Waves of stripers seem to be moving through the region as the spring migration nears its peak. Strong showings of fish in the 30- to 36-inch class were joined this week by another, slightly less robust, wave of 20- to 30-pound class fish. We’re also seeing the first few true giants entering the frame, with at least one 50-pounder logged this week. We also saw the first push of bluefish, many of them large, with reports of fish over 12 pounds in the mix. Fluke fishing came to life as well, and while keepers have been hard to come by, we can only go up from here!
00:00 Intro
00:45 Fishing News https://youtu.be/Q72I9gR2rB0
01:17 This Week’s Feature Fisherman’s Jenni Ackerman
11:18 Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont
12:05 Massachusetts
12:09 James Jewkes Mass @bigjim121165
16:02 Dream Boat Standings
16:58 CKC https://www.thefisherman.com/category/coastal-kay-clash/
20:05 East End Eddie
24:09 Rhode Island
24:14 TJ Kopecky
29:43 Jeff Sullivan
35:33 Connecticut
35:40 Kevin Job https://www.trcp.org/2024/04/02/river-herring-rebound-requires-atlantic-herring-fisheries-management-changes/
40:51 Capt. Mike Roy Old Sadbrook, CT https://www.youtube.com/@reelcastcharters1306/videos
41:48 Rowan Lytle @ct.fly.fisher @ichthyomaniacal
43:32 Black Hall Outfitters @sunrisekayakfishing
46:00 Max Fisherman’s World Norwalk, Ct https://www.fishermansworld.net/
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the allnew Yamaha V6 offshore F350 it’s a featherweight knockout the lightest 350 horsepower outboard on the water exhilarating boating and incredible control in a powerfully light design the Yamaha V6 offshore F350 Dave Anderson here with the fisherman magazine it’s May 16th these are your headlines got the first big blue fish showing up this week we’ve also heard about the first 50 lb stripe bass and fluke action just starting to fire up in Rhode Island Waters stay tuned for all that and more on this week’s do England fishing forecast the fishing news is sponsored by These Fine Partners before we begin we’ve got a few news items for you guys the first one is about seab bass season in Connecticut which opens up this weekend on May 18th uh Connecticut has the best Seabass RS in New England we’ve got a five fish limit with a 16in uh minimum size and uh just got a little Wrinkle in the season there it’s going to close for a couple weeks at the end of June and into the beginning of July we’ll keep you updated on exactly when that happens in this report but just want to let you guys know it opens this weekend uh next thing is the latest installment of Jenny arrian’s Open Boat here she is hey everyone welcome to this week’s open boat now today I’m going to be showing you guys a little fishing tip I’ve had a lot of younger Anglers or beginners who are just getting into the fishing G ask me Jenny what’s a good knot uh I’m losing my plugs they’re they’re flying off every cast or they’re popping off on a fish I’m not a pro with my knots what’s a good beginner’s knot to help me not lose so much stuff so today I’m going to show you guys how to tie a uni knot which can be connected to your plug a TA clip or a barrel swivel and then I’m going to show you a uni to Uni Knot which virtually eliminates that barrel swivel now for starters the type of leader material I use is is Andes so there’s the Andes fluorocarbon and then there’s just the regular leader material so depending on where I am if I’m targeting stripers in the surf I could do like 30 lb up to 40 usually if there’s bigger fish around off the surf or if I’m landbased fishing I’ll use 40 lb liter material or fluorocarbon but if I’m fluking I’ll do like 30 lb it all depends the areas you’re fishing and what’s around you like area wise are you flinging fish over a canal or over a lifted area or you just Landing fish off the surf it all depends so first I’m going to show you the uni not now I encourage you guys to pause this video go get yourself some leader material or whatever you’re comfortable tying with I know some beginners will use like thread or some yarn so you can get something like that and sit down and get ready with me and I’ll show you how to tie the uni knot I’m going to go nice and slow and I’m going to explain it for you and there’s going to be a little video on the bottom here that shows up close so it’s a good thing I just got my nails done so I can be like a little hand model for you guys but we’re going to get started here on this plug I have and let’s do it so get out just a little bit of your leader material this is like ASMR here with the the leader coming out so you’re going to take your tag end and you have the eyelet of your plug and you’re going to pass it through you’re going to grab your tag end and pull it and make a nice little Loop like that so I do a little pinch right here so I can get my bearing so you have the lader material that’s still attached to its spool and then you have the tag end now you’re going to take the tag end and loop it so you’re gonna make a loop like that you can see right here is your Loop so now with that loop I pinch it right here so I have it right here you can see the loop and the tag end you’re going to take your tag end and you’re going to pass it through the loop so one 2 3 4 5 6 you can do seven or eight times that was seven Lucky Seven so you’re going to have your tag in and pull and I’m going to use my teeth on there so you’re going to pull so you’re going to have something let me see if it’ll focus you’re going to have something like that going on right there so next up you’re going to want to use some of your spit and just put spit on that little like knot that you formed and you’re going to take the end that’s still attached to your spool and pull you’re going to pull nice and tight so you have something like that and then of course you’re going to take your tag end and you get your Snips are attached to my car keys and you’re