The unseasonably warm and calm weather of the past two weeks is quickly becoming a distant memory as a heavy dose of fall weather is in store for the next few days. Cooler temperatures and heavy northeast winds will make for some challenging fishing but it should also cause fish to really get on the move and start feeding.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Anglers looking to seek some refuge from the wind and seas in upper Narragansett Bay should be prepared for a multitude of species. Greg, at The Tackle Box in Warwick, once again reported that the bay is hot and there are all sorts of species for the taking. The bay remains loaded with pogies and until they decide to move out there will continue to be some gator blues in hot pursuit. Some bigger stripers have been visitors to the bay this week and have been falling to fresh pogy chunks in the early morning hours. Weakfish remain a constant in the upper bay and continue to be caught with regularity from the boat and shore. Tautog fishing is improving daily as the water temperatures fall and keeper tog can be found on all of the shallow upper bay rock piles. Scup fishing has shown no signs of letting up with shore and boat anglers having no trouble finding a limit this week and surprisingly enough there are still some keeper fluke in the bay. Greg mentioned a few reports of keeper fluke in the area including a nice one that he landed on a green crab intended for tautog.
The hardest part about finding reliable fishing reports in the fall is that the fish are constantly on the move and a spot that may be on fire one day may be ice cold just a few hours later. Howard, at Galilee Bait and Tackle in Narragansett, emphasized this point as he reported that all of the usual striper hot spots have been good the past few days, however, finding consistency from day to day is a challenge. Reports of quality striped bass came in all across the area over the weekend, with Brenton Reef, Black Point, Block Island and the waters just outside the Harbor of Refuge being some of the more consistent spots. The Narragansett area is loaded with large schools of bay anchovies and mullet and big concentrations of surface feeding bass haven’t been far behind. With the wind started to picking up out of the east, anglers have been taking advantage of some the west facing points around Jamestown and have found plenty of bass willing to cooperate.
Tautog fishing was excellent over the weekend on the shallow water rock piles and at the center wall in Point Judith. False albacore have still not found their way into the area despite the abundance of bait but reports of bonito have been excellent across Newport and Narragansett.
Connecticut Fishing Report
The good news from Connecticut’s waters is that some bigger striped bass have finally keyed in on the bunker inside the mouth of the Connecticut River. Pat, at River’s End in Old Saybrook, heard multiple reports of big bass and bluefish inside the river from anglers live-lining bunker. There was even word of some daytime surface blitzes of bass and blues on bunker from between the bridges. The good bite inside the river gives both the shore and boat anglers a shot, keeps fuel costs down and best of all provides some refuge from the tough wind and seas. Out front reports have been fairly slow but a few good bass have been checking in from Bartlett’s and Hatchett’s reefs, and a good pick of fish have been at Montauk for anglers willing to make the journey.
Bluefish of all sizes remain in the Connecticut River, from gators to snappers. Some monster bluefish fell to shore and boat anglers on fresh bunker and shad chunks this week, while snappers remain plentiful and willing to hit a snapper popper or small metal lure. Pat noted that this season has been one of the better and longest lasting snapper seasons in quite some time.
Scup fishing remains very good at Hatchett’s and Bartlett’s if you can weed through the loads of undersized sea bass and tautog season starts today and will likely get off to a bang as the weather settles.
Prior to the small craft advisory, Mike Roy of Reel Cast Charters had an excellent, multi-species weekend on eastern Long Island Sound. Mike ventured out after dark Friday night and scored 8 bass from 15-30 pounds tossing live eels around the area’s shallow boulder fields. Over the weekend Mike took some clients out for some light-tackle topwater action and was rewarded with two excellent days of fishing. Mike and his clients hit the inshore slam, landing multiple bonito, false albacore, stripers and bluefish both Saturday and Sunday. Mike believes the high winds and seas will send even more bait and gamefish into the region and fishing should really hit a high note when it starts to settle later this weekend.
Similar to the reports from the Connecticut River, Norwalk Harbor is loaded with bunker and is providing anglers with some great bluefish and striper action without having to leave the refuge of the harbor. Dan, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reported some monster bluefish taken by anglers live-lining bunker in the harbor over the past few days; including a 13-pound fish weighed in by Danny Scofield. Dan mentioned weighing in a few fish in the 12-13 pound range and also weighed in a couple that tipped the scales at over 15 pounds! Striped bass have also started to key in on the bunker in the harbor and are being caught with some regularity, with the early morning hours seemingly providing the best opportunity. Regular customer, John Prizio, made an early morning trip this week and was rewarded with a 40-inch bass on a bucktail jig.
Out in the sound, big bluefish and keeper-sized bass continue to fall to diamond-jigs around cans 11B, 28C and at Green’s Ledge. The incredible weakfish season continues to be strong and weakies can be found all over the western sound from Greenwich to Milford by jigging small metals or casting soft plastics. The scup and black sea bass bite remains strong and the shallow water blackfish bite is very good just across the pond in NY; the western sound shallow rock piles should start giving up some nice blacks when the season opens today.
The CTDEEP recently stocked the Western CT trout streams for the fall and Dan has been seeing a lot of customers coming in for night crawlers and trout worms. The Norwalk and Saugatuck rivers have been producing some quality trout on both the spin and fly; while the Saugatuck reservoir continues to give up some nice walleye and largemouth bass around dusk and dawn. With the abundance of quality freshwater options there are many great angling opportunities if things get a bit too hairy out front this weekend.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Don’t let the forecast keep you inside this weekend! High winds are a staple of New England fall weather and braving some wind is something that New Englanders have realized they must deal with. Blackfishing across Rhode Island is red hot and doesn’t require much travel or too much boat handling and generally tends to improve as conditions worsen. The season opened in New York this week and with Connecticut opening today no water is off limits for us. If the weather gets too snotty seek refuge in one of the many estuaries across the region, all of which seem to be holding fish over the past few days. Be sure to remember all of the excellent angling opportunities we have in our freshwater lakes, ponds and streams; which is yet another great weekend option that will depend less on the weather.