Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook reported: “Albies hit Connecticut pretty well in the last few days! We all are excited to have them back, and we’re hoping the good weather and wind the next few days has them fill in even more. Eastern Sound is where they hit first, but they almost always shoot west a bit too, so we expect them to be in most parts of the Sound soon. Striper fishing is good to the east of the Connecticut River, but not as much in the central Sound, from what I’ve heard. Smaller baits are usually best this time of year, and the topwater bite has been good as has the tube bite in shallow. For fluke, we are hearing of tons of shorts with some nice mid-20-inch class fish as well. Sea bass has been pretty much the same as all year—spotty and deep. Porgy fishing is very good; there are some giants coming in for those going for sea bass.”
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “It’s been a fantastic week of fall fishing. Bottom fishing trips were excellent, with easy limits of porgies and a good mix of sea bass as well. Friday’s trip was the highlight of the week, with unbelievable porgy fishing all day long. Limits all around the boat, and a good number of nice sea bass filled up the coolers. Our final fluke trip of the season on Thursday wasn’t what we were hoping for, but we did get a handful of keepers up to 7 pounds. Some nice sea bass were in the mix, too. Our weekly bluefish trip was phenomenal, with jumbo blues jumping on the jigs as soon as they hit the water. We saw some nice slot-size bass as well, which was a pleasant surprise. We were honored to once again work with the Northeast Saltwater Fishing Club for our annual “Hook Up with a Vet” trip. We are so grateful to be able to give back to those who have given so much to our country, and we had a beautiful night with great fishing! Our fall fishing schedule is here, and we will fish every day, with all bottom fishing trips (6 days a week) leaving at 6 a.m., and our bass and blues trip leaving at 7 a.m. Check the website or give us a call if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing everyone soon for some great fall fishing!”
Captain Ben at Apex Angling has been fishing out of Noank this week and reported that false albacore and bonito fishing has really started to pick up over the past few days. Small 2-inch bay anchovies seem to be their primary forage at the moment. Try matching the hatch with either size or color, like tan, pink, or transparent amber. To the west, bonito have really started to fill into deeper sections of the central Sound, and it seems like it could be shaping up to be one of the best bonito runs in over a decade. The bones are above-average size relative to the past 5 or so years, so that’s great to see, especially if you are keeping 1 or 2 for the table. Only a handful of albies have been caught in the central and western Sound so far, but he expects that to change as soon as the weather allows everyone to get back out fishing. Bluefish and striped bass action should only be getting stronger over the next few weeks. Contact Ben to fish out of Fairfield or Noank to try for a New England inshore grand slam!
Captain Chris of Keepin’ It Reel Sportfishing out of New London told me that for the last several weeks, he has been fishing and following the water that has been with that big eddy out east of Veatch Canyon. It’s finally pushing west, with the backside around Atlantis. They found more bait and fish hanging on the cold side of the break. They picked up a couple yellowfin as soon as they set in on the bank, then started marking some bigeyes down deep while working the wall of the canyon and cashed in on the overnight bite as the sun started to set. Immediately, they had yellows in the slick up high and feeding. It was another bail job until the wind picked up. They then went on the move to find some swordfish and went 0/1. Come morning, they started to look for bigeyes on the troll and managed to raise the right one, which acted erratic until they got it near the boat due to a massive tiger shark looking for a meal, and unfortunately, wound up breaking it off. Overall, the fishing was incredible and they took home another limit of yellowfin up to 75 pounds and a longfin (albacore) after going 0/1 on swords 0/3 on bigeyes.
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Captain Nick Pace of Reel Mayhem Outfitters out of Greenwich reports that he had one of the stronger weeks of the year in the Western Sound. The Norwalk area is putting up some tremendous bottom fishing at the moment, with jumbo porgies for everyone and increased numbers of keeper sea bass along with more consistent weakfish action than they’ve seen in years. Water temperatures have just dipped below 70 degrees, and the best bites seem to be coming in 50 to 70 feet of water. While the water is cooling, the bite certainly isn’t; there’s still plenty of great fall fishing ahead.
Middlebank Sport Fishing out of Bridgeport reports that the fall run has kicked off in their neck of the woods, but they’re eagerly awaiting the fall blackfish season! There are loads of porgies around, which continue to fill buckets and coolers. There has also been a major increase in weakfish action this week in shallow water. The numbers are good, so if they’re on your bucket list, now is the time! This will be their last weekend of 4 PM afternoon trips, and they wanted to thank anyone who joined them on one of these trips this season. They will continue to sail daily by reservation only through October 9, when they will adjust their schedule for the start of blackfish season. Check their Facebook page for daily updates and reports. Tickets can be purchased online at middlebanksportfishing.com.