going to cut so that right there is the uni knot attached to a plug like I said before you can attach it to a barrel swivel also and you can attach it to a TA clip if you’re striper fishing and you need to switch out plugs faster all right now that we got the uni knot down we’re going to switch gears to the uni to Uni Knot so if you guys are practicing at home I would recommend putting down your rope whatever material you’re practicing with get yourself leader and braid cuz you’re going to want to feel the difference in each of the different materials you’re working with because there is a different feel and there’s proper steps so also by creating that muscle memory it’ll help you guys out you’ll be able to do this in the dark like there’s times where I can’t I won’t even look at what I’m doing and I’ll be able to do it muscle memory is important and practice makes perfect so let’s go so I have my rod behind me here I have enough braid out it’s a little hard to see but I got the camera in the corner to help you guys out so let’s put the braid here we’ll do some more leader ASMR get yourself some nice leader material and I got my leader material in my left hand I have my braid in right and what we’re going to do is we’re just going to put them together and I’m going to pinch the braid on my left hand and pinch the leader on my right hand and we’re going to start with the leader material so you see my tag end on the bottom here going to make that same Loop but I’m making sure that I hold on to my braid material too see so you can see my braid is up top here we’re going to take our tag end and we’re going to pass it through how many times Folks at home seven Lucky Seven one 2 3 4 5 6 seven take our tag end and pull pull nice and tight and it’s going to make that little Loop there make a nice little knot that’s picture perfect that is the picture perfect we want to see right there I’m proud of that okay moving on we’re going to take the other end and what I like on this part is I will pinch the the uh leader that I just created that little Uni knot with and we’re going to take our braid we’re going to give ourselves some room to work with and create that same Loop so I have my Loop here with the braid and the lader material and I’m going to pass it through seven times 1 2 3 4 5 6 one more time seven and we’re going to pull and we’re going to create that same knot now they’re a little ways apart so you’re going to use your saliva again and you’re going to want to get spit all over where it has to meet because you want them to pull through nicely so now we’re going to take our braid I’ll wrap it around my fingers same thing with my lader and we’re going to pull tight and we’re going to pull nice and tight and they are going to join together in unison and you’re going to have that right there look at that that’s perfect now of course when you’re done you’re going to take your tag ends and you’re going to cut them and there’s a lot of times where people prefer to use the uni to Uni Knot instead of using a barrel swivel to reduce the jewelry on their rig now however there are times where you can’t use a uni to Uni knot for example the I’m using right now I brought out on purpose because I can’t use a uni not on this Rod why that tiptop guide that Loop is big enough for the uni not to pass through but the guides following that tiptop are smaller so if I’m fishing in the dark or I’m just totally not paying attention as I’m reeling in and this uni not gets past the tiptop guide and knocks all those other guides that could risk popping off one of those guides and I need to get it repaired so there’s certain rod that you have like example like if you’re taking your buddy out fishing and he’s never fished before you don’t want him busting one of those guides tie a barrel swivel but there’s certain guides where you can go all for the uni to Uni Knot like a bigger surf rod like go for it it just all depends on the extra jewelry and if your Rod can handle it so I hope you guys learned a helpful little knot to help you guys out land big fish and I’ll catch you guys next week on Open Boat I also want to remind you guys about surf land bait and tackles uh surf casting demo day which takes place on the 18th this weekend um it basically runs business hours it’s really unique event if you’re a surf fisherman because it gives you the opportunity to try a bunch of different things you can try rods and reels you can match them up you get them you can even try casting them you get them balanced uh if you find the one that fits your casting style the best it’s going to be uh industry reps there there’s going to be a bunch of great sales and uh it’s just one of those things you don’t want to miss if you’re a surf fisherman to you got to make sure you go to surfland at least once it’s one of those classic surf casting tackle shops that has been around forever and uh really just caters to the surf fishermen of course they will they provide services for all different types of Anglers but they are first and foremost a surf casting shop and if you’re a surf fisherman you definitely want to check that place out last thing of course is a giveaway which is ongoing we’re going to give away a flack Glide Needle Fish and um you guys know the drill by now it’s uh you it’s got to show you got to send in pictures showing you holding your fish uh you send them to me at D andersonthe fisherman.com or text them to the number on the screen and the Only Rule is it’s got to be a recently caught fish other than that it could be a boat surf inshore offshore freshwater doesn’t matter to me uh get them in and this one’s going to wrap up on July 24th so you got lots of time uh get them in we’ll see who wins for more than 20 years Anglers everywhere have come to know one thing that nothing says no to Fish Bites drop it over to the regional reports now uh talked to some guys up in Maine and we are