Great Video - -Between the Lines

This is not only a great video, but proves that there is another generation of striper anglers who understand the need to protect this magnificent fish. This gets an A in my class any and every day. Well done! #lonelyospreyproductions #betweenthelines #stripers#longislandsound #stripersforever

https://vimeo.com/lopfilms/betweenthelines

Product Review – Plum Island Swim Baits

The fishing industry seems awash in soft plastic products from both major manufacturers and smaller start-up companies.  Everyone claims to have something special. I think the guys from Plum Island Swim Baits really do.  Let me preface this by saying that I fish a TON of soft plastics in both fresh and salt water. I live less than a mile from Lunker City, who’s Sluggos have been a staple for years.  I have literally bins full of soft plastics from dozens of manufactures. Some stuff is great and will always be in my bag or on my boat, others not so much so.  So why have I fished Plum Island almost exclusively this season?

I picked up a few packs of Plum Island River Eels 7.5”, Flukushima OGs and Flukishima Mondos this spring after seeing a few online posts about this local company that was making some great soft plastics. With every soft plastic, the balancing act comes between a bait with great action and durability. The stuff with the best action is typically really soft and tears up pretty quickly.  Super durable often equals too stiff and a lot less action.  Plum Island seems to have hit the nail right on the head. Their baits have great action in the water, feel super soft, and are tough as nails, often holding up to a day of striper fishing or numerous bluefish strikes.  Did I mention that they are scent impregnated as well? These things are not your rock hard GULP baits!      

It turns out that one of the guys behind Plum Island, Gabe Ravizza, lives ten minutes away from me, and invited me over to check out some of the stuff they’ve been working on.  We talked fishing for awhile, and I left with a goody-bag of soft plastics, including a bunch of new designs and color combinations.  Among my favorites were some of the albie baits that were absolutely slaughtered the last few weeks. I’m sure you’ll be seeing some more of these next fall.  I had the chance to get out on the water with Gabe this past week, and try out even more styles and color combinations on fall run stripers and blues.

The list of shops carrying Plum Island Swim Baits is expanding , though Gabe emphasized their commitment to maintaining the quality of the baits over the growing shop demands for expansion.  Want a custom color combination? They can probably do that for you as well. Check out Plum Island Swim Baits.  You won’t be disappointed.

http://plumislandbaits.com/

Tight Lines, and Remember - BUY LOCAL/BUY AMERICAN

RNA

Gabe with a big blue. 

Eastern Connecticut’s Fall Funny Fish

Eastern Connecticut’s Fall Funny Fish

About the time the late summer doldrums really start hitting home, the “funny fish” begin to arrive to living things back up and usher in the fall season, first with the bonito followed by the false albacore. Not only are bonito and false albacore some of the more exotic looking fish to visit our shores, they’re also some of the most fun to catch, offering frantic adrenaline rushes as you snap cast to a breaking school knowing you have perhaps just a few seconds to hook up to what can be a blistering run. The bonito make some of the best table fare, either as sashimi or perhaps seared steaks, as opposed to the albies, who provide more excitement on the line, but much less so at the dinner table (sharks and other large pelagics aside).

While typically targeted in eastern CT, RI and NY waters around Fishers Island, last seasons saw albies thick in as far west as Milford. Other seasons, they seem to almost completely bypass us. These fish are all chasing the schools of squid, silversides, bay anchovies, peanut bunker and other small baits present in large numbers in late August and September. Surfcasters need to combine knowledge and luck to land these fish, as they can travel at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. Obviously points and jetties provide prime locations, but you can also score from the open beach, particularly when conditions are pushing the small bait in close. From a boat or a yak, things get a bit easier to either set up off points where the fish are likely to pass, or to slow cruise along open stretches of beach with the tide and bait, watching for telltale signs on the surface or working birds. These fish often are mixed in or around smaller blues, but their distinctive green back will give them away on the surface. Don’t be afraid to blind cast though, and don’t just key on birds, as these things move so fast. My biggest rule, however, and one that I believe yields me higher hookup ratios than a lot of other boats, is to stay away from other boats! There simply isn’t much point in hanging around a group of other idling boats, waiting for the fish to show back up, or running and gunning to get to a breaking school in the distance.  Places like Watch Hill, RI get absolutely ridiculous during the albie runs. Fish away from the pack.  

