Storm is providing large surge of fish
By Tim Coleman Published on 9/4/2009
The passage of the last two storms off our coast pushed a nice surge of fish into our waters. Blue fishing is good to excellent in The Race plus false albacore and bonito, the latter two sometimes called the poor-man's tuna since they are available to those with smaller boats, also moved within range.
Capt. Kerry at J&B was happy to tell me about all the albies and some bonito around as of yesterday from Race Rock over to Watch Hill and points to the east. Bluefish numbers were high on most charter trips and Kerry expects the night bass catches to be good on the downside of this moon. Rounding out the news are plenty of large scup on all the local rock piles and blue sharks and a chance at smaller makos on the sharks grounds.
Mark at Rivers End Tackle said his sources all reported lots of albies around now from Race Rock to Watch Hill and up inside around the Dumplings. It's the best we've seen in a few years, said Mark. Yesterday morning there were a nice charge of smaller bass and some blues chasing bait on the surface at Hatchett's Reef, giving casters some fun early in the day.
Up at the Fish Connection, Capt. Jack Balint said there were good numbers of blues from 3 to maybe 8 pounds around Race Rock plus lots of albies for those that like to chase those around either with fly rod or light spinning tackle. You can troll up some bass on the south side of Fishers with tube and worm or in The Race on the strong tides with lures and wire line. Schools of bunker in Norwich Harbor are holding bass and a few large blues there.
Red at Bob's in Uncasville reported people working along the lower part of the Thames saw nicer bass in the lights on the docks at times. The lower river also has schools of bunker for bass bait along with harbor blues. The Race is loaded with blues, so many they were sometimes biting off the line up above a hooked fish being reeled in. Tube and worm trollers continue to catch both bass and blues at Goshen Reef or up inside the Spindle at Bartletts.
There are some bunkers and hickory shad now in the Niantic River said the spokesman at Hillyers Tackle, and those were drawing large blues and bass up inside the river bridges at times. Black fishing is closed right now in state waters. The influx of bonito and albies extended all the way up in to Jordan Cove, maybe even we hope within range of the person on shore.
Al and Emme Golinski of Misquamicut got out striper fishing on the Watch Hill Reefs on Monday, catching 15 bass to 38 pounds with live bunker. On a beautiful Wednesday they made a trip over to uncrowded Block Island for lots of short fluke but only two keepers. They ended the day catching a nice mess of sea bass on the West Grounds.
The Hel-Cat report stated they had a good to very good week of fishing for blues along with a “good mix of striped bass.” The last Saturday night trip for ocean blues was cancelled due to predicted 12-foot seas from the storm. The next one is scheduled for Sept. 12. Big fish of the week was a 19-pound striper caught by Claudio Vintario of New Milford.
Surfcasting along the Rhode Island beaches is picking up now with cooler weather and the passage of the storms. More smaller bass were caught at daybreak and dusk along with blues under 4 pounds. Those out after dark from Quonny to Watch Hill had a chance at some stripers in the 30-inch range plus, as of mid-week, casters also started to see some 7-8-pound false albacore hit their striper lures.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist
By Tim Coleman Published on 9/4/2009
The passage of the last two storms off our coast pushed a nice surge of fish into our waters. Blue fishing is good to excellent in The Race plus false albacore and bonito, the latter two sometimes called the poor-man's tuna since they are available to those with smaller boats, also moved within range.
Capt. Kerry at J&B was happy to tell me about all the albies and some bonito around as of yesterday from Race Rock over to Watch Hill and points to the east. Bluefish numbers were high on most charter trips and Kerry expects the night bass catches to be good on the downside of this moon. Rounding out the news are plenty of large scup on all the local rock piles and blue sharks and a chance at smaller makos on the sharks grounds.
Mark at Rivers End Tackle said his sources all reported lots of albies around now from Race Rock to Watch Hill and up inside around the Dumplings. It's the best we've seen in a few years, said Mark. Yesterday morning there were a nice charge of smaller bass and some blues chasing bait on the surface at Hatchett's Reef, giving casters some fun early in the day.
Up at the Fish Connection, Capt. Jack Balint said there were good numbers of blues from 3 to maybe 8 pounds around Race Rock plus lots of albies for those that like to chase those around either with fly rod or light spinning tackle. You can troll up some bass on the south side of Fishers with tube and worm or in The Race on the strong tides with lures and wire line. Schools of bunker in Norwich Harbor are holding bass and a few large blues there.
Red at Bob's in Uncasville reported people working along the lower part of the Thames saw nicer bass in the lights on the docks at times. The lower river also has schools of bunker for bass bait along with harbor blues. The Race is loaded with blues, so many they were sometimes biting off the line up above a hooked fish being reeled in. Tube and worm trollers continue to catch both bass and blues at Goshen Reef or up inside the Spindle at Bartletts.
There are some bunkers and hickory shad now in the Niantic River said the spokesman at Hillyers Tackle, and those were drawing large blues and bass up inside the river bridges at times. Black fishing is closed right now in state waters. The influx of bonito and albies extended all the way up in to Jordan Cove, maybe even we hope within range of the person on shore.
Al and Emme Golinski of Misquamicut got out striper fishing on the Watch Hill Reefs on Monday, catching 15 bass to 38 pounds with live bunker. On a beautiful Wednesday they made a trip over to uncrowded Block Island for lots of short fluke but only two keepers. They ended the day catching a nice mess of sea bass on the West Grounds.
The Hel-Cat report stated they had a good to very good week of fishing for blues along with a “good mix of striped bass.” The last Saturday night trip for ocean blues was cancelled due to predicted 12-foot seas from the storm. The next one is scheduled for Sept. 12. Big fish of the week was a 19-pound striper caught by Claudio Vintario of New Milford.
Surfcasting along the Rhode Island beaches is picking up now with cooler weather and the passage of the storms. More smaller bass were caught at daybreak and dusk along with blues under 4 pounds. Those out after dark from Quonny to Watch Hill had a chance at some stripers in the 30-inch range plus, as of mid-week, casters also started to see some 7-8-pound false albacore hit their striper lures.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist
