July 8th - Take Your Pick!

Stripers and Blues- Schoolies are still abundant and frisky around most tidal creeks, rivers, and shorelines. They’re more than willing to take topwater spook-style baits during golden hours or swimbaits such as Egret Baits Vudu Shads or Z-man Diesel SwimmerZ at other times. There was a recent push of large stripers through the south-central CT coastal waters, and bigger fish are being pulled of many of the local reefs. Hot baits for bigger fish have been live bunker, Gravity Tackle GT Eels, live eels, and when conditions call for it, the 247 Fishing Mully in a bone color. For surf fishing, try out a bucktail tossed behind a breaking wave and reeled with occasional twitches behind the white-wash. As always, with water temperatures continuing to rise, please take extra care releasing larger fish so that we can keep the breeding stock healthy and have this great fishing for years to come.

In Southeastern Massachusetts, Billy from Seven Stripes Fishing reports that great fly and light tackle fishing abounds, with bigger fish up to 30”. Billy believes most of the bigger fish are roaming the bay and more north of Southeastern Massachusetts. The bluefish seem to be ever-present, which can be a double-edged sword: If you’re targeting them, they’re easily available using bait or Tsunami Talkin’ Poppers, but if you don’t want them they can be a pain due to chewing up eels or biting soft-plastics into bits. Adjust accordingly to either zero in on or avoid the yellow- eyed demons!

Seabass/Porgies- Seabassing has been fantastic recently, and limits are coming off of structure and sand. The hot bait this year seems to be the Daiwa SK Jigs, in shades of pink or blue. Matt from Wise Kraken Charters has been hitting the Block Island grounds and reports fantastic seabassing out that way as well. Porgies have been hubcaps this year, and there are fish seemingly everywhere. Clams and sandworms have been the ticket, with squid also working. Shallow, rocky areas are producing solid porgies consistently.

Fluke- The fluke bite is HEATING UP! It took a bit, and there are still shorts to wade through, but shop talk and empirical evidence tells us that they are certainly out there and moving shallower. You’ll have to some work for the doormats, but that’s always the case. Hot baits have been chartreuse bucktails and M3 rigged spoons in pink and green. Matt from Wise Kraken Charters reports a few dogfish in the area forcing some spot-hopping, but bigguns nearing double-digits make it well worth it. Everyone is going home happy! Tipping bucktails, glass minnows, or spoons with any sort of fish strips has been a great tactic for inviting bigger fish to bite. BHO’s Fluke Fest 2020 is in full swing, with big fish coming in each week. Our leader right now is Mr. Harrison with a 12.33 pound giant, but several fish in the 8 pound range have also come in. With the tournament last until mid-September, there is still time to beat that 12 pounder! Even if you can’t beat it, we have WEEKLY winners of awesome prize packs for the heaviest fluke weighed each week, so keep fluking and you just might win!

Tog/Blackfish- With the season opening on July 1st, many have started to turn their eye towards tautog. Crabs are quite hard to come by, but try flipping some rocks! If you can get crabs...you can get tog. Easy limits are coming in, and if you need to stock up make sure to stop by the shop for a big selection of tog jigs.

Crabbing- Crabbing has been holding strong, with reports all the way up to Milford coming back with positive information about the bite. If you know your stuff a bag of 20 keepers is not out of the question! Water temps are climbing, and as the summer goes on those crabs will get heavier, so get out there and get your share!

Freshwater- The bass bite is moving deeper, which is standard operating procedure as the heat of summer burns down. Aim for grass or rocky points. Grass tends to have more oxygenated water, and deeper rocks provide the cool water and protective structure that the green fellas like.