Albies Unbelievable
Cow Stripers Falling for Chunks

Tuesday’s storm was just a minor speed bump to some very good saltwater fishing across southern New England. Expect to see action pickup right where it left off as the water continues to clear. Little tunny, false albacore, fat Alberts, funny fish, albies; whatever you want to call them, they’re here in huge numbers. Striped bass and bluefish are also feeding heavily in tight along the Rhode Island shoreline. Long Island Sound is stacked with big blues and some large stripers falling for chunked baits after dark. In addition, porgies, black sea bass, blue crabs, snapper blues, and cod are keeping anglers busy across the region as we approach the autumnal equinox this weekend.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

Up until Tuesday’s foul weather, and, for some, a few hours into it, fishing all along the Rhode Island coast has been red hot for bass, blues and albies. In the false albacore department, Peter at Saltwater Edge said they have been feeding heavily out front of Newport on a stupid amount of baitfish. He relayed a report to me late Wednesday night that albies were already coming back strong as seas were subsiding. Elisa at Snug Harbor Marina spoke about serious albie action around the walls of Point Judith lately, the West Wall in particular being one of the best shots for shore anglers to get their fix. Dave at River and Riptide told me the whole South Shore has had pods of false albacore popping up. He went to Watch Hill on Monday and found a strong false albacore bite from first light until 11 AM. As an interesting side note, Dave noted that there were 6-inch baitfish mixed in eating their anchovy flies.

Striped bass and bluefish have also been making for some great inshore opportunities recently. Scott at Saltwater Edge said there’s a mixed bag of bass and blues feeding on bait tight to the Newport shoreline, especially in Brenton Point area. He and other anglers have been doing well at night using yellow darters and during the day on top with Super Strike Little Neck poppers. Of course that was before the surf built up to 10-foot waves as Scott reported it was Wednesday morning. Steve McKenna of Quaker Lane Outfitters told me more of the same regarding good action along the Narragansett coast. He said angling effort shut down on Tuesday for the most part, but some who stuck it out were rewarded for their efforts, including Jamail Ajaj who landed a 35-pound bass on a swimming plug before conditions got too out of hand.

Ron of Breachway Bait and Tackle reported that large bass were feeding on the reefs along the South Shore just prior to the storm. While drifting eels with egg sinkers, he put 35-pounders in the boat on both Sunday and Monday during the flood tide. He also said a customer that goes by Big Mike landed a 47-inch striper over the weekend from one of the local breachways by drifting an eel at night in the outgoing rip.

Robin at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle said the storm didn’t affect the fishing all that much, noting that it may have even improved it. She told me anglers were bailing fish all day in weeded-up water and nasty weather Tuesday and some anglers found bass up to 36 inches at Watch Hill on Wednesday morning in big swells. Robin shared that small offerings to match the anchovies and peanut bunker have been key as of late in the surf.  She suggested small poppers, small plastics, and teaser flies fished with just a casting weight for distance.

Scup and black sea bass fishing remains excellent throughout the area. Ron from Breachway Bait and Tackle said big scup can be had off the breachways using squid, clams and sandworms and he added that one lucky scup angler landed a 4-pound jack on Monday. Mike at Watch Hill Outfitters said under Watch Hill Light continues to be another great area to dial into dinner plate-sized scup. Elisa from Snug Harbor Marina said black sea bass fishing continues to impress in areas like Southwest Ledge off Block Island and around the Center Wall off Point Judith, but noted that fluke fishing is pretty much wrapping up.

Roger from the Frances Fleet shared that they kicked off their local fall cod season last weekend. Monday has been the best trip of the three so far with cod catches weighing into the upper teens and most anglers taking home two to five keepers apiece. Frances Fleet sails for cod Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the weekend at 7am weather permitting.

Connecticut Fishing Report

Eastern Long Island Sound blew wide open with albies over the past week. I was fortunate to target them with Captain Blaine of Anderson Guide Services on Monday. We found them slashing through bait balls shortly after first light around Race Rock, later behind Fisher’s Island, and then mixed heavily with small bluefish in the Sluiceway. Many different offerings worked throughout the day, including Zoom Super Flukes, Shimano Waxwings, Sebile Magic Swimmers, and various anchovy fly patterns. At times there was a lot of boat traffic, but there were so many individual small pods of albies that you could find your own away from the crowds. Let the birds lead the way!

The dropping water temperatures are starting to stir the Sound’s stripers, which have a serious hankering for chunked bait right now. Joe at the Fish Connection said a customer landed a 43-pound bass from the Waterford shoreline early Saturday morning using cut mackerel. The same morning another customer landed a 42-pound cow from the Groton coast, also using mackerel chunks. Later that night, the last of the Striper Cup, Will Sirotnak landed a 52.5-pound monster bass on a fresh bunker head while perched on a rock in the eastern Sound. On Tuesday night, Derrick Kirkpatrick of CTFishGuides caught and released a 47-inch striper from the central Sound shoreline, also on a bunker head. And along with huge blues, Andrew of Fishin’ Factory III said quality bass are taking more notice of the loads of bunker in the mouth of the Connecticut River. He has customers doing well using fresh cut chunks from various docks in the Old Saybrook area.

Bluefish continue to have a field day on the baitfish in Long Island Sound and its tributaries. There were thousands of 2 to 3-pound blues in the eastern Sound hitting absolutely anything we threw at them during our albie mission on Monday. Joe at the Fish Connection said there have been bluefish up to 7 pounds feasting readily on adult bunker in the Norwich Harbor. In the western Sound, Chris at Stratford Bait and Tackle told me that he ran into plenty of small blues hitting topwater plugs at Penfield Reef. Nick at Fisherman’s World said anglers are diamond jigging bluefish up to 8 pounds at 11B and live-lining bunker for bigger blues off Green’s Ledge.

Long Island Sound scup fishing is still going strong too. Joe at the Fish Connection recommended a few hot shore spots, including Avery Point, Bluff Point and under the Gold Star Bridge in the Thames River, where anglers are also catching Virginia Spot. He said sandworms have been working best, but they have also been the toughest bait to get with a region-wide shortage underway. Matt at Hillyers summed up the recent porgy bite by stating that “there are big fish around and lots of them.” He told me just about any inshore rock pile in the Sound is holding porgies this time of year, but two of the better spots include Race Rock and the Spindle on Bartlett’s Reef.

As for snapper blues, Cappy at Captain Morgan Bait and Tackle said they are still running pretty well and are on the large size. Try using small Kastmasters, a tube fly behind a snapper popper, or a minnow fished under a float. Cappy also noted that blue crabs are still worth targeting in our tidal rivers and coves. Traps with fresh cut bunker, hand lines with bunker or raw chicken, or scoop-netting pilings are three proven tactics for getting your share of crabs.

Fishing Forecast for Connecticut and Rhode Island

The best thing going right now is the unbelievable false albacore action across Rhode Island and eastern Connecticut. The crazy thing about these fish is that as soon as you release one, all you want to do is catch another. Areas that are absolutely loaded with albies one day can be completely barren the next, but some of the more consistent places to check are the Point Judith walls, Watch Hill Reef, behind Fisher’s Island, and around Race Rock.

Another solid option is chunking for big striped bass in Long Island Sound. With the impressive amount of bunker around this year, it’s no surprise the cows are taking more notice now as water temperatures slowly begin to drop. Snag or buy some fresh bunker, lop off the head pieces and let them soak at your favorite spots after dark.