Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook, shared a report similar to last week, with strong blackfishing and some big striped bass blitzes in between some bouts of extremely rough seas and weather. The fish are still chewing early and often in shallow water, but with water temps dropping, fish are starting to transition deeper and can be caught across a number of different depths. This bite will only improve as the cooling temperatures start to move the fish around. Now we just need some decent weather days! The striped bass bite has been excellent. There are reportedly loads of nice fish around, with some of the action near the Connecticut River. Generally, topwater has been effective as well as subsurface divers, like SP Minnows and Alan’s Custom Combat Gliders producing fish. False albacore and bonito are still being occasionally spotted as well, so we’ll see if they’re still around after this latest round of weather.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “The news of the week is blackfish! While these ‘mixed bag’ trips are still targeting the porgies and sea bass, the blackfishing has been excellent. Last Tuesday was the highlight of the week, with limits of scup around the boat, as well as many limits of good sized tautog. Wednesday was a little trickier but still produced a good amount of fish. We’re looking forward to more of these trips as the season progresses. Don’t forget, our 12-hour combo trips start on weekdays in November… and we can’t wait! Grab your tickets so you can get out there with us.”
Middlebank Sport Fishing out of Bridgeport reports that the fishing remains very good in their operating area when the weather cooperates. They continue to fish for blackfish on their daily trips at 7 am. Weekday trips have been their choice if given the option, due to much less boat traffic. Those that can swing a weekday outing are catching limits consistently and beginner anglers are working through feeling out the bite. There are some gator bluefish up to 18 pounds in the area. When conditions allow, they have been able to jig up a few blues. The winds have had them at the dock for most of this week, but they are hoping to get back out on Saturday. All trips for the remainder of the season run limited load by reservation only. Book online at middlebanksportfishing.com.
Captain Nick Pace at Reel Mayhem Outfitters in Greenwich had another week of strong blackfishing, despite the brutal winds. This has been one of the best weeks of the season; temperatures are starting to drop quickly, so the bigger fish are transitioning to deeper water and getting more active. After this northeast blow, the fishing should be even better on the deeper reefs. They have been able to put together a full boat limit or close to it just about every time they have made it out, with fish over the double-digit mark hitting the scales.
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Captain Joe Diorio at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report: “It’s the last week of October and we are still catching stripers! While the average size of fish has gotten dramatically smaller, we are seeing some giant pods of 20- to 24-inch bass. These fish are super picky and are dialed in on extremely tiny bait. We have been doing best throwing small soft plastics and topwater lures like the 6-inch Joe Baggs Skipper. When we weren’t striper fishing, the tautog bite was red hot, yielding some really nice fish on the Joe Baggs Lay Perfect jigs. We have been fishing mostly in 15 to 25 feet of water. While the fishing remains hot, this will be our final week on the water. I want to thank everyone who has gotten out with us and followed along all season. We will now start running guided trout trips through April. Contact me to book your trips.”
Anthony Charnetski of Game On Lures provided the following report: “It’s been all about weather windows recently and the extended forecast, unfortunately, looks like more wind. Conditions have made it tough to get out but, when you’re able to, the bite is still good. The majority of bass seem to have vacated structure and have been on the move. If you happen to be in the right place at the right time, massive schools of larger bass have been putting on some incredible spectacles feeding on mid-sized bunker. A certain area could have thousands of bass one day and be a ghost town the next, so don’t count on where the fish were last time you got into them. Six-inch X-Walk’s, flukes, and Albie Snax have been killer imitations for the mid-sized bunker or as I like to call them “cashew bunker”. Bonito made a reappearance in the eastern part of the Sound, but I haven’t heard much recently on the false albacore front. With water temps dropping quickly the blackfish bite has been heating up! I’ve found the most success between 15 and 25 feet of water with a 1-ounce Rock Bottom Jig. As the season progresses, they will start moving to some deeper rock piles. This time of year is your best chance at getting into the blackfish of a lifetime, so bundle up and get out there!”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said they’ve been focused on striped bass and blackfish, and fishing for both species has been good. Stripers are on the move, and although the bite has been good, they have been finding them in different areas on each trip. Some days, the mouth of the river has been hot, other days they are chasing down blitzing fish on structure in the Sound. Tog fishing has been solid and they are catching them good on almost every trip. They plan to offer trips through November 16th and have openings if you’re looking. In November, there will be a greater focus on tog but they’ll also continue to fish the schools of stripers that will be migrating into their winter holding areas. Give Captain Mike and his team a call now to take advantage of those open spots while they last.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
As we head into November, tautog generally becomes the main focus for Connecticut anglers across Long Island Sound. That shift is already happening, although anglers really have to check the forecast and pick their days. This October has been one of the toughest I remember in terms of finding good weather windows. But the fall tautog season is a special one, as it marks the beginning of the end of our saltwater season, so let’s hope the weather cooperates a bit better in November than it did in October.
As for the weather windows this past week, some anglers were still working shallow rockpiles from 8 to 20 feet or so, but a lot of the better tog have come from deeper structure. In terms of gamefish, the eastern to central Sound continue to see large and plentiful striped bass blitzes along the shore and inside the rivers. The average size of bass may have dropped a bit, with many of these being schoolie blitzes, but there is no shortage of fish yet. Bluefish action was strong before the blow as well, with small blues all over the coastline and some bigger fish out by The Race. False albacore were still popping up from the central to the eastern Sound before this recent storm as well, so we’ll see if they decided to hang around.
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.