After working through numerous poor forecast days, Captain Chris at Elser Guide Service reported: “I’ve been blown off the water again most of this week, but we’ve capitalized on our better weather days! Bonito fishing has been nothing short of amazing. We are getting into multiple schools and are usually able to find fish away from the fleet most of the time. Pink and white 1-ounce Exo Jigs are the lures of choice for bones even though they are feeding on small 1- to 2-inch anchovies. Bass and blues are holding strong in deeper water, but it’s still mostly a jigging and trolling game. Nighttime bass fishermen, however, are doing well closer to shore. The fishing is hot, but the east winds are taking a toll on fishable days. Luckily, next week’s conditions look much more settled.”
Captain Joe Diorio at Diorio Guide Service reported: “Gotta love the fall run! We are in primetime right about now. Stripers and albies—what more could you ask for?! There have been a lot of really big stripers in the area. Lately, we have been fishing 10 to 40 feet of water using JoeBaggs Eels on jigheads, as well as live eels. The false albacore are in, and they are thick. The first 2 weeks of fishing albies, they ate everything that we tossed at them. This week, they are starting to become much more focused on bay anchovies. We have been doing well on the 3/4-ounce JoeBaggs Resin Jigs and weightless Albie Snax. The fall run should continue to be good here for the next month or so. I assume in the next week or two, we should see these stripers start to really school up and smash topwater lures, which we are all looking forward to. We have dates available for the fall run. Contact us before it’s over!”
Anthony Charnetski of Game On Lures reported: “The albie invasion has finally commenced! There were rumors of pods throughout the Sound since last week, but the masses finally arrived over the weekend. Basically, all of the eastern CT shoreline was an albie highway with some pretty epic feeds. They are mainly on smaller silversides and rain bait, so they can be a little finicky, but 3/4-ounce EXO Jigs in electric chicken and silver seem to be the ticket. Since the weekend, the albies have spread out a bit and guys in the western part of the state are starting to see them pop up. They have still been filtering in pretty steadily, and strong incoming tides mixed with southeast winds should bring another nice wave of fish. The bass bite is still top notch, too! As the water cools, we will start to see some bigger fish roll that are more willing to eat rolling through. I’m already seeing more upper-slot and over-slot fish join in on topwater feeds throughout the area. All the usual offerings have been working great; large soft plastics, X-Walks, flukes and twitchbaits, and bucktails are sealing the deal. Bottom fishing seems to be on one day and off the next, but the number of shorts you have to go through makes it tough, especially fluke. Using larger baits has been the remedy to this issue, and although you will get fewer bites, the fish that do chew are much better quality. The fall run just kicked off and it’s already looking 10 times better than last year. Get out there and get fishing!”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said the fall run is off to a great start. They’ve seen some bonito around but not too many albies just yet, although that could change any day. Striped bass fishing has been excellent, and they are catching a variety of sizes on most every trip. They’ve had everything from schoolies up to cow-sized bass, and the presence of those smaller fish is usually a pretty good indication that the fall run is on. There are blues in the mix as well. Another sign of the season is the vast amounts of small bait in eastern Long Island Sound. Half-inch peanut bunker, silversides and bay anchovies are all present. Captain Mike said this full moon should move some fish around, and he expects to see more and more topwater blitzes after the moon. They do have some spots open for fall run fishing, so give his team a call now to take advantage of those spots while they last.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
For the first time in a few years, the false albacore patterns across CT seem normal, with solid reports of fish moving in from the east around Groton, along with an influx of fish hitting the Western Sound from Long Island. Regardless of what you’re targeting, there is an incredible amount of small bait, bird activity, and topwater action. All that equates to getting in the boat, going for a ride, and keeping your eyes open for disrupted surface water. It shouldn’t take you too long to find some life! Bonito reports, while not always consistent, have been coming from just about everywhere in the state, so that’s another species you’re likely to run into while working the small bait schools. There also seems to be increased numbers of Spanish mackerel as far east as Niantic this week.
For those looking for bigger fish, the popular late summer reefs and rips are holding quality bass and the occasional gator bluefish. A lot of these bass can also be found feeding in shallow water, so live eels and large soft plastics have been getting the job done. Shark sightings and interactions have decreased but there are still a good deal of browns and threshers around, so if you have some heavier gear, be sure to bring it along. Scup are coming from just about every piece of structure, regardless of depth, while the sea bass bite has remained steady as the water starts to cool, although short fish still dominate the catch.