As to gear, you’d better be rigged and ready. I like fishing both fly (saving for another post) and 7-1/2 foot medium fast spinning rods with 30lb. superbraid and 15-20lb. fluorocarbon leaders. The bonito will often take larger baits, and my favorites are 5-/12” Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows or similar stick baits in flashy colors, mackerel patterns, soft plastics like local Plum Island (http://plumislandbaits.com) and Cobra Baits (http://www.cobrabait.com/) on bullet jigs, Deadly Dicks, etc. For the albies, you will likely need to downsize as they are ripping through clouds of bay anchovies, silversides, peanut bunker and other small profile baits, typically at the top of the water column. I love unweighted Albie Snax (http://longcastplastics.com), Zoom flukes and will be trying Cobra Baits new Bay Anchovy soft plastic. Of course, make sure to include smaller Deadly Dicks, Shimano Waxwings, Hogy Epoxy Jigs and similar type hard lures. My other favorite is spin casting flies or epoxy teasers tied to a a 2” Deadly Dick type body with 2’ of 15lb. fluoro (See below). Albies can be finicky, so don’t hesitate to switch it up. I generally keep a rod ready rigged with each of the above, as there is no time to be messing around with tying on new lures.

If you haven’t been out on the bonito yet, you’d better get going. Meanwhile, let’s cross our fingers and say a prayer to the fish gods that this year produces another strong albie run as well!

Tight Lines,

Redneck Angler

P.S. - This was a real short primer. If you have questions or want to know more, shoot me a message.             

Telling them apart:

Here’s a good video to check out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v9rzJwlJL8

$6.66

That's how much our two coffees at the Shell station range up as at 3:30 a.m. this morning. The clerk laughed about the devil's number. Should we just buy something else? No, the die had been cast. I joked to Jeff that if we slammed the fish, I'd have to buy $6.66 worth of coffee every morning. We put in at Baldwin Bridge and I tied up as the place was empty, filling my live well and checking out some of the new lighting I had installed. After ten minutes, we began to motor slowly down river. Passing under the bridge, we headed towards North Cove to look for bunker.

I was running slow until the sky started to lighten more to the east and I could better see the water surface. Having had the worst luck this season with submerged objects in the river, I was in no hurry. By the time we were three quarters of a mile below the bridge, I throttled up with no response. My stern was sitting alarmingly low in the water. Had I put the two plugs in before we left? Yes, I had left them in after yesterday and seen both in before launching. I immediately turned on both bilges, the second having been installed earlier in the season as I was worried about just having one and a hand bilge. We were taking on water rapidly, and my fear was a blown connection in the live well system. Jeff started working the Whale Gusher hand bilge and I turned straight in to shore, praying we could make it up on the flats above North Cove and beach. We were holding our own against the water as we approached the flats. The tide was nearing the top of the flood and as we made the edge of the flats, I slammed a rock with my prop, shearing it off. I knew they were in the area, but it was dark and priority #1 had been to get to shallow water before swamping. I threw out the anchor and went overboard into the waist deep water. My prop was gone, and to my surprise, so was one of the rear plugs. We were at least making headway against the flooding, so I retrieved a spare plug and put it in place. The only explanation I can come up with is that I had unscrewed one of the two plugs yesterday to see if there was any water and perhaps didn't fully tighten it, allowing it to work loose and pop out as we motored down river. If we had been taking on water since the time we launched, I wouldn't have made it 100 yards off the dock.

We were dry again within a few minutes and sitting three hundred yards above North Cove. The tide was still moving in, but nearing slack. I dropped my stern mounted trolling motor and kept my fingers crossed that it could get us back up river before the tide started out. It was no small irony that this was the first time I had brought the trolling motor along in the last month or two. Slogging back up river was going to take forever, so I told Jeff to go ahead and fish. He did manage a schoolie and a few swirls on a top water plug. The Gemma Rose II avoided the skunk! It was touch and go getting past the railroad bridge and up towards Baldwin Bridge as the tide had started to flow out, but we eventually managed to get back to the dock without calling Boats US.

