A cold rain and strong east blow are making things difficult for the end of this week. The best part about New England weather is that it’s constantly changing and near record highs and calmer seas are forecasted for this weekend. That combination makes it another ideal weekend to chase hardtails and blitzing bass and bluefish across the Northeast.
Connecticut Fishing Report
Hillyers Bait and Tackle in Waterford, reported that striped bass fishing continues to be slow locally, but the bite has started to pick up around Fisher’s Island, and anglers are starting to target them more and more this week. Bluefishing has been great with gators being caught on fresh bait at the local reefs and on diamond jigs at the race. Small 1-2 pound bluefish can be found blitzing the surface from Millstone east to Watch Hill, and snapper fishing remains strong inside Niantic Bay. As has been the case all season, black sea bass and scup are easy to come by on the eastern sound reefs and around Fishers Island. False albacore have made their way into the eastern sound and have been reported at Bartletts, Black Point and Pleasure Beach, but better fishing remains in the far eastern sound to Watch Hill if you can avoid the boat traffic.
Q, at Rivers End in Old Saybrook, told me that customers continue to report good numbers of schoolie striped bass in the river, however large keeper bass are hard to come by on the local reefs. Some small keepers have been caught three-waying bucktails and eels on the Westbrook and Clinton reefs, and some decent topwater action has been reported from Plum Island and Fishers Island. Daytime bluefish blitzes continue to pop up all over with large gators feeding on bunker in the river around the causeway and the dock and dine. Larger blitzes of smaller bluefish have been prevalent at Plum Gut, Pigeon Rip and on the Watch Hill Reefs. Large snapper bluefish are at their peak in the tributaries of the Connecticut River, while good numbers of scup are reported from Hatchetts, Hens and Chickens and Cranes Reefs. False albacore remain thickest from Wicopisset Passage to Watch Hill, but solid reports have now come in from all around Fishers Island west to The Race, and also at Montauk. The increase in range has made it easier to avoid the crowds and find pods of un-harassed fish.
Bass and bluefish numbers seem to be increasing in the western end of the sound, according to the guys at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk. Bluefish over 15 pounds, as well as some decent numbers of 20-pound class bass were caught around the Norwalk Islands this week, with fresh bunker chunks being the bait of choice. Big bluefish are also biting well at Eaton’s Neck and at Middleground, and snapper bluefish are easy to find in Norwalk Harbor. Scup and black sea bass are a bit tougher to find, as many of the popular western sound reefs have been fished hard, but anglers fishing smaller, lesser-known rockpiles are still reporting good catches of both species.
Best Bets for the Weekend
A few more striped bass seem to have entered the mix this week, which, along with plenty of gator bluefish, have given surfcasters and bait dunkers a reason to be on the water this week. The number one focus of most anglers in the Northeast remains false albacore, which remain around in good numbers but are starting to spread out, making them a bit more difficult to find than last week.