Slowly but surely more striped bass have settled onto the Long Island Sound, while keeper fluke and black sea bass continue to go strong.
Connecticut Fishing Report
At River’s End in Old Saybrook, the consensus that overall numbers of striped bass are down this year and it is tough to find large concentrations of fish, however there are some big fish to be had across the eastern sound in smaller pods. The reefs to the west of the Connecticut River have fared the best over the past week with decent reports coming from Southwest and Six-Mile. Long Sand Shoal is still holding a few good fish but in smaller numbers than the reefs. To the east, Bartletts has seen some fish this week and it has been primarily a nighttime eel bite. Montauk continues to fish well for bass and bluefish for those willing to make the trek. Porgy reports have been solid in the sound from the larger reefs, namely Hatchets and Bartletts; while the fluke game has turned to deeper water, with the 80-100 feet around Black Point producing well.
Captain Bruce of The Otter Sportfishing believes that things are starting to settle in after an unusually slow start to the season. Some big fish came over the rails this week that all fell for his pink Admiral Otter Spoon. Fish of 42, 45, 50 and 51 inches were taken on Friday, while bass up to 45 inches were seen on Saturday and Sunday. Bruce still has plenty of openings for summer and fall, so be sure to take advantage as the bite continues to improve.
On the Mijoy 747 of Waterford, the full-day fluke and sea bass trips are continuing to produce plenty of keepers for everyone on board. The half-day bass and bluefish trips are continuing to improve, as more and more bluefish have made their way through the race this week. The thunderstorms that were forecasted just about everyday this week did not affect much of Long Island Sound, so be sure to check in with the crew before you cancel a trip due to the weather forecast.
Mike, at The Bait Box in Clinton, had customers cashing in on a shallow water striper bite on the local reefs that has lasted for the past ten days or so. Hens and Chickens Reef and Southwest have held a healthy number of large bass that have been eager to crush a livelined or chunked bunker, specifically at false dawn and the early morning hours. The local harbors remain flooded with bunker pods so locating bait has not been much of an issue. Some large sea bass have also been taken from the aforementioned reefs, and no surprise but the local fluking has been good for those fishing deep (80-100) water. Mike also mentioned that the offshore bite has continued to improve this week, and you do not have to run all the way to the canyons to find it. School bluefin, mahi and loads of makos have been reported around the horns this week, which gives a bit of relief from the brutal gas prices.
Bunker remains plentiful in the western sound and the bass bite remains consistent, according to Pat, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk. Green’s ledge produced some good bass this week to angler’s fishing chunk bait, including a 38-pound beauty for Francisco Tobias. Buoy 28C also remains a consistent producer of keeper bass and large bluefish. Large bluefish are not only prevalent in deeper waters but are also showing up tight to shore around Calf Pasture Pier and in Norwalk Harbor, on the trail of adult bunker schools in the area. Quality fluke and sea bass can both be found around buoy 26, while dinner-plate sized scup are showing up on all the western sound rockpiles.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Some quality bass are on the reefs for the night crews and early birds, and with the bright moon receding this should be a good weekend for the surf crew. Groundfishing remains consistent across the board and for a change of pace think about targeting some summer tautog in Connecticut. This is often an overlooked and under-utilized summer fishery and that lack of pressure only makes it easier to find quality fish.
Your fishing forecast this year is not so great. Last year you had much more detail. Is someone else writing this weekly article?
Guided a novice saltwater fly angler this morning with good success. Started at the rock piles on the east end of Little Gull Island and picked up 4 bass from 24 to 31 inches. Fish took butterfish patterns fished on a 9′ 9 wt. outfit using a sink tip line. Several seals regard the action with envy as we drifted within 75 feet or so of their rocky pedestals. On the west end of Great Gull, a few bluefish were hooked and made off with flies before we managed to bring a 7 pounder to the Boca. About a mile west of the island we found more bass feeding in the smooth water at the edge of the rip line. Six bass and two blues were released in about 45 minutes of casting & drifting through the shallow rip.
While taking break, we saw a large flock of terms working over the water about 3/4 of a mile to the SW. On approach, we witnessed fall-like blitzing of bait, birds, and breaking fish spread out over 50 to 75 yards of . Four casts into the melee proved the marauders were bluefish as the 17lb tippet was freed of the flies. We also determined the fish were a little larger than previously hooked. I switched my clients rod to an intermediate line setup with a 4 inch bite tippet and a silver crease fly and maneuvered the boat up current of the blitz. The first cast fell short of the closest splash by 15 feet but, was quickly grabbed by the second strip. We were about to release the 3rd or forth 9-10 lb. bluefish when the water erupted like someone dumped truck tires into the chaos. Instead of quarter sized butterfish clamoring to get away from the bluefishes’ jaws, the bluefish were now attempting to defy gravity. My immediate thought was some seals were having a late breakfast, that was until we saw fins the size of a first baseman’s mitt knifing through the surface. We watched dorsal and tail fins skim the surface generating sheer panic among the school of bluefish in the same way they annihilate baitfish. I could not identify the type of sharks or if there were 2 or more, only could offer a guess they were brown sharks common to Long island Sound. After about 5 minutes, the commotion dissipated, the birds took to flying high in search of the next free meal and we decided to call it a day and steered the “Horizon Chase” back to the dock. In over forty some years of fishing the New England Coast, I do not remember seeing anything like what we witnessed this morning.