Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me that we’ve been in a bit of a holding pattern for the last couple of weeks. Fall run fishing is on everyone’s minds; hardtails are creeping west from Massachusetts and Rhode Island and there are even some reports of them in Montauk, so we are probably looking at a local landfall between September 10 and 15, barring any insane storms. Striper fishing is mostly the same as the last few weeks with a little more blitz activity, along with big bass on the local reefs taking live baits and jigs. We are starting to see some peanut bunker near the mouths of feeder creeks and tidal rivers. Bluefish are scattered, but numbers are good enough where you’re likely to see a big pod of them finning or feeding on most trips. Sea bass are hanging deeper, while the remaining fluke seem to be both shallow and deep, anywhere from 30 to 60 feet.
Captain Matt at Stonington Stripers told me that things continued to improve this week. He found some really good striped bass fishing, and there have been some of the biggest bluefish of the year mixed in. These bass will almost always take live eels, but Matt has been finding plenty of action on large topwaters and 9-inch Slug-gos during the morning hours. Once the sun comes up, you can still find fish around the surface, but you often have to downsize your offering to Jumpin Minnows or Albie Snax. The hardtails aren’t in CT in full force just yet, but once they are, those smaller topwater offerings, along with standard casting jigs, should work for any of the species available. Matt was also able to make his way offshore this week and caught and released an 80-inch bluefin on spinning gear. Congrats to Matt on that fish!
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Heather from the Blackhawk in Niantic provided the following report: “Even though summer is coming to an end, the fishing is still hot on the Black Hawk! Our weekday bottom fishing trips again had loads of jumbo porgies around the boat, and some nice keeper sea bass as well. Throw in a few fluke here and there, and it was a great week of fishing. Special congrats to some of our young anglers who were fishing for the first time this week and had a blast reeling in the porgies all day long. Our bass and blue trips again showed some spectacular fishing, with huge blues coming over the rails. Anglers were exhausted after reeling in these jumbos all afternoon. There are only a few of these After Work Special trips left, be sure to join us! We’re ready for some fall fishing—our schedule changes in September and all trips leave at 6 a.m. now, with only one trip on the weekends instead of two. Check the website for details and grab your tickets!”
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Joe at Diorio Guide Service told me that fishing has been incredible over the past week and has included a nice mix of striped bass and tuna. When striper fishing, they have been targeting areas from 8 to 25 feet of water. The 14.5-inch JoeBaggs eel on a jighead, along with live eels, either weightless or 3-wayed (depending on the tide), have been getting the job done. Most of the tuna have been coming via jigging or popping around the temperature breaks. UVT jigs, JoeBaggs resin jigs, and RonZs have been the top jigs, with Joe Baggs Skippers and various poppers doing work on the topwater. Fishing should only continue to get better with the fall run right around the corner. Joe still has a few dates available for September and October, so contact him soon for a date!
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Anthony from Game On Lures provided the following report this week: “Small bait has continued to flood the Central Sound! Endless balls of peanut bunker, silversides, and rain bait are multiplying by the day. The excess bait has made for some awesome topwater feeds, with striped bass of all sizes, although most are in the schoolie to slot range. The bluefish have been lacking, and if they do show up this time of year, it tends to be smaller fish. The classic bunker or live eel will always produce large fish, but with the waters finally cooling, the 6-inch X-Walk has been getting some solid bites around low light. Black sea bass, fluke, and porgy fishing remain pretty consistent with some larger fish moving in shallow to cash in on the bait buffet. I’ve seen plenty of albies already being caught up in the Cape and some rumors of them in central Rhode Island. With all this bait around locally, fingers crossed the stars align and we have a great hardtail run this season!”
When I talked to Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service he told me that the bluefish and striper fishing remains solid in his neck of the woods. Trolling the tube and worm during the daylight hours has been very consistent, but the topwater bite is still limited to the first and last hours of daylight lately. Chris has seen a good deal of bass over 30 pounds, although at times, it has been tough to keep the bluefish off the hook. Their light-tackle trips have been slower, with the only action coming during specific tides and conditions. He’s been seeing bonito on almost every trip, but not in the numbers where they’re easy to dial in. Spanish mackerel from 18 to 20 inches are still around in good numbers and are helping to pick up the slack on the light-tackle trips. These recent cool nights should help extend the morning topwater bite for sure, and Chris is expecting to see false albacore in the area any day now!
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters reported that he’s still catching a lot of bass, with the best action for big fish right now on live bait. Things seem to be shaping up very nicely for the fall run. The biggest fish are responding to live baits fished in deeper, cooler water and action has been consistent. Mike said there have been schoolie and slot-size fish blitzing on top and those bass have been coughing up juvenile butterfish, so the early signs of the fall run have been strong. They are also seeing more topwater blitzes from bluefish and anticipate that to continue, especially with the arrival of hardtails amplifying the action. There have been some encouraging false albacore reports just to our east, so it shouldn’t be long before everything blows open. Captain Mike and his team have a few openings over the coming weeks, so be sure to reach out before they’re all filled!
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Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Fall fishing took a turn for the better this week, as topwater feeds of bass, bluefish, bonito, and Spanish mackerel have started to pick up throughout the Sound. Striped bass are being caught from the eastern to western Sound, and fish are showing up in the rivers as well. The reefs are holding quality late-summer fish, with anglers taking them on the tube and worm, along with live eels. There have been quite a bit of topwater action from striped bass throughout the Sound this week as well. The usual hotspots around Fishers, Bartletts, The Race, The Gut, and Middleground are all holding blitzing or boiling fish, but you’re likely to run into them closer to home as well. These fish are feeding on juvenile butterfish, silversides, and peanut bunker, all of which have become plentiful. Bluefish of mixed sizes, Spanish mackerel, and bonito have joined the party as well, although the hardtail action seems mostly reserved to the Western Sound at this time. False albacore are just starting to show up in Rhode Island, so we should see some entering our waters at some point this week or next. And of course, scup are coming from just about every piece of structure, regardless of depth, while the sea bass season has kicked into gear over deeper structure.
Once again, the “cows” well over the 31″ keeper limit will not survive when you horse them in and hold them out of the water for a picture. These fish are the future of this fishery, and you are destroying it. You’ll howl like banshees when this fishery is completely shut down by the authorities.
When you guys from OTW will give a report that includes Norwalk, Stamford and Greenwich.
AND FAIRFIELD BRIGEPORT STRATFORD