Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook, told me that bottom fishermen are still reporting a strong porgy bite across the state, from both shore and boat. Fluke and sea bass fishing has been steadily decent in around 50 feet of water. There have been some whispers of bonito starting to come in from the far Eastern Sound, but nothing that Matt can confirm firsthand yet. The false albacore aren’t far either, with reports coming from out near Montauk and Block Island. While it’s now September, it isn’t time to spend all day looking for blitzing bass just yet. These fish are still mostly in summer patterns, holding hard to current and structure. Live eels are still your best bet, along with large soft plastics or the tube and worm.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “As much as we don’t want the summer to end, we’re looking forward to the fall fishing season! This was a good week of summer fishing, with plenty of porgies, a good number of triggerfish, sea bass, and fluke rounding out the coolers. We had lots of kids on board this week, soaking up the last bit of summer before school starts. Congrats to all these young anglers who had some great catches this week and a few pool winners, too! We had a great trip with The Fallen Outdoors on Monday night. It’s always a favorite for us. We’d like to thank all the veterans for their service, and thanks for coming to spend the evening with us. They caught their fill of porgies, then headed out for some blues and even had some keeper striped bass in the mix. We continue to fish every day but our schedule changed on August 31, so check the website, grab your tickets, and join us!”
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Captain Joe Diorio, at Diorio Guide Service, provided the following report for the week: “This past week, the weather was beautiful, and the fishing was pretty damn good. We’ve gone tuna fishing pretty much every day and had high success rates. We have been mostly fishing the 115- to 150-foot lines using Joe Baggs Resin jigs and UVT jigs. When the jig fishing has been slow, we have used live baits under a balloon, fishing close to the bottom. Most of the tuna have been eating the jig or live bait within the bottom 20 feet. We also had a few striper trips this week. We were mostly fishing in 8 to 20 feet of water. We found our best success using live eels and topwater lures like the Doc and Joe Baggs Skipper. Most of the fish have been in the 40- to 44-inch range, with a few bigger fish mixed in. Still seeing sharks mixed in, but trying our best to avoid them. These next few weeks, we will still be tuna fishing, but we should start to see the fall run start to heat up. Bait should start moving. Albies should also start to filter into the system. Stripers should start moving into their fall migration areas and start to really put the feedbag on. If you don’t have a date set up, what are you waiting for? The fall run is absolutely our favorite time of the year.” Contact Joe to get in the book and in the action!
Captain Chris Oliver, of Keepin’ It Reel Sportfishing out of New London, provided the following report for the week: “Midshore fishing south of Montauk continues to fish very well, with nice-class bluefin being caught on jigs and bait on the bottom. It seems to be that these bluefin are still liking the slow presentation in the mud. The canyon fishing for us was pretty slow, but did begin to pick up as the week went on. The weather has limited our ability to get out with our booked trips. We do have some availability for September if you are looking to get out during what’s often the best time of the year, if the weather allows!”
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Captain Chris, of Elser Guide Service, provided a quick report after a solid week of fishing in the Western Sound: “Bass fishing was silly good on the select fishable days. Albies and bonito are here, and they are big! The trip I had for light tackle was strictly fly only, and we just couldn’t get close enough without pushing the fish down. Plenty of peanut bunker and anchovies; it’s going to get better by the day. 3/4- to 1-ounce pink and white Exo jigs is all you need for the little tunny right now! For daytime bass, you can’t beat tube and worm, but the fish will hit eels as well! Tides are the name of the game; some areas are great on flood while dead on outgoing.”
Geno from Total Tackle in Old Saybrook said local fishing has been in a holding pattern while offshore action continues to be a big draw among the customers he’s talking to. There are some stripers around the local reefs, but the hot bite of a couple weeks ago has cooled to some degree. There are blues making for good action out at The Race and Plum Gut, though the tides and times when they chew seem to change from day to day. He talked to some folks who were loading up on tins and epoxy jigs, readying for the coming fall season. He said there are some bonito to the east along the Rhode Island shoreline, keeping the funny-fish crowd busy for the time being. What was a steady stream of bottom-fishing reports has slowed to a trickle in the last week or so, as effort seems to have waned a bit. The best reports for fluke and sea bass have come east of the river and deep. Scup action is still likely good on the reefs to the east as well, but not as many customers have been trying. The nearshore tuna bite has kept many customers busy this week, and he also said there’s been a good mahi bite on the flyers at Block Island. 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 Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said that while we are still in late-summer fishing mode, he’s starting to see some signs of the coming fall. Water temperatures are currently at their peak for the season, but they should start to cool down after a few crisp nights. There is a ton of small bait around that should fuel the fall fishing once things get moving. For the time being, they are still targeting large striped bass on structure. Live bait is a best bet, but soft plastics are proven winners and can be fished with versatility throughout the water column, depending on the kind of presentation the fish respond to on any given day. There are some bluefish around in the deeper rips and along the reefs. They have been catching them with metals like Shimano Current Snipers and Diamond Jigs. Bottom fishing is decent for sea bass and scup as well. Sharks are still a problem just about everywhere they fish for striped bass, but a string of cooler nights should move them along in the next couple of weeks. They are looking ahead to what should be some excellent fall-run fishing. Captain Mike and his team have availability over the next few weeks and throughout the season ahead, so give him a call to book a spot now.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Fall fishing took a turn for the better this week, as bonito and Spanish mackerel have entered the fray in the Western Sound, with the former starting to pop up in the Eastern Sound. A few more big bluefish entered the mix as well, with stronger reports coming from The Race and Plum Gut areas.
Striped bass are being caught throughout the Sound and in its major tributaries. These fish are still in their summer patterns, with the inshore reefs and rips holding most of the fish during the daytime hours. Anglers are taking them on the tube and worm, along with live eels. There have been quite a few more topwater feeds of striped bass throughout the Sound this week as well. The usual hotspots around Fishers, Bartletts, The Race, The Gut, and Middleground should hold blitzing fish, but you’re bound to run into them closer to home as well. The bass are feeding on juvenile butterfish, silversides, and peanut bunker, all of which have become very plentiful.
False albacore are just starting to show themselves sparingly in Rhode Island and around Montauk, so we should see some entering our waters at some point this week, if they haven’t already. The scup bite is as consistent as ever and sea bass fishing remains decent on deeper structure.