The lost prop was not a big deal, as it was dinged up and a replacement is already sitting in the garage. I get to fish quite a bit, so there's always next weekend. I feel terrible for Jeff, with whom I haven't been able to get out on the water all season as he's always working his ass off. I really hope we get a few more chances before the end of the season.

Obviously, I'll be checking not only that the plugs are in, but also double checking that they are tight. The second lesson is that a spare prop isn't very useful sitting in my garage. Finally, if the morning coffee rings up to $6.66, just turn around, go home and go back to sleep.

PS - Think of how much worse it could have been if there was a banana on board!

Thinking about a charter? Here are a few tips.

For those looking to book a charter, especially for the first time, keep in mind a few things. I've fished far too many charters to count, from Mexico to Mass and everywhere in between. Most have been excellent, some OK, and one or two downright diabolical. Don't be afraid to ask lots of questions and check them out. 1) First and foremost you Captain should be a licensed captain, not just a guy who calls himself that, and he/she should be running a licensed charter service in the state or waters you are fishing. I get asked all the time if I'll take folks out for a cash "charter," and the answer is no. I don't want to lose my boat, house and everything else I own if something should go wrong. Licensed captains pay a lot of expenses to run their businesses, and under the table operations screw them. You captain/guide should have liability insurance. ASK these things. They are simple questions and the answers should be the same. THEY SHOULD HAVE THE DOCUMENTATION ON THEIR BOATS. 2) CHEAPEST ISN"T NECESSARILY THE BEST. Avoid the weekend warrior captains. Ask for references or research online. Nothing equals time on the water. 3) You captain should be knowledgeable and listen to what you are interested in and work to put together a plan. I look to learn from these guys every time I go out. There are some out there who could care less about tides, whats biting when, etc. They want to leave at x, drift the Race, and get back at y regardless. I can go on a party boat for that. 4) He should like being out there and get pumped when clients catch big fish. Some of the best guys I've gone out with share knowledge, tell great stories, and will tell you that the biggest rush for them is hooking people up with the target species. I went out for ten hours in the Keys with a guy who did nothing but bitch about the weather. 4-10 hours on a boat with a guy that acts like he's having about as much fun as working a production line makes for a long trip. 5) Thinks "out of the box" and will change up the game plan on a slow day. Sometimes the fish don't seem to bite but a good captain will at least try a bit of everything. There are days when everyone gets skunked, but you know when a guy has busted his ass trying to get you on the fish, and that's a guy I will fish with again. 6) Big for me - wants to preserve the sport. Is ethical in methods and works to preserve the stocks. Believe it or not, I hate to eat fish, so I catch and release unless I want a few fillets for friends. Perhaps my coolest fishing moment was at the end of landing my one and only marlin, brought it to the side of the boat to snap a few pics, revived it and then cut it loose. The fish and I were spent, and that thing just glided back down into deep water. Hope this helps someone looking to charter. Feel free to ask for suggestions or recommendations.

Triumph Skiff Review - End of Season One

Well, I've fished the Gemma Rose II for almost the entire season, and I have to say, I'm very pleased with my purchase.  I posted my initial review earlier this year, so I won't rehash all of the reasons I chose the Triumph.  I will tell you, it's lived up to expectations in almost all areas. 

Durability was a key, and by this I mean the ability to run it into rocky bottoms, from poor launch facilities and whatever else gets thrown my way.  While not a flats boat, I can still fish pretty skinny water in back bays, coves and shallow rivers.  I've put my share of battle scars on her this year, but I won't be repairing glass or gel coats! I'm far from a neat freak, and she's showing some staining on the plastic, but I can live with this. If you'd rather spend your time fishing than maintaining a boat, this is a model to consider.  She's a tough boat!

 

Paired with the 75hp E-Tec, the pushed 35mph overland speed at full throttle in calm conditions.   I will say that the standard console gauges are pretty useless as they never show max rpm above about 4200 and really inflate speed.  Calibrating these is not high on my list, as she has plenty of get-up and go when needed.  I typically cruise at what I guesstimate to be around 3500rpm and 25mph.  In choppy conditions, dropping down off plane to 2700-2900rpm makes a decent 12mph without taking a beating. 