starting to see uh some nice size stripe bass in the rivers of Southern Maine like the Sako River and uh even dropping down into into New Hampshire in that river that runs across near Portsmouth I can’t remember the name of it right now um but lot of nice fish in that area a lot of fish in like the 25 to 35 in class they’re chasing Herring uh they’re chasing another Bait fish and they’re taking a whole bunch of different types of lures and the bite’s been very good good so um it’s really great to see that and and as we all know it’s the time of year you can only go up from there so uh good news from that region droing down over the border now we’ll check in with James Jukes who says everything’s on fire and uh the fishing has been great so here he is here we go Dave another week another lot of fish just came from up near the Lawrence Dam uh a little slow this morning yesterday was pretty good lots of guys catching fish up there being stupid about things please just put your fish back don’t snag hering you know all these things just take care of the fish that’s all sorry for the rant so early in the report but I had to do it anyways so couple announcements up front here uh J Ortiz is having his salt addiction fishing tournament up at the Lawrence Dam this Saturday uh registrations 4:30 ends at 6:30 tons of great prizes huge raffle table all to support a local family in need uh I think he’s doing two families this year actually I think uh both disabled welld deserving great families J and his crew does a great job make sure you get up there and and see that if you can uh if not just to buy raffle prizes uh second one is demo day at surfland Bait and Tackle down on Plum Island I will be there uh light lights out lures will be there 247 uh a few others um come demo a rod we have a crew on hand that’ll take you over to the beach and you can test a few setups uh shoot the sorry for the language uh but anyways that’s this weekend 9 to 1 or something like that 8:30 to 1 anyways two fun events definitely check them out if you can uh as far as the reports are going we have stripers from the ocean front on Plum Island all the way up the rivers all over the place Essex ipswitch parcker meramac uh seab Brook you you name it there’s fish everywhere up here uh and we’ve had fish that were pushing 40 in uh one kid sent me a picture he had one uh roughly 35 36 in young kid good kid so that the congrats to him can’t show you his picture right now so uh but everything else is just hammer time if you’re not out fishing there’s something wrong with you okay not really but you know fish as much as you can I always tell people you do you I do me some people can’t fish every day um freshwater side Pike have been still caught in the river uh small mouth and large mouth have slowed down a little bit I haven’t heard much but some of the other guys have doing okay with carp and few other things up above the dam that’s exciting uh the shed has tapered off the water’s low uh they’ve just become tough to get I’ve stopped the last few mornings and blanked so that’s that uh other than that enjoy your weekend because the fishing is going to be fantastic and now the Dreamboat Fishing Challenge entries for the week the race is definitely on with a second place entry by long Islander Anthony Savino this time it’s his 2.2 lb sea robin that when combined with his first place weak fish puts him firmly in first place it’s no secret that the porgi fishing is Raging and another Long Island subscriber Christopher Jones entered a 2.2 lb porgi placing him in first place for the porgi division and third place for overall points the current second place entry for the porgi division is Long Island subscriber Brian zesi with this 2.14 lb Hub Cap current total standings look like this Anthony Savino with 20 points Frank Shay with 10 points Christopher Jones with 10 points to be part of the dream bow challenge you must be a fisherman subscriber get all the details at the fisherman.com now the latest from the coastal kayak Clash we had three fish hit the board this week Ridgewood New York’s Peter F started the bidding with the 16.5 in weak fish and we had two stripers as well John javor of Mawa New Jersey with this line cider of 35.5 in and Ken Stark of Tinton Falls had this 42 iner the leader board looks like this Justin oser from New England has six points Greg sackowitz of New Jersey has five points and new to the leaderboard is Ken Stark also from New Jersey with three points to be part of the coastal kayak class you must be a fisherman subscriber get all the details at the fisherman.com now I’ll take a couple steps Inland because I’ve been hearing great reports again from WUSA Reservoir this time it’s not lake trout it’s smallmouth bass we’re seeing some really nice size smalles coming out of watch us a reservoir especially on the Clinton side a lot of Coes over there and um you can find some really good fish in that area so that’s uh something you can do if you’re an inland guy you want to do some freshwater fishing uh good stuff going on there right now heading back toward the coast uh we’ve seen stripe Fass now from Boston down to Plymouth into the low 40in class some of these fish are getting up into the getting up close to 30 lbs so that’s pretty exciting stuff uh also Inland of that area still very good large amount fast fishing so another 8 pounder this week it seems like the uh pre-spawn uh is extended this year for probably just cuz we’ve had it cooler than normal spring and uh so Largemouth basss are staying fat and they’re feeding and they’re feeding well so you got that and you also got great trout fishing in the area jump over the canal onto the Cape freshwater side of things a lot of the same things a lot of big large mouth and lots of good trout fishing happening there um as I kind of hinted at last week we are starting to see some of these bigger fish running along the