August 16th - The Albies are Coming!

Stripers and Blues

There’s been a lot of good action out on the Sound this past week, highlighted by some pretty consistent and exciting blitzes underneath birds and fueled by what has become some plentiful late summer bait. This bait is primarily silversides and peanut bunker, which bodes well for a solid albie run which we will hopefully be discussing in a few weeks!

The bigger stripers have been on pretty tight feeding windows, even during prime times like morning and evening. They organize quite well in the right tides, sometimes in tighter areas than you could even imagine, with multiple large fish stacked in the same spot. Trolling tubes, either weighted or unweighted, is a great way to cover ground this time of year and get some solid action. No wire is needed with this type of trolling, so find some good areas in 20’ or less and cruise around 1.8-2.2mph and see what happens!

Topwater has picked up quite a bit as well, which is always a ton of fun to see. Not only is topwater good under blitzes, where you might throw something smaller like a Mully Jr. or a Tsunami Talkin’ Popper, but it’s also been great with bigger plugs like the Doc, Splashwalk, or Mully. For colors, bone and pearl are always strong choices.

This time of year, it’s time to start loading up for fall fishing and the albie run. If you don’t have a dedicated “fall setup” yet, having one ready for these next couple months is key. You’ll want to look at reels like the Tsunami Shield (just over $100) or the Shimano Vanford (around $220), typically in the 3000-4000 size range. For rods, the fall run, albies included, involves sending smaller metals and epoxies fast and far, so a long, whippy rod is recommended. For length, 7’ 6” seems to be the best choice for this and the best action is Medium or, if you like to throw 1 ounce baits, Medium-Heavy. We have a ton of options at the shop for rods in varying price ranges, from $99 all the way to $350. If you want to get dialed in for albies and fishing blitzes, come by the Westbrook shop and we can walk you through it. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, @bhofishing, where we post local catches as well as tips and tricks for succeeding in our home waters.

Seabass and Porgies

The best seabass reports have been coming from those out deep. Anglers using heavier weight on bait rigs in over 100’ have been finding good piles of fish. Heavier jigs like the Daiwa SK are also producing good fish. Porgy fishing continues to be good, with anglers having luck on sandworms and squid, as well as small epoxy and metal jigs in deeper water jigging vertically.

Fluke

Fluke fishing has been solid for those willing to take a ride to some less-pressured water. Having a variety of colors of sizes of bucktails is key, and getting fresh bait is also going to help a lot if you want to tip your rigs with bait.