Kingfisher Fishing Charter CT

 This past week witnessed a transition in the Striper migration as our July stock of summer stripers have begun there arrival. During this time the Stripers that have been occupying The Race and Plum Gut began to thin out as they continued north and large numbers of Hudson river fish began arriving. This was evident as we encountered big numbers of fish around Six Mile reef in the Clinton/Westbrook area. Many of the fish we caught had the tell-tail red blotches from being in the river. They were chasing schools of bunker that were present, as the fish finder indicated, as well as bunker being chased on the surface boat side. The Bluefish still have not presented themselves, as we have only caught a few large ones so far this year! The Seabass bite continues to be poor compared to years past, even with the opening of New York waters. Fluke are still not worth targeting, even though we landed a few while Seabass fishing. The Connecticut river has produced more fish this past week, bu...

 Striped Bass fishing has remained very consistent in The Race and Plum Gut. There has been an large influx of Slot sized Bass and a some large Bluefish (Race) this past week. We have been targeting the Stripers with 3-wayed live eels and soft plastics. The Bunker have started to show in the CT river, but have been hit or miss with cast netting them. We did see pods of bunker in the sound off of Hatchetts Reef while Fluke fishing yesterday. The fluke fishing has been best off of Isabella beach at Fishers Island this past week with fish up to 5lbs, slow between Black Point and Hatchetts. Striper fishing in the CT river has shown some improvement as the water begins to clear up. We have not been Black Seabass fishing the past 10 days as the reports coming from Clinton/Westbrook have not improved greatly. We will wait until next week when the NY side opens to make the run that way. With the arrival of warmer humid weather the foggy season has begun! As usual, a disturbing number of sm...

 This past week and weekend continued to produce consistent Striped Bass fishing with plenty of slot (28-31") sized fish, as well as unders, and overs being caught in The Race and Plum Gut. The numbers of larger size Stripers have decreased a bit, but an increase of smaller school fish have replaced them. The Kingfisher Fishing trips have yet to encounter any Bluefish as of this report. The Black Seabass fishing off of Clinton/Westbrook (only CT waters) is showing some signs of life finally with mostly smaller fish, some keepers (16") and Scup mixed in. This year has been the slowest start for the seabass bite that I have experienced. It was also the coldest Winter/Spring in almost 10 years, I think there is a correlation. I'm hoping things kick into high gear soon! The CT river is starting to recede a bit and the first signs of bunker around the mouth occurred as elevated Osprey activity indicated. Visit  charterfishingconnecticut.com  for previous reports and details on...

 This past week/weekend the Striped Bass fishing went into high gear with big numbers of Stripers in various class sizes (24-43") pushing into Plum Gut and The Race. Three-waying bucktails, soft plastics, and live eels all produced very well. We experienced numerous drifts with multiple fish on every pass throughout the tide cycle. Both areas were loaded with bait that should hopefully hold the fish for a little while before they continue on the migration. Word has it that a large body of fish from the west is also not far behind! Bluefish have been absent from the scene as of this writing, but they are probably going to start showing soon. On the other hand, the Black Seabass and Porgy bite has not been so good on the spawning grounds off of the Clinton/Westbrook area. We took a trip on Memorial day (new moon tide) that saw everyone wondering were the fish were?? Last year at the same time the area was loaded with hungry keeper sized fish. The cold winter/spring has definitely pu...

   Sunday 5/11/25 I took a ride to The Gut and The Race with my good friend Pete from our home port in the Connecticut River in Old Saybrook, CT to check on the state of the fishery in Eastern LIS. The CT river was a mess with the muddy flood water full of debris including large tree limbs, logs, branches and even a propane tank that could cause big damage to boats and props. Our first stop was Plum Gut (between Orient Point N.Y. and Plum Island) during the beginning of the flood tide. The water temp on our way across the sound was around 55 degrees. We arrived as the tide was just getting moving with only a few birds scouting the area. The plan was to use artificials only (3 wayed plastics and diamond jigs). We made 5-6 drifts in the Gut and decided to head over to the Race due to lack of life. Arriving in the Middle Race area we were greeted by a good amount of birds (mostly Terns) and a sense that it was game on! The birds we feeding on undetermined very small bait that als...

Got out before the wind started for a quick boat shakedown/Tautog trip for ourselves. Water temp was a chilly 47.6 in the Old Saybrook area of Long Island Sound. The Blackfish bite was a pick with a couple keepers and a few shorts in 15-17ft of water during the 3 hours of effort. Last year during the same time period the Tog bite was on fire compared to this year in the same location, with water temp at 50.6. There is no question that the colder water temperatures this Spring have pushed things back a week or so. Striped Bass activity in the Connecticut river is behind schedule as well due to the colder water. I will be targeting the Race, Plum Gut, and the CT river starting the 2nd week of May. Stay tuned and tight lines. Visit  www.charterfishingconnecticut.com  and  Kingfisher Charters Facebook   for trip details and latest/previous reports.