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08/09/2018 12:00 AMMost fish won’t be far from their food. Some will lie in wait for it to drift by, while others will snag it from a point of surprise. And others will chase it down with an unrivaled intensity. This is precisely where the infamous bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) makes its appearance.
With their focused eyes, scalpel-like teeth, and cunning ability to school with military precision, these flesh-tearing hunters practically go unchallenged. From their infancy as snapper blues through maturity, their insatiable appetite never wavers. This is why the species has rightfully earned the reputation of one of the best pound-for-pound lightweight saltwater fighters in the marine fishery.
Hooking up with one of these highly developed and skilled predators is an experience that few will forget. However, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. From shore, one first hears of the diving birds and the commotion created by blitzing blues. They hear descriptive comments of seawater turning red after bunker have fallen prey to these feeding fish. They hear the cries of fishers shouting, “The blues are in! They are finally here!”
A smart fisher already has a bluefish rod and reel ready to go. One who’s lagging will have to quickly search through his or her gear and piece things together, or either hit up the nearest tackle shop. Top water action calls for surface plugs or flashy spoons and tins. Wire leaders are a staple, and a rod with a smooth drag that can handle a very ornery and formidable opponent is a must.
It doesn’t really matter whether or not a school of blitzing blues are in ankle deep water, near shore, or offshore—the excitement is the same! And the fight, although tactically different, is unrelenting nonetheless. This year, the blues have been running late, but when the Sound finally does fill, expect to engage in some serious battles.
On the Water
Humidity and patchy fog blanketed the shoreline as the calendar flipped to the month of August. Weather fronts brought intermittent rain to some areas and downpours to others, while the Sound experienced choppy periods when the surf kicked up. Central Sound water temperatures hit 76 degrees with some lower tidal rivers actually reaching 79 degrees.
All that seemed to bode well for the Atlantic menhaden as more schools made their way into our waters and eventually into the harbors and tidal rivers this week. It’s still not as thick as last season, but it’s been better recently. As a result, a few lower major tidal rivers had good striped bass activity that gave fishers an opportunity at 20- to 30-pound fish. Incoming tides also brought better action to the offshore reefs and rip lines. Live-lining eels and bunker didn’t disappoint; neither did jigging nor three-waying bucktails. At times, chunks caught the attention of linesiders feeding near the bottom.
Is the bluefish wait over? It looks like it, since double-digit blues have poked their choppers into The Race and beyond, as well as through Hell’s Gate and the East River on the way to Stratford Shoals. The clue was the menhaden push and hike in water temps that brought more bunker into the Sound. Start looking for bird action and start putting those top water plugs, flashy spoons, and diamond jigs to work. For those soaking bait, get the chunks ready to be fished by key inshore and offshore rips. Time to rig up those snapper rods, too.
The post-spawn black sea bass bite picked up more steam again as four-pounders have been boated, along with multiples of shorts that were returned to the water. Good fish are still relegated to 90-foot-plus depths, while much smaller fish are in as little as 10 feet. Squid is still working for these beauties. Fluke are definitely liking the warmer water as the bite here has picked up. Shorts are still outpacing keepers by a noticeable margin, although the flood tide is managing to produce a few doormats when your rig is spiced up with something in addition to squid. Porgy (scup) still remains one of the family favorites as more and more fishers are getting into this summertime rage. Most any rock pile or reef is yielding superb catches of this tasty saltwater panfish.
Fishers are experiencing reasonably good results catching blackfish (tautog) all along the shoreline. They are hooking into nice weakfish out by Faulkner’s and landing white perch in some of the popular lower tidal rivers on bite-size baits like worms and grass shrimp.
With the warming water temperatures, we should see an increase in the normal bottom feeders over the recent activity. Chunks of fish will continue to attract our local sharks, skates, striped sea robins, and even large eels in the tidal rivers. Many of those waterways are seeing hickory shad and large Jimmy Blue Crabs, Sally’s, and now, soft shells.
Freshwater is still delivering results in spite of the heat. The bass bite has been good, pickerel outstanding, there have been occasional pike catches, walleye are fair to good, channel cats above average, perch very good, and sunfish over the top. Water levels are up and flows have moderated, yet trout fishers have been wanting. Fish cooler parts of the day for the best results.
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 fishing trips, 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
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