East wind makes local waters fishy
By Tim Coleman Published on 9/11/2009
The east wind that started on Wednesday has cut down the number of small boaters on the water but we still have some fishing ongoing. False Albcore in particular were around in our waters, hopefully staying put until this low pressure down off the New Jersey coast that is producing the easterly moves on through
Capt. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection told me the albies were thick behind Fishers Island over to the Watch Hill Reefs before the blow, hitting on Swedish Pimples and small Zoom Super Flukes. Bass catches on the reefs slowed down, at least for those using lures and casting tackle. Wire liners in The Race caught bass said Jack plus shore anglers using chunks on the bottom landed bluefish of various sizes by buoy 27, Montville boat ramp and the Norwich docks.
Over at King Cove in Stonington, Don reported on the albies on the reefs, noting that could change with continued east winds. Bass fishing suffered but sea bassing has been good at the West Grounds at Block Island. Porgies are biting well on the rockpiles from Misquamicut to Charlestown.
Al and Emme Golinski got out on Tuesday, running over to Block Island for a great catch of sea bass, some very large porgies and a 3-pound triggerfish, a southern visitor that shows up in our waters during the late summer when water temperatures are usually at their highest. They caught all the fish with high-low bottom rigs with 4-ounce sinkers slowly drifting over the West Grounds on day with light winds and slow tides.
Capt. Howard Beers at Hillyers said a fleet of 50 boats were out chasing the albies around at Bartletts early in the week, but as of Wednesday there was no sign of birds, boats or the fish. Blue fishing in The Race has been fairly steady, although it too suffered at times with the east winds. Porgy fishing remains good on all the local rockpiles and the fish are up to 2-plus pounds.
Roger at J&B Tackle reported the ablies were off Little Gull at last look, and the blues and bass were pretty decent in The Race overall the last seven days, suffering some from the east winds that kept a lot of small boaters at the dock. The porgies are big on all the rocky lumps and humps within easy running of both the Thames and Niantic Rivers.
They caught some blues up to 12 pounds off Montville said Red at Bob's in Uncasville, adding that those fish were chasing smaller bait around, not bunkers. That bigger bait, so prized for striper fishing, were located at the mouth of the river and up in Norwich Harbor. Some of the locals were getting up for sunrise, fishing the beach around the Niantic boardwalk, casting lures looking for bass and bluefish.
Block Island offers the best chance for a catch of sea bass and porgies galore are on most of the humps in Fishers Island and eastern Long Island Sounds. Deadly Dicks and small Zooms are the lures of choice for the albies.
The Hel-Cat had a good week for blues in and around The Race with no news of impending hurricanes to put up with for a change. They have two ocean trips for blues planned for Saturday and Sept. 26, leaving those Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. and returning around 3 a.m. The big fish of the week was a 15-pound bass caught by Mike Horn just at the whistle for the end of the day.
Surf fishing along the Rhode Island beaches was very poor for most of the week. People sticking with it inspite of poor results landed a few small bass at sunrise and sunset along with some blues under two pounds. We have yet to see any run of larger blues, normally very common from Watch Hill to Charlestown at this time of year.
There are some bigger blues in the Pawcatuck River, popping up on the surface at times outside Watch Hill Harbor or way up the river by the boat launch. The fish way up the river are showing up some mornings chasing bunker. schools around. One local landed an 8-pounder fishing from shore at the ramp on a bunker chunk. A couple of the local kids have snagged some bunkers from this stretch, then taken them over to the commercial dock in Stonington where they cut them up for chunk bait trying for striped bass.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist
By Tim Coleman Published on 9/11/2009
The east wind that started on Wednesday has cut down the number of small boaters on the water but we still have some fishing ongoing. False Albcore in particular were around in our waters, hopefully staying put until this low pressure down off the New Jersey coast that is producing the easterly moves on through
Capt. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection told me the albies were thick behind Fishers Island over to the Watch Hill Reefs before the blow, hitting on Swedish Pimples and small Zoom Super Flukes. Bass catches on the reefs slowed down, at least for those using lures and casting tackle. Wire liners in The Race caught bass said Jack plus shore anglers using chunks on the bottom landed bluefish of various sizes by buoy 27, Montville boat ramp and the Norwich docks.
Over at King Cove in Stonington, Don reported on the albies on the reefs, noting that could change with continued east winds. Bass fishing suffered but sea bassing has been good at the West Grounds at Block Island. Porgies are biting well on the rockpiles from Misquamicut to Charlestown.
Al and Emme Golinski got out on Tuesday, running over to Block Island for a great catch of sea bass, some very large porgies and a 3-pound triggerfish, a southern visitor that shows up in our waters during the late summer when water temperatures are usually at their highest. They caught all the fish with high-low bottom rigs with 4-ounce sinkers slowly drifting over the West Grounds on day with light winds and slow tides.
Capt. Howard Beers at Hillyers said a fleet of 50 boats were out chasing the albies around at Bartletts early in the week, but as of Wednesday there was no sign of birds, boats or the fish. Blue fishing in The Race has been fairly steady, although it too suffered at times with the east winds. Porgy fishing remains good on all the local rockpiles and the fish are up to 2-plus pounds.
Roger at J&B Tackle reported the ablies were off Little Gull at last look, and the blues and bass were pretty decent in The Race overall the last seven days, suffering some from the east winds that kept a lot of small boaters at the dock. The porgies are big on all the rocky lumps and humps within easy running of both the Thames and Niantic Rivers.
They caught some blues up to 12 pounds off Montville said Red at Bob's in Uncasville, adding that those fish were chasing smaller bait around, not bunkers. That bigger bait, so prized for striper fishing, were located at the mouth of the river and up in Norwich Harbor. Some of the locals were getting up for sunrise, fishing the beach around the Niantic boardwalk, casting lures looking for bass and bluefish.
Block Island offers the best chance for a catch of sea bass and porgies galore are on most of the humps in Fishers Island and eastern Long Island Sounds. Deadly Dicks and small Zooms are the lures of choice for the albies.
The Hel-Cat had a good week for blues in and around The Race with no news of impending hurricanes to put up with for a change. They have two ocean trips for blues planned for Saturday and Sept. 26, leaving those Saturday evenings at 6 p.m. and returning around 3 a.m. The big fish of the week was a 15-pound bass caught by Mike Horn just at the whistle for the end of the day.
Surf fishing along the Rhode Island beaches was very poor for most of the week. People sticking with it inspite of poor results landed a few small bass at sunrise and sunset along with some blues under two pounds. We have yet to see any run of larger blues, normally very common from Watch Hill to Charlestown at this time of year.
There are some bigger blues in the Pawcatuck River, popping up on the surface at times outside Watch Hill Harbor or way up the river by the boat launch. The fish way up the river are showing up some mornings chasing bunker. schools around. One local landed an 8-pounder fishing from shore at the ramp on a bunker chunk. A couple of the local kids have snagged some bunkers from this stretch, then taken them over to the commercial dock in Stonington where they cut them up for chunk bait trying for striped bass.
Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist