Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me the strong striper bite continues, with shallow-water fishing using eels remaining the most productive technique locally. Out deep, anglers are catching fish on flutter spoons, topwaters, and tubes, while diamond jigs continue to produce at The Race and The Gut. Mornings and evenings are becoming increasingly productive as temperatures rise. Sea bass fishing has been improving, with anglers still finding the best action in deeper water using Daiwa SK Jigs, Shimano Shimmerfall jigs, and similar offerings. Fluke fishing remains a grind for keepers, but the fish are around. Matt recommends starting in 30 feet of water and moving deeper as needed. There is still plenty of squid around, so fluorescent pink and pink shine Gulp should work well. Porgies have been all over the place, with sandworms and clams producing the best catches. Matt also mentioned hearing some solid summer tautog reports from the anglers targeting them consistently.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic reports: “While we lost some days last week due to the weather, once we got out there we picked up where we left off. Wednesday’s bottom fishing trip had an easy boat limit of jumbo porgies, with a few sea bass in the mix. Our fluke trip on Thursday wasn’t what we’d hoped for. Like last week, we picked away on a lot of shorts and managed only a few keepers. A few sea bass were in the mix too. Friday’s bottom fishing trip was very similar to Wednesday. Saturday morning’s trip had jumbo porgies coming over the rails, as well as a few sea bass and a puffer fish. Our family trip on Saturday afternoon brought out a great group of kids and their families, who spent the afternoon reeling in porgies. Thanks to everyone who joined us on this trip! We look forward to more of these as the summer goes on. Our Saturday night fireworks cruise was a huge success! This is our annual diaper drive, and we collected a carload of diapers to be delivered to the Riverfront Children’s Center. We had a great group out with us who enjoyed the beautiful night and a great fireworks display. Next week is our annual ‘Christmas in July’ fireworks cruise, and then our regular sunset cruises return on July 25. These trips are all fundraisers for our Black Hawk and the Community program, so grab your tickets and join us for a great night for a good cause. We also have our second annual Summer Food Drive. Bring an item from our list, and your trip could be free! We’re fishing every day now, so check our website for the updated schedule.”
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When I spoke with Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service, he had just returned from a trip to Block Island, where, like many others, he cashed in on tremendous fishing. He found productive water away from the usual crowds and landed a load of big bass on the troll, jigs, and eels, including four fish in the 40- to 45-pound range. Back home in the Western Sound, he reported a much-improved week as another slug of striped bass entered the area. There is still a lack of bunker, and most of the mackerel have pushed east, but Chris found plenty of quality bass gorging on butterfish. Some have responded to topwater lures in the mornings, but the vast majority have been coming on jigs, providing a nice break from the usual summer trolling pattern. Chris also saw another species feeding on butterfish in the Western Sound: Atlantic bonito. Looking back through his records, he said this was the earliest he’d ever seen bonito in the Western Sound, by several weeks. There continues to be a glaring lack of bluefish in his area, but the way this season is shaping up, he believes a large push of blues may arrive in August.
Captain Chris Oliver of Keepin’ It Reel Sportfishing out of New London provided the following report after a strong weekend in the canyons before the blow: “Midshore bluefin south of Montauk has been very spotty over our last couple of trips despite loads of sand eels and squid! It should be only a matter of time before the mass of bluefin finds this bait. We were able to find some yellowfin just south of the lanes, but I imagine they have moved on after the recent blow. We continue to have one of the hottest canyon seasons we can recall! You don’t have to go extremely far for lights-out fishing. Basically, you can pick any of the Northeast canyons and have a steady catch of 50- to 70-pound yellowfin. On our most recent trip, we converted a midshore bluefin trip into a canyon day trip and saw some great fishing. We are looking forward to an improved midshore bite this upcoming week.”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters told me that midsummer bass fishing is steadily marching on. They are seeing good action on most trips and catching fish with a variety of techniques, though live bait has been the top producer of larger fish during daylight hours. That said, Slug-Gos and Fin-S Fish continue to produce stripers as well. He said a new push of slot-sized fish moved onto the reefs in recent days, providing both quality and quantity. Bunker remain around the reef structure, giving the fish a reason to stay put. Captain Mike and his team have availability over the coming weeks, so give them a call to book a trip.
