Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook provided a pre-storm update, with the caveat that things could be a bit different after this weekend. Albies showed in the eastern Sound and hung around in pretty good numbers, which has been awesome. One-ounce Game On EXO Jigs and Hogy Epoxy Jigs in pink, silver, and gold were working. There’s a lot of weather coming this week, which will scramble things for a bit, and who knows where the albies will go next. Everything else striper-wise is definitely moving toward a fall bite, with birds overhead and creek and river outflows bringing lots of bait. Beyond the funny-fish action, 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 anglers should expect to pick through shorts for either species. Try big squid baits for both species, along with metals for sea bass. Striper fishing has been on and off, with better action earlier and later in the day. There are still plenty of large, 45-inch-plus stripers around. Eels are great this time of year for easy bites. Try smaller offerings for smaller fish, like swimbaits, Mag Darters, SP Minnows, and similar plugs. Porgy fishing is also going well right now, with some really big fish coming on hi-low rigs baited with clams and squid.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “It was a good week of fall fishing before the storm. After a great bluefish and striped bass trip to start the week last Monday and a good bottom-fishing trip on Tuesday, Thursday’s fluke trip—the last one of the season—wasn’t as good as we’d hoped for. Our trips on Friday and Saturday made up for it, with lots of porgies, a good mix of sea bass, and some triggerfish coming over the rails. 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 update prior to the weather moving in: “With the heavy winds starting to move in this week, our main focus was stripers, and man, they haven’t disappointed! With the heavy northeast and east winds and colder nights, a good amount of bait has pushed out of the tributaries into the Sound. With all the bait around, I expect a strong topwater bite to fire up after the blow. Currently, we have been doing best throwing live eels and large soft plastics on jigheads in anywhere from 8 to 20 feet of water. Great areas to target right now have been estuaries, rip lines, and rocky point areas. Hoping that the strong northeast blow all week will push more ‘funny’ fish into the area instead of sending them out. October is typically one of our best months of the season, and it’s shaping up to be that way. Contact Joe to get in on the action!”
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Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service has been mostly sidelined due to the wind, but when he has been able to get out, bonito and striped bass have been in the same areas. They have been consistently hitting ¾-ounce and 1-ounce Game On EXO Jigs, with pink and white working best. The mackerel and bonito have been closer to his home port this week and are feeding predominantly on silversides and peanut bunker. He hasn’t seen albies mixed in just yet, but the feeds have been pretty large, so there’s a good chance they are in the mix. Striper fishing has been good during brief periods of the daytime tides. Live eels and 13-inch Duratech pink eels are their preferred presentations. Of course, tube trolling is very productive as well. The weather may certainly change this, as it’ll be early to mid-next week before people are out again in the western Sound, but all you can do is get out there and do some searching.
Anthony Charnetski from Game On Lures provided the following report for the week: “Weather has made it tough to get out this week, and it looks like this weekend will also be a wash with the big Nor’easter coming in. This weather will make it a wash for boat and kayak guys, but I know the surfcasters are foaming at the mouth with these heavy winds and large swells. As of this past Monday, some albies were still kicking around the eastern Sound, with some bass blitzing in the mix here and there, but water temperatures were still very warm. This storm should really cool things off and kick off the fall run with a bang. Albies will be a huge toss-up as to whether they stick around post-storm, but the bass bite should be lights-out. Take this week to organize, stock up on tackle, re-rig, and get ready for the madness!”
Geno from Total Tackle in Old Saybrook said that the local fishing scene has been taken over by false albacore, at least until it got too snotty for anglers to get out there. Most customers have been afflicted with albie fever, and the local bite has been as good as, if not better than the last few years. He’s hearing reports from anglers catching on EXO Jigs, but he’s also well stocked with Hogys, and classic tins like Kastmasters and Deadly Dicks. Albies are being caught in big numbers from boats and beaches alike, from Old Lyme to the east. Striper and bluefish action is starting to pick back up after a bit of a hiatus. Geno says that as we move into October, the action for both species should be good if history is any guide. Sea bass fishing has also improved recently and should be a good option for fall groundfishing. He said he’s looking forward to the fall tog season, and the shop is all stocked up with jigs, rigs, and all the tackle you need for the fall finale. The shop is open seven days a week: Monday through Friday 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. This is a great weekend to stop in and load up on fall-run gear, so you’re ready when Mother Nature lets us back out!
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said that as we head into October, they will be in full-on fall-run mode. If the start of the season is any indicator, anglers should experience excellent action for striped bass and false albacore, and once blackfish season gets going, the tog fishing should be very good as well. Striper fishing has been solid, and as the brown sharks move out, it will get even better. In addition to targeting cow-sized stripers, blitz fishing will kick into high gear as waves of migrating fish move through the region. Captain Mike said he’s hoping some adult bunker return as well. False albacore fishing has been strong to start the fall run, and he’s hoping they stick around for a while. They also plan to target tog later in the month and into November, and if the past couple of years are any indication, it should be a productive fall. They have openings for fall-run fishing, so it’s time to book your spot. Give Captain Mike a call.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
The false albacore migration through Long Island Sound remained on a steady pattern, with scattered pods of fish popping up in most of their usual haunts prior to the storm. Like most anglers across the Northeast, everyone in Connecticut is hoping that this storm will do more good than harm. These albie pods can be scattered, and the fish are keyed in on very small baits, so they can be finicky. That said, if you exercise some 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, topwater, and bird activity. 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 that long! Bonito reports, while not always consistent, have popped up from points all across the state, so that’s another species you may run into while working the small bait schools. There also seems to be an increase in 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 via light spinning gear. The water is still warm, so these bass are still on more of a summer pattern, which includes fishing shallow water with live eels and large soft plastics during low-light conditions, or dragging the tube through shallow rock piles by day. That will almost certainly start to change after the storm, with dropping temperatures and wind pushing bait out, likely causing the striped bass to start aggressively hitting topwaters.
Scup are still all over deep and shallow rock and reef structure, while the sea bass season has continued to improve with a slightly better short-to-keeper ratio this week. Tautog season is right around the corner, and this rainy, windy weekend is a good one to spend tying rigs and getting your gear ready!