They are finally here! Well just about. Bonito have made their late-summer emergence around Block Island and it’s only a matter of days until they make their presence felt in local water. Local scup and fluke fishing remains excellent, with a state record falling this week; while striper fishing is bound to catch fire as water temperatures begin their steady decline.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
It was nothing but good news out at Block Island as John at Twin Maples had good reports for all species across the board. The big news was the confirmation of bonito around the entire island the last few days. Quality bonito in the 5-7 pound class have been landed on all sides of the island, with the west side and New Harbor Channel being the most consistent. Both shore and boat anglers with spinning and fly gear have scored fish, with deadly dicks and similar metals producing the most. Striped bass have hit their mid August patterns and are crushing live eels. Boat fisherman have fared best around Black Rock and other points along the southwest corner of the island; while surf-casters have found hungry stripers in the shallow boulder-fields on all four sides. John hosted a small tournament this past weekend and multiple 40 plus pound fish were weighed in with the winner being a 42 pound cow. Big bluefish have invaded the island and there are ample teen-size tackle busters ready to crush your offering. On a recent trip John landed 38 inch bluefish that weighed upwards of 17 pounds; which is a trophy by anyone’s standards. The fluke fishing remains consistent. While no reports of doormats came in this week, plenty of 4-6 pound keepers were caught in the deeper water around Old Harbor Point. The scup and black sea bass fishing remains stellar and offers anglers yet another opportunity to score quality fish around the island. John noted that there is an abundance of birds working small bait around the island, the likes of which he hasn’t seen in decades. All signs point to a great late summer-fall run of stripers, bonito and false albacore.
While the inshore reports are less than stellar, the offshore reports coupled with an abundance of small bait are leading the guys at The Saltwater Edge in Middletown to believe that inshore fishing should be picking up any day now. This week Scott had his first confirmed reports of bonito around Block Island. If history proves correct it won’t take long for those tasty speedsters to show up around inshore water. As far as this past week goes, Scott reported that the striped bass fishing has been slow but an abundance of large bluefish have kept anglers busy in the Newport area. Fluke fishing also remains strong in Jamestown as anglers targeting flatties in deep water have found success all week. As reported last week, the offshore bite is still hot and heavy for yellowfin and longfin tuna, although the fish have been quite a way offshore and a long journey is ahead of any angler looking to score.
Over in the upper bay things have also been a bit quiet but Greg at The Tackle Box in Warwick, believes that the quickly cooling water temps will result in some hungry striped bass cruising in to feed on the large amount of small bait that has taken up residence. The scup fishing in the bay has improved daily with a limit of quality keepers now being easily attainable. As is the case in most of our coastal inlets, snapper blues have flooded into the bay and are providing anglers with good action on the long summer days.
At Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, Mike suggested that anglers looking to score striped bass should head to Rhode Island’s southern coast. Linesiders have been much more prevalent in the Westerly area than Narragansett and points north. Most stripers being caught are of the schoolie variety but as the fall weather approaches the larger bass should make their presence felt once again. Mike reported that the scup fishing has been excellent in the beavertail area, with some quality dinner-plate specimens being taken this week. Mike noted that anglers have used the recent slow down in saltwater fishing as an opportunity to score some quality fish in the sweetwater. Nearly all the southern Rhode Island ponds have been giving up some giant largemouth bass over the past month. The most successful anglers have been flipping topwater frogs across lillypad beds or floating live shiners around dusk.
Connecticut Fishing Report
The story of this season in eastern Long Island Sound remains the excellent fluke fishing. Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford, reported that large flatties are still falling with some consistency in the deep water off Black Point and Sara’s Ledge. This past week Matt weighed in a new Connecticut inshore state record fluke of 14.67 pounds. The new record was taken locally in nearly 200 feet of water. Anglers targeting deep water fluke may not being seeing the greatest numbers of fish landed but for your best chance at a fish over ten pounds deep water remains the key. Striped bass fishing in the area remains tough, mainly because the abundance of large bluefish in the area does not give you an opportunity to get your bait down. The best striper reports have been coming from after dusk to anglers drifting live bait on the reefs. Porgy fishing is still improving daily in terms of both size and numbers; while a rise in the amount of keeper black sea bass has resulted in many more anglers on the water. Once again snapper bluefish and blue crabs remain plentiful in the Niantic River and Jordan Cove.
Out on the Mijoy the bluefishing remains hot in The Race and around Pigeon Rip. Stripers are also starting to be more cooperative on the morning trips with a few customers taking their limit of linesiders this week. The porgy bite is heating up and is just in time for the September 1st headboat season.
When I spoke with Andrew of the Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, he was in the middle of landing another quality fluke. The strong winds on Wednesday did not keep Andrew off the water and he was able to manage a quick limit of keepers. Andrew had his best luck dead-sticking live snapper bluefish in nearly 100 feet of water off Black Point. Andrew reiterated the fact that deep water seems to be the ticket for those looking for large fluke. Andrew also mentioned that there are still some willing stripers on Long Sand Shoal and Bartlett’s Reef. Anglers who can capitalize on the abundance of live bunker in the mouth of the Connecticut River have once again scored the best catches of stripers this week. Snapper bluefish and blue crabs are also readily available in the CT River estuaries for anglers looking to score closer to home.
Down in the western sound, striped bass reports are starting to pick up thanks to the much needed drop in sound temperatures. Fisherman’s World in Norwalk weighed in a 32 pound striper that was taken inshore, tight to the islands on Wednesday morning. With a steady drop in sound temps forecasted for this upcoming week there should be a steady rise in striper fishing. 2-6 pound bluefish are readily available and widespread across the western sound, while snapper bluefish remain all the rage in Norwalk Harbor. The guys also noted that fluke fishing has once again picked up but in shallower water, most likely due to the influx of snapper bluefish in the area.
Best Bets For The Weekend
As a whole the 2013 saltwater fishing season has been a good one. It started off with a bang and remained fairly consistent throughout. The less-than-normal temperatures that are forecasted for the next week should vault us right back into some hot striped bass fishing. For the groudfish guys focus your attention on deepwater fluke as the season winds down, it wouldn’t surprise me if we see both the CT and RI fluke records get broken this year. Last, but certainly not least, the hardtails that nearly every New England fisherman has been waiting for are right around the corner. If you’re out on the water this weekend make sure you have plenty of metals, soft plastics and give that drag a second check as these tackle-testers could pop up locally any day now.