Inshore fishing in the Northeast remains steady while the offshore bite continues to improve. Bonito continue their stronghold around Block Island but reports of these speedsters closer to home are starting to pop up and anglers are beginning to give chase.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

Narragansett Bay has dropped over five degrees this past week and bunker have once again made their way into the upper stretches. According to Greg at The Tackle Box in Warwick, school-sized bass and small keepers can be found around these bunker schools with relative ease. Reports of big bass in the bay have been few and far between but Greg believes that this will change as the bay continues to cool. The scup fishing in the upper bay continues to be excellent and strong runs of northern kingfish and snapper bluefish are providing excellent angling opportunities.

At The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, Dylan reported that the bonito bite remains very strong around Block Island. While the bonito have been keeping many anglers busy the big talk around the island is of the small bluefin tuna that are popping up all around the island. School bluefin have been caught with great consistency this week and many of which are within a mile or two of the island. Bonito have yet to make their presence felt inshore but the striped bass fishing around Newport has been very good. Dylan had multiple customers who were able to score 20-30 pound stripers drifting the local reefs this week. Another positive for the inshore fisherman is the abundance of large black sea bass. Nearly all who have put in the effort were rewarded with quality keeper sea bass locally this week.

Over at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, Steve was unable to give me any firsthand reports as he is recovering from a back injury. He was able to report that a few local surf-fisherman have had steady success with small keeper-sized stripers in the Jamestown area. The full moon has made things tough for the night crowd but the bass have still been willing to cooperate. The cloud cover forecasted for the next couple nights should only make things easier for those looking to score some stripers from the suds.

Further down the coast at Breachway Bait and Tackle in Charlestown, Drew was happy to report that his customers have had success with large striped bass and bonito at Block Island this week. Drew reported that the north rip has been holding plenty of quality bass at depths, along with plenty of bonito working the surface. Those making the trip to the island were rewarded with some of the best fishing New England has to offer right in the same place. Drew also reported that the fluke bite has been very good locally. The fish have started to move to deeper water, with 50-80 feet of water producing multiple doormats this week, including an 11 pound beast that was weighed in Wednesday morning.

Connecticut Fishing Report

At J&B Tackle in Niantic, Kerry reported quality fishing of both the inshore and offshore variety. Inshore, the striped bass bite continues to be good, specifically for anglers drifting large live baits after dark. The bluefishing is good just about everywhere in eastern Long Island Sound, and out at The Race. Kerry weighed in a number of quality fluke in and around the ten-pound class this week, and reported a strong bite in 100+ feet of water. The scup fishing has also hit its stride locally and all the eastern sound reefs are holding a plentiful supply of keepers. Offshore, Kerry also made note of the tremendous school-bluefin bite around Block Island. Kerry reported that the shark fishing has been very good but it has been a tad inconsistent from day to day. Out at the canyons, the bigeye tuna bite that has been going strong for a few weeks now continues to do so. Kerry believes it to be one of the steadiest and overall best bigeye bites he can remember. Longfin and yellowfin also continue to make an appearance out around the canyons but with much less consistency than the bigeye.

At River’s End in Old Saybrook, Pat had much more good news this week than last. What the local fluke reports have been lacking in numbers they have been making up for in size. More keepers than shorts, with some of the ten-pound plus variety were reported this week. Anglers fishing in greater than 80 feet of water around Black Point had the most luck, but positive reports also came in from New London, the south side of Fisher’s Island and the Rhode Island beaches this week. Over the last two days, Pat received multiple confirmed reports of bonito off the Charlestown and Weakapaug breachways and it would appear that they are not far from making their yearly appearance in eastern Long Island Sound. The eastern sound is loaded with small butterfish for these tunoids to feast on and hoards of schoolie-sized bass were seen feeding on these butterfish at Bartlett’s Reef this week. Pat also reported that the scup fishing has picked up and is very good at Hatchetts Reef, Bartlett’s Reef and just about any eastern sound rockpile.

Andrew, of Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, was fresh off a trip to Block Island earlier this week. Andrew was able to score on the tremendous bonito bite out there and spent the afternoon playing with loads of black sea bass along the island’s west side. Locally, Andrew mentioned that the numbers of fluke are down but also reiterated the fact that angler’s fishing 80-100 feet of water have been rewarded with some true doormats this week. The striped bass fishing has slowed locally and remains predominately a nighttime game but anglers that have been able to manage a haul of fresh bunker have had decent success finding hungry stripers at Long Sand Shoal and Bartlett’s Reef. The bunker remains around the mouth of the CT River but has been moving in and out of the river and its been no easy task to find them.

Blaine Anderson, of Anderson Guide Service, spent Wednesday cruising the waters off Block Island in search of bonito. Blaine was able to land them in decent numbers and was also able to hook up with a few of the school bluefin that are around island. While he wasn’t able to put any on the boat, it was still a blast on super-light tackle. Inshore, Blaine continues to score plenty of bass on the local reefs. While he hasn’t seen any “cows” this week, Blaine reported more than enough stripers and large bluefish to keep his customers happy. Blaine has had the most luck livelining bunker on the reefs and noted that finding bunker has taken some time and patience. As noted earlier, bunker is still plentiful around the CT River but Blaine found the schools to be very spread out, with locations changing from day to day.

In the western sound, Dylan of Fisherman’s World in Norwalk was pleased to report that some bonito have found their way to local waters. A few lucky anglers bluefishing around can 11B were able to score some bones when they popped up on multiple occasions this week. The bluefish and bass bite has remained consistent out west with angler’s diamond jigging deeper water around 28C having the best luck. The scup bite is very good out west around Peck’s Ledge and on all the rock piles adjoining the Norwalk Islands. An abundance of snapper bluefish are keeping anglers busy in Norwalk Harbor and upriver behind the maritime center. It’s safe to assume all the Long Island Sound tidal estuaries are producing good numbers of snapper bluefish as it has been a banner year.

Best Bets for the Weekend

The late summer fishing is in full swing in the Northeast. As the season winds down spend some time on the water this weekend targeting deep-water doormats before it’s too late. For those who have been patiently awaiting the arrival of bonito in local water, make sure you have your gear polished off and ready as they are bound to flood our local waters any day now. Make sure you bluefish experts out there don’t forget that this weekend is the WICC tournament. That $25,000 bluefish is swimming around Long Island Sound and this weekend looks to be a great one to spend a few days chasing her around.