Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook reports that it has been a colder than usual spring, so while there’s plenty of fishing opportunities, they aren’t firing up as quickly as you’d expect. They’ve definitely seen some smaller waves of lice-covered, slot- to over-slot fish chasing herring and just generally becoming more active. Fishing with four to seven-inch soft plastics, whether it’s a fluke-style or paddletail, is the name of the game. Slug-Go’s, Fin-S Fish, Gravity Tackle paddletails, all work great this time of year. Small topwater poppers and spooks, as well as twitch baits, are great this time of year too. Anything that mimics a 4- to 8-inch herring or bunker is worth casting around known striper and herring haunts. Early fluke chasers are actually finding some success in shallow water. Porgies are scattered, and while no firsthand bluefish reports have come into the shop, there’s quite a bit of talk about anglers finding some gators in the Sound.
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Heather from the Blackhawk in Niantic is back on the water and provided the following report:
“We had a good weekend of fishing! Both Friday and Saturday porgy trips started off a little slow, but picked up as the day went on. Saturday ended with some great fishing, with some limits around the boat, and others close to it. Special thanks to Jessica for joining us for her birthday! We were glad to spend the day with you! Our Friday night squid trip was also good- these trips are always fun, and the squid did not disappoint! Steady action through the night made for some happy anglers. We’ll be adding more trips soon. We have added a bass trip for Monday morning and will be adding more of these as well- watch the calendar, as these trips are often posted with less notice due to the weather and our charter schedule. Speaking of charters, be sure to book your date soon; our popular dates are filling up, so be sure to get your date on the calendar. New tickets for each week will be posted online on Monday night at 8 p.m., just like in past years. Be sure to check out our calendar so you see what’s coming up! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters was happy to report that they saw some fresh fish covered in sea lice enter Long Island Sound this week. week. These hungry fish have been more than willing to take soft plastics and jigs like the Shimano Sniper. They hadn’t seen any weakfish mixed I with their catches yet, but he expects them to show up any day now, and the same can be said with bluefish. Mike hasn’t found any bluefish just yet, but word is they started moving into the sound like gangbusters this week. Fishing was pretty good this week, and he even accidentally managed a few fluke and heard of some decent local fluke reports. Captain Mike and his team have openings over the next two weeks, which should be primetime Give him a call today to book your spot.
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Joe at Diorio Guide Service is only about ten days into his season and it seems like the fishery is in full swing! Striper fishing has been nothing short of phenomenal thus far. They have been doing well on the reefs, and per usual, they’re finding plenty of fish in the mouth of the river. Most of the fish have been in the 26- to 36-inch range, but each trip is seeing more and more bigger fish to 42 inches. On the reefs, 3 waying Joe Baggs Sand Eels and/or live eels has been the top producer, along with smaller diamond jigs. In the rivers, Joe has found plenty of fish willing to hit topwaters like the Joe Baggs Skipper, along with pencils, Red Fins, and 9-inch Slug-gos. Joe also mentioned that the bluefish showed up this week with a vengeance, let’s hope they hang around! He still has some dates available through June, which is a perfect way to have an epic fishing day close to home.
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Dan, at Dans Bait Tackle and Charters in New London, had the following to report:
“The fish are back, and the bite has been better than ever! It is very early in the year to be getting this type of action, but the unseasonably warm temperatures have moved the spawn and migration timetables just a smidge early, so we can get fishing now which normally doesn’t happen until after Memorial Day. The striper bite is on – with 30-inch or greater specimens being taken on white and pink soft plastics. While Tog season is closed, they are still being caught and released with anglers looking for early season fluke along the bottom. Porgy/scup are bigger in size thank in years past, with most of your bucket being keeper-size! Squid is working best from shore right now, but sand worms are pulling in great strikes from the schoolie stripers and scup. Oh – and the BLUES are back! There was a large school in Niantic under the bridge riding the current and feeding on bait fish along the walls.”
Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service told me that weather has been a challenge for him over the past few days anytime he tried to leave the river. Regardless, he managed a few good days of fishing for stripers and the recently arriving bluefish, which have both been keyed in on small mackerel and sandeels. Bunker is around, and that is generally the best way to find bass and blues, but locating the bunker has also been tough with the choppy conditions. The good news is that they have a lot of bass around and drifting the local rip lines and shoals is producing consistently for bass from 25 to 40 inches using flutter spoons, trolling tube and worm and casting topwater lures like the Game On Lures X-Walk and Duratech Eel plastics, which are both producing excellent action throughout the day in the right conditions. Chris has some weekday openings available for the rest of the season and things should only get better from here, so reach out if you want some great Western Sound fishing!
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Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Fishing throughout Connecticut continued to follow a positive trend as more and more anglers are getting out and getting in on the action. Striped bass continue to be the main target throughout the state, and their range has increased quite a bit. Solid bass catches are being reported from most of the early season reefs in Long Island Sound, the mouths of the tidal rivers, and there are still some fish up around the herring runs. The three big rivers all have fish from the river mouths up to their first major dams. The hottest action seems to be in the Connecticut River where fishing with sandworms has been very good. There are also fish on structure in Long Island Sound proper, ranging from the central/eastern Sound to the west. In the far Western Sound, fish are now setting up on deep-water structure as well as the harbors and bays they’ve occupied for the last month. The American shad bite in the tidal rivers also remains strong, but won’t last for long, so get out while the getting is good!
Similar to Rhode Island, the trend of big bluefish showing up has happened in Connecticut as well, with reports in the Sound from the far east to the far west. Both the scup and summer flounder fisheries opened last week, and early reports have been encouraging. It’s far from lights out, but the few anglers that have started to target fluke are finding steady enough action to make the trip worth it. Reports of squid to the east in Rhode Island are promising and mean that fluke should be hot on their tails. It’s a great time of year with no shortage of species to target. Get out and get in on the spring fever while it lasts.