06-30-2008, 11:31 PM
[size 2]Still hit or miss, but things are getting steadily better
Bluefish are on the increase in The Race, plus the charter boat pros and private-boat sharpies caught some large striped bass from Watch Hill over to Plum Gut. Fluke reports remain good for some, very poor for others.
Roger at J&B reported the best chance of keeper fluke of late is in 70-80 feet of water west of Isabella Beach over off the Fishers Island airport. Their charter boat continues to land lots of blues and striped bass including two 50-pounders, one of those the first fish of the trip. A couple of the local kids, fishing from shore in Niantic, caught and released some large blackfish on sandworms.
Capt. Bruce's Tackle in Groton summed up the fluke catches as lots of shorts but few keepers. Some very large stripers were boated between Watch Hill and The Gut, both day and night plus one local nabbed a 150-pound mako at the Horns on Wednesday.
Over at Shaffer's Marina, Allen Fee told me lots of slip customers landed striper from 24-30 inches casting into the rips on the Watch Hill Reefs, the fish lined up there waiting for squid to come down in the tide. Fluke anglers complained about the high cost of fuel and higher minimum sizes though not everyone had a tough time of it. Mark Mitsko and his wife Brenda of Mystic landed their limit on their last run over to Fishers Island.
Largest bass was a 44-pounder caught on an eel on Friday night by Fred Hobbs of Mystic off the Fishers Island airport. Porgies can be caught from shore at the Cottrell Street Park along the Mystic River, a sorely needed shoreline access point for the general public.
Capt. Joe Balint at the Fish Connection said some 10-12-pound blues were caught in Norwich Harbor on Wednesday morning on snagged bunker. A few large bass were landed during the week at buoy 27 and Montville but overall Joe feels the bass are moving out of the Thames as the river warms to summer levels.
One local caught six keeper fluke off Weekapaug Breachway by slow trolling with a small outboard, bumping the motor in and out of gear to provide a drift. And, a Navy captain from the Sub Base trolled a tube and worm off Wilderness Point for stripers of 38 and 39 inches.
Bob's in Uncasville left a report for me that stated fluking is very poor for some but the next day, very good for others. Biggest of the week was a 12-pound caught bucktailing in The Race; the ragged bottom out there maybe an overlooked fluke area? Keeper porgies were landed both inside and outside the lower Thames.
Hillyers Tackle reminds all that blackfish season opens in state waters from July 1-Aug. 31. You are allowed to keep two fish with a 14-inch minimum. Shore anglers landed bass between the Niantic Bridges with eels plus others were caught in boats on the same bait at Outer Bartletts. Small boaters also caught harbor blues from time to time in the Millstone discharge and some porgies from Black Rock to Two Tree Island.
Al Golinski and his wife Emme got out last Saturday, in between Al's bouts with a bad back. Using live bunker they snagged or cast-netted in the Pawcatuck River they caught two stripers in the 20s on the Watch Hill reefs then headed east for fluke. At morning's end the pair both had limits from keepers to 6.8 pounds.
Mark at River's End in Old Saybrook reported the blues all over the top in Plum Gut just at sunrise on Wednesday with bass there before light. Chunkers caught a few bass on a weekly basis at the Dock 'NDine but overall fluke numbers are still low from Black Point to the Sand Shoal.
TIM COLEMAN IS THE DAY'S SALTWATER FISHING COLUMNIST.[/size]
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Bluefish are on the increase in The Race, plus the charter boat pros and private-boat sharpies caught some large striped bass from Watch Hill over to Plum Gut. Fluke reports remain good for some, very poor for others.
Roger at J&B reported the best chance of keeper fluke of late is in 70-80 feet of water west of Isabella Beach over off the Fishers Island airport. Their charter boat continues to land lots of blues and striped bass including two 50-pounders, one of those the first fish of the trip. A couple of the local kids, fishing from shore in Niantic, caught and released some large blackfish on sandworms.
Capt. Bruce's Tackle in Groton summed up the fluke catches as lots of shorts but few keepers. Some very large stripers were boated between Watch Hill and The Gut, both day and night plus one local nabbed a 150-pound mako at the Horns on Wednesday.
Over at Shaffer's Marina, Allen Fee told me lots of slip customers landed striper from 24-30 inches casting into the rips on the Watch Hill Reefs, the fish lined up there waiting for squid to come down in the tide. Fluke anglers complained about the high cost of fuel and higher minimum sizes though not everyone had a tough time of it. Mark Mitsko and his wife Brenda of Mystic landed their limit on their last run over to Fishers Island.
Largest bass was a 44-pounder caught on an eel on Friday night by Fred Hobbs of Mystic off the Fishers Island airport. Porgies can be caught from shore at the Cottrell Street Park along the Mystic River, a sorely needed shoreline access point for the general public.
Capt. Joe Balint at the Fish Connection said some 10-12-pound blues were caught in Norwich Harbor on Wednesday morning on snagged bunker. A few large bass were landed during the week at buoy 27 and Montville but overall Joe feels the bass are moving out of the Thames as the river warms to summer levels.
One local caught six keeper fluke off Weekapaug Breachway by slow trolling with a small outboard, bumping the motor in and out of gear to provide a drift. And, a Navy captain from the Sub Base trolled a tube and worm off Wilderness Point for stripers of 38 and 39 inches.
Bob's in Uncasville left a report for me that stated fluking is very poor for some but the next day, very good for others. Biggest of the week was a 12-pound caught bucktailing in The Race; the ragged bottom out there maybe an overlooked fluke area? Keeper porgies were landed both inside and outside the lower Thames.
Hillyers Tackle reminds all that blackfish season opens in state waters from July 1-Aug. 31. You are allowed to keep two fish with a 14-inch minimum. Shore anglers landed bass between the Niantic Bridges with eels plus others were caught in boats on the same bait at Outer Bartletts. Small boaters also caught harbor blues from time to time in the Millstone discharge and some porgies from Black Rock to Two Tree Island.
Al Golinski and his wife Emme got out last Saturday, in between Al's bouts with a bad back. Using live bunker they snagged or cast-netted in the Pawcatuck River they caught two stripers in the 20s on the Watch Hill reefs then headed east for fluke. At morning's end the pair both had limits from keepers to 6.8 pounds.
Mark at River's End in Old Saybrook reported the blues all over the top in Plum Gut just at sunrise on Wednesday with bass there before light. Chunkers caught a few bass on a weekly basis at the Dock 'NDine but overall fluke numbers are still low from Black Point to the Sand Shoal.
TIM COLEMAN IS THE DAY'S SALTWATER FISHING COLUMNIST.[/size]
[signature]