Cape Cod Bay shores of Cape Cod uh saw some fish up into the low 40in class uh on those beaches guys are getting them on needlefish and livees and uh red fins and things like that so uh that’s firing up again just like it did last year that’s exciting stuff as you get further out on the cape though out toward East H Orleans tro that area well Fleet uh on the ocean side uh things are much slower we’re seeing a lot smaller fish in that area mostly inside places like Town Cove nset Inlet or Pleasant uh bay and uh but you know it’s still a good sign things are firing up um Things Are are starting up so a lot of small paddle tails are getting it done in that area but also some top water action as you get down more toward the canal it gets more exciting uh we saw a couple new classes of fish enter the canal this week uh seem to be a contingent of 30 to 36 in fish in the canal and then a another contingent of like 20 to 30 lb fish in the canal uh from what I heard it seemed like the better fish or the bigger fish was showing up at the bottom of the tide I don’t know if that’s going to be something that continues but it’s something that I was able to derive from the reports I was getting a lot of top water AC pencil poppers uh things like super strike poppers and of course the ubiquitous magic swimmer was getting it done as well for a little bit more on what’s going on in the canal let’s check in now with East and Eddy hi Dave another beautiful day here in the Cape Cod Canal we got a dropping West tide behind me and the water temperatures jacked up to 52 degrees so that’s great another couple of degrees and we’ll really be in business uh so the breaking tides are gone but it’s still good fishing on the canal uh the uh East End has a a pretty good size uh School of mackerel so stripers are coming in from Cape Cod Bay and hitting that and going back mostly in a West tide and uh the but the most action has been in the West End on both sides of the canal um guys are jigging off the bottom using paddle Tails like the bill Hurley Canal killer uh which is in white color is my favorite uh my favorite jig and uh guys have been very successful with that picking up slots uh some fish bigger one guy had one up to 20 lbs um and uh so it’s it’s it’s been good on and off like always uh once it starts but there’s actually better Tides even coming coming up in a week or so um and uh so Victor V caught a couple of fish the other day from he’s from Malo nice guy and two experienced Canal rats uh uh Steve colerin from Buzz’s Bay and uh and the pride of Brighton Jimmy Kelly both did well the other day Steve caught a nice fish on a um Al gags pink paddletail Steve uses his pink a lot even when there’s no squid in the water he does very well with it and I was talking to a nice kid the other day Jack gagnan he’s uh from Westport and uh he uh he’s a freshman at UMass Dartmouth and he caught his first fish in the canal and it was a it was a keeper it was a slot so congratulations to Jack he was using a bone colored swimmer so I guess he’s probably addicted for life now and uh he’s a nice guy so congratulations and welcome to the ditch Jack and uh so my tip of the week is uh just be careful when you’re descending these this RI wrap Stone Bank down to the water to fish because these rocks are treacherous and they’re not all very stable sometimes even these big boulders move so just kind of test it with your other foot before you set your weight on it and uh just be very careful because no fish is worth a concussion so take care and catch a big one I’ll see you next week [Music] the best striper fishing that isn’t in the canal is happening in Buzzards Bay for Massachusetts right now and Buzzards Bay is really where everything starts uh we saw a new class of fish pushing into Buzzard’s Bay as well these fish are on the larger side 25 to 35 lbs uh a lot of guys getting it done at night from the surf with Needle Fish uh with big paddle tails with glide baits things like that also darters are getting it done daytime guys we’re doing it with big paddletails and big walk the dog style plugs like the dock um seeing some really nice fish coming out of there but of course all all sizes are represented so it’s not like it’s a free-for-all of giants but there’s a lot more bigger fish that have moved in since the new moon and that’s to me is really good news um we are we’re seeing lots of uh tog action still happening and even some really nice tog up toward the canal but out toward Westport same deal some scuppers starting to show up in the area and uh SE bass isn’t open yet but um that’s what I have for you guys in Massachusetts this week [Applause] [Music] moving over to RH Island we’ll start things off with an Eastbay report from TJ copc thanks daeve hey guys uh nice to be back got a quick report for you guys uh for a little bit of Southeastern Massachusetts and uh the East Bay of Rhode Island I’m going to start in the cold River in Swansea and I look back at my records and things aren’t where they were the last three years I haven’t caught a fish uh in that River yet this year and by this this time last year there was tons and tons of schoolies in there I just haven’t seen a flux of smaller basss come into the little river systems uh with bait I mean obviously they’re on the tail of the bait but I haven’t even seen any bait swimming around I i’ had multiple tries uh the K’s River I fish the incoming the outgoing nothing here the same goes for the Le River got my buddy John who fishes that and he’s told me it’s been really slow there too he got one fish this whole season out of Le River and normally the Le river is pretty hot uh about this time uh and he hasn’t connected so uh I mean I don’t know if it’s concerning or the fish just haven’t really got into these Rivers yet uh so just be on the lookout I know the fish are out in the bay in Mount Hope Bay if you follow the coals River out you