Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me: “Summer mode is now in full effect. Stripers are heavy on the Central Sound reefs, along with The Race and Plum Gut. Don’t think that you have to stick to the popular spots though, as most smaller rock piles and points will hold stripers, too. With sea bass season open as of July 8, look for the bite to come on strong as the fish will be unpressured and looking to chow down. Porgy action is catching fire right now as well, and with inshore waters rapidly warming, the shore and shallow water bite is keeping a lot of local anglers excited. Fluke fishing remains solid, and many anglers have reported ‘tight bites’, meaning the hot zones have been concentrated and those making short drifts over productive spots within the spot, are doing the most damage.”
Captain Matt at Stonington Stripers is back in action after a bit of time off. Fishing has been good locally, mainly in the early morning. With all the recent fog, he’s been hitting some of the quieter spots and it has been paying off. You’re less likely to get run over and you generally have decent fish all to yourself. He also recently had a fly trip out to Block Island and that went well. He had to go dredging with heavy sinking lines but put together a good trip. Color selection has been important; bright lures that stand out and have a good silhouette have been the most productive with the grey background of the fog and mist. Slowing down presentations has produced fish through slack tide. He’s posted some videos on Instagram discussing rigging and color selection for anyone interested. Matt has availability this month including weekends and is looking forward to a productive July!
Heather from the Blackhawk in Niantic provided the following report: “While we started off the week strong with bottom fishing, we then had a couple of days where the fishing was a little slower than we’ve been used to, and we had to work to fill the coolers. Those who stuck it out by the rails had a decent catch, while others didn’t have quite as many. By the end of the week and into Sunday morning, the fishing had improved. Our Saturday afternoon family fishing trip was a great way to kick off these trips for the season! We had a great group of young anglers who enjoyed reeling in the porgies all afternoon. These trips are popular and limited, so be sure to sign up when you see them online. On the holiday itself, we had a private charter that spent part of the day catching some nice slot-sized bass, and the rest of the day they enjoyed porgies and sea bass. It was a beautiful day with great fishing- what more could you ask for? Our private night charter on Sunday had a solid catch of slot fish with more overs and shorts than we could count released. Monday night’s bass trip wasn’t quite as good, with a strong tide to contend with, making for a tougher catch. We still had some nice fish, but not what we’d hoped for. Our bass and blues trips, After Work Specials, and weekend trips were again excellent, with most trips having a full boat limit of slot-sized fish, with more released.” New tickets for all their trips, including their community program trips, will be posted on their website every Monday night at 8 P.M!
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Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters reported that he’s seen more bunker schools move into the mouth of the river over this last new moon period. It’ll be interesting to see how long they hang around, especially with the current temperatures, but it has equated to some great fishing. The striper fishing has been good in the lower river, with some monster fish hanging out around those bunker schools, but there is also no shortage of good fish on the local reefs and rips. If you’re struggling in the river, or it gets overcrowded, don’t be afraid to take some of those bunker from the river out to the reefs and drop them down on a 3-way rig. Captain Mike and his team have openings over the next two weeks, which should be prime time. Give him a call today to book your spot.
Joe at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report after another strong week on the water: “Fishing this week has been stellar. Whether we have been fishing local, The Race, or at Block, it has been on fire! Topwater lures like the Skipper and Doc have been doing great when we see surface feeds. When they are low/mid column, live bunker and eels have been doing most of our damage. This week we saw fish up to 54 pounds! It’s a great time to get out and do some fishing. We still have dates for the season, so reach out to book a trip!”
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Captain Andy of Carolyn Ann Charters had continued success with striped bass this week. He’s finding loads of slot fish on either tide, along with some heavy over-slot class fish. Bluefish action has been spotty, but there have been enough around to keep things interesting. Bottom fishing has improved greatly as the sea bass season opened back up, and they are starting to chew well. Plenty of hubcap scup are in the area as well, so filling a cooler hasn’t been an issue. Andy hasn’t gone shark fishing just yet, but a number of threshers have been spotted/reported in the Eastern Sound, so that will be added to the itinerary soon.
Captain Cote at Tighten Up Charters reports that as we usher in summer, the summer bait schools have showed up in a big way. These schools of bait have fired up some epic early morning topwater baits, which elicit a lot of smiles, but there’s no shortage of fish during the peak daylight hours as well. As the sun gets higher the fish tend to push into the deeper water channels, where they’re often eager to hit live bunker fished close to the bottom. Father’s Day has always been a point of reference for Cote in terms of bigger fish showing up, and this year is no different, as the quality of bass has increased exponentially over the past few weeks. The bluefish have joined the party, albeit inconsistently. Some days you can’t get away from them, and the next you can’t find them, so it’s always a treat to have blues on top for a while. The sea bass season has reopened, and the fishing has improved as they move from their spawning grounds to their usual rocky hangouts. Once you find the right spot, vertical jigging has been the top producer for big sea bass.
When I talked to Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service, he reported that even though it’s brutally hot lately, the bait scene has remained fall-like! He’s found solid action on bass in a few specific areas, but even more so than previous years, it has been very tide dependent. They’re on fish from 20 inches to well over 40 inches on top, and they’re also catching on Exo jigs when the bass are down deeper. It’s been great light tackle fun with fish on 3-inch peanut bunker already, but tough scheduling trips based on the specific tides the action is on. Time of day is not important—even in the midday heat, these fish are dialed in on the peanuts in a few select areas if you find the zones!
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Hot temperatures haven’t stopped the hot fishing across Connecticut. Air temperatures may be uncomfortable at times, but they’ve resulted in summertime water temperatures which are favorable for our local species, specifically striped bass. Striped bass are being caught throughout the Sound and in its major tributaries. The Western Sound is still producing large, 30-pound-plus fish and the bite at The Race may offer the most consistent bite going on anywhere within Connecticut waters. There is a lot of water spanning those two areas, and just about every quality reef or rip in between is holding some bass at one time or another. The scup bite also seems to have taken off with this last heat wave, with no shortage of hubcaps throughout the Sound. Scup are coming from just about every piece of structure, regardless of depth, while the sea bass season has restarted with a bang on the deeper structure. Those targeting summer blackfish are also finding some success, and you may just find some keeper “tog” as bycatch while targeting the aforementioned species. Dedicated fluke fishermen continue to pick away at legal-sized flatfish, though their conversations at most shops are usually the same—lots of shorts on the way to scratching out a few fish for the table.