Groundfishing has been as good as ever for the last ten days or so, and with the opening of black sea bass and tautog in Connecticut, it continues to improve as we enter the holiday weekend. Big striped bass are still being caught in spots, and bluefish have inundated New England water’s; providing a few more great angling options for the weekend.
Connecticut Fishing Report
The fluke bite has really accelerated in the Niantic and Waterford area and Hillyers Bait and Tackle in Waterford reports that anglers have found keepers at all the usual hotspots; along with a few not-so-usual hotspots, including the Niantic River. Local striped bass sharpies have reported a few hefty catches on the local reefs and shallow rockpiles, but mainly after dark. The daytime bite has been a slower one locally, but decent at The Race and Plum Gut, although that bite has been dominated by smaller fish. Bluefish are plentiful just about everywhere in the eastern sound and sizes have been varying greatly from about 2-10 pounds. Similar to Rhode Island, Connecticut waters are loaded with keeper black sea bass and scup, with the best reports coming from around Fisher’s Island.
The Mijoy 747 of Waterford was happy to report that the slow start to the striped bass season has started to improve and customers are seeing a few quality bass on each trip. Bluefishing consistency has also improved greatly over the last ten days or so, and July is looking like a great month for bass and bluefish trips. The bottom fishing trips have been excellent all season and the black sea bass opener has just added to the success of those trips.
Mike, at The Bait Box in Clinton, reported that black sea bass has dominated the angling efforts since the opener, with plenty of keepers coming from 6 Mile and Southwest Reef. Fluke fishing has been steady in the deeper water at the aforementioned locations, as well as the east rip; which has been the top producer locally. Long sand shoal has also been holding big numbers of fluke but the keeper to short ratio is leaning heavily to the short side. Jumbo scup have started to take residence on the local reefs and Mike has seen some larger scup hit his scale in this early season than he has in years. The inconsistent striped bass trend in eastern Connecticut has continued, but some large fish have been taken on the reefs and at the shoal. A few anglers who have stuck with it and battled the inconsistency were rewarded with 50-pound class fish this week. Mike’s offshore customers have reported a great shark season thus far, with enough makos and threshers to make their trips worthwhile.
Mike Roy, of Reel Cast Charters, mentioned that striped bass fishing in eastern Connecticut has remained inconsistent, but luckily it has been very good in his home water’s of Milford. Earlier this week Mike had great action with 20-pound class fish, casting live eels into shallow boulder fields. Mike also took advantage of some good weather over the weekend and headed to Block Island where he reported excellent light-tackle action, with bass to 30-pounds on live eels and various artificials.
At Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, the big numbers of bass and bunker have started to disperse but there are still enough around to keep anglers busy. 20-pound class fish were taken with some consistency at 28C this week, along with a few bigger bass around the islands after dark. Fluking remains very good in the local hotspots like Pecks Ledge and Goose Island, and similar to the rest of the northeast black sea bass has started off red hot in the western sound.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The tropical storm running up the coast may bring some rain and kick up the surf just a bit, but overall it looks like New England may dodge a bullet. Whether you fancy sea bass, fluke or scup, finding your target species this weekend shouldn’t be too difficult. Despite the inconsistency, striped bass fishing should also be very good this weekend if you are willing to put in the effort.