from there recently taken on spearing. He also jigged up 30 squid with the Yozuri squid jig as a teaser above his fluke offering. Matt at Hillyers told me it was a great weekend for size, but not numbers. Some big fluke were brought into the shop, including 9.0, 9.3 and 9.5-pounders from Connecticut waters and a 10.1 caught by David Sarozeski on a squid skirt off Misquamicut.
Bluefish are continuing to show up in the Sound in better numbers. Cappy at Captain Morgan’s Bait and Tackle is hearing of many long and skinny “racers” over the 10-pound mark. A surefire place to find blues right now is in the waters around Millstone, but they’re also spread almost everywhere in between. Cappy added a rare weakfish mention, saying some have been caught in the Sound lately on small offerings like light bucktail jigs or soft-plastic baits. He also said porgies are starting to school up and come closer to shore. Matt at Hillyers suggested trying White Rock or Black Point for porgies with a simple high/low rig tipped a bit of sandworm.
In freshwater, trout fishing remains strong in the areas heavily stocked by CT DEEP. The cold-running Farmington River is and will be one of the better bets for trout now and throughout the summer months. I brought a friend for his first time fly fishing there over the weekend and we did well nymphing in the morning using green caddis larva and pupa imitations, as well as off-beat pink flies when the natural stuff stopped working. Another friend turned to terrestrials during the afternoon and landed a 20-inch holdover brown trout on an ant pattern in skinny water. During the evening hours, yellowish mayflies called sulphers have been coming off the water, so there’s a chance for some pretty good dry fly action.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Striped bass fishing remains the best play this weekend. In places like Narragansett Bay, the mouth of the Connecticut River, or western Long Island Sound, look for bunker to chunk or live-line with. It’s an offering that will be hard to pass up for large striped bass and bluefish in the area. Another effective method to put bass on the board is to three-way bucktail jigs on eastern Long Island Sound reefs. Fluke fishing the South Shore of Rhode Island seems to be another great option. Try probing the waters from Matunuck to Charlestown in 30 to 50-feet deep with squid/spearing combos.