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Anthony Charnetski at Game On Lures sent over the following report: “The bite has remained pretty similar to last week; however, the arrival of sharks has made things a little more interesting. That last heat wave brought a massive push of 5-foot-plus brown sharks, and they have been on patrol. The past few years have been bad for sharks, and unfortunately this seems to be the new norm for summertime in Long Island Sound. Both the shallow and deep water bass bites have been good using Game On Lures 13-inch DuraTech Eels, topwaters, and weightless soft plastics. If you’re fishing during the daytime heat, I would focus on deeper schools; as low-light conditions set in, the shallow bite has been better. That being said, there are some big fish in the area, and I expect the action to improve as long as enough bait is around. The fluke and sea bass bite has been solid, with anglers finding success in deeper water. The porgy bite has also been lights out whether you’re fishing from shore or a boat.”
Tyler at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk said summertime fishing patterns are becoming well established. There are plenty of fish throughout the region to keep anglers busy, whether they’re targeting striped bass or bottom species. Overall, reports haven’t changed much. Stripers continue to spread out and can be found from deep-water structure to rocky points, bowls, and inshore areas in between. The best and most consistent action is still taking place around the deep-water structure near 11B, 28C, and the OB Buoy. Fishing is best when the sun is low, so target dawn, dusk, overnight, or other low-light periods as warming water temperatures continue to narrow feeding windows. Topwater action is strongest during these low-light periods. Chunking, especially at night, has also become one of the best ways to target the area’s largest fish. Other productive techniques include trolling mojo rigs, bunker spoons, and deep-diving plugs, as well as vertical jigging with diamond jigs, flutter spoons, and soft plastics on jigheads. Shallow-water fishing has been very good when anglers locate bass feeding on schools of bait, though it hasn’t been as consistent as the deeper bite. They heard of one—yes, one—bluefish caught from a local beach this week. Porgy fishing remains very good. The bite is still best in 20 to 30 feet of water, but they’re now getting reports of porgies from shore at Sherwood Island. Fluke fishing slowed a bit from the previous couple of weeks, though there are still keeper flatfish to be found. Tyler recommends making long drifts around Can 24, then shortening your drifts in areas where you begin catching shorts to pick out some keepers. Sea bass action remains about the same and has been slow to improve. If you’re looking to catch a few, head to structure in 30 to 60 feet of water—or deeper—and fish diamond or butterfly jigs. The shop is open seven days a week.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Another mini heat wave has kept saltwater fishing status quo across Connecticut, with a strong striped bass bite, steady action but a grind for keeper fluke and sea bass, and excellent scup catches. One interesting twist has been the arrival of bonito in the Western Sound, helping make up for the alarming lack of bluefish.
Striped bass are being caught throughout the Sound on deep-water structure and around shallower structure near river mouths. The Western Sound continues to produce fish over 30 pounds, while the Eastern Sound bite has hit its stride from Niantic to New London, The Race, and around Fishers Island. With so much productive water between those areas, just about every quality reef or rip is holding bass at some point during the tide. Live eels remain the top producer in the shallows, while anglers fishing deeper rips are catching fish on spoons, 3-wayed bucktails, and heavy metal jigs. Nighttime remains the best time to fish for bass, but changing presentations can keep the bite going during the day.
The scup bite has also taken off during this latest heat wave, with hubcap-sized fish throughout the Sound across a range of depths while sea bass fishing has picked up on deeper structure. Anglers targeting summer tautog are also finding success, and keeper “tog” are showing up as bycatch while fishing for other bottom species. Dedicated fluke anglers continue to pick away at legal fish, but no one is calling it easy. The same goes for sea bass—focus on 80 to 100 feet of water and be willing to bounce from piece to piece to pick off the keepers.
Bonito showing up in the Western Sound is another intriguing development. They’ve been arriving earlier every year, but seeing them this early so far west is still unusual.