Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook reported that bunker continue to sporadically move into the area, and it seems that a bit more have moved into the river over the past few days. It doesn’t seem like a ton of bass have followed the bunker in, as the results have been sporadic, but anglers putting in the hours are finding some slammer bass. So it may not be as easy as years past, but the opportunities are there. The warmer temperatures have seen bass beginning to move into their summertime haunts, but during the low light/cooler periods of the day, they can still be transient. All the usual offerings are getting the job done, including live bunker if you can find it, eels, trolling tubes, flutter spoons, topwater plugs, and big soft plastics. If the shallow water bite isn’t working out, look to drop a 3-wayed bait or jig on the deeper reefs, as it seems the bass are taking refuge in these spots during the big tides and warm weather days. The fluke bite has been better than the last few years in some ways. Anglers are finding more quality keepers in the Sound than in years past, but the fish seem to be highly concentrated. So, if you come across a few, immediately think about making that short drift again. Scup fishing has been lights out and is in full summer mode, while summer tautog season started strong, including an 8-pounder weighed in at the shop Tuesday.
Heather from the Blackhawk in Niantic provided the following report: “The bottom fishing action continues to produce full coolers and limits—simply fantastic fishing. We had some great trips this week and loaded up on jumbo scup, with some sea bass mixed in, as well. The fluke didn’t cooperate on our Thursday trip, but we had some nice sea bass to help fill the coolers. Our bass/blues trips and After Work Specials for the week were again excellent, with most trips having a full boat limit of slot-sized fish, with more released. Saturday afternoon had some nice blues in the mix as well. We’re looking forward to our family trips starting in July; these are our shorter trips geared towards young kids and their families. We’re looking forward to getting some more kids out on the boat this summer! Our Saturday sunset cruise seal watches are starting this weekend, and tickets are now available for our fireworks cruises, so grab a ticket and join us! These trips are all part of our Blackhawk and the Community program, and we’re honored to be able to help the community in a meaningful way. We’re still booking charters—there are approximately five dates left for the summer, so grab your date today! 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 things continued to improve over the past week. They have seen more bunker move into the river as we approach this new moon cycle, so things have gotten a little better close to home. Many of the reefs in Long Island Sound are chock full of bait and the bass are feeding heavily, so there’s no need to rely on the local bunker bite. They’ve even seen bass spitting up spot this week, a bait not usually seen this far north. Solid bass fishing can still be had at The Race and Plum Gut, although it appears things are starting to improve nicely locally, so looking to the local reefs during this new moon cycle should be rewarding. Mike also reported that the sea bassing was strong before the short July shutdown, so things should pick right back up when the season reopens on the 8th.
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Joe at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report after another strong week on the water: “The fishing has been pretty darn good this week. There has been a better mass of stripers in the river and even more on the local reefs. We’ve seen plenty of action and quality this week, including a few big fish to 45 pounds! These bass have been hungry for bunker! We have also been doing very well 3-waying Joe Baggs Miracle minnows when fishing some deeper water. Big bluefish have moved in pretty thick as well; we have been getting them pretty steadily with fish from 10 to 15 pounds! It’s been a great few weeks and should continue to get even better.”
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When I talked to Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service, he reported that fish are finally settling into their summer patterns locally, but they’re still seeing bunker schools on the migration pattern around mid-Sound. The latter has resulted in some finning daytime bluefish! Sand eels are still thick on the New York and Connecticut sides of the Western Sound, which has created some awesome inshore fly and light tackle fishing for stripers, along with the occasional strong fluke bite. Nighttime bunker chunking has been the most productive method for anglers looking for big bass, while trolling the tube and worm is your best bet during the daytime. If you can find a bunker school, you can generally create a nice topwater bite with plugs such as the Game-On X-Walk.
Captain Matt of Stonington Stripers has had a light charter schedule recently but told me that he was able to get out on his own a few times over the weekend, and the stripers were chewing very good during the morning hours. The fish were open to a variety of different lures and didn’t seem to be keyed in onto one particular type of bait. The late June full moon also seems to have brought about an uptick in size locally. Matt will start chartering again after the 5th of July and will likely be targeting big bass at Block Island on plugs and on the fly, so be sure to reach out if you’re interested in a trip before he’s fully booked!
Jesse at Fishermen’s World in Norwalk reports that the red-hot fluke bite is still on out west, and anglers are cashing in while they can. Customers coming into the shop reported fluke fishing that was far better than years past and they all said the same thing—hordes of sand eels were driving the bite. Anglers targeting relatively shallow water, between 20 to 40 feet, said fishing was good on both sides of the Sound, though the overall size does seem to be better along the North Shore of Long Island. That said, flatfish limits have been coming from Connecticut waters from places like the bumps around Sherwood Island. If you’re headed to the north shore, starting around Eaton’s Neck, Smithtown Bay, and Port Jeff is good idea. Jigs and Gulp are working on both sides of the Sound, but the fish have shown a clear preference for bait. The striper fishing hasn’t changed much recently, so things remain solid. Large schools of migrating bass are stuck to the bunker schools along deep structure, with the best bites coming during low light hours. There are some fish to be had inshore and around the islands, but that action has slowed some with rising water temperatures. There are lots of bluefish around and they are concentrated out deep, essentially in the middle of the Sound. Trolling deep in 100-feet of water has made for some fast and furious fishing. Sea bass fishing is closed until July 8th unless you’re on a chartered party boat, but scup action continues to pick up. The porgy fishing continues to favor boaters, but the warm weather means the inshore bite should explode just about any day now.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Fishing throughout Connecticut continued to fire up just in time for the holiday weekend. More and more bunker have entered the rivers and estuaries this week, and it appears the big bass are finally starting to take notice. The fishing hasn’t been as consistent as years past, especially in the lower CT River, but there seems to be a nice push of big bass on the bunker over the past few days, so things should only improve as we work through this new moon cycle. The usual reefs throughout the Sound are holding fish, and the influx of bunker into the tidal rivers has helped the fishing on the reefs just outside of the major rivers. Bluefishing has been up and down, and your odds increase greatly if you can locate big schools of bait, but there are enough around to keep things interesting. Fluke fishing continues to be an enigma. The Eastern Sound is a true grind, although some anglers are reporting easy limits. It seems that the fish which are there, are highly concentrated, so if you can find them and dial in your drifts, you’ll be rewarded. The Western Sound fluke fishing has been excellent, as the sand eels have invaded the area even more this week. These sand eels seem to be hanging to the west, so those hoping that they’ll spread out might be waiting a while, but if you’re willing to take a ride to the west, you should be rewarded with some keepers and plenty of short action to keep things interesting. The sea bass season is on a breather until July 8th unless you’re on board a for-hire charter or party boat vessel, but scup fishing is in full summer mode, with good reports from both shore and boat anglers. Don’t forget about the freshwater bite either; as we get close to extremely hot summer temperatures, there’s currently a great opportunity to find some big largemouth and smallmouth, with the largemouth taking refuge in the weeds and the smallmouth seeking deeper water and hard structure.