get The Spar Island uh emerges with the kikam river up to Mount Hope Point there’s a fleet of boats out there catching fish in the channel right at the mouth of where you know all four of these Rivers converge into Maho Bay across from for River ID in through theet River uh mouth opening that comes into Maho Bay uh there’s been lots and lots of fish being caught on flutter spoons uh people bucked him tatag has been great also in the M Bay Area if you get on the bridge pilin that’s probably going to be your best bet to you catching some bigger fish but uh I mean they are HED uh by lots of Anglers all week long uh so but it’s been a steady bite and if you can find a couple of rock piles over near Church’s Cove you might do even better over there uh those are a lot of the rock piles that not too many people actually get on and HG fish uh which I used to do and uh it could make or break your day if you just move along and find those little little small rock Pils that are singled out they have some big fish on them uh moving into the Warner Baron River um it’s been a little slow there for stripe bass too uh my last outing it connected one fish that’s it uh I did have an outing inside the bay uh on Saturday morning uh we got out into uh well we we kind of like went all the way around prit Island and uh once we got on the east side of prudence Island uh right at Dyer Island uh we found a fleet of boats and we fished and and we connected and you know I got my first almost 30 lb fish of the season this year uh fishing on a 6in gulp paddle shed uh I outfished my cousin who was uh fishing the flutter spoon and uh I I had a heck of a day believe it or not all and I think uh within about 2H hour range we got about 89 fish that uh one slot everything else was over slot so uh there are some big fish inside of the bay uh the fish I moved along we got up uh closer to Bristol and uh the fleet was still there we just couldn’t connect again uh we you know did a little watching and um I got to tell you there’s a lot of big bass in the bay and a Malo Bay you just need to find the PODS of them and just fish them heavy and uh that would be my tip for this week uh so if you’re out there fishing I think things are going to get better and uh cheairs to uh Massachusetts uh seab bass opener on Saturday I’ll be out there fishing so uh tight lines guys and uh hope you catch them all what I’ve been hearing from the bay you know from naraga Bay and Mount Hope Bay is that the uh stripe bass action is really starting to catch fire we’re seeing a lot more bigger fish we’re seeing a new class of fish moving in just like we’re seeing in Buzzard’s Bay um I heard about a school of some nice fish like 25 to 35 PB fish moving up the sonon river on a school of Bunker this week um those fish have since dispersed or moved up into Mount H Bay but uh it’s indicative of what’s going on it seems like it’s an especially good year for Bunker this year which is which bodess well for nansa Bay I think we’re going to see some really big fish coming out of the bay over the next sever weeks um at the same time there was another movement of fish kind of in the vicinity of the mount hul Bridge uh these fish were of mixed sizes from 30 in up to like 25 lbs uh rumors were that there were some bigger fish in the mix as well flutter spoons and big paddletails were the two top takers in that area although a few guys were getting them on top Waters as well and as those fish spread out we should see more fish in Mount H Bay we should see more fish up the Taunton River uh there’s already some pretty good concentrations of fish in places like brist Harbor uh the North End of prudence and then up toward Providence uh so very good strip bass fishing going on right now throughout nansa Bay um and they’re being caught using a variety of methods for a little bit more on that and some of the other things going on in that region we’re going to check in first with Jeff Sullivan here he is hey Dave what’s happening Jeff back with a weekly video um I got a quick report for you guys this week um let’s start off with the strip bass side of things um it’s on it’s on like Donkey Kong uh um you know whether it be Heron whether it be pogy schools or even squid um there’s a lot of fresh fish still showing up in our Bay um by the thousands it seems like big schools and the big fish are now knocking on the door they just entered our Bay um I mean these fish are big they’re they’re stacked they’re full they’re they’re fat um every fish we’ve been getting their bellies have been full um either full of Bunker or full of Heron or full of squid um so if you if you find those schools of squid Heron or bunker you’re in good shape stick by those schools um you know they they’re on them so um you know whether it be the Shad Spoons the big uh Ben Parker spoons um the metal lips um a lot of shads or squid presentations um that’s a tog bite the Tog bite is on the Tog bite is still on it’s still good we have till June 1 first to get these fish um I mean under 10 ft of water with the jig with a 3/4 o jig it is probably the best bite you can get on right now that that that tog bite is just awesome um you know on green crabs or if you can get your hands on Asian crabs Asian crabs just stack them on the hook guys stack those Asians on the hook and just Chuck it in there Chuck it on the muscle bed Chuck it in some Boulder Fields you know um some docks some you know shallow water reck um if you guys are from Shore find some muscle beds um you’ll find some nice fish in there there’s a lot of nice Blackfish right now too as well um now the freshwater side of things um man oh man freshwat is going off too it’s I thought it was going to get some sleep this week but I guess not um the larg mouth bite has just been as good as it it could possibly get um you know still still getting fish up to 7 lbs um you know I’m doing a lot of Night Trips they’re getting they’re eating wake baits they’re eating top water plugs um eating big swimbaits you know um I mean it’s it’s just been on fire um and the big big surprise this week for me was the crappie bite I unlocked the code for Crappie um I mean we’re getting huge crappie and they’re awesome awesome fish to to fish for um for you freshwater people out there that don’t do saltwater fishing um get on that crappie bite I’m telling right now it is awesome they’re huge crappie right now they’re spawning um they are chowing um the Smallmouth bite the Smallmouth bite is on um small spinner baits Ned rigs um and little jigs um bounce them off the bottom um and where I’m at they’re they’re bedding right now they’re getting ready to be on the beds so it’s the little footballs they’re awesome they’re nice and bronze they’re nice and colored up uh it’s it’s just a it’s just just a fun time to be a fisherman like I said last week I mean you can’t complain this is like Christmas morning every day so uh yeah Dave that’s all I got this week um fishing has just been incredible um and it’s just going to keep getting better and better which is even crazy to even think about so um yeah so it’s 5:00 a.m. I’m G to get going get my get my rigs on the boat hopefully uh get on the spoon bite and the Shad bite this morning and uh hopefully have another report for you guys next week all right guys tight lines thanks as you get out of the bay and even into the approaches to the Bay the Tog fishing continues to really impress the bridge pilings on the Jamestown Bridge and Newport Bridge and the mount H hope Bridge are putting out some nice size tog right now and all those Rocky shorelines are doing the same we’re seeing lots and lots of good tog fishing going on right now a lot of squid moving inshore which is fueling some good stripe bass activity but it’s also starting to call in some of these flukes so uh up up by Block Island then along South County we’re seeing a lot more fluke activity right now although from what I’ve heard everyone I’ve spoken to uh no Keepers yet all these fish are undersized but with these squid moving in and the water warming up it shouldn’t be long before we start seeing some bigger fish uh so this week might be a good time to try if you’re looking to get in on some fluke fishing along the South County beaches not much really changed from last week other than the fact that big blue fish showed up so we saw 12 to 15 PB blueish showing up along the South County shorelines are in the breach ways or on the beaches and uh mostly a daytime thing but there’s some bruisers out there so that’s cool um strip bass activity along the beaches has been a mix you know fish from 25 to 35 in with a few bigger ones up to like 44 in uh a lot of top water activity lot of good fishing happening at night right around the breach ways on swimmers and darters and glide baits and things like that and that’s what I have for you guys in RH Island this week the coastal kayak Clash is back for 224 wi this Oldtown Sportsman PDL 120 fully outfitted by yakatak our second place winner will take home this hummingbird Helix 7 win third place and you walk away $500 richer and there are many other ways to win as well we’ve got reels from daa and LS and gear from yoori if you fish from a kayak and you’re a fisherman subscriber you’re eligible to enter the CKC catch one of eight qualifying species photograph them next to a flat ruler showing the fisherman tag with your kayak clearly visible and get yourself on the leader board this kayak only tournament kicks off May 1st and ends November 30th get all the details at the fisherman.com jumping over the border into Connecticut we’ll start things off with our Herring expert here’s Kevin job thanks Dave um so yeah just uh wrapping up what’ll be second to last Herring report for us um just hiked out of the Connecticut River Valley was in here checking out a small blue back run just looking to see if we could see any fish unfortunately we didn’t see any fish today um Up and Down the River um we did truck some Shad first thing this morning and there were a few blue backs um up by Holy Oak and the lift but you know I can count them on one hand um we did have a showing of blueback herring in the River end of last week which was good to see um you know really small numbers but it was definitely uh you know a breath of fresh air after not seeing those fish really since 2021 um so you know it’s just it’s a few fish but a few fish can make a lot of fish so hopefully it’s you know it is a good sign um our lwi runs Eastern Connecticut we’ve actually pulled all of our equipment out for counting those fish left in Mass last week um there’s still some you know Shoreline spawning going on that we’re seeing in the evenings whether it’s fish dropping down just kind of having a final Harrah um or if it’s just some late fish that have just kind of you know that’s what they do they spawn at the head of Tide there um we are still seeing some of those fish and again you know there’s there stripers on them so if you find them have fun um but then uh moving into Western and Central Connecticut still seeing the the last of the LFE run really tapering off here um you know just again I can count them on two hands but we still have fish coming in so um not quite over yet um and then unfortunately really no no Blue Back showing um some of the the bigger rivers over that way did get a push of fish this last week um which was good I know a lot of the striper guys over there were you know really struggling so seems like it brought some fish to their feet which was nice um unfortunately to trying to get our hands on those fish to actually sample them the numbers were still still small you know if you see them at 2:00 in the morning it is really helpful but it’s hard for us to get out there um with the equipment to always to always get into those fish so again I I really appreciate everybody reaching out to me letting me know when and where they have fish um and we have been able to get out and actually sample fish um so those those tips that you guys have all been sending me um through emails has been awesome I can’t I can’t thank you guys enough for that it’s been really nice having a bunch of different eyes and places that we just we don’t have the the human power to cover it these days so um it’s been really nice and plus we can you know check those boxes off for okay yeah we did have some fish come back you know it may have only been a few hundred a few nights in a row but again a few hundred fish is better than some of these areas no one saw fish in the last two seasons so um you know all this news is it’s good news um and uh yeah we’ll see with next week I’m going to I’ll be trucking Shad for most of this week and then it’ll be like this I’m getting out in the evenings and just trying to see if we have blue back Herring runs um in our larger Rivers um we still have our video monitoring equipment out so we’re recording on those big rivers and we’ll be monitoring those and Counting those as we go into early summer here so it’s just a lot of video to review but um yeah it’s this year was not as bad as last year um as I kind of hinted at last week some of the places were still pretty slow especially for Eastern Al wives but again all together um we’re going to be up from last year one of our one of our bigger runs was up 32% from last year so I’m going to take it right now um yeah so thank you so much for for tuning in and for always you know reaching out to me and let me know what you guys see it’s been a huge help and I’ll see you all next week thank you so much now in Eastern Connecticut we are seeing a lot of strip bass activity especially up inside the fames River where there’s been a good amount of Bunker and we’ve seen mixed sizes of stripe bass from schoolies all the way up to like 40 in let’s say in that range a lot of these fish are being caught on bait guys are doing it with chunks guys are doing it with seaw worms and things like that uh but the activity that’s spilling out of the river onto the adjacent beaches has mostly been uh it’s mostly had to it’s mostly been with plugs so guys are doing it with the dock guys are doing it uh throwing big metal lips guys are doing it with poppers and pencil poppers and things like that uh you’re also going to catch some fish Troll and tube and worm if you want to do that in the area and obviously live yels are going to get it done as well uh we also heard for the first time this year some fish moving into the race uh these stripers are more like in the 30 to 33 34 inch class so right around slot size um and most of these fish are being caught on diamond jigs although you can definitely do it with top Waters at first light especially with slower tides and I’m sure you can do with a Bucktail or something like that as well heading up toward Niantic uh wor is the stripers are everywhere in that region but they’re mostly on the smaller side so under slot and just barely over the threshold hold of the slot um these fish are coming out of Niantic Bay Millstone up inside the Niantic River uh just really good congregated striper activity there as you get closer to the Connecticut River that stripe bass activity becomes a little bit more exciting um starting to see some bigger fish around the mouth of the river and we’re seeing still very good activity up inside the river for a little bit more on that let’s start things off with Captain Mike Roy from Real cast trackers hey what’s up everybody for this week’s fishing report the the spring stripe bass migration has been in full swing they’re coming through the Western Long sound and the Easter Long Island Sound these fish are covered in Sea Li they’re hitting flutter spoons large soft Plastics and small metal jigs um they’re also making their way up into the rivers and estuaries so that’s been fishing well the bunker haven’t showed up yet where I’m at but hopefully in a couple weeks two 3 weeks we should start seeing the Bunker show up the fish I’ve been catching I’ve been feeding heavily on butterfish Herring and Shad no Bluefish yet but I expect to probably see that after next week’s full moon so stay tuned now we’ll stay in the Connecticut River Region and we’ll check in with Rowan L here he is hey everybody uh so the Connecticut Rivers warming up and dropping nicely dro about another foot still from last week clearing up very well uh biggest push of Shad so far the season happened last week uh most of these fish are already well through the state up into Massachusetts uh there still should be a few trickling in in the main stem of the river so uh for those of you out looking for Shad uh there’s still a few around uh but most of them have pushed through uh plenty of migratory stripers in the river uh certainly be aware uh there’s still a lot of poaching going on in Herring runs both of the Herring themselves and stripers be on the mind uh be on the lookout for that uh please do call it in if you see people poaching uh it’s a big and still kind of growing problem unfortunately as far as uh the freshwater species not an Adis species go uh carp bofin uh very active on the warmer days um and small mouth and large mouth kind of getting on the beds uh in the more pressured areas please to try to avoid targeting the bedded bass uh they’re getting pretty shy on beds it’s not as easy to Target them as it might otherwise uh be a lot of Seasons uh and I think big part of that they’re kind of used to getting targeted while they’re on the bed so uh give those fish him space while they’re doing their thing uh but they’re fairly active uh the warm days are getting good for top water now uh so plenty of good fishing to be had in the Connecticut River now heading out of the river out toward Westbrook we’ll check in quickly with