Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me that the talk of the last few days has been the arrival of false albacore. They showed up in strong numbers at some of the usual hotspots to the east, so here’s hoping they hang around and start spreading into the Sound. There has also been word of bonito as close as The Race. Other than that, fluke and sea bass action is still solid in 50 feet of water and deeper. The sea bass bite seems better than the fluke bite, but the expectation for either species should be to pick through shorts. There really is no “easy button” for keepers this year. Try big squid baits for both species, along with metal jigs for sea bass. Striped bass have been on and off, with better action earlier and later in the day. There are still plenty of large stripers over 45 inches around, and they should be here through much of September if it stays warm. Eels are great this time of year for easy bites. Try smaller offerings for smaller fish, like swimbaits, Mag Darters, SP Minnows, and similar lures. Porgy fishing is also going well, with some really big fish coming on high-low rigs baited with clams and squid.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “September has brought us our fall fishing schedule and some great fishing trips! We had a great trip with the Waterford Napa store on Wednesday night, where the group had a great time together outside of work and caught plenty of porgies and sea bass to fill the coolers, too! Thursday’s fluke trip wasn’t what we’d hoped for; a handful of keepers, some sea bass, and many shorts. Friday afternoon’s after-work special trip had a good number of cocktail-sized blues. Our Saturday day trip was the hit of the week, with loads of porgies, good numbers of sea bass, and nice triggerfish to round out the coolers. Now is the time to come fishing and fill the freezer for the winter! Grab your tickets and join us!”
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Captain Joe Diorio at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report for the week: “Fishing has been extremely good on the inshore grounds. Striper fishing has been getting better and better each day. This week we caught bass to 40 pounds. We are finding most of the stripers in 10 to 30 feet of water. They have been crushing weightless live eels and topwater lures like the Joe Baggs Skipper. We typically can catch four to five bass at a spot before the sharks appear. After that, we move to another spot and catch some more. We are hoping that with the cooling weather, these sharks will move south as soon as possible. Albies have made a strong appearance this week as well. We are catching lots of them each trip. Joe Baggs Resin jigs and Albie Snax have been killing it for us. Bluefin tuna on the midshore grounds this past week was pretty slow. We have been getting one to three fish each day on the jig or live bait. On Wednesday, we covered some ground and ended up finding some yellowfin tuna, which was a lot of fun. We got them on jigs and poppers. Over the next few weeks, we will be transitioning from mostly offshore to doing all inshore fishing as the fall run heats up. This is my favorite time of the season, as we are catching really big bass and albies.” Contact Joe to book your dates before it’s too late.
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Captain Chris Oliver of Keepin’ It Reel Sportfishing out of New London provided the following report for the week: “We put a lot of miles on last week for our midshore trips. We were able to pick off a few bluefin we found at the CIA grounds that were mixed in with giant schools of albies. The albie fishing was lock-and-load on the UVT jigs south of Block. In an effort to get away from the albies, we went south looking for temp breaks in hopes of finding yellowfin. We set up on very large slicks that were loaded with petrels. We started marking heavy and dropped the UVT jigs. It was lock-and-load on albies again! We were fortunate enough to connect on some yellows. The 220g UVT Shore Catch Electric Chicken and the 7-ounce Glow Head Chief with a Pink Tail were both very productive with the tuna and the albies.”
