Bass are moving in, fluke season beginning
By Tim Coleman
Right on schedule, the bass moved into The Race and should provide some good fishing in the weeks ahead. You can catch them with a diamond jig when the tide isn't running that hard or bucktailing when the current picks up over 1.5 knots. There are just a few blues mixed in, giving people a clear shot at a limit of bass, only a short run from local ports.
Captain Kerry Douton at J&B said their charter boat started fishing on Saturday and caught well every day since, the catch keeper stripers with just a few small blues mixed in. Connecticut will open its fluke season on May 24. You are allowed to keep five fish at 19.8 inches. New York opened on Thursday with a four-fish bag limit and 20.8 inch minimum size. Rhode Island is also open, their laws permitting seven fluke per person at 20 inches.
Pat Abate at Rivers End told me the striper fishing this week in the lower Connecticut River was so-so, victim of low water and bright sun right in the middle of the day, not good conditions for casting with artificial lures. Some bass into the 20s are now on the outside reefs with more sure to follow.
Over at Hillyers Tackle, Capt. Howard Beers reported your best chance for some winter flounder for supper would now be outside the rivers at places like The Brothers over to Ocean Beach. Catches up inside the Niantic River dropped off as the week wore on.
Find the bunker schools in the Thames River and you'll probably find a school of striped bass with some blues not far behind said Red at Bob's Rod & Tackle. If you can't find the bunker, try anchoring and waiting the fish out with a chunk of frozen bunker on the bottom. The best chance for flounder is now from outside the river over to Pine Island. Don't expect a bumper catch; maybe enough for supper and a few follow-up meals.
Capt. Bruce's Tackle reported bass in The Gut as well as The Race and squid from Black Point here and there over to Watch Hill. Flounder news ranged from poor to fair at best.
Allen Fee at Shaffers Marina said people are catching small bass up to some smaller keepers in the Mystic River from Six Penny Island up to the I-95 Bridge on both small plastic lures, poppers or chunks of mackerel or worms on the bottom. Allen and his sister have put together a list of all current regs for all species for Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. It's yours for the asking in these times of confusing regulations.
Capt. Jack at the Fish Connection was excited about a blitz of bass in Norwich Harbor on Monday afternoon as the northeaster blew in. Bass to 40 pounds had a school of bunkers penned up against the Norwich docks, within range of shore anglers who landed an estimated 45 keepers, that figured verified by a conservation officer on the scene. One fellow landed nine keepers all by himself. The fish hit snagged live bunkers, plastic shads or plugs.
A couple of the locals trailered their boat over to Rhode Island for fluke, catching an estimated 60 fish in a day but only three were big enough to keep under current law.
We have some fish now on the Watch Hill Reefs, said Bill at King Cove. About mid-week people snapping wire on the reefs started taking larger bass, welcome news for all who keep their boats in the Pawcatuck River or launch either in Westerly or Barn Island. Shore anglers had a decent day of it with school bass in the Pawcatuck on Monday but since then daytime catches were off with low tides right in the middle of the morning.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist. He can be reached at thewreckhunter@aol.com
By Tim Coleman
Right on schedule, the bass moved into The Race and should provide some good fishing in the weeks ahead. You can catch them with a diamond jig when the tide isn't running that hard or bucktailing when the current picks up over 1.5 knots. There are just a few blues mixed in, giving people a clear shot at a limit of bass, only a short run from local ports.
Captain Kerry Douton at J&B said their charter boat started fishing on Saturday and caught well every day since, the catch keeper stripers with just a few small blues mixed in. Connecticut will open its fluke season on May 24. You are allowed to keep five fish at 19.8 inches. New York opened on Thursday with a four-fish bag limit and 20.8 inch minimum size. Rhode Island is also open, their laws permitting seven fluke per person at 20 inches.
Pat Abate at Rivers End told me the striper fishing this week in the lower Connecticut River was so-so, victim of low water and bright sun right in the middle of the day, not good conditions for casting with artificial lures. Some bass into the 20s are now on the outside reefs with more sure to follow.
Over at Hillyers Tackle, Capt. Howard Beers reported your best chance for some winter flounder for supper would now be outside the rivers at places like The Brothers over to Ocean Beach. Catches up inside the Niantic River dropped off as the week wore on.
Find the bunker schools in the Thames River and you'll probably find a school of striped bass with some blues not far behind said Red at Bob's Rod & Tackle. If you can't find the bunker, try anchoring and waiting the fish out with a chunk of frozen bunker on the bottom. The best chance for flounder is now from outside the river over to Pine Island. Don't expect a bumper catch; maybe enough for supper and a few follow-up meals.
Capt. Bruce's Tackle reported bass in The Gut as well as The Race and squid from Black Point here and there over to Watch Hill. Flounder news ranged from poor to fair at best.
Allen Fee at Shaffers Marina said people are catching small bass up to some smaller keepers in the Mystic River from Six Penny Island up to the I-95 Bridge on both small plastic lures, poppers or chunks of mackerel or worms on the bottom. Allen and his sister have put together a list of all current regs for all species for Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. It's yours for the asking in these times of confusing regulations.
Capt. Jack at the Fish Connection was excited about a blitz of bass in Norwich Harbor on Monday afternoon as the northeaster blew in. Bass to 40 pounds had a school of bunkers penned up against the Norwich docks, within range of shore anglers who landed an estimated 45 keepers, that figured verified by a conservation officer on the scene. One fellow landed nine keepers all by himself. The fish hit snagged live bunkers, plastic shads or plugs.
A couple of the locals trailered their boat over to Rhode Island for fluke, catching an estimated 60 fish in a day but only three were big enough to keep under current law.
We have some fish now on the Watch Hill Reefs, said Bill at King Cove. About mid-week people snapping wire on the reefs started taking larger bass, welcome news for all who keep their boats in the Pawcatuck River or launch either in Westerly or Barn Island. Shore anglers had a decent day of it with school bass in the Pawcatuck on Monday but since then daytime catches were off with low tides right in the middle of the morning.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist. He can be reached at thewreckhunter@aol.com