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Pre-Fall Fishing is Underway

The fall season has unofficially begun even though, astronomically, it begins on Thursday, Sept. 22. It’s nothing new for Labor Day weekend to be celebrated as the last hurrah of the summer. Labor Day signifies back to school, closing up one’s summer place for the season, or hitting one more vacation spot before the days get too short. For fishers, though, it’s merely the beginning of another season: the pre-fall season.

After the crowds thin out and the waterways have fewer boats on weekdays, serious anglers know that the fish, too, are preparing for a change. Even with shorter days and the gradual drop in temperature, September traditionally has the warmest water temperatures of the year. It’s during this time that fish sense a change is coming and they become much more active before, during, and after the fall spawn. Shy of any serious storms, the Sound will burst wide open with activity and fishers will be right in the midst of it all. Many anglers feel this is the best time of the year to fish and, certainly, those looking for big fish will eye striped bass, while those looking for knuckle busters will chase bones and albies.

Leading up to and including after summertime, bluefish will continue to terrorize schools of baitfish. The smaller harbor blues will yield to the gators and, all the while, fishers who have a love affair with those feisty blues will be in their glory. It doesn’t matter the size of the fish; it’s the size of the gear that makes the fight that much more momentous. Scup will congregate on the reefs and soon blackfish (tautog) season will open, bringing out the ‘tog pullers and the hot thermoses.

And so it goes. The seasons transition and, with them, so do the fish. There is a lot of fight left in those fish and it will be up to the fishers to extract it. September will be good. October may even be better. Let’s see what bounty the sea will bring and whether it will be harvested for the months ahead or released to swim another day.

On the Water

As a cold front pushed through, the summer heat took a back seat to nighttime air temperatures that dipped into the 40s. Central Sound water temps still remained in the mid-70s, but the wind blew in spurts, creating wavy conditions for fishers. With an eye to the tropics and any depressions leaving the west coast of Africa, one wonders how this season will progress.

So far, catching fish surpassed most expectations and conditions have been as good as can be expected considering the temperamental East Coast weather. The bait supply is holding up with schools thickening almost daily. This has intensified foraging as bluefish continue to maraud, forcing menhaden to skyrocket.

Blitzes continued with flood tides and, the closer they blended with sunsets, the better the fishing. Throughout much of the central and eastern shoreline, bluefish have been tearing into the bunker, scup, and shad, creating great fishing opportunities for shore casters and small vessel operators. Top water poppers, tension lures, darters, and spoons have been scoring multiples of fish. Soaking bait with a dead stick at the same time will only tire one out more.

Both the inshore and offshore bite continues to be good with select locations seeing bunker corralled by aggressive bluefish. Schools of these blues vary in size; most schools contain similar-sized fish, thereby limiting the fish’s cannibalistic tendencies. This is why snapper blues attempt to keep their distance when they forage on shiners in the harbors and rivers as they are doing now.

Although bluefish are everywhere and putting up a shield above the fish below, fishers are managing to hook into and pull up weakfish and sea bass. Both species have been having a comparatively good year that will most likely escalate in the fall. It looks as though the same will hold true for the scup fishery, as well. Squid, clams, and worms are the key baits used to catch these good eating saltwater panfish.

Fluke catches have been just OK with combinations of shorts, 22- to 24-inchers, some minis, and fewer doormats caught. Your best shot is fishing the flood closer to shore and the ebb farther out, such as Six Mile, Long Sand Shoal, Cinder Bottom, and troughs running along beach fronts, particularly when the snappers are present. There are also plenty of dogfish, sea robins, and a mixture of other bottom fish to keep one interested and busy for a while.

Scouting the docks, piers, and marsh lands has paid off for the blue crabbers. The oppressive heat put an ease on their feeding, but that was short-lived. After the peelers subsided, the mature blue claws were back at it. Catches have been up and they have been more inclined to hit the traps and climb dockside pilings and river banks.

Note: Email us pics of your catches to share with our USA and international fishing friends who keep up with the latest fishing news and frequent social media.

For all things fishy including licenses, swing by the shop (203-245-8665) open seven days located at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison. Until next time from your Connecticut shoreline’s full-service fishing outfitter, where we don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better...

Tight Lines,

Captain Morgan

captainmorgan.fish@sbcglobal.net

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