Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me that despite the wind and swell from Fiona last weekend, the light tackle bite continued in the Eastern Sound. The churned-up water seemed to help the albie bite, which is in full swing across the Sound. The fish move around quite a bit from day to day, and somedays they have lockjaw, but they can be found consistently in all their usual haunts. Matt reported that they seem to be particularly active during the hour or two before and after the tide changes. Silver, electric chicken, pink, shrimp, and olive colored epoxy jigs have been working well, along with the usual soft plastics. If you’re looking for a break from the albies, the striped bass remain plentiful, with a good number of fish to 40-inches taking Docs, Mullys, and live bait offerings. The striped bass bite has transitioned from just a low-light game to basically anytime of day, as long as you hit the tide right and find them.
Heather from Black Hawk Sportfishing reports that they have been limited occasionally due to the winds, but when they have made it out, they’ve seen great numbers of sea bass and porgies. As is usually the case in the fall, you have to pick your days, but whenever they’ve been able to hit the grounds, the clients haven’t been disappointed. They ran their annual Vets trip with the veterans from Rocky Hill this week and were able to get everyone on board tight to some big bluefish! They still have some dates available for private charters during the week, so be sure to contact them if you’d like to set something up. Just a reminder, they will post new trips every Monday night at 8 p.m. on their website, so be sure to check that out before they fill up.
Dan, at Dan’s Bait Tackle and Charters in New London told me that signs of the fall fishing truly set in across eastern CT this week, and anglers are still reporting plenty of options. The false albacore and bonito have moved into the area in the kind of numbers that give anglers hope from day to day, although they’re still on the move, and daily results vary. Waves of albies seem to be arriving with each tide, and the average weight seems to be much bigger than most years; with double-digit fish being commonplace. The Noank area is holding loads of peanut bunker, which is all you need to keep a school of albies interested. Schools of big striped bass also seem to have plenty of interest in the peanut bunker, as they have been prevalent around the inshore reefs and rips, along with most of the good water around Fishers Island. Bass enthusiasts still prefer the later tides, with some big bass being reported from after dark around the local surf hotspots during the new moon tides. Bluefish are dominating the daytime bite, with gators being caught on diamond jigs at all the usual locales, and snapper to taylor class fish taking poppers all over the local shoreline. Scup action has remained tremendous for both shore and boat anglers, as most wait for the blackfish season to kick off in a couple weeks!
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters reports that the bite has still been good, despite the relentless winds. There is an immense amount of bait, both big and small, so it’s not too hard to find some hungry striped bass, bluefish, and/or false albacore. The bite changes from day to day, but there has been a consistent pick of all the aforementioned species on most trips. The fishing has also been improving daily as the water cools down, and that trend should only continue. The cooling temperatures has also helped the sea bass bite for those looking for table fare, and blackfish season is right around the corner! Be sure to give Captain Mike a call asap to plan a fall trip before it’s too late!
Joe, at Diorio Guide Service told me that the fall run is in full swing for him and his clients! He’s having no problem finding bass in the 30-40-inch range on live bait offerings, along with topwater plugs and large soft plastics. The false albacore bite has been hit or miss, some days it’s easy to find them and feed them, and some days they’re sporadic or they’re very finicky. The good thing about the false albacore action is that they’ve been feeding in the usual haunts, and they’ve been easy to find each day, even though some days are a bit tougher than others. It also seems that more and more false albacore have been entering the area each day, as the feeds continue to get bigger, so things should only improve as the boat pressure and water temperatures drop!
Fisherman’s World in Norwalk reports that the albies have arrived in a big way out west, and they are garnering the attention of most anglers out their way. There has been a nice concentration of fish out by middleground, but over the past few days there has also been better reports from inshore anglers fishing from the Norwalk Islands to Penfield Reef. The bass and bluefishing hasn’t changed much over the past few weeks, which is a positive report. Both species can still be found all over the area, and bigger bass are getting more willing to hit topwater plugs, albeit you’re still better working around the lower light times of day. Daytime trolling has been as consistent as ever, with big fish falling for a number of trolled offerings around 11B, 28C, and the rest of the deeper, local structure. Bluefish blitzes have been a bit more sporadic, but they can usually be found blowing up on bait with the local albies around the islands. Scup action has remained tremendous for anglers fishing from the shore and boat, with most reporting better success when they chum with clams. A few big fluke can still be found in 60- to 80-feet of water, but most local bottom fishermen are sharpening their tog jigs with the blackfish season right around the corner.
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Connecticut Fishing Forecast
First and foremost, let me start this with thoughts and prayers to everyone that’s dealing with the adverse effects of Hurricane Ian. It’s easy to talk about the increased fishing opportunities we’ll have with the slight surge we’ll see from the south, but this is undoubtedly a tough weekend for all of our southern neighbors, so our thoughts are prayers are with all of them.
On a positive note, anglers across the northeast have seen an influx of false albacore enter the area, and the churned-up water only seems to help, so we should have a great weekend of inshore fishing ahead of us. Rhode Island anglers have no shortage of false albacore and bonito in all of their usual hotspots, and they have the benefit of using downtime during the albie chase to anchor up and take advantage of some strong tautog and sea bass fishing. Bass and bluefish also remain plentiful across the Ocean State, so be sure to head out with your albie gear in hand but have your bass and bottom fish gear stowed away.
False albacore have also invaded Connecticut waters consistently, with excellent reports coming from the Western Sound, and steady reports coming from the Eastern Sound hotspots. There is no shortage of striped bass and bluefish across Connecticut waters as well, so as mentioned earlier, it’s a great weekend to go out and look for albies, while bringing (and being ready to pivot) to striped bass fishing. With the water continuing to cool, we should not only see more false albacore, but we could also see some bigger bass getting on the food bag and doing their best to drive all the large and small bunker out of the area.