As the season progressed, I pushed  to see how seaworthy this boat is, and found that she can handle quite a bit of chop created by the Long Island Sounds many rips.  While I won't drift her stern into the Race, she definitely inspires confidence if you get caught out in some wind pushing against a tide.  With her weight and an 8ft. beam, I don't worry too much about taking swells from the side.  In fact, I fished her with my 6'4", 325lb. "baby" brother and I (a mere 265lbs.) against the same gunnel and didn't feel like we were going to end up in the water.  This boat feels far larger than an eighteen footer thanks to the wide beam, uncluttered layout and large casting decks.     

 

With all the references to chop, this boat is still a skiff.  Yes, the Roplene does dampen the impact, but head on you get slapped.  The rounded bow smacks the waves rather than slicing through them.  A good console mat under foot relieves quite a bit of the jolt.  You will get wet when the seas come up, so you'll need to take your foul weather gear, but you'll also get home safely!   

 
There are a few features I would like to see changed, starting with the navigation lighting.  Removable deck mounted pedestal lights just don't cut it in a salt water environment.  After 6 months of use, the connections are shot despite cleaning after each use.  One of my winter projects will be installing deck mounted and hard wired port and starboard nav lights as well as a hard wired pedestal light above my center console.  For easy of adding electronics, I'm also adding a bus board inside the console.  Slightly larger access hatches for the bilge and livewell pumps would have been smart.  A three-way T connector for the duel 12 gallon fuel tanks in the bow would make life a bit easier as well.  A big plus is that it is a hell of a lot easier to mount accessories in this interior with Roplene as opposed to glass.  I've read a few users complaining of screws pulling out, but have experienced no such problems. Just avoid fine thread screws. 

 

To sum up, the Triumph Skiff is a great inshore boat, durable, roomy and low maintenance. I've had a blast in the Gemma Rose II this season!           

 



Gus enjoying a day on the water.

Oh, she's also got the Gus seal of approval.   

Early October in the Eastern Long Island Sound

October typically brings some of the best fishing of the year to the eastern Long Island Sound.  Bass and blues are putting on the feed bags, often in insane surface blitzes, before their migrations south.  Black fish season reopens, and anglers look to fill freezers for the winter with these and dinner plate size scup.  Bay anchovies and other bait fish choke the reefs, with albies giving chase.  Fall is arriving, and with it shifting weather conditions including increased winds and waves, making it tougher on recreational anglers hoping Mother Nature coordinates with days off.  For the past several years, a day out typically guaranteed great fishing.  While the weather has generally cooperated thus far, fishing has been a bit more hit and miss this season.  I know guys will say that they caught a ton of blues, or stripers, and maybe some albies, but the mass of fish in many of the usual places isn't what it has been in seasons past.  I've had discussions all summer about causes, but guys who fish on a regular basis will tell you that it has been tougher.  Places like the Gut, Pidgeon and the Race are all safe bets to fill coolers with blues, and porgies are hitting well on the rock piles.  Fisher's is seeing some top water striper action near Race Point and locations along the south side, but they are not the acre+ of churning bass and blues that I look forward to in October.  The reefs in the Watch Hill area have been hit or miss as well.  Sure, you can always grind out fish, but the action and numbers are just down.  This weekend I ran from Groton (CT) to Point Judith, RI.  Saturday's weather was as ideal as one could ask for, and my first stop was Watch Hill.  The tide was beginning to push in, and the fishing just wasn't happening.  I quickly decided to run east up the coast, working all the way over to PJ in my little skiff, the Gemma Rose II.  Bay anchovies are working in, as football field sized schools circled west of the break walls, with the occasional schools of albies or bonito slashing through.  Despite the masses of bait, the numbers of top water blitzes were few and small.  Hanging around the breachways is going to score fish, but I'm looking for the massive catch 'til your arms fall off October runs.  Seeing all the bait was encouraging, and I along with all of the other salt water anglers that fish the ELIS are hoping the action builds up as well.  We need our fix of massive striper blitzes to see us through to the spring!    

Capt. Jack "Bones" Balint put his client on some good fishing this weekend, including this nice bonito.

