Fluke finding way into eastern Sound
By Tim Coleman Publication: The Day
Fluke, a summer mainstay for lots of readers, moved into the eastern Sound in better numbers, providing somewhat more keepers from Niantic to the east. Daytime bass catches in The Race have been up and down, not as good as a couple weeks ago and porgies, a great time for kids of all ages, are around in catchable numbers.
Matt Hillyer was minding the store his dad Walter started many years ago so we get the news from the man himself. Bass catches in The Race are good one day with right tide and conditions but not much the next time, sizes OK but nothing overly large on bright bucktails and pork rind on a three-way rig.
Fluking came up a notch or two in local waters like Two Tree Channel. Since last week they weighed in some 5 to 7 pounders plus more keepers. Blackfish season opens on July 1 and through that month and the next you can keep two per day person as long as they are 14 inches. Blue crabbing is off to an excellent start, most caught after dark in the Niantic River.
Roger at J&B reported lots of small bait of some type up along the shoreline beaches, drawing in fluke, some of them keepers for those fishing in shallower water than the 40 to 100-plus feet normally associated with finding fish big enough to take home. Bass catches in The Race were fair, not nearly as good as two weeks ago, said Roger.
Porgies are in good numbers, great for a day on the water for the little ones, lots of action keeping them busy. Nebraska Shoal has sea bass to offer as does the fluke bottom off Misquamicut where the tasty sea bass are often caught as a by catch while drifting for summer flounder. Block Island unfortunately was said to be full of unwanted dogfish.
Captain Allen Fee at Shaffers said David Plowchalk of Mystic took out some family members, including his future mother-in-law who caught a 26-inch fluke off Misquamicut on Tuesday along with some too small to put in the cooler. Bob and Shelley Belrose, 25-year customers at the marina, are now catching more keeper fluke in Fishers Island Sound, another plus for the coming weekend.
Mickey Brotherton and buddy made a trolling trip on Tuesday from Ellis Reef to buoy 7 to Gates Island, using a Yo-Zuri Hydro Squid for a total of 21 bass, keeping four of them for the table. Lots of big porgies are on the rocky humps inside Fishers Island and available for shore anglers in the Mystic River. A husband and wife team from Longmeadow, Mass., elected to cast eels into the rocky shore on the north side of Fishers at Clay and Brooks Points, landing a fine 47-inch bass one morning, not in the dead of night. Blue fishing in The Race is still pretty slow, nowhere near summer abundance.
We have smaller porgies as far up the Thames now as Montville, said Red at Bob's Tackle in Uncasville. You can catch bigger scup in a boat on the rockpiles around the river mouth. A school of small blues is hanging around the latter spot but there isn't any amount of larger blues yet in The Race.
Joe Balint was on duty at the Fish Connection in Preston. He told me there are still some bunkers up in Norwich Harbor holding some 25 to 33-inch stripers. They sometimes come in close to the Norwich park where shore anglers snag one or two and live line them to hopefully waiting bass.
Further down river, shore anglers at buoy 27 caught smaller bass and a bluefish to 7 pounds. Pier anglers at Fort Trumbull landed a mix of everything on bait on the bottom. Avery Point offers porgies for the beach-bound along with a bluefish or two on some not all days.
Pat at River's End reported bunkers around the Clinton-Westbrook area and not surprisingly that is where striper fishing was best. Boats anchored up and fishing chunks in the lower Connecticut River caught stripers at times along with some short fluke. Overall though the ratio of keeper to shorts is about 1 in 20, both in the river and off Sound View. Porgies are large but not in quantity just yet, said Pat, but this is starting to be a banner year for blue crabbing, most caught in traps during the day.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist. He can be reached at thewreckhunter@aol.com
By Tim Coleman Publication: The Day
Fluke, a summer mainstay for lots of readers, moved into the eastern Sound in better numbers, providing somewhat more keepers from Niantic to the east. Daytime bass catches in The Race have been up and down, not as good as a couple weeks ago and porgies, a great time for kids of all ages, are around in catchable numbers.
Matt Hillyer was minding the store his dad Walter started many years ago so we get the news from the man himself. Bass catches in The Race are good one day with right tide and conditions but not much the next time, sizes OK but nothing overly large on bright bucktails and pork rind on a three-way rig.
Fluking came up a notch or two in local waters like Two Tree Channel. Since last week they weighed in some 5 to 7 pounders plus more keepers. Blackfish season opens on July 1 and through that month and the next you can keep two per day person as long as they are 14 inches. Blue crabbing is off to an excellent start, most caught after dark in the Niantic River.
Roger at J&B reported lots of small bait of some type up along the shoreline beaches, drawing in fluke, some of them keepers for those fishing in shallower water than the 40 to 100-plus feet normally associated with finding fish big enough to take home. Bass catches in The Race were fair, not nearly as good as two weeks ago, said Roger.
Porgies are in good numbers, great for a day on the water for the little ones, lots of action keeping them busy. Nebraska Shoal has sea bass to offer as does the fluke bottom off Misquamicut where the tasty sea bass are often caught as a by catch while drifting for summer flounder. Block Island unfortunately was said to be full of unwanted dogfish.
Captain Allen Fee at Shaffers said David Plowchalk of Mystic took out some family members, including his future mother-in-law who caught a 26-inch fluke off Misquamicut on Tuesday along with some too small to put in the cooler. Bob and Shelley Belrose, 25-year customers at the marina, are now catching more keeper fluke in Fishers Island Sound, another plus for the coming weekend.
Mickey Brotherton and buddy made a trolling trip on Tuesday from Ellis Reef to buoy 7 to Gates Island, using a Yo-Zuri Hydro Squid for a total of 21 bass, keeping four of them for the table. Lots of big porgies are on the rocky humps inside Fishers Island and available for shore anglers in the Mystic River. A husband and wife team from Longmeadow, Mass., elected to cast eels into the rocky shore on the north side of Fishers at Clay and Brooks Points, landing a fine 47-inch bass one morning, not in the dead of night. Blue fishing in The Race is still pretty slow, nowhere near summer abundance.
We have smaller porgies as far up the Thames now as Montville, said Red at Bob's Tackle in Uncasville. You can catch bigger scup in a boat on the rockpiles around the river mouth. A school of small blues is hanging around the latter spot but there isn't any amount of larger blues yet in The Race.
Joe Balint was on duty at the Fish Connection in Preston. He told me there are still some bunkers up in Norwich Harbor holding some 25 to 33-inch stripers. They sometimes come in close to the Norwich park where shore anglers snag one or two and live line them to hopefully waiting bass.
Further down river, shore anglers at buoy 27 caught smaller bass and a bluefish to 7 pounds. Pier anglers at Fort Trumbull landed a mix of everything on bait on the bottom. Avery Point offers porgies for the beach-bound along with a bluefish or two on some not all days.
Pat at River's End reported bunkers around the Clinton-Westbrook area and not surprisingly that is where striper fishing was best. Boats anchored up and fishing chunks in the lower Connecticut River caught stripers at times along with some short fluke. Overall though the ratio of keeper to shorts is about 1 in 20, both in the river and off Sound View. Porgies are large but not in quantity just yet, said Pat, but this is starting to be a banner year for blue crabbing, most caught in traps during the day.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist. He can be reached at thewreckhunter@aol.com