Matt Stone from black Hall Outfitters what’s up everyone Matt here at black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook with this week’s fishing report uh things are definitely warming up out there we’ve had some warmer nights recently um Blue Fish moving into the Long Island Sound I got my first of the year yesterday had a few of them hit um good siiz ones which is pretty cool we always like those guys at first um so those are cool to see definitely a sign that um things are moving in the right direction um overs slaught fish are definitely becoming um more prominent we’re starting to get much more of those um smaller fish with lice on them things like that um a lot of good Flats fishing this time of year so you’re looking for like a shallow area next to like a channel maybe or something like that um those fish love to stage on there um they’re warming up this time of year cuz the water’s still nice and cool so um when they can get that sun on those Flats um Chase bait and shallower water it’s a happy place for them uh really fun to fish too um you use bigger top water ERS 5 to 7 in soft Plastics like lunker City uh finesse fish sluggos those have been doing really well um paddletails anything like that is really fun to fish on those Flats um game on xwalk for top Waters uh you could throw a dock right now maybe the little dock um the big one there’s not a ton of fish that size around of course they’re around but not kind of that big biomass of migratory fish that we’re waiting on um but they will be here right when they intend to be uh as always other than that some early fluke fishermen are doing pretty well they’re finding fish shallow 15 to 30 ft prepare to hop around cuz it is still pretty early in uh fluke season of course um and that’s the report good luck now as we mentioned in the intro Seabass season does open this weekend I don’t have any Seabass reports to share with you guys but um you know if you if you’re rip roaring to go you want to go and get in on it uh that Central sound those deep Ledges in the central sound might be a good place to try uh there has been some porgi activity but most of it’s been on the other side so if you want to catch porges you want to head over ponic Bay uh that’s been the area where the best action has been happening and you might get into some weak fish there as well because the catches there have been pretty good for weekies um along the shore heading from the Connecticut River out toward Norwalk uh there’s been just an increase in bigger bass uh we heard about the first 50 lb striper of the year that I’ve heard of anyway which is caught by uh you know Trophy Hunter John Freon uh it’s 52 pounder uh taken in the New Haven area uh so that’s good news and as you get further west there just more and more of these bigger fish and for a little bit more on that let’s check in now with Max Finch from Fisher hey everyone Max here from Fisherman’s World with another local fishing report this past week the striper fishing has been fantastic we’ve seen fish you know to over 35 lbs on our local reefs south of the islands like the triangle 28c 11b Eden’s neck Green’s ledge has some nice fish also there’s been some really nice fish you know in and then outside the islands around our local rock piles rips reefs especially our shallow water reefs like uh Kini shs we’ve seen some pretty big uh striper blitzes the bunker are moving in more and more every day and it this should just continue all the way as we move into June Porgy fishing’s been a little slower on our side there are some being caught at 28c most Anglers are actually shooting across to Oyster Bay in Huntington remember always to bring clam Chom and then the fluke fishing there’s some on our side it’s it’s a little spotty you really got to pound these local areas like 26 and 24 I saw some uh limits you know off of shwood but I was talking to these guys they said you know they fished all day for three fish each two people but most people are you know shooting across Port Jeff Smithtown Bay the golf course inside Huntington we’ve seen some fish to like 8 lbs this past week been really nice you know spearing smell squid strips work really good also gulp a lot of people are you know really uptight to the beaches star in 10 and then drifting and if you do catch a keeper you know Mark the Spot and just keep pounding that area thanks and good luck and that’s what I have for you guys in the reports this week hopefully it’s going to inspire you to get out there the stripe bass fishing is definitely King right now a lot of good siiz fish around um whether you want to do it from boat surf kayak it doesn’t matter uh we’re seeing some really nice fish being caught throughout really the entire region and now all the way up into Maine we’re seeing fish in the mid3 inch Class if you’re not a subscriber to the fisherman I highly recommend you head to our website that’s the fisherman.com you get a full taste of what we offer we cover all the fishing from Delaware up to Maine we have travel featur feachers that reach outside the region we do lots of how-to stuff um it’s $29.95 for the year you’re going to get 12 paper magazines sent to your house you’re going to get 26 Digital Editions sent to your email which you’re with that cost you’re also going to get access to all of our back issues and you’re going to get digital access to our other addition so if you sign up for New England which is the one that I work for you’ll also get digital access to the Long Island Edition and the New Jersey Edition it’s the best 30 bucks you can spend in fishing that’s that’s a guarantee but if you’re still not interested after you check the website at the very least give us a like And subscribe here on YouTube and hit that little bell thing right there so you get a notification every time we post something new appreciate you guys for watching and we’ll see you next week [Music]
