Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook reported that bunker continue to sporadically move into the area, which has helped the striped bass fishing across the board. The warmer temperatures have seen bass beginning to move into their summertime haunts, but during the low light/cooler periods of the day, they can still be transient. All the usual offerings are getting the job done, including live bunker if you can find it, along with eels, trolling tubes, flutter spoons, topwater plugs, and big soft plastics. If the shallow water bite isn’t working out, look to drop a 3-wayed bait or jig on the deeper reefs, as it seems the bass are taking refuge in these spots during the big tide/warm weather days. The fluke bite has been better than the last few years in some ways. Anglers are finding more quality keepers in the Sound than in years past, but the fish seem to be highly concentrated. So, if you come across a few, immediately think about making that short drift again. As far as colors for the fluke rigs, peanut bunker patterns have been hot, along with the usual go-to of pink with white.
Heather from the Blackhawk in Niantic provided the following report: “The weather wasn’t the only thing heating up over the past week! The fishing was simply fantastic on all of our trips this week. Our porgy trips showed excellent fishing, with many trips having limits around the boat. Most of our private charters ended up doing a bit of a combo, with porgies and bass, and the fishing for both of those was great. Our bass/blues trips (and After Work Specials) were excellent, with most trips having a full limit of slots, with more released. We even had a few blues in the mix. Sunday brought the opening of sea bass, and we had some nice keepers coming over the rails. This bite will only get better as the season goes on, so plan on joining us soon! Our family trips start in July, with our shorter trips geared towards young kids and their families. These trips were extremely popular last year, so grab your tickets when you see them online. We also have our Saturday sunset cruises, seal watches, and our fireworks cruises coming up: lots to look forward to this summer. We’re still booking charters; we have only a few dates left for the entire summer, so grab your date today! New tickets for each week will be posted online on Monday night at 8 p.m., just like in past years. Be sure to check out our calendar so you see what’s coming up!”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters reported that things continued to improve over the past week. They have seen more bunker move into the river since the June full moon, so things have gotten a little better close to home. Many of the reefs in Long Island Sound are chock full of bait and the bass are feeding heavily, so there’s no need to rely on the local bunker bite. If it doesn’t work out, move on to the deeper reefs and rips, and you’ll likely be rewarded. This also includes continued solid fishing around The Gut and The Race, which have also benefited from the full moon tides. Mike also reported that the sea bassing has improved quite a bit over the past few days, so he has been able to end most of his trips with a quick sea bass limit.
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Joe at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report after another strong week on the water: “And just like that, the fishing is finally becoming a little bit more consistent. Some tides can still be a little tougher than others, but we are seeing more fish enter the system every day. We are finding most of our bass and blues on the reefs and in the rivers. For topwater lures, we are throwing Joe Bag Skippers and 14-inch eels weightless. While on the reefs we are fishing live bunker, eels and 3-waying Joe Baggs Miracle Minnows. The biggest key to success right now is finding the bait. If you find the bait the fish will be close by!”
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When I talked to Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service he reported another 50/50 week, where it’s on fire one day, and the next day you’re wondering where they went! This pattern is often typical of post-full moon tides in Western Sound waters, so it’s not a big surprise. For the night crew, the fishing has been very consistent for bunker chunkers, but during the day you need to find the bunker schools out in the Sound in order to get light tackle, fly, or topwater action. Trolling tube and worm has been the most consistent during daylight hours for Chris, but the good news is that a lot more bunker have moved into the area. They are also still hooking up with 12-inch Atlantic mackerel as by-catch when casting small Exo jigs to smaller bass on sand eels. With the influx of bunker, along with the increase in mackerel, daytime fishing should become more consistent as fish settle into their summer patterns.
Captain Matt at Stonington Stripers has had a light charter schedule recently but did tell me that he was able to get out on his own a few times over the weekend, and the stripers were chewing very good during the morning hours. The fish seemed to be open to a variety of different lures and didn’t seem to be keyed in onto one particular type of bait. The recent full moon also seems to have brought about an uptick in size locally. Matt will start chartering again after the 5th of July and will likely be targeting big bass at Block Island on plugs and on the fly, so be sure to reach out if you’re interested in a trip before he’s fully booked!
Max at Fishermen’s World in Norwalk reports that while striped bass fishing was still red hot, the story of the week at the shop was about fluke. Sand eels have flooded into the Western Sound and the flatfish action has been outstanding. Limits of fluke were suddenly the norm for many anglers who have been scratching out keepers here and there so far this season. Max said that while fishing is good outside of the Sound it’s been downright insane along the sandy beaches of the north shore. Places like Eaton’s Neck, Smithtown Bay and Port Jeff have clouds of bait and lots of good fluke. Jigs and Gulp are working on both sides of the sound, but the fish have shown a clear preference for bait. Customers reported doing well with squid, Peruvian smelt, and especially frozen sand eels, the latter of which the shop has in stock. One angler reported catching 15 keepers one morning this week. Not to be outdone, the bass bite is still excellent even as the fish begin to move into their summertime haunts and patterns. As water temperatures continue to climb fishing deep water structure is a must and the best action has been during periods of low light. Chunking during dusk and dawn as well as overnight is best. Fish can still be caught during the day and focusing on trolling deep water offerings like bunker spoons and deep-diving plugs are key to success. There are lots of bluefish around, but they are concentrated mid-Sound. Scup action continues to pick up and continues to favor boaters, but the warm weather means the inshore bite should explode any day now. Tuna fishing is picking up and they’d heard from customers who were doing well on the troll mid-shore at places like The Dump and Ranger.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Fishing throughout Connecticut has taken another turn for the better over the past week or so. The usual June bite of big bass on bunker has started to materialize, although it can be inconsistent from tide to tide. Luckily, the bass fishing throughout the Sound has been excellent on all of the usual reefs and rips, so you don’t need to be reliant on the bunker bite. Bluefishing has been up and down, and your odds increase greatly if you can locate big schools of bait, but there are enough around to keep things interesting. Fluke fishing continues to be an enigma. The Eastern Sound is a true grind, although some anglers are reporting easy limits. It seems the fish that are there are highly concentrated, so if you can find them and dial in your drifts, you’ll be rewarded. On the other hand, the Western Sound fluke fishing has been excellent, likely due to an influx of sand eels, so here’s to hoping that wave of bait spreads through the Sound. The sea bass season began with a slower start, but scup fishing is in full summer mode, with good reports from both shore and boat anglers. Don’t forget about the freshwater bite either, as we get close to extremely hot temperatures, there’s currently a great opportunity to find some big largemouth and smallmouth, with the largemouth taking refuge in the weeds and the smallmouth looking for cooler water refuges.