Connecticut Fishing Report

Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook, reports that the bite is heating up, although it can be inconsistent from day to day and trip to trip. Anglers are finding some big bass locally on soft plastics, spoons, and eels, but on other days they’re struggling. He’s also selling a lot of flutter spoons and paddletail/jig combos, so those are clearly a hot setup at the moment. Matt doesn’t think they’ve gotten their full push of local bunker yet, but the numbers have improved since last week. No word on fluke or porgies yet — it’s been pretty cold, so expect that to change within the next couple of weeks. Bluefish reports have been quiet as well, but they’ll inevitably show up any day now, as there have been a few scattered reports from both east and west.

Heather, from the Black Hawk in Niantic, provided the following report: “Our week started off with one of our favorite trips — the VIP (Visually Impaired Persons) trip with the Berlin Lions Club. We had a beautiful day, great company, and good fishing, so it doesn’t get much better than that! Monday night’s squid trip was excellent, with doubles and even triples coming over the rails all night long. Our private charter later in the week started off slow on the porgy grounds, so we headed over to do some bass fishing, and it was a huge success! We had to release many fish that were over the limit, but had some nice slot fish as well. Our trips on Friday and Saturday showed slower porgy fishing in the mornings that picked up as the day went on, but never materialized into what we hoped for. We put in some overtime both days to make sure everyone went home with fish in their coolers. Our squid trips on those same days were the opposite — fishing started off with a bang and moved into a steady pick as darkness fell. We lost our Sunday trips due to windy conditions. We’re looking forward to our squid trip on Monday night and our bass trip on Thursday afternoon, in addition to our porgy trips this week. We’re still booking charters for the summer, so email the office to get your date on the calendar. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!”

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Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said that the season has been good so far, with more and more bass showing up every week. They’ve been catching fish across all different types of structure with a variety of techniques, finding fish chasing lures on shallow flats as well as pounding soft plastics on jigs and flutter spoons in deep water. There’s a ton of bait in the area — especially squid and bunker — and the bass have been all over the schools. They have some openings over the next couple of weeks, and we’re heading into a prime part of the season. Captain Mike and his team are already booking prime dates for the rest of the season, so it’s never too early to lock yours in. Give him a call to book a spot now.

Anthony Charnetski at Game On Lures provided the following report for the week: “As bunker keeps rolling in by the day, the striped bass bite has been getting better each trip. Pick a river or reef on the Sound and there most likely are some bass on it. Now only time will tell if this biomass of fish will stick around or move on — fingers crossed the bunker continues to move in and keep the fish fat and happy. Early mornings and nighttime have been the most productive, but I’ve noticed the bite has been very tide-dependent in whatever specific area you’re fishing. Large topwaters like the 8-inch X-Walk have been getting some sizable bass this past week. Weightless straight-tail plastics and spoons have also been doing the trick. Sea bass fishing has been so-so, but a few buddies have reported that the average size has been a little better than years past. The bite should only get better from here, so get out there and wet a line!”

Captain Stephanie, from Middlebank Sport Fishing out of Bridgeport, said they have started their spring/early summer porgy trips, and the early results have been encouraging. Their recent trips have seen many anglers managing limits of porgies, with a few hubcaps showing up in the mix. There are also some decent fluke in the mix and a push of mackerel that seems to be inhabiting the Western Sound once again. As temperatures continue to rise, things will only get better. They are sailing daily from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and on weekend afternoons from 4–8 p.m. Visit their Facebook page for schedule updates and daily fishing reports.

Captain Ben Burdine, from Apex Angling CT, told me that striper fishing in western Long Island Sound remains red hot, as they are now in the peak of the spring migration. The average size of fish is around 40 inches — impressive, though also a bit alarming given the noticeable lack of smaller fish recently. More post-spawn fish are expected to continue arriving after the full moon this weekend, as fish leave the Hudson River and enter Long Island Sound. The best fishing has been on deep-water reefs, around bunker schools, and on nearshore shoals loaded with sand eels. Find a wolfpack on your sonar, go upcurrent, and start a long drift with the engine shut off. Blind casting XL topwater plugs and working subsurface lures like glide baits, metal-lipped swimmers, and bucktails has been very effective.

Captain Chris, at Elser Guide Service, said the fishing has continued to be solid in his neck of the woods. Some days are red hot and others are a bit tougher, as usual, but the amount of bait in the area should keep things fairly consistent. He’s seeing mackerel, bunker, and sand eels all over the Western Sound, which has translated to bass from 20 inches to 30 pounds. The mackerel numbers appear to be strong once again, and he was seeing some large topwater blitzes of bass feeding on them. There’s also quite a bit more bunker than last week, though the schools have been setting up in very specific areas rather than spreading out. There’s been no need for trolling — all the fish have been coming on Game On X-Walks and 3- to 4-ounce jigs like the A47, and the Exo jig from Game On Lures. Those Exos fish a bit like a flutter spoon, which is another top producer, especially on the weaker tides. Chris is mostly booked up but has a few openings, including quite a few on Mondays — if anyone is looking to get out on a Monday morning, give him a shout!

Connecticut Fishing Forecast

As we move past Memorial Day Weekend, the fishing across Connecticut is continuing to move in the right direction, with striped bass remaining the main focus for most anglers. Some better weather after the weekend has started to tick up the water temperatures, so summer fishing has gone from knocking on the door to busting it down. The tidal rivers are still holding plenty of fish, but dirty river water has driven a lot of anglers to the local reefs — and they’ve been rewarded. The usual hotspot reefs throughout the state are holding good numbers of fish, and the first arrivals of some big fish pushing 40-plus pounds have shown up this week. Just about every angler who has gotten out for bass this week has reported loads of bait in the Sound, which can include bunker of all sizes, herring, mackerel, silversides, and/or squid.

The big bass bite in the far western Sound has continued to creep east as well, with some excellent reports of big bass and bluefish from Norwalk to Fairfield. Bunker reports have been quieter out west than usual, but a mass concentration of mackerel has the bass and some big bluefish feeding heavily. Both the scup and summer flounder fisheries are lagging a bit behind, as water temperatures are still low — specifically for the latter. That said, the first reports of both species, along with some solid black sea bass, are starting to come in locally. And if you don’t mind making the run over to the Long Island side, you should be rewarded with good fishing for fluke and scup.