Digestive problems put me in Norwalk Hospital for a few days and off the grid as far as my writing schedule goes. I came across this article I wrote for OUTDOOR TIMES back in October of 1998, which pretty much covers the current fishing picture more than 2 decades later. The numbers may differ, but fishing is still pretty good. Just wish I could be out there taking part. I've added a few photo's for flavor. - Dick Alley
THE SOUND OF FALL - LONG ISLAND SOUND!
. SALT WATER BONANZA - Indeed, one of the biggest dilemma’s facing sportsmen and women in the fall months of the year, is in deciding which direction to go. There’s an archery season for deer, upland bird and small game hunting season, a fresh plant of trout in the state’s major trout streams and the fall migration in Long Island Sound. Long Island Sound comes alive with striped bass, bluefish, blackfish and winter flounder action, as fall migration patterns kick into gear.
STRIPED BASS migrate through Long Island Sound to the Hudson River and southern waters where they’ll settle in for winter at spots like Storm King Mountain area of the Hudson River and Chesapeake Bay. Enroute, they’ll delight anglers at spots like Montauk, the Race off New London, both shores of Long Island Sound, before stopping off at Asbury Park, Long Branch, Atlantic City and more spots along the Jersey shore.
Long Island Sound offers sheltered water fishing and fantastic fly-rodding without the heavy surf of the open ocean. Tremendous schools of stripers often come through in waves, targeting migrating baitfish like bunker, spearing and sand eels, and wherever the food fish are found, a fisherman can find memories that will last through the winter months.
Spin fishermen, bait fishermen and fly-rodders all catch their share of these schoolie bass. Most are under the 28-inch minimum legal length, but still provide plenty of sport on light tackle and fly rods. Inevitably, one day or two or five, may bring the bigger fish, cows with stripes, that roll in the surf, close enough to shore to touch with your rod tip, especially if they’re passing in a Nor’Easter when the waves crash, and bait is trapped among the reefs, sand bars and grasses bordering the shoreline of the western Sound. Anglers lucky and wise enough to explore the beaches at this time of year, usually get their shot at big fish, including the shore-bound anglers who fish the estuaries, casting to pods and pockets of linesiders passing through.
In Connecticut waters, anglers are entitled to two-fish, 28-inches or better a day. Look for the stripers to be around until the end of November.
BLUEFISH - They migrate a few weeks ahead of the stripers, and can be found schooling up in September well ahead of the striped bass migration. They’ll bounce from beach to reef, feeding throughout the day and night as they prepare for the long trip south. Blues have been on a down cycle in comparison to what they were a decade ago.
That was a time when a fisherman with the time to do it, could head out any day and every day to fight these stubborn critters until his arms turned to rubber and fingers cramped so bad they had to be pried from the rod and reel. In the good years, fish weighing 15 to 20 pounds were fairly common, and 4 to 8-pound specimens were there whenever a lure was cast or a bait dropped to the bottom.
Will that happen in 1998’. I gave up predicting what fish would do a long time ago, but it’s certain that at least some of us will experience that superb fishing. If the bunker arrive in big numbers, the monster blues will be there too. It might be the waters off Greenwich, Norwalk, Bridgeport, the mouth of the Housatonic, or further east around the Connecticut or Thames Rivers. Best bet for big blues has to be the Race off New London, an area that has a history of good bluefishing, when they were absent in other Connecticut waters.
Smart anglers will keep an eye on reports coming out of Rhode Island. When the beaches are bouncing at Watch Hill and Westerly, it’s only a matter of days until the action will move to the mouth of the Connecticut River and on down to the Housatonic and points west as they move on through.
Major stop-off spots include Penfield Reef in Fairfield, Stratford Shoals (Middleground), the mid-Sound reefs between Bridgeport and Port Jefferson, numerous points in the Norwalk Islands, popular Stamford and Greenwich spots such as Todd’s Point, Captains Islands and Buoy 32A. It’s only a quick run to Buoy 11B off Eaton’s Neck on the Long Island side, another popular fall bluefish spot well into November.
Some days they’ll be on the surface, and others down deep, reachable with wire line and big trolling lures. If bunker prevail, chunk baits are a sure bet until the waters cool enough to move them south.
Blues have no size restrictions, but anglers are limited to 10 fish per day.
BLACKFISH - Best of the blackfish action comes in November, but October anglers do quite well. We’ll offer some info on the best spots then, but blackfish have been overfished and we now have size limits, creel limits and a closed season. Still, there is some good fall blackfishing to be had, and a taug or two can bring some of the best table fare to grace any feast.
Find some good bottom structure and it’s likely blackfish will be there. Middleground shines as a top spot for blacks, but just about any reef, sunken boat or bump on the bottom is likely to host a black or two.
Green crabs, hermit crabs, sandworms are all good baits. The current daily creel limit for blackfish is 4 fish per day, and the minimum size is 14-inches.
WINTER FLOUNDER - Earlier measures were exercised to combat overfishing of these spring and fall favorites, and they’re already showing some dividends. Spring flounder fishing has been better for the past couple of years. With flounder migrating from their summer grounds a couple of miles off shore into the bays and rivers, look for some nice flatties weighing a pound or more in the areas of Norwalk harbor, the Housatonic River and Charles Island area, Branford, Clinton, Westbrook and Old Saybrook waters, and the always prolific flounder grounds in the Mystic/Stonington area. Limits for winter flounder are 8 fish per day with a minimum legal length of 12-inches. Chumming is the key to successful flounder fishing. Frozen chum should be a part of your day’s bait supply.
SCUP - Porgies are at their best in the fall of the year. It was another good spring season, and anglers did very well around Fisher’s Island to the east, outside the Connecticut River, Hatchett Reef, Bartlett Reef, Southwest Reef , Falkner Island, the New Haven breakwaters, Buoy 20 in Stratford, Penfield Reef, Sherwood Island in Westport and Long Neck Point in Darien. The eastern Sound produces much better than the west end, where best porgy fishing requires a trip across to Long Island waters. There is no creel limit on porgies, but they must measure 8-inches or more to be legal.
The fall fishing prospects are good. Bad storms, excessive wind and rain can greatly affect those prospects, but the fall migration will take place irregardless. Smart anglers will be ready.
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