Connecticut and Rhode Island Fishing Report 11-1-12

Fishing Community Cleaning Up From Superstorm Sandy

Hurricane Sandy is gone, but the destruction left in her path will be felt for a long time to come. It wasn’t so much the wind that inflicted the damage, but Sandy’s record-setting storm surge that wreaked havoc on our shorelines and infrastructure. As expected, fishing took a backseat this week as the super-storm pummeled the Northeast. My weekly conversations with tackle shops across Connecticut and Rhode Island had a different objective this time around. Since pre-storm reports are practically useless now and only a stubborn few have fished since, I asked shop owners and contributors (the ones I could get a hold of at least) for general post-Sandy status updates to see where things stood.

 

Rhode Island Fishing Report

The Rhode Island coast was whacked very hard over the course of Monday and Tuesday, especially from Westerly to Little Compton. Some fared better than others, but the overall effects of Sandy loom large in the Ocean State. On The Water contributor Dave Pickering said his brother Steve took a ride on Tuesday to check the damage firsthand. Here is what Steve reported from the areas that he could get into:

*The East Wall, or Camp Cronin parking lot, in Narragansett is completely destroyed. It is littered with huge rocks and almost completely eroded. One ton rocks were just lifted into the lot as if they were pebbles. The sandy beach to the right of the wall is gone and only rocks remain.

*Ocean Road in Narragansett is impassible. The Coast Guard House Restaurant is heavily damaged.

*The road going into East Matunuck Beach is all sand and rocks. It has been plowed and has only one car lane. Many of the buildings, piers and businesses along the Galilee Channel in East Matunuck sustained heavy damage.

*The lawns from those million dollar homes along Hazard and Newton Ave. are full of debris from the hurricane waves which reached in that far.

* The road going into Charlestown Breachway was closed and being patrolled by the National Guard. The road has been destroyed and homes damaged. I suspect the camping area and lot is destroyed.

* Matunuck is a mess. The road was flooded and several homes were lost along there. The road has along the beach has been closed.

Breachway Bait and Tackle in hard-hit Charlestown was still out of power as of Wednesday afternoon. Steve Travisono said the shop is OK, but a few houses were lost on Charlestown Beach Road and access to the breachway remains blocked off. He believes some people will slowly get back to fishing, maybe by next week, but the area is pretty beat up.

Quaker Lane Outfitters in North Kingston made it through the blow OK, according to Steve McKenna. While he’s waiting a few more days before fishing again, Steve is far from hanging up the surf rod for the season. He did however, note that accessing some traditionally good fall spots may be difficult, if not impossible, over the next several weeks.

Saltwater Edge is in good shape, but owner Peter Jenkins told me it’s difficult to grasp the extent of the damage along the shoreline. He mentioned a few landmarks that he has fished next to for years just won’t be the same anymore. As for fishing in the immediate future, Peter said the water is still dirty, but he sold eels on Wednesday, meaning at least some have faith in a post-storm bass bite.

Watch Hill Outfitters had water in its basement, as well as a little roof damage, but Mike Wade said they have power and are doing fine overall. While the water remains a bit murky, Mike saw birds working around the Pink House as early as Tuesday. He plans on fishing himself this Friday, for tautog on Watch Hill Reef.

All is well at River and Riptide, but owner Dave Porreca feels for the residents and business owners right on the South County shoreline He said if people need a quick fishing fix, the Wood River is holding plenty of trout at the moment. One silver lining of the storm is that the big gusts of wind knocked down most of the remaining leaves, so it’s less of problem in the streams.

On Block Island, John Swienton of Twin Maples said the shop fared well, but there’s damage to the roof of one his cottages. As for rest of the Island, the eastern side took a beating, especially Ballard’s and the new dock in Old Harbor. He also added that the once two-lane Corn Neck Road has been virtually sliced in half because of pavement washing away. On a brighter note, Block’s airport has resumed flights and the ferry is running again, but it will be probably be a few more days before anyone is fishing again.

 

Connecticut Fishing Report

Connecticut shoreline areas experienced an incredible storm surge from Long Island Sound on Monday night and again Tuesday around midday that caused major flooding. Lots of trees came down adding power outages. Several towns still have a big percentage of their residents in the dark, so it’s not all that surprising that I got a hold of less of my tackle shop contacts here.

Sandy knocked out power to Hillyer’s in Waterford for a couple days, which in turn wiped out their sandworms and eels, but no damage other than that and power has been restored. They also reported that the Sound is still dirty with a lot of debris like trees and building materials floating around.

Pat Abate at River’s End said his shop never lost power thankfully and that a few customers even came in on Tuesday to buy crabs, but he joked that he’s not sure what they’re going to do with them.

Of the shops that I got through to, Captain Morgan’s Bait and Tackle in Madison may have had it the worst. Cappy was still without power and land lines as of Wednesday afternoon, and was mopping up after having two feet of water in his shop. He said 2/3 of the shops is OK, but plenty of stuff is ruined. As always though, Cappy seemed in good spirits and was more than willing to shoot the breeze for a couple minutes. He told me that when things clear up there should be some good striper and blackfish opportunities left. Cappy noted that fishing for blackfish was red hot just prior to the storm. Joe Beecher won their tournament last weekend with a pair of fish weighing a combined 19.24-pounds.

Blaine at Connecticut Outfitters said so many docks and boats were pulled before the storm, but a few of his customers are still fishing the Connecticut River for pike and crappie. To get an idea where his head is at, Blaine spent Wednesday stocking the shelves with ice fishing equipment!

Stretches along the western Sound were hit very hard during Hurricane Sandy as well. Jason Jadach of Bobby J’s in Milford said the water remained dirty as ever on Wednesday, but that’s not going to stop him from trying to get out for blackfish on Friday. Nick at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk said they lost power for a bit and had water in their parking lot, but they are doing OK. Some of their customers have picked up their freshwater rods since the storm.

Fishing Forecast for the Weekend

Many people will spend this weekend cleaning up, rebuilding and helping neighbors in the wake of Sandy. However, if you have time to fish, it would be a good time to dust off your freshwater gear since there wasn’t all that much rain during the freak storm. Water levels remain pretty good overall in local lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams. A couple options include fishing for trout in the Rhode Island’s Wood River, broodstock salmon in Connecticut’s Shetucket or Naugatuck or Rivers, or northern pike and crappie in the Connecticut River. By next week we’ll have a better picture how the post-Sandy saltwater scene looks.