Eastern LIS Report 9-2-13

There has definitely been an upswing in the fishing in the eastern LIS, Watch Hill and Western Rhode Island. Bait has been filling in on all the reefs, bringing in loads of mixed blues and bass. The last few weeks saw quite a few bonito landed is well. Now the wait is on (and it won't be too long) 'til the albies start showing up.

Big jellies are drifting the RI coast with schools of small butterfish hanging underneath. Birds have been working small bait from East Point, Fisher's Island right across the inner and outer reefs to Watch Hill. The fish are beginning to put the fall feedbag on as the time for a southern migration is now just a month or two away.

I've had a ton of success fishing Zoom Flukes on 1/4-1/2oz. Kalin's jig head or Deadly Dicks. Be sure to keep a rod rigged and at the ready with an unweighted Zoom and lighter flouro leader for when those albies pop up.

September is my absolute favorite month of fishing. My plan from now until November is to get out as often as the wind and work will allow.

My buddy John with the results of our first few casts of the day. The GoPro battery crapped out afterwards.

Eastern Long Island Sound Fishing 7-28

After dragging myself out of bed Friday at 2:30am only to see that they had upped the wind forecast and issued a small craft advisory, my day finally began around 4:00pm, or about twelve hours later than expected.  I fished Watch Hill and the eastern half of Fisher's out of the Barn Island launch, this time armed with some eels as well as the usual light tackle arsenal, hoping to see numbers like I did last week.  Inner Sugar looked promising, as I marked some decent fish holding close to the bottom.  I fished it from the spindle all the way around Catumb Rocks without any luck.  I watched a few other boats come and go.  Despite the sun still hovering above the horizon, I drifted some eels across the areas I had marked.  While I managed to snag two lobster pots, losing my rigs, I hooked no stripers.  Talk about frustrating. 

 

 

I ran west to East Point (Fishers), where three casts in I had a striper on.  It was a schoolie, but a fish none the less.  After a few more of those, the tide started to let go.  I decided I drag a few tubes tight through the boulder fields.  First pass, two fish on, each headed in different direction, while I was slipping boulders.   I just had to let one run in the rod holder, turning into it to avoid rocks while trying to reel on the other.  The first one came in quickly and was a schoolie that I popped off ASAP as I wanted to try and recover my other rig.  I cranked in line and came tight on the second fish, still on. From the initial hit, I was expecting bigger, but this guy was just over the keeper limit.  By this time, the sun was setting and the tide had completely crapped out.  I considered waiting for the flood to pick up, but was just too tired.  I ended up back at the dock trying to catch some sleep before heading out again in the early am. 

 

I was woken as the remaining few boats came in at some point in the night, and from the conversations I could hear, the fishing wasn't as good as it had been earlier in the week. "At least we got a few," said one guy as the last two boats departed.   Maybe the fish were reacting to the pressure changes, and will be back on the by the time I write this.

 

By 4:30, I was dropping back in and headed out to the reefs.  I had some tide left on Watch Hill, and it wasn't long before I was into some big blues.  This was all blind casting, as I wasn't marking nor were there any birds to be seen.  As a matter of fact, this season has been characterized by the complete lack of birds working big schools of bait on the outer reefs.  Maybe it's just been my timing, but I've never out so many times and seen so few birds working. 

 

As the tide on Watch Hill died out, I ran west to Race Point.  On the way I spotted this really beautiful schooner a few miles south of the coast.  I ran out to take a few pics.  Race point was dead.  The Helen III and a few other boats were drawing blanks.  I didn't see a fish landed in 45 minutes.  I'm not sure why she was there instead of with the weekend fleet at Valiant Rock, or over in Plum Gut which has been full of bluefish.  The guys on that boat may as well have been jigging in a desert. Time to head back east.

 

 

The flood tide was now running at Watch Hill, and I expected those blues and birds to be up and chasing bait, but again, nothing.  I fished long enough to see a few boats come and go.  I took a peak east up the coast to Weekapaug and Quonochontaug, before deciding to call it an early day.              