Geno from Total Tackle in Old Saybrook said he’s heard of several good bites this week from customers who were bottom fishing, catching big blues and snappers, while others were chasing albies and some were working the offshore grounds. Locally, one customer reported doing well with clam and squid for both sea bass and fluke. There are lots of shorts around for both species, but fishing with bait was reportedly the ticket for picking through them and finding some keeper-sized fish. Legal-sized fluke have actually been caught with more consistency than they have all season, which is a nice bonus for early September. Better reports for fluke came from customers who had also been making the trip over to Montauk. He heard from some anglers who were catching striped bass and bluefish at Plum Gut, where one customer had pictures of a double-digit gator that could have been pushing 20 pounds. Several folks were in over the weekend to buy epoxy jigs and Albie Snax, hoping to cross paths with hardtails. It sounds like the albies and bonito are starting to pick up steam in Rhode Island, so hopefully they’ll be entering the Sound by this weekend. Scup action is likely still good on the reefs to the east as well, but not as many customers have been targeting them. The nearshore tuna bite, he said, has been up and down. It seems you can have a banner day, then head back out a day later to find a dead sea. The canyons were also fishing well for yellowfin and a few swords. The shop is open seven days a week. Monday through Friday, they are there from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service told me that they were able to put some real cows on board this week. One client landed a beautiful 52-inch fish, along with several others over 40 inches. Most of these bass have been coming on the troll with his pink tubes, but they are also hitting Game On Lures 13-inch Duratech Eels on a 1.5-ounce jighead. As always, live eels are also catching fish. The bite can be tricky at times, as it has been very tide-specific during the day, but as we move into fall, it should be easier to fool them into eating throughout the day. Spanish mackerel and bonito continue to filter into mid-Sound areas and along the North Shore beaches. There have also been some unconfirmed sightings of false albacore, but they haven’t really started to show up just yet. That said, the prime time for the Western Sound is usually the third week of September through the end of October. Chris expects the albie scene to light up by the middle of next week.
Anthony from Game On Lures provided the following report for the week: “For the most part, conditions have remained in summer patterns, but the fall run is quickly approaching. Striped bass fishing has remained strong, although there’s been a lack of topwater feeds in the area. I think that will improve with some of the colder nights this week. Fishing the night shift and low-light hours is still your best shot at trophy bass. Live eels, soft plastics, and smaller twitch-style baits have been working well. Rumors of some albies way out east have been circulating, but nothing is confirmed yet. Rhode Island still seems to be the hotspot for early-season albies. Bonito have been floating around the area in smaller pods and are usually willing to eat a well-placed EXO Jig. One-ounce Electric Chicken and Silver have been the top choices recently. There’s been an absurd amount of small bait in the area, so when it does happen, it’s going to be fun! The blow this week should make things interesting, so stop by your local shop to stock up on EXO Jigs and keep on the lookout! The fluke bite has been finicky, but anglers putting in the time have been rewarded with some very nice fish recently.”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said they are starting to see some signs of fall-run-style action with each trip and are looking forward to the frenetic fishing that comes with the season. With fall approaching, they expect to see good fishing for stripers, blues, albies, and bonito, as well as the departure of the brown sharks that have been hard to avoid during the summer. Striper fishing is good now, especially for big fish. Live bait is a best bet, but soft plastics are proven winners and can be fished at various depths depending on the presentation the fish respond to on any given day. As the fall run gets going, they will be fishing for bass of all sizes, often finding them blitzing on the abundant small bait loaded up in the region. They have heard of some albies and bonito around as well, and when they show in force, they plan to chase them. It’s time to book your spot for fall-run action. Captain Mike and his team have availability over the next few weeks and throughout the season ahead, so give them a call to book a spot.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Increased numbers of bonito and Spanish mackerel have joined the topwater party across most of Connecticut as it begins to feel more like fall, and anglers patiently await the arrival of false albacore in the Sound. The amount of small bait exploded this week and has fired up some tremendous blitzes of bonito, striped bass, bluefish, and a few false albacore to the far east. False albacore reports have been much louder in Rhode Island and along the South Shore of Long Island, so it shouldn’t be long before they really start to infiltrate the Sound. Bonito reports, while not always consistent, have been coming from areas in the Western Sound and around The Race and Fishers Island.
For those looking for bigger fish, the popular late-summer reefs and rips are holding big bass and the occasional gator bluefish. A lot of these stripers are feeding in shallow water, so live eels and large soft plastics have been getting the job done. Shark sightings have dropped off a bit, but there are still a good number of brown sharks and threshers around, so if you have some heavier gear, be sure to bring it along. Also, be mindful if your stripers are regularly being eaten by sharks and move on to another spot if you can.
Scup are coming from just about every piece of structure, regardless of depth, while the sea bass bite has improved as the water starts to cool, albeit with short fish still dominating the catch.