Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook hasn’t been out for striped bass as much as usual over the past week or so for a myriad of reasons, but reports coming through the shop are generally solid. Customers are reporting solid topwater bites during low-light conditions, very strong eeling after dark, and good results with fresh bunker chunks if you can find them. If you can’t find live bait, don’t hesitate to throw a plastic eel like the GT, as they remain top producers as well. As far as bottom fishing, the sea bass are still deep, and the bite is a bit tough. Fluke reports have been a bit better, and so has the scup fishing, which hit its mid-summer stride this week. The offshore bite has really dominated the conversation around the shop, with most anglers that have capable vessels getting out there. South of Montauk to southeast of Block Island is holding mostly 40- to 50-inch bluefin, with some much larger fish in the mix. Some of the top producers have been pink or sand eel-patterned UVT jigs and Chatter Streakers, pink Ron Zs, and occasionally topwater poppers. The troll bite has been good on purple, white, green, or natural bars/chains.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “Porgy fishing continues to be excellent which means full coolers and happy customers. A few sea bass in the mix as well to round out the coolers. Our fluke trip on Thursday was on the slower side, with many shorts. We were still able to put some nice fish in the coolers, though. Beyond the fishing, we’d like to thank everyone who joined us for our fireworks cruise on Saturday night. It was our annual “Christmas in July” toy and book drive, and we got a ton of toys and books along with an amazing turnout. We thank everyone who contributed to such a spectacular evening. A reminder about our latest Black Hawk and the Community program—our summer food drive. Bring the specified food items for our food drive, and have your name entered in the drawing. Once a week for the next 4 weeks, we’ll pick one winner each week who will have their trip refunded! Check our website and Facebook page for more info. We’re sailing 7 days a week, so be sure to check our calendar online and grab a ticket for your trip.”
Captain Chris Oliver of Keepin’ It Reel Sportfishing out of New London took the last few days off of chartering to prepare for the Tri-State Canyon Shootout but found strong tuna fishing earlier in the week. On one trip they landed over twenty 40- to 45-inch bluefin south of Montauk! Further offshore in the canyons, the pots are full of mahi ranging from small chickens to larger bulls. Captain Chris was also fortunate enough to find a nice bigeye and a few longfin tunas out on the edge. The mid-shore bluefin scene will only continue to get better over the next few weeks. His best advice if you head out to the mid-shore grounds is to steer clear of the fleets. There are fish spread all over from south of Montauk to east of Block, so stay away from the crowds and you’ll probably find a pod all to yourself.
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Captain Joe Diorio at Diorio Guide Service told me that fishing has been very, very good this past week. The stripers have settled into their summer haunts, and they are chewing big time. They have been doing their best using JoeBaggs 13.5-inch Block Island Eels on SPJ jigheads very first thing in the morning. As the sun gets higher in the sky, the bass get more selective, but throwing live eels has been irresistible to the bass. Most of the fish are in the 42- to 46-inch range with a bunch from 47 to 51 inches mixed in. In addition to the lights-out striper fishing, they have been getting out on the tuna grounds. The tuna fishing has been great one day and slow the next. Finding the life has been pretty easy, but some days the tuna aren’t in it and working “dead” water can be more productive. Joe said they have been trolling until they find the fish, and once they find them, they have been able to get them to eat JoeBaggs and UVT jigs. Both bass and tuna fishing will only continue to get better as we push through the summer, and Joe still has some prime dates available!
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Middlebank Sportfishing in Bridgeport provided the following report for the week: “We had much improved porgy fishing this past week aboard the Middlebank II! Anglers are having a great time pulling large scup over the rails, adding up to a couple dinners worth of fresh fish. We are still utilizing two methods of fishing (anchoring and drifting) depending on the days conditions to give our customers the best chance of filling a bucket. While on the drift, this opens us up to more of a bycatch and we’ve had a couple of fluke come up. We ran two special deep water fluke trips on Monday and Tuesday that produced a respectable amount of keeper fluke, with the biggest one being a beautiful 27.5-inch, 8-pound doormat! Congratulations to Phil on this great catch. Check us out on Facebook at Middlebank Sport Fishing to see our daily catch reports.”
