Connecticut Fishing Report – November 17, 2016

Pictured above: There are still some big bass to be caught in Long Island Sound, like this cow taken aboard Reel Cast charters.

Big tautog are hitting the scales across Connecticut and Rhode Island, while bluefish pushing 20 pounds continue to terrorize the remaining bunker schools.

Connecticut Fishing Report

At Hillyers in Waterford, the buzz at the shop remains the news of a 20.95-pound blackfish that was weighed in at the tail end of last week. Besides that monster, there has still been a good deal of double-digit fish to 14 pounds reported. Most rockpiles, in various depth ranges are holding fish; so be willing to move around until you locate a slug of bigger fish. The sea bass are starting to thin out, but there is still enough around to find a good limit. The Bay continues to be inundated with large bluefish, and most times they have been seen crushing bait on topwater.

At Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, Andrew reports that the blackfish reports took a turn for the better this week, with great action throughout local waters. 15 to 20 feet of water seems to be the target depth for the eastern sound, but there are fish shallower and deeper now as well. The Clinton and Westbrook area has been producing well all week. The albies have moved on, with the exception of a nice pile at the Millstone outflow. Bunker seems to have moved out of the river, along with the bigger bass, but there are enough schoolies throughout the sound to keep you busy no matter your location. There was some amazing action for big blues in Niantic Bay this week too, with 15- to 18-pound fish crushing bunker.

Captain TJ of Rock and Roll Charters said weather was a factor this week but on the days they were able to get out, the blackfishing was pretty darn good. Keepers have been pretty easy to get and the action has been fast and fun. The days closer to the full moon were a little tougher—the fish were only biting during the slower periods of the tide, but TJ expects the fishing to pick right back up this week as the moon passes. The bluefish bite is starting to taper off, but is still decent if you can locate them. The same can be said about striped bass; which have started their migration and are constantly on the move. This week coming will be last for the 2016 season on the Rock and Roll. There are still openings available if you want to call in sick or use up some of your lingering vacation days. Call now before it’s too late!

Ian, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reports that the diamond jigging continued to pick up this week. The bite consists of mostly big blues from 10 pounds and up, but there are still a few bass in the mix as well. The usual hotspots (28C, 11B, the OB and Can 13) are all producing. Along with the jig action, there have been reliable bluefish blitzes around the Stratford area. Blackfishing is still going strong, and the best catches are still coming from depths of 20 feet or less. The best fish of the week was an 11.2-pounder weighed in by Dan Grady and caught aboard Pelagic Beast Charters. Bass blitzes have also been cropping up between Westport and Woodmont, where first light has been best. There’s still plenty of bait in the harbors and the fishing in the harbors for bass and blues has been pretty good, shore and boat. 4- to 6-inch soft plastics have been the ticket and white has been the best color. Freshwater guys report very low water at the Saugatuck and some good fishing for brown trout, smallmouth bass and walleye.

Rhode Island Fishing Report

The Frances Fleet in Narragansett put together a great start to the week, and managed to have some success mid-week as well, despite the tough seas. Last Sunday’s trips saw a steady and solid tautog trip, with good numbers of fish and enough keepers mixed in for most to take home a good bag. Sunday’s cod trip was excellent, and included an epic day of sea bassing. All anglers managed sea bass limits amidst some hot and heavy action. Not only was the action incredible, but the average size of fish was the best of the year, with the majority of fish being at least 3 pounds. Sunday’s cod results were nearly as good, with most anglers taking home 4 keepers and the rest getting 3. Cod fishing was also strong on Monday’s trip, with a few dozen fish to 10 pounds, and once again plenty of sea bass. Captain Matt worked around some rough seas on Wednesday to put his customers on a good slug of tautog. Many anglers took home a full limit, and the pool fish was one of the best of the season, at 14 pounds!

Dave at Ocean State Tackle in Providence reports that saltwater anglers are still finding plenty of striped bass, bluefish and tautog to play with close to home. The inshore bite has been strong for all species, and anglers should be able to ride it out right to the holiday. Dedicated squid anglers are also reporting much better numbers of squid throughout Rhode Island. A good deal of anglers are taking to the local freshwater for a shot at carp. The bite was slower for most this week, but those who have it dialed in are still finding good success. One of Dave’s customers was able to crush his personal best this week, with a 26-pound fish!

At The Saltwater Edge in Middletown, reports are still very good for tautog, with a number of anglers mentioning that they are going deeper this week. There are still fish to be had at most depths, but 75-85 feet seems to be putting up the best quality. Several double-digit fish to 15 pounds were caught over the past week or so. Cod fishing out at Coxes Ledge and on the East Grounds has been hit or miss, but the sea bass fishing in both areas has been excellent. Believe it or not, there were still some false albacore and green bonito in the area as of last weekend. They are likely on their way out, but you still might get lucky if you are on the water this weekend. The south shore beaches are still fishing well with plenty of bait, striped bass and bluefish running along the beach.

Mike, at Watch Hill Outfitters in Westerly, reports that the local surf fishing reports remain strong. Big bluefish and striped bass continue to push bunker up tight to the beaches. Most bass have been schoolies, but 20- to 30-pound fish have been common. Tautog was very good this past week on the local reefs with some nice fish in the 10- to 15-pound range being reported. As mentioned earlier, most anglers are starting to target slightly deeper structure for bigger tautog. Hickory shad have started to show up in good numbers and provide some very fun fishing on light tackle. A few reports have started to come in of winter flounder being caught in the salt ponds.

Connecticut Fishing Forecast

It looks like the saltwater fishing will remain strong enough to take a shot at multiple species during the holiday vacation, and you should be able to put some fish at the table alongside your turkey. Tautog action should remain as reliable as ever for a few more weeks; while there are plenty of migrating striped bass and bluefish to keep you busy. We also got some much needed rain this week, which should help out the trout fishing in most of our local streams.