Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook reports that the Connecticut tautog opener started out hot with multiple double-digit fish coming from shallow water. There are a lot of short fish out there to pick through, but as the water temperatures drop, those pesky bait stealers like scup should start to bail out of the region. There are some quality fish coming from deep water as well, but the ease of fishing shallow has kept most anglers working 20 feet or less. Prior to the storm, the false albacore fishing was better than it has been all season in the Eastern Sound, and we’ll see if they decided to hang around. Striper fishing has been excellent, with plenty of blitzing bass of all size classes. These fish can be found all over the shoreline, and occasionally up in the rivers/estuaries when the weather is cooperating. The bluefish bite was similar, with huge blitzes of tailor blues from the CT River to the Rhode Island border and around Plum Gut before the storm. With the weather settling down for the weekend, we’re all waiting to see if all this life stuck around.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “The last few days have been tough with the weather, but prior to the blow we had another great week of fishing. We started the week with our bass and blues trips, and although we were hampered by the seals, we still had plenty of blues to fill the coolers. We lost our trip on Wednesday due to the weather, but the remainder of the week showed excellent bottom fishing. Plenty of porgies, with some nice sea bass mixed in as well. We even had some keeper blackfish on Saturday! We look forward to more blackfish trips as the season progresses. A special congrats goes out to Ethan for his pool-winning sea bass on Friday’s trip. From all of the calls and emails we’ve received, we know you’re all excited about the blackfish season. We’ll have crabs on board every day now, and we’ll start our famous 12-hour combo trips in November. Stay tuned and grab your tickets so you can join us soon! Check the website or give us a call if you have any questions.”
Middlebank Sportfishing out of Bridgeport reports that the fishing remains very good in their operating area, especially when the weather cooperates. There were plenty of scup, sea bass and weakfish around at the tail end of last week, but they have now switched over to primarily targeting blackfish. Despite some tough conditions, they found some quality tautog action this week, including limits for a number of anglers. They will continue sailing daily for blackfish by reservation only. Tickets can be purchased on their website middlebanksportfishing.com.
Captain Nick Pace at Reel Mayhem Outfitters in Greenwich started their fall blackfish season on the 10th and have only missed one day so far, despite the brutal winds! They have been able to put together a full boat limit or close to it on just about every trip since the opener. They saw fish to 8-pounds and some anglers caught a total of 9 to 15 keepers. Those fishing light jigs on sensitive spinning gear have had the best results, as the fish remain in very shallow water. Nick has been mostly targeting roughly 8 to 20 feet of water this week. The water temperatures are starting to drop nicely, and that has coincided with an obvious uptick in blackfish activity. The cooler water should start to cull out some of the smaller/nuisance fish, so things will only get better from here.
Captain Chris at Elser Guide Service continued to battle through some tough weather days and, like many captains along the coast, lost a few trips this week. That said, when he has been able to get out, there is some encouraging fishing around the Western Sound. It has been hard to spot blitzing false albacore or bonito due to the chop, but he had some solid success blind casting for striped bass. He’s finding plenty of quality bass near rocky structure on Game On paddletails on ½-ounce jigheads. When targeting bigger bass on the reefs and rips, he is casting live eels and Duratech 13-inch plastic eels, and both have been producing good results. Big bluefish are around on the usual deep-water reefs, but they have been sporadic from day to day. Hopefully when the swell clears and the surf settles, the Western Sound will come alive with topwater blitzes of bass, blues and late-season hardtails!
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Captain Joe Diorio of Diorio Guide Service reported that the fishing has been pure mayhem this past week, as they are now at the peak of the fall run. Bait is finally starting to dump out of the smaller creeks/rivers and into the Sound. Stripers and bluefish have been terrorizing the bait, not only before the storm, but following it. On Wednesday, they caught over 50 bass on topwater using the Joe Baggs Skipper and The Doc. Joe anticipates another few weeks of really good striper fishing before these fish start to migrate south. When they haven’t been targeting stripers, they have been doing very well with tautog in shallow water, roughly 7 to 18 feet. They have been using 3/4- to 2-ounce Joe Baggs jigs with green crabs, which has yielded some very nice tog. Joe will be running trips for a few more weeks and has a few more dates available. Contact him to get in on the action!
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Anthony Charnetski of Game On Lures provided the following report for the week: “Fishing has been improving on all fronts with temperatures finally dropping. Striped bass fishing has been getting better, and some larger fish are starting to move through the area. Schools of adult bunker are starting to show again and have been inciting some exciting feeds. Peanut bunker has been the main forage around this area and I’ve been finding some big schools of slot/schoolie fish bullying them. Giant blues also continue to pop up on most trips. Large plastics, X-Walks, and fluke-style baits have all been working great. Tautog season is off to a great start, and most anglers had no trouble getting a quick limit. I have been targeting the 10- to 25–foot range with our 3/4-ounce Rock Bottom jigs! Both false albacore and bonito have been very sporadic the last couple of weeks, but were showing signs of improvement before the storm, so we’ll see if the nor’easter brought in another wave.”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said that the fall run is on and they are catching blackfish, striped bass, bluefish, bonito, false albacore and sea bass on any given trip. The blackfish season started off with good fishing. Striped bass fishing has been consistent, and they are catching fish from schoolie to cow caliber. The bluefish action was strong around The Race and Plum Gut before the storm, and they should still be out there this weekend. Black sea bass activity ticked up this week and as previously mentioned, tautog fishing should continue to be very good going forward. They do have some spots open for fall run fishing and they are now booking fall blackfish trips as well, so give his team a call now to take advantage of those spots while they last.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
The fall blackfish season opened with a bang across Connecticut, with just about every shop and charter captain reporting some excellent togging on the fall opener. The first few days of the season were frenetic with shops flying though crabs, jigs and rigs, and anglers facing some sporty conditions following two beautiful days on Friday and Saturday. Anglers working shallow rockpiles from 8 to 20 feet or so reported strong results on the opener, including multiple double-digit fish weighed in. Those who braved the conditions during the week reported even better results, and much less fishing pressure than we usually have during the first week of the season.
In terms of gamefish, the eastern to central Sound saw large striped bass blitzes along the shore and inside the rivers last weekend. Post-storm reports indicate that the bass bite has not slowed down, with anglers experiencing some epic topwater fishing this week. The bluefish action was strong pre-storm as well, with small bluefish all over the coastline and some bigger fish out by The Race. False albacore numbers from the central to the eastern Sound were much better last weekend as well, and everyone’s hoping the nor’easter helped the bite instead of inhibiting it.
Flows are generally low to moderate in the trout streams, despite the rain, and fall trout results have been solid.
Crisp fall mornings, blitzing fish, and that distinct thump of a big tautog will only last so long, so get out and capitalize on some of the best fishing of the season.