Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook, provided the following report: “The false albacore seem to have broken into smaller, scattered groups in the eastern Sound, so we’re all waiting on another wave to fill in. That said, there are still plenty of pods around, so if you put the time in and cover some ground, you’re bound to find a few. The striped bass bite continues to be as strong as it has all season, with big fish responding to eels, topwaters, and tubes. The reefs throughout the Sound are holding these bass, but the shallow Eastern Sound reefs are holding the most fish. Anglers should not go out with the intention of finding bird piles and blitzing bass yet. The water is still quite warm, so late-summer tactics like rock piles and rips are a better option than hoping to find birds. Sea bass and fluke reports have been quiet but should start to improve with the upcoming temperature drops. We will be hosting our TogTober event from October 16-19, and you can sign up online or in person. We have 90 anglers already signed up, so this year should be the biggest event yet!”
Heather from the Black Hawk out of Niantic reports: “Another great week of fall fishing! We started off the week with a bluefish and striped bass trip, and it did not disappoint. The blues were hungry from start to finish, leaving anglers with sore arms by the end of the trip. We had a nice mix of some sea bass as well to round out the coolers. When we headed back out for bottom fishing on Thursday, we were rewarded with an easy boat limit of porgies, with some nice sea bass and a few triggers, as well. Friday was more of the same, with excellent porgy fishing and a good mix of sea bass. Saturday was similar, and we had one keeper striped bass in the mix; congrats to the young angler who caught it! Now is the time to join us for some excellent fall fishing. Grab your tickets online and come and fill the freezer. We continue to 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!”
Middlebank Sportfishing out of Bridgeport provided the following report: “As we wind down our porgy season, the bite remains consistent. Anglers are having a great time filling their buckets and coolers with jumbo scup. We are still seeing huge numbers of weakfish, which make for delicious table fare. A few sea bass are in the mix when we can get out to our deep water drops. Be on the lookout for our October sailing schedule – the calendar will go live this weekend. Follow us on Facebook for daily reports and pics @middlebanksportfishing.”
Captain Nick Pace of Reel Mayhem Outfitters in Greenwich reports that the fishing remains very strong 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 some of the more consistent weakfish action that they’ve seen in years. Sea bassing took a considerable turn for the better this week, as the water temperatures dropped a few more degrees. This portends well for the next few weeks, and the early tautog season in October.
Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service provided the following report after working through some more tough wind days: “I got some trips in this week in between yet another east wind pitch early on. The fishing remains good for bonito, and we got into albies a couple of times the past week. Each time we found albies, it has been in snotty conditions, so things have been tough. Big bluefish have started their seasonal feeds at select areas locally and that has been fun, with gators to 13 pounds. The Game On Lures X-Walk has been working well for the blues. They are also hitting our Exo Jigs, as they have been keyed in on 3- to 4-inch peanut bunker, which they’re often chasing on the surface mid-day. No complaints there! Larger bass remain in the area, but catching them is not easy during daylight hours unless you drag the tubes deep; soon they will be ready for daytime eel drifts, which is a blast in our local waters!”
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Captain Chris Oliver of Keepin’ It Reel Sportfishing in New London told me that they focused on some midshore yellowfin tuna this week. He reported that it was really nice being able to travel 40 to 50 miles and have some insane yellowfin fishing! They were throwing a bunch of chunked butterfish behind the draggers, pulling the yellowfin away from the dragger and then pitching them whole butterfish or jigging them up with UVT jigs. Both methods were extremely successful. On days where they saw increased crowds and a slower bite, they reduced their leader to 30- and 40-pound fluorocarbon and immediately started hooking up again. Make sure you bring plenty of butters, so when you run into situations where you need to chunk heavier to get the attention of these yellows, you have more than enough available to throw. These trips can produce incredible action with one of their most recent outings seeing upwards of 25+ bites.
Anthony Charnetski of Game On Lures provided the following report: “Despite the summer-like conditions and water temps still hovering in the high 60s, this past week has really felt like fall fishing patterns emerged. Bass fishing has been improving in terms of numbers, and just about every reef you check on now has a few fish hanging on it. DuraTech Eels, topwaters, fluke-style baits, and live bait have been the top producers. Albies are still filtering in but are starting to really disperse throughout the Sound; however, your best bet for running into larger pods is out east. The number of boats chasing them this year has made it a little tough, so getting away from the fleet and finding smaller pods with fewer boats on it (or even to yourself), always seems to produce less finicky fish and better hook-up ratios. They have been on tiny silversides and other rain bait, so they can definitely be particular at times. The 3/4-ounce Exo Jig in electric chicken and lime time have been the deal for those picky fish! There are tons of bluefish around recently sticking tight to bait balls, so don’t be surprised if you lose a few jigs albie fishing. Bottom fishing for sea bass has been lights out but, as usual over the last few years, it requires picking through seemingly-endless shorts. Going out to deep water reefs and using larger baits has yielded better keeper-to-short ratios.”
Captain Mike Roy of Reel Cast Charters said that fall run fishing is on and there is plenty of action to go around. There are opportunities to target a variety of species in different ways and at the moment, they’re all working well. Striper fishing is very good, whether that be for big bass with live baits, mid-size fish on plugs, or blitzing schoolies, the fall run has these fish fired up. The same can be said for bluefish. There are tailor blues just about everywhere, snappers can be found along the beaches, and gators are on many of the deeper reefs. Albies and bonito can be found in the eastern Sound, and false albacore seem to outnumber the bones for a change; it has been an exciting albie season after a slow season last year. These fish can be finicky at times, but there are enough around that you should find some willing to chew. Bottom fishing is productive. There are plenty of scup and sea bass around, with the one caveat being most of the sea bass are on the smaller side. They have some spots open for fall run fishing, so give him a call and get those dates before they’re gone!
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
The false albacore migration through Long Island Sound remains on a steady pattern, with scattered pods of fish popping up in most of their usual haunts. The fish are keyed in on very small baits, so they can be finicky. That said, if you exercise patience and cover some ground, you should be rewarded with a couple of drag screamers.
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 water. It shouldn’t take you too long! 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 seem 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 bigger bass and the occasional gator bluefish. The Eastern Sound reefs and rips are especially ripe with large fish, including a few over 50 inches reportedly being caught on eels and light spinning gear. The water is still warm, so these bass are still in summer patterns, which includes fishing shallow water with live eels and large soft plastics during low-light conditions, or dragging the tube-and-worm rig through shallow rockpiles by day.
Scup are abundantly available across a range of depths, while the sea bass season has continued to improve, with a slightly better short to keeper ratio this week.