Black fishing season is on through Dec. 6
By Tim Coleman
The big news this week is the reopening of black fishing, eagerly anticipated by those who like to fish on the bottom. The season will run through Dec. 6 and allows you to keep four fish per person with a minimum length of 14 inches.
If you wish to fish in Rhode Island waters, the size limit is 16 inches with a three-fish bag limit. New York regulations are the same limits as those in Connecticut. Thanks to Allen Fee of Shaffer's Marina in Mystic for the information.
Lots of hickory shad are around the Mason's Island Bridge and bunker available most mornings around the mouth of the river, the latter transported for bass bait to the south side of Fishers Island.
Over at J&B Tackle, I was told there are more daytime bass in The Race this week on the ebb tide along with all the blues. The flood tide is still primarily a bluefish affair. Black fishing is best as of this report in shallow water and don't forget you can still catch porgies from a party and charter boat until Oct. You are allowed 45 fish per person with an 11-inch minimum. Race Rock was a hot spot as of mid-week.
Bob's Rod & Tackle in Uncasville reported a 38-pound bass caught from shore around the Greenville Dam on a Fin-S Fish and scattered reports of blues and a few keeper bass from the lower part of the Thames. Black fishing opened on Wednesday to mixed reviews, mostly smaller fish for those with their limits.
Hillyers Tackle said shore anglers are catching a mix of schoolie bass and blues in the morning between Ocean Beach and Seaside plus schools of bunker are drawing bass and blues in close at times around the Niantic Bridges and spots in the bay. This week a young man named Cale landed a 40-pound striper from a beach along Niantic Bay on a live bunker.
Don at King Cove in Stonington said striper fishing was good this week on the reefs and also Sandy Point and at times right in Stonington Harbor where schools of bunker can be snagged or netted for bass bait. Biggest of the week was a 48.9-pounder caught by Chris Wazer at an undisclosed spot. Sea bassing is best at Block Island or the rockpiles down off Misquamicut. Blackfish reports were just so-so with many saying it's not cold enough yet for best results.
Norwich Harbor has some large blues and some bass, said Joe Balint at The Fish Connection, thanks to the bunker schools there. Down river, fishing was much slower with scattered reports of smaller blues and school stripers. A shore angler caught his limit of blackfish around the Gold Star Bridge abutments.
Those at Avery Point over to Harkness caught smaller blues and small bass if up early in the day. Capt. Jack Balint found false albacore at Race Rock on his Wednesday charter but shore fishermen are having a much harder time connecting with an albie from Pleasure Beach.
Down at River's End in Old Saybrook, Mark told me about a bluefish blitz last Saturday when 8-to-12 pound blues had bunkers pushed up on beaches from Harkness down past Old Saybrook. Mark caught 20 of the critters on a conventional rod with large Zara Spook plug then picked up 55 bunkers stranded on the shore after the blitz was over.
During the week, shore anglers landed blues off and on along with a bass or two on chunks on the bottom at the Dock 'N Dine along the Connecticut River. Windy weather cut back the number of boat trips, some of those connecting with limit catches of smaller blackfish, just the first meager start of the season.
Connecticut residents going over to Rhode Island found blues and bass at times at Watch Hill and the beach just to the east, often in very crowded conditions that had some seeking less crowded shores. A few large bass were caught on the late outgoing tides at Quonny Breachway but not ever person wishes to fish after dark.
By Tim Coleman
The big news this week is the reopening of black fishing, eagerly anticipated by those who like to fish on the bottom. The season will run through Dec. 6 and allows you to keep four fish per person with a minimum length of 14 inches.
If you wish to fish in Rhode Island waters, the size limit is 16 inches with a three-fish bag limit. New York regulations are the same limits as those in Connecticut. Thanks to Allen Fee of Shaffer's Marina in Mystic for the information.
Lots of hickory shad are around the Mason's Island Bridge and bunker available most mornings around the mouth of the river, the latter transported for bass bait to the south side of Fishers Island.
Over at J&B Tackle, I was told there are more daytime bass in The Race this week on the ebb tide along with all the blues. The flood tide is still primarily a bluefish affair. Black fishing is best as of this report in shallow water and don't forget you can still catch porgies from a party and charter boat until Oct. You are allowed 45 fish per person with an 11-inch minimum. Race Rock was a hot spot as of mid-week.
Bob's Rod & Tackle in Uncasville reported a 38-pound bass caught from shore around the Greenville Dam on a Fin-S Fish and scattered reports of blues and a few keeper bass from the lower part of the Thames. Black fishing opened on Wednesday to mixed reviews, mostly smaller fish for those with their limits.
Hillyers Tackle said shore anglers are catching a mix of schoolie bass and blues in the morning between Ocean Beach and Seaside plus schools of bunker are drawing bass and blues in close at times around the Niantic Bridges and spots in the bay. This week a young man named Cale landed a 40-pound striper from a beach along Niantic Bay on a live bunker.
Don at King Cove in Stonington said striper fishing was good this week on the reefs and also Sandy Point and at times right in Stonington Harbor where schools of bunker can be snagged or netted for bass bait. Biggest of the week was a 48.9-pounder caught by Chris Wazer at an undisclosed spot. Sea bassing is best at Block Island or the rockpiles down off Misquamicut. Blackfish reports were just so-so with many saying it's not cold enough yet for best results.
Norwich Harbor has some large blues and some bass, said Joe Balint at The Fish Connection, thanks to the bunker schools there. Down river, fishing was much slower with scattered reports of smaller blues and school stripers. A shore angler caught his limit of blackfish around the Gold Star Bridge abutments.
Those at Avery Point over to Harkness caught smaller blues and small bass if up early in the day. Capt. Jack Balint found false albacore at Race Rock on his Wednesday charter but shore fishermen are having a much harder time connecting with an albie from Pleasure Beach.
Down at River's End in Old Saybrook, Mark told me about a bluefish blitz last Saturday when 8-to-12 pound blues had bunkers pushed up on beaches from Harkness down past Old Saybrook. Mark caught 20 of the critters on a conventional rod with large Zara Spook plug then picked up 55 bunkers stranded on the shore after the blitz was over.
During the week, shore anglers landed blues off and on along with a bass or two on chunks on the bottom at the Dock 'N Dine along the Connecticut River. Windy weather cut back the number of boat trips, some of those connecting with limit catches of smaller blackfish, just the first meager start of the season.
Connecticut residents going over to Rhode Island found blues and bass at times at Watch Hill and the beach just to the east, often in very crowded conditions that had some seeking less crowded shores. A few large bass were caught on the late outgoing tides at Quonny Breachway but not ever person wishes to fish after dark.