Captain Chris at Elser Guide Service had another strong week of fishing, with similar results to the last few weeks. Daytime striped bass action has primarily come from trolling the tube and worm, as the big fish have been holding tight to the bottom during the day. Anglers who like to chunk fresh bunker or drift eels after dark are also finding great success right now. Chris is still waiting for the topwater fishery to pick up steam. If the amount of small bait in the Western Sound is any indication, topwater action should fire up soon. Chris also expects to start seeing the Spanish mackerel in the near future. Fluke and sea bass fishing remains slow in his area.
Anthony at Game On Lures provided the following report for the week: “Fishing has remained steady for the most part, however, this year just feels different than the normal summer program. The lack of adult bunker in the area is extremely concerning and has definitely had a negative impact on the inshore bite. Usually, our reefs and rivers are flooded with bait by now, but I have yet to see them in numbers. The biggest change in recent weeks is the mass arrival of brown sharks. In the past few weeks, they have absolutely invaded the Sound and seem to show up whenever you get on a good bite. That being said, there is still some great fishing to be had. Striped bass have been picky during the daytime, so low light and nighttime have been the best times to target them. Large plastics, topwaters and live eels are all excellent choices to successfully target them. The Game On Lures 13-inch Duratech Eel rigged on a jighead has been my go-to bait for the night time sessions. Fluke fishing has been improving, and some better sized fish are being caught regularly. Gulp on jigheads, fluke spoons, hi-lo rigs and bucktails have all been working great. I’ve been seeing some nice-sized fluke caught very close to the shore, so don’t be afraid to fish all depths. Sea bass has remained steady, but it seems you have to go through tons of shorts for a keeper. EXO Jigs, slow-pitch jigs and soft plastics on jigheads have been getting some of the bigger fish to bite. Porgy fishing has been lights out, and they have been chewing the 3/4-ounce EXO Jig bounced off the bottom. For the guys who are able to get out there, the mid-shore tuna bite has been red hot. Jigs, poppers, plastics, spreader bars and live bait have been the deal!”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said that we have fully entered big bass season in the central and eastern sound. Their trips this time of year are focused mostly on fishing with live bait, bunker and eels for big bass. They are seeing some nice fish already and things should get even better as the water continues to warm, and the fish settle into fairly predictable patterns. They are catching some fish on lures as well, including soft plastics and topwater plugs during low-light periods, but it’s mostly a live bait game. Eels are working well when bunker are scarce. If you can find bunker to liveline, your chances at a cow bass this time of year are high. There are some gator blues in the mid-teen range scattered about in the bass schools, but they haven’t seen a lot of them yet. They have openings for the end of July and August, so give their team a call to take advantage of those spots while they last.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Hot temperatures haven’t stopped the hot fishing across Connecticut. The relatively cooler water in Eastern Long Island Sound is once again a haven for summer striped bass. For those who are staying inshore instead of running out for tuna, you should have no shortage of striped bass and decent bottom fishing opportunities. Striped bass are being caught throughout the sound and in its major tributaries, with the Eastern Sound reefs starting to take charge this week. There has been a serious lack of bunker in the Central and Eastern Sound, but if you can find them, you stand to find some bass. No bunker, no worries though, as bass are all over the usual Eastern Sound reefs and will eat eels, soft plastics, jigs, and spoons. The Western Sound is still holding plenty of quality fish, but with the weather warming, the bite has transitioned to a mainly daytime troll bite, or a chunking/eeling bite after dark.
The scup bite has hit its summer stride, with no shortage of hubcaps throughout the Sound. Scup are coming from just about every piece of structure for shore and boat anglers. Keeper sea bass have been a bit tougher to find, but stick to deeper water for the best chance at locating at pile. Fluke fishing has actually taken a turn for the better this week, with enough keepers being reported to make it worth your while. These fluke seem to be coming from all different areas/depths, so don’t be afraid to bounce around. Those targeting summer blackfish are also finding some success, and you just might find some keeper tog as bycatch while targeting the aforementioned species.
Spanish mackerel and bonito reports haven’t popped up just yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re adding them to the list of targetable species in next week’s report.