 

 

Eastern LIS Report 7-19-2013

Things have been looking up in the Eastern Long Island Sound.  The effects of the many inland storms are subsiding, and the fishing has really picked back up this past week.  Solid reports of bass have been coming in from most of the reefs from Westbrook right over to Watch Hill.  Greg Myerson landed another monster, 73lbs., a week or so back.  After talking with a few people and seeing some of the screenshots of stacked fish, I couldn't wait to get back out.  Winds have been gentle, and with the heat and humidity over land, nothing beats being out on the water.  Took a trip out yesterday evening, and had some nice topwater action south of Fisher's towards the end of the flood tide.  Bartlet's was slow, as indicated by the complete absence of birds and boats.  Fish were stacked up on the reefs east of Fisher's.  On the way back in, I stopped to chat with Matt and Nicki who were finishing up with the Black Hawk 4-10pm Happy Hour trip.  Charter and party boats were getting their fills of blues out in the Gut and Pigeon.  

Capt. Jack Balint https://www.facebook.com/jack.balint?fref=ts

Capt. Blain Anderson https://www.facebook.com/blaine.anderson.75?fref=ts

 

Weather for the weekend is going to shift a bit, with a front moving in tonight and tomorrow ahead of cold air for the beginning of next week.  Yet another wrinkle in what has been an erratic start to the summer.  Hopefully the fishing will remain decent.

 

From http://www.wunderground.com/MAR/AN/330.html

"Tonight

SW winds 10 to 15 kt with gusts up to 20 kt...diminishing to 5 to 10 kt after midnight. Seas around 2 ft.

Sat

SW winds 5 to 10 kt...increasing to 10 to 15 kt in the afternoon. Seas 2 to 3 ft. A chance of showers and tstms in the afternoon.

Sat Night

W winds 5 to 10 kt...becoming NW late. Seas 1 ft or less. Showers and tstms likely...mainly in the evening. Some tstms may produce gusty winds...heavy rainfall and frequent lightning in the evening.

Sun

N winds around 5 kt...becoming E in the afternoon. Seas 1 ft or less.

Sun Night

NE winds 5 to 10 kt. Seas 1 ft or less."

 

Boat Safety Checks for the week of the July 4th holiday across Connecticut!

This past weekend was a major speeding and boating while intoxicated crackdown by CT DEEP, Coast Guard, state and local law enforcement.  This week, especially the 4th, they will have officers at most of the launches for safety inspections, and issuing $75 fines for each missing item.  Run through your safety gear!

Required Gear
http://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/boating/boating_forms/safetyequipment.pdf
Towing Safety
http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2686&q=322314&Nav_GID=1620

Eastern LIS Report 6-30-13

My fishing has been so hit or miss.  Only able to get out 1-2 times a week, and with the current weather and a few billion gallons of fresh water dumped into the sound, it's been hard to figure out patterns.  My brother came up from Philly this weekend, and we got skunked today. We ran out of Old Saybrook at 4:30am, but couldn't find the bunker in the mouth of the CT River in any large concentrations. Headed west to Clinton again. Got down there and still couldn't spot any bunker.  Both places were crawling yesterday.  Decided we would have to rely on artificials. The second we tried to move, fog rolled in. We were down to 100ft of visibility in minutes. This was 6:30 in the morning. We crawled back to Saybrook as I didn't want to get run over in my skiff. It sucked. We threw some topwaters on the flats. Zip. By 8-8:30 we discussed calling it a day, but the fog started lifting. Forecasts still had thunderstorms moving in around 10-11am, but I wasn't seeing anything on radar.  I decided to take a peek at Long Sand Shoal. Nothing. Not a bird in the air. On the way back in, lo and behold, big bunker all over. We debated whether to snag a few as the tide was crapping out, and ended up grabbing a half a dozen. We ran over to Hatchet's, but had no tide. I threw one on a line and let it swim. We sat there for forty minutes and drifted a few yards. I told my brother we weren't likely to do much until the tide got going, which meant waiting, and he wanted to get on the road. I started ditching the rest of the baits in the livewell. As I dumped the last one, I caught a big swirl out of the corner of my eye. I had just provided a free meal to a big striper. I quickly reeled in the last bait and pitched it in the area. It was taken in about ten seconds. I let it run for a bit then engaged the reel and came tight. Fish took off down the edge of the reef. It broke me off in the rocks. That was it. Day over.

