Many northeast anglers wait all season for this short window of opportunity to go out and find some false albacore, and with one of the strongest seasons in recent memory upon us, they should be your number 1 target this weekend. Consider bringing some sea bass or scup jigs, as you could load up the cooler with these tasty fish while you wait for the next pod of albies to show.
Connecticut Fishing Report
At Hillyers Bait and Tackle in Waterford, most fishing efforts have been spent bottom-fishing for scup and black sea bass, or heading east in search of albies and bonito. Sea bass fishing has been best south of Fisher’s Island around Wilderness Point, around Valiant Rock and locally on the deeper portions of Bartlett’s Reef. Keeper scup are easier to come-by, as all the eastern sound rockpiles are still holding some jumbos. A few fluke are being caught locally at Black Point, but for the most part fluke efforts are better spent around Block Island at this point. Striped bass fishing remains slow, but bluefish have picked up the slack. Large schools of blitzing bluefish are now becoming common at Black Point and at the Millstone Outflow. Most anglers in search of albies and bonito have made the run east to Rhode Island where concentrations are greatest, but local reports from Black Point and around Harkness are becoming more common. As we get deeper into the weekend more fish should filter into the eastern sound, which will help filter out the crowds at the usual albie hotspots.
Andrew, at Fishin’ Factory 3 in Middletown, reiterated the fact that false albacore can be found basically anywhere from Fisher’s Island east to Cape Cod. As always, the crowds have been out in full force and the early morning bite, while things are still quiet, has been best. Striped bass fishing remains unusually slow for this time of year, but giant bluefish are providing great angling opportunities in the lower Connecticut River. Chunkers have been landing big bluefish at Saybrook Point, the Causeway and from the DEEP docks, and that bite is far from slowing down with the large amount of bunker in the river.
At Rivers End in Old Saybrook, Joe reported that a decent amount of schoolie striped bass are being caught in the river but other than that things are slow on the Connecticut reefs and in the surf. Big bluefish are easy to find for bait dunkers in the lower river and at the shoal, while large topwater blitzes have been going strong at Black Point and Plum Gut. Snapper bluefish have now hit 7 inches, and continue to bite well in the lower river and its estuaries. Fluke fishing has all but died out in the sound, but some good catches are coming in from Block Island and Montauk. Black sea bass fishing is also best at Montauk and Block, as locally short fish continue to dominate the catch. Scup fishing remains as good as ever and is providing some good fishing close to home.
In the western sound, Bobby J’s Bait and Tackle in Milford, reports that some decent keeper bass have move back into the area for the first time in a while. Jason had good success with bass in the 15-20 pound class Wednesday night, and they all came on artificals. An upswing in bass fishing, along with some gator blues eclipsing the 15-pound mark are keeping anglers busy out west. Jason also reported that scup and snapper fishing have shown no signs of slowing, and now is a great time to take home some big fish of both species for the table.
Best Bets for the Weekend
Albie fever has struck the northeast! Widespread reports of excellent catches has got just about every New England saltwater angler running around feverishly in search of these speedsters. A great abundance of small bait and a promising weekend forecast should equate to another great weekend of false albacore and bonito fishing in Connecticut.