Matt, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook told me that local fishing has remained pretty much the same as last week, with the exception of a continued push of small schooling bait into the area. Larger bass can almost always be caught, but mornings and evenings and after dark are the best chances. The usual suspects like GT eels and other large soft plastics, live eels/bunker, large surface lures and trolling tubes have been the best returns. There are also some nice gator bluefish, but they are scattered, with the better reports coming from the west and Plum Gut. Snapper bluefish have invaded the straits and can be seen chomping on this small bait anywhere. Sea bass are being caught more frequently in over 80 feet of water using Daiwa SK Jigs. Scup fishing has been as steady as ever, while tautog anglers are starting to report better results in the summer. The bulk of the hardtails have not yet penetrated the area, but there has been a strong push of Spanish mackerel from the central to the southern straits, and there are quite a few false albacore east around the Cape. That may sound like a long way to go, but the rest of the hardtails are knocking on the door!
Captain Matt, at Stonington Stripers told me things continued to improve this week. He was able to catch really good striped bass and some of the biggest bluefish of the year were in there. These fish almost always bite on live eels, but Matt has found plenty of action in the morning hours with big surface fish and 9″ sluggos. When the sun comes up, you can still find fish on the surface, but you often have to pare down your offerings to Jumpin Minnows or Albie Snax. The hardtails aren't at full strength in CT yet, but once they are, these small offerings should work for all available species.
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic provided the following report: Another great week of late summer fishing! Our midweek bottom fishing trips produced plenty of sea bream and sea bass, including plenty of huge sea bream and some nice, catchable sea bass. There were plenty of scup limits all week and also some sea bass to fill the coolers. Our afternoon private charters were also fishing well and our groups caught an assortment of sea bream, sea bass, bluefish and perch. It's always a good time when we have these smaller groups on the boat! Our Thursday flounder trip produced a solid catch of catchable flounder despite unfavorable conditions including a strong moon tide, a steady breeze from the west and plenty of small fish to sort through. It was a better trip than most lately, but overall still not what flounder fishing should be. We had two excellent sunset cruises this week – one for a private group on Wednesday and the other our final Black Hawk & the Community tour of the summer season. New tickets for each week will go live on Monday evenings at 8pm, as in years past. Our September trips are being released now and the schedule changes a bit in September, so be sure to check our calendar so you know what's coming up next! We look forward to seeing you all soon!”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters reported that he is still catching a lot of bass, with the best big fish still being caught on live bait right now. The biggest fish respond to live bait fished in deeper, cooler water, and there have been good results with some very big fish. You can see swallows and big fish slowly frolicking on the surface, and they have been spitting out young butterfish, so the first signs of the fall run have been clear. There are more brown sharks than people think, and they can sometimes be a problem, one of the only problems currently with targeting striped bass. Bass fishing continues to pick up, and there are some nice big fish in deeper water. Captain Mike and his team have openings for the next two weeks, which should be the best time. Call him today to reserve your spot.
Anthony, from Play with bait provided the following report this week: “Silversides and peanut bunker have still been the primary source of bait in the central/eastern Sound and there seems to be more by the day. Striped bass catches have remained similar to last week, but the average size of the fish has definitely increased. A good push of larger chopper bluefish have started to move into the area. These fish are best caught on live eels and bunkers, but a 13″ Duratech eel, large surface baits and other large soft plastics have been great on the artificial side. Tons of horse mackerel have shown up and are a blast on light tackle. Flounder reports have died down a bit, but guys are still getting fish in deeper water. Sea bass catches have increased significantly in both shallow and deep structure, however, you will have to dig through a lot of shorts. Scup catches are as good as they get. Brown sharks continue to be a problem and have been taking fish from anglers in the middle of a fight or on the boat, so you'll want to be as efficient as possible to land these fish. Reports of albies are starting to come in from Cape Cod and Buzzards Bay, so fingers crossed it won't be long before they get here!”
When I spoke to Captain Chris, Elser Guide Service He reported being back on the water and finding plenty of big bluefish and striped bass at various depths. The big bass bite picked up a bit and Chris found several bass in the 15-35 pound range while trolling pink and orange tubes. Chris has found a few bonito but they are still in low numbers. However, he has no trouble catching Spanish mackerel on exo jigs whenever he targets them. The majority of his charter focus will be surface and fly fishing for the rest of the season as we move into fall and the hardtails make a big appearance. He doesn't have any weekend trips available right now but there are some on weekdays so get in touch to schedule a trip before it's too late.
Fishing Forecast for Connecticut
By the time I write to you all next week, we may have seen a massive Labor Day invasion of hardtail fish. The results aren't quite there yet, but they're heading in the right direction. Bonito have started to re-enter throughout Rhode Island, and there's no shortage of small bait. False reports of albacore in the immediate east have intensified again, so we should be just a few days away from it all kicking off. Striped bass and bluefish are still found in all their usual haunts offshore, which is no surprise for the last week of August, but we've again seen a stronger push of bait and predatory fish into the bay and rivers. Bottom fishing has remained steady across the state, with strong scup and better sea bass results from the deeper wrecks and rock piles. Flounder fishing was again difficult in terms of numbers, but a handful of fish were caught in double digits, which should inspire flounder anglers to give it another go. Tuna reports fluctuate, mostly due to weather and crowds. However, anglers who know their stuff will find no shortage of fish if they avoid the crowds and the weather allows. The next few weeks are very promising, with true tuna biting regularly, false tuna knocking on the door, striped bass and bluefish moving into fall mode, and tautogs taking another step toward the fall bite.
Striped bass fishing has been choppy during the recent weather changes in Connecticut, but things are slowly picking up across the state. Striped bass are being caught throughout the strait and its major tributaries, with the eastern strait reefs leading the way this week. Areas from the central to eastern straits have also caught many more striped bass feeding on young butterfish and peanut bunker at the surface. This same area has also seen a nice influx of Spanish mackerel, which is usually a good precursor to false albacore season. The western strait has recovered from recent storms, and reports are coming in from the western regions of big bluefish, better striped bass bites, and loads of Spanish mackerel. The scup bite is as consistent as ever, and there is no shortage of hubcaps throughout the strait. The scup are coming out of just about any piece of structure regardless of depth, while bass season has kicked into gear in the deeper structures. Late summer tautog season ends this weekend, but is usually very productive. If you get a chance to catch a late summer bald eagle in the next two days, you'll want to take advantage. Another of our summer guests, brown and thresher sharks continue to show up near anglers looking to catch something pelagic without having to travel too far.