Reports from a few other boats were that Bartlett's and the Niantic area was also tough, though Valiant Rock in the Race yielded some small bass.  The Blues are MIA, and I worry that many just continued past the LIS as there was so much fresh water dumped in.  

Eastern Long Island Sound Report 6-22-13

What a great day on the Long Island Sound!  The weather was beautiful, and the water is starting to clear up.  I launched out of Niantic around 4:30 Saturday morning, with a plan to fish towards the west, a bit of a change for me.  I had a flood tide on the Super Moon, which didn't seem to make much difference at all.  After the last two weeks, things could only improve.  I started at Bartlets, but it just wasn't firing early, and that's when I threw the plan overboard.   I ran up the north side of Fishers, stopping by the Clumps and on to Wicopessette Pass.  No birds, no bait.  I ran out to Sugar and Watch Hill, figuring that might be turning on again.  I've not had the success fishing the flood tide out there as I have the ebb over the last season or two.  Heading a bit further east, the fluke fleet was in full force, and I saw numerous boats hooking up and bringing fish over the rails.  Fluking is not my thing, so I went back inside Stonington to Jeff's spot that produced last week, and sure enough, landed a few small stripers.  The tide began to ease, and before it quit, I wanted to take another look at Watch Hill.   I could see birds working from the point to the red can as I approached, and was soon hooked into blues busting on the surface.  I was fishing white Zoom Flukes on Kalin jig heads, and landed a number until the tide completely died.  I would loved to stay as the ebb picked up, because I had the sense that Watch and Sugar were primed for some good fishing, but I had to start back.  I hit into more blues at the east end of Fishers, hooking several in the upper 20"-30" range on the same baits.   Flukers were all over the south side of Fishers, and again, were landing fish.  Running out of time, I started back for Niantic.  I got some good reports of bunker and stripers west of the CT River, still up in the Thames and Easter RI to the Cape has just been on fire.  School is now finished, so I'm ready for some serious fishing trips! 

Eastern LIS Report 6-16-13

Sunday, June 16th
The morning’s trip began much the same as last weeks, with the exception of the fact we now had an outgoing tide as opposed to incoming.  My buddy Jeff and I launched from Avery Point a bit before 5:00am, with the intent of starting the day between Wicopessette and Sugar Reef.  Storms Thursday night had dumped another 4” of rain in the region, and the water remained stained the color of coffee.  The wind was 5-10knots out of the SW, and seas were calm.  Given my last trip, I anticipated tough fishing, and was not disappointed.  This time of year is all about stripers and light tackle fishing.  I’m not that interested in the livelining , and running an 18’ skiff, not in a position to drift the rips looking for fish holding deep.  We were soon sitting on Sugar Reef with a growing number of boats, marking a few fish but not getting any hits.  One or two boats picked up schoolies in the 45 minutes or so we hung around.  Running back inside the reefs towards Fisher’s, I noticed a school breaking the surface and we pulled up for a few casts.  My sudden stop drew the attention of a couple of additional boats who were soon motoring in our direction.  The glimmer of hope didn’t yield any results, and over the next few hours we worked Fisher’s Island Sound to Race Point, and over to Bartlet’s.  A repeat of last week, with the exception that I wasn’t even marking any bait balls above Bartlett’s.  We headed back east and give Watch Hill a last look on the incoming tide, which was about as productive as when we left.  In a final Hail Mary we decided to try back in the salt marshes around Stonington, some of Jeff’s yak haunts.  With an electric motor and push pole, I can fish some skinny water.  The HM paid off, as we finally found fish that wanted to play. While not fifty pounders, these schoolies were ready to smash some topwater poppers.  For the last hour to hour and a half we threw Gibbs Poppers and picked up an number of fish.  While none landed were keepers, it definitely salvaged the day!    

Jeff can only stretch his arms so far.  Maybe if I had a macro lens. 

 

 



Nice day, crappy fishing in the eastern Long Island Sound.

