The Connecticut River is full of bluefish and there are some gators in the mix. Shore anglers have been finding success in dunking chunks and also live-lining bunker. There are some great fish to be caught, especially after dark. More bluefish action has been reported from the harbors, DEEP dock, Pigeon Rip and Plum Gut. Some good bass are being taken in the mouth of the Connecticut and harbors. There is definitely more action on the surf after dark. Live-lining bunker and/or eels are a sure bet. But if you run into blues, just save your eels. Bartletts, Hatchetts, Six Mile Reef, Long Sand Shoal and buoy 20 have produced some decent bass this past week. Some anglers had good success trolling tube rigs over humps. The snapper blues are in and have been for a little bit now. They are around 4″ so they aren’t too big (for what they are) but perfect for a snack or for using as fluke bait. Fluke reports have been spotty. Some anglers have been having good days while others struggle to find a limit of keepers. The better fish seem to be coming from deeper waters. Black point and Six Mile reef gave up some solid doormats. Reports from the mouths of the rivers at flood tide has been decent but again, mostly shorts. Seabass and scup action has remained consistent on the local reefs. Shore anglers have also been able to find some dinner plate sized scup (up to 16″) along rocky shorelines and breakwaters. Blue crab reports are slow but the best action seems to be as the tide changes and water is moving. There are definitely keepers around, you’ll just need to put in some time to get a good meals worth.
Middlebank II: Once again we had an overall solid week of fluke fishing. Some of the past weeks hot, muggy, low pressure days had the bite off but scup and sea bass kept the rods busy. Anglers on a few of our Sun Set Trips experienced some of the best catches with many limits landed with every size from keeper to 8lbs! Again deep water hard bottom and BIG baits are the key to success.
Capt Tim Www.middlebank.com
The Otter: Thurs trip we saw 4 bass up to 42 inches and some short fluke.The Thursday pm trip we picked up with a total catch of 22 bass,the largest was 45 inches caught on the Otter Tube and Tail. Tom Tomlinson and friends caught 12 bass on the Friday pm trip. The largest fish measured 44 and 45 inches. Saturdays trips produced more than 20 bass up to 42″. This week has shown more of the same with the better fish being landed on our evening/night time trips. However, Wednesdays am trip we limited out with keeper bass up to 44.5 inches. All trips saw a few blues and in general it was a great week on the Otter. My mate David Madeira always does a great job and my customers love him. -Capt Bruce