Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me that the local fishing remains in full summer mode. Bass can almost always be caught, but morning and evening, along with after dark is your best bet. The usual suspects, such as GT eels and other big soft plastics, live eels/bunker, large topwaters, and trolling tubes have been the top producers. There are some nice gator bluefish around as well, but they are scattered quite a bit. Sea bass and fluke are being taken locally by the anglers that grind and are fishing the “lesser-known” spots. Luckily, the porgies are everywhere, so they’ll help salvage a day if you can find the other two species!
Captain Matt, at Stonington Stripers had another strong week, without having to travel too far from home. Striped bass from school size to nearly 50-inches have been keeping rods bent steadily! He’s also ran into more gator bluefish this week, which are also helping to keep the rods bent. No surprise, but the 9-inch sluggo and the 13.5-inch GT eel have remained the top artificial producers. Soft plastics have been killer, but Matt also saw some nice fish fall to dannys and big spooks this week. Fly anglers are still cashing in on beast flies, big hollows, and snake flies. However you fish, or regardless of your presentation of choice, make sure you’re rigging is up to par! There’s no shortage of big fish, so your tackle stands to be tested! Matt hasn’t spotted any bonito yet, but they should be right around the corner, and he’ll start looking for them next week.
Heather from Black Hawk Sportfishing in Niantic provided the following report: “The action continues to be red hot aboard the Black Hawk! We had some great porgy fishing all week, with some nice sea bass in the mix as well. We had a great time on our kids trip on Saturday afternoon, with the kids catching porgies all afternoon. The bluefishing remains excellent, with anglers exhausted and sore after reeling in the giant bluefish we’ve been catching! We’ll continue to bluefish on our After Work Special trips on Fridays, and our Sunday afternoon trips. Our “Christmas in July” fireworks cruise on Saturday night for Celebrate East Lyme Day was wonderful! Thanks to all who joined us for the trip! Join us for our next sunset cruise on July 27th. These trips are all part of our Black Hawk and the Community program, and we’re honored to be able to help the community in a meaningful way. 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 reported that fishing has remained strong this week, even as the stripers have started to transition into their summer pattern. The majority of the reefs in central and eastern Long Island Sound have bait on them and are holding some big bass. There is a good deal of juvenile herring in the area, and the bass can often be found feeding on them around the surface. The bunker schools are thicker in the river as well, and there’s generally some big bass hanging around them, although during the heavy heat hours you may be better off looking on the reefs. The bluefish haven’t shown up in big numbers yet, but there are some gators around, and Mike anticipates a nice push in the coming weeks. Sea bass and porgy fishing has been as consistent as ever in the sound, so there’s no shortage of fish for the cooler either. Captain Mike and his team have some openings over the next few weeks, which is peak big bass season, so be sure to book asap!
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Joe, at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report after another strong week on the water: “This past week, we did a mix of striper fishing and also some tuna fishing. Striper fishing has continued to be phenomenal. Most of our striper fishing has included fishing shallow rips lines/points or fishing on the deeper reefs/boulderfields. When fishing non-human hours, Joe Baggs 14.5 Eel on a jighead have been crushing it for us. In fact, on most trips it will out fish a live eel! When the lights turn on, it’s time to switch over to the Doc or to the Skipper. Hopefully, these fish stick around because if they do, it will make for an amazing summer! We also got out to the tuna grounds for some bluefin, and the action was pretty good. We hooked up multiple times and we saw many others hooked up as well. We got our fish on streaker style jigs and Ron Zs. Hoping for some more great weather opportunities to get back out on the grounds!”
When I talked to Captain Chris, of Elser Guide Service he reported that light tackle and fly casting has been a bit more of a challenge this week, but he expects that to change in the coming weeks, as more bunker filters into the area. The current bunker schools are mostly un-harassed during the daylight hours, but they are being targeted after dark. You can occasionally find a morning topwater bite, but most of the daytime action has come on the tube and worm around deeper structure. No signs of early Spanish Mackerel just yet, but they have arrived in July the last few years, so they should be right around the corner.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Hot temperatures haven’t stopped the hot fishing across Connecticut. The relatively cooler water in the eastern Long Island Sound is once again a haven for summer striped bass. Striped bass are being caught throughout the sound and in its major tributaries, with the eastern sound reefs starting to take charge this week. The western sound is still plenty of quality fish, but with the weather warming, the bite has transitioned to a mainly daytime troll bite. However, there is no shortage of bunker, and the anglers getting out after dark are still finding some quality bass and bluefish around the bait schools. The scup bite is as consistent as ever, 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 kicked into gear on the deeper structure. Those targeting summer blackfish are also finding some success, and you may just find some keeper “tog” as by-catch 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. Spanish mackerel and bonito reports haven’t popped up just yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was adding those two species to the menu in next weeks report.