The Connecticut coast was somewhat shielded from Bertha’s effects and saw more large fluke and striped bass boated this week than in previous weeks.
Connecticut Fishing Report
The Mijoy 747 of Waterford had a good mix of fish on this week’s party charter trips. There were plenty of bluefish around to keep the deck active and a nice mix of other fish to add to the excitement. Many trips included blues, striped bass and sea bass; with some hefty sea bass taking down whole herring on bluefish rigs! Both diamond jigs and bait are producing, however bait seems to be more consistent and adding to the variety of fish caught. All the usual grounds are producing, inside, outside and at The Race.
At River’s End in Old Saybrook, Q had a more solemn striped bass report than is usually the case this time of year, but did say that the anglers who are working hard are coming across some pods of good fish in eastern Long Island Sound. Anglers fishing live eels after dark have had the most success; while fresh chunked bunker has accounted for a few good daytime bass at the shoal and Cornfield. Bunker continues to be readily available in the mouth of the river and a few shore anglers reported some keeper bass and big blues at the Dock and Dine. Bluefish have started to show up in better numbers at The Race, Plum Gut and Pigeon Rip, while in the sound the best reports are coming from Southwest Reef. Snapper bluefish are now plentiful in the local estuaries with good catches coming from the DEP docks and the Oyster River. Fluke fishing has improved around Niantic and Waterford, but the most consistent reports this week were from Block Island. Sea bass are still plentiful on the eastern sound rockpiles but keepers are getting harder to come by. The deeper water at the Bloody Grounds and Cerebus Shoals are now holding more keepers than the local reefs.
Andrew at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown reported much more consistent striped bass fishing this week, yet it is still far from red-hot. The mouth of the river and the adjacent shoals and reefs had a decent influx of keeper bass to about 30 pounds. No real cows were reported but the better numbers are a positive sign. Fluke fishing had been in a bit of a rut until this week, and things took an upswing around Niantic and New London. Snapper bluefish have moved into the local estuaries and are making perfect bait for doormat fluke at Black Point and Saras Ledge. Blue crabbing is at the point it should be for early August and keepers are getting easy to come by in the Connecticut and Oyster Rivers.
Mike Roy of Reel Cast Charters was also happy to report that he saw a good spike in striped bass action this week. In three trips this week Mike had consistent action with 20- to 30-pound fish and a few in the 40-pound class. The shallow eastern sound boulder fields are home to these large bass after dark as they search for an easy meal, and they can’t seem to resist a large rigged eel.
Out in the western sound, good numbers of adult and peanut bunker are keeping enough bass and bluefish around to make things interesting. According to Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, peanut bunker are plentiful in the Norwalk River and snapper bluefish are hot on their tails. Large gator-class bluefish are also taking advantage of the bunker in the area, and can be found feasting on adult bunker in the harbors and around the Norwalk Islands. A few keeper stripers are in the mix, mainly for those fishing fresh chunked bunker after the sun goes down. Fluke and sea bass fishing have slowed down quite a bit over the past two weeks, but keepers of both species are still around, including a few 20-plus-inch sea bass caught by Lisa Accettullo around the islands. Scup fishing is excellent on the western sound reefs and fish over 2 pounds are becoming common.
Fishing Forecast
With the rough seas from Bertha now upon us things might slow down for a day or two, but on the bright side, things could have been much worse and the weekend looks to be far from a total washout. The Connecticut surf will be less affected by the storm, and with some good reports and a moon tide coming, it might be a good idea to find a boulder field to pitch some eels into. If the storm keeps you close to home take a look at one of our many estuaries, where there are now enough snappers and blue crabs to keep you busy for the weekend.