Went out a 5:00am with a buddy and fished the flood in the eastern sound from Watch Hill back west to Bartlett's. The fishing sucked. Thanks to Andrea, the water was the color of black coffee throughout most of the area inside Fisher's. There were a bunch of boats out around Valiant Rock in the Race, as per usual, but I don't fish my skiff out there. Only real signs of life were the bait balls above Bartlett's, but nothing biting. There were a few small blues around the outflow, but I really didn't feel like spending time there. It looks like 4-5" of rain did a number on the bite. Took my friend sightseeing up the Thames and called it a day by 10:00a.m. Maybe it got better on the ebb tide. Hindsight being 20/20, maybe I should have launched in RI and tried for some cleaner water. Maybe I should have just stayed in bed!  Now I have to go rinse everything down:( Hopefully I can sneak out an evening this week, or next weekend's weather will cooperate enough for an Saturday night/Sunday morning trip.

The best part of the day.  It was down hill from here, but hey, I promised to post the bad with the good.  Not even a little fish to make look like big fish!   


 

Fisher's Island Report 6/1/2013

 

The Long Island Sound is quickly filling with bass and blues, with fish close to 60lbs. being taken this past week.  Drifting 3-way rigs with bunker has been the way to go.  While I like to get out and do this every once and a while, it's typically at night and looking for monster bass.  I much prefer light tackle and fly fishing from my skiff, targeting top water bites and fish on the smaller rips and reefs.  I simply can't safely venture out onto the big rips when the tide gets moving, and find it more fun to catch a bunch of 20-30 pound bass on 12-20lb. line setups or my 8wt.  Fisher's Island and its surroundings are usually my go-to spots.  

Saturday morning I overslept, waking at 4:09 a.m., about the time I had planned to arrive at the launch to catch both the start of the outgoing tide and predawn.  By the time I gassed up, stopped at Dunkin Donuts and got on the water it was after 6 a.m.   I decided to bypass the Clumps and make straight for the reefs around Watch Hill.  The wind was finally cooperating, and the run out was smooth.  I arrived to find more than a dozen boats on Sugar, including Jack Balint and Steve Burnett, both with charter trips.  As I mentioned in the past, Jack has been my go to captain when chartering in the LIS, and I'll be headed across to Montauk again with him this fall. 

The tide was flowing nicely, but the fish that you often see breaking on the surface were nowhere to be seen.  I marked a few bait balls, but fishing this reef solo in the Gemma Rose II is tough as I can't let her drift stern first back into the rip.  It's nice when I've got someone aboard so we can take turns casting and holding the boat in position.  I wasn't there long when both Jack and Steve took off west.  This was a clear indication that nothing was going on around here or Watch Hill, as neither would be leaving fish with customers on board. 

I decided against continuing the battle with the current, and started west along the north side of Fisher's.  Last year from mid-May to late July, this area produced solid action along the many reefs and rocky shores, particularly on the ebb.  On this day, the water was filthy and I got nothin' at any of the stops I made until a short fish at North Point.  I worked back along the south side with the same results.  (The fluke fleet was out in force, anchored south of the island.)  By the time I'd circumnavigated Fisher's, Jack and Steve were back on Sugar, and then east to Watch Hill.  I managed another short bass off of Catumb Rocks as the ebb tide was finally giving way. 

I wasn't ready to head in, as despite the slow fishing, it was a really nice day on the water.  Just for the hell of it, I decided to run over to Bartlett's.  By this time, the tide was completely slack, and there were only a few boats anchored fishing scup.  It was time to head back to Avery Point and call it a day.  On the way back, I landed my best catch of the afternoon!  My favorite Bud-n-Mary's (Islamorada, FL) cap blew off.  I motored back around, and as I don't carry a landing net, I leaned over the bow to grab it as I idled forward.  I had my hands on it, but then lost it under the boat.  The prop wash sent it down and I figured it was lost.  I cut my engine and let the Gemma Rose drift with the current.  Sure enough, after a couple of minutes it came up not 20 ft. from the boat.     

 

Conditions:

6/1/13

Mostly Sunny

Wind SW 5-10knots

Seas less than 1 ft.

Outgoing tide

Water Temp 58-59 degrees, dirty

 

Gear Used:

12-20 lb. spinning gear setups

7" Hogy's in amber, pink and white

White Zoom Super Flukes w. Kalin jig heads

247 Squid-Zee in amber