Fishing is heating up as waters cool down

Written by Leon Sylvester Jr.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011 00:00

Autumn in Long Island Sound is not only about trophy size catches. It is also a time when anglers often catch rare and exotic species which have lost their way during the numerous maritime storms or the gulf stream’s warm northern flow during the summer months.

Some of these species, including burbots, northern kingfish, oyster toadfish, northern pufferfish, red hake and triggerfish have all been showing up in catches throughout Long Island Sound. Though these catches are rare, they are not uncommon for this time of year.

Both John Valentino and Johnathan Schmedlin of Stratford landed burbots last weekend, while Bob Hannon of Stratford came up short in his pursuit of the elusive oyster toadfish, but did witness several caught near him.

Meanwhile, with the species more traditionally found in our waters, fishing is heating up while the waters are cooling down.

Big bluefish can be found just about anywhere. Blues from 10 to 16 pounds were caught last week from Fairfield Beach to the mouth of the Housatonic and all around Middleground Lighthouse. Chunked baits and various baitfish imitators are working well for blues.

Striper fishing continues to be slow overall, but some big fish have been landed in the Housatonic and along the beaches from New Haven to Milford. Smaller school-size bass can be found in the mouths of the Housatonic, Milford Harbor and Bridgeport Harbor to Penfield Reef.

Jim Micinilio and his brother Mike from Bridgeport found slow action near the mouth of the Housatonic and off various spots in Norwalk. While fishing was slow, the Micinilio boys still landed several fish, including one 35-inch striper and a 12-pound blue.

The big news of the week is blackfishing has begun and is heating up fast. New Haven Harbor and Stratford walls have been producing fish, as has various spots and wrecks off of Middleground and Penfield Reef. Green, fiddler and Asian crabs all have been working well.

Captains Mike Mallone of West Haven and Joe Eltman of Waterbury, landed their limit of blackfish on Tuesday while fishing near Middleground Lighthouse.

Chris Schmedlin at Harbor View Bait and Tackle in Stratford were happy to report that Steve Higgs of Stratford landed a 13.30 pound blackfish while fishing in New Haven. The fish was caught on a green crab, and was brought to Schmedlin’s shop in Stratford for an official weight before being brought back out to the Sound where it was released.

Higgs also took sixth place in the recent WICC Greatest Bluefish Tournament, making him my this week’s Go Fish Angler of the Week.

That is going to do it for this week. Send me your reports and pictures of your trophy catches. Send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Go Fish is now available online at hersamacorn.com and twitter. (fishingreporter)

Until next time,

Tight lines!