Big bass are settling into Long Island Sound, just in time for the July new moon; while groundfishing throughout our range hasn’t skipped a beat.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
At The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, not a whole lot has changed from last week; which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as catches of multiple species have been good across the area. The local rocky shoreline around Newport and Beavertail is still holding some heavy fish, including a few over 30-pounds on both the fly and topwater plugs. Dawn and dusk have been best for finding some cows around the surface, but fish have been coming all day and night on some of the deeper reefs. Scup can be found on the rockpiles out front and inside Narragansett Bay in about 20-30 feet of water, while black sea bass remain plentiful on the slightly deeper areas of hard bottom. Block Island is providing the most consistent fluke fishing, despite a few good catches on the local hotspots this week. The island also saw a greater push of bass this week, and 30-pounders are being caught with some regularity.
The Seven B’s in Narragansett, continued to string together a number of successful fluke trips this week, according to Captain Russ. The twilight trips this week out-produced the daytime trips, as the tides and winds were a bit more cooperative. Twilight trips saw numerous fish in the 6-7 pound range and a few doormats exceeding 9-pounds. Daytime trips produced similar results on the few days that the conditions cooperated, and each trip has been started with quick limits of black sea bass. These half-day trips will continue to sail from 8:30 A.M. to 12:30 P.M., with the second taking off at 1 P.M. and returning at 5 P.M. The private charter cruises aboard the Jeanie B have been extremely successful, and that trend continued this week, with fish to 10-pounds! This past Saturday was the only striped bass trip of the week and results were solid, with steady keeper action and a pool fish of 35-pounds. Striped bass trips will continue to sail this week, on both Friday and Saturday night from 7 P.M. to 1 A.M., conditions and interest depending.
Howard, at Galilee Bait and Tackle, reports that Block Island striped bass fishing has garnered the most attention this week, as a large push of 30-35 pound fish made their way to the island. Per usual, live eels have been the bait of choice, but those who don’t want to feed their eels to bluefish are reporting solid results trolling frames and jigging. Around Point Judith, local surfcasters and small boat anglers are finding some keepers around the walls, and at the lighthouse. Fluke fishing has remained strong and steady at Block Island, but once again keeping your bait away from bluefish and dogfish is the true challenge. The fluke fishing outside the Harbor of Refuge is so/so, but keepers can be had if you can weed through a ton of shorts. Black sea bass are all over the hard bottom, and so are the scup, which have been best in about 20-30 feet of water. Many local anglers are starting to report bonito popping up here and there, but not too many have been hooking up just yet.
Mike, at Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, reports that fluke fishing has begun to slow locally, but around Block Island it is as strong as ever. When the weather has cooperated, anglers have made the trek to the west side of the island for the best chance at a limit and a doormat. The Race fished well for striped bass this week, as 40-pound fish came up with regularity on live eels and jigs after dark. Fishers Island has had good numbers of bass tight to shore, and the reefs between Watch Hill and Fishers are producing well at night with live bait. The local surfcasting took a turn for the better this week, with surfcasters reporting much more consistent action, although fish have been on the smaller side. Scup and black sea bass are all over the local reefs, and shore anglers are scoring plenty of keeper scup at the lighthouse.
Connecticut Fishing Report
Lou, at Hillyers Bait and Tackle in Waterford, reported that the best news of the week was that the local fluke fishing really picked up last weekend. From the south side of Fishers Island to the mouth of the Thames River, and the deeper water off of Waterford all accounted for doormats over the weekend. The shop weighed in multiple fish in the 6-10 pound class over the weekend, and most came from local waters. Black sea bass and scup are all over, with some monster dinner-plate scup coming from Race Rock this week. Lou also mentioned that the offshore guys are still reporting a strong bite of mako and blue sharks, not too far from home.
James, at Rivers End in Old Saybrook, reported that the Connecticut River striped bass bite has finally started to slow down, but the eastern sound reefs are starting to pick up the slack. Black Point saw good numbers of keeper bass, while Bartletts saw less fish but a few cows. Old Lyme shores has had a steady pick of small keepers on live eels and bunker. The central sound reefs from Branford to Clinton started to wake up this week, and seems to be improving daily. While bass action has slowed in the river, big bluefish have started to take over, and are being caught on fresh chunks at the DEEP docks. Out front, the best bluefish action has been at Plum Gut and the Bloody Grounds. Local fluke action has been on the quiet side, but 6-mile reef had a few positive reports; while action around the mouth of the Thames has been said to have been picking up over the past two days. Big black sea bass have also been caught on 6-mile reef this week, but finding keeper sea bass remains very easy. The same can now b said about scup, which are on all of the local rock piles, including hens and chickens, hatchetts and southwest.
Captain TJ, of Rock and Roll Charters, reported another strong week overall, for all species. This season has been a model of inconsistency from day to day as far as numbers of striped bass are concerned, but what hasn’t changed is the quality of the fish being caught. A good bulk of the bass being caught are 20-30 pounds, with the biggest this week tipping the scales at 42-pounds. Bluefish are still moving around a great deal, but they are starting to be caught with much greater consistency. With the bass requiring some time and effort, it’s nice that the bottom fishing has remained red hot, with limits of large scup and black sea bass coming in very short order.
Captain Mike Roy, of Reel Cast Charters, has kept up his hot streak this week and told me that it seems like some of the bigger striped bass are finally settling into Long Island Sound for the summer. Mike has had great success livelining bunker pitching live eels on light tackle over the past few weeks, and in the process boated tons of bass in the 20-30 pound range. This week saw more of the same in both the eastern and western sound, but also saw two nights of back-to-back 40-plus pound fish. Multiple days of 40-pound fish is a telltale sign that the big girls may be settling in for the summer, so be sure to contact Mike for you’re best chance at a light tackle cow.
Best bets for the weekend
A late start to the striped bass season is finally starting to appear as a thing of the past, as a good push of larger fish seem to be settling into most of the summer haunts. It’s not quite lock and load, but it is certainly going strong and will only improve as we make our way through the new moon at the end of the week. The big tides will likely make drift fishing for fluke a bit difficult this weekend, but the hard bottom is carpeted with scup and sea bass that are less affected by drift speed.