Don't forget to check us out on twitter for real time fishing reports! 

 

 

"It just can't get any better" reports Captain Greg Dubrule of the Black Hawk.  Diamond jigging and three waying with bucktails is working the best, but we've used bait too- everything is working well.  It's been mostly blues, with a few bass mixed in.  August is historically the slowest month for the bass, during both day and night. 

We had an unwanted guest this week at Pigeon Rip.  A small shark, about 100 pounds, has been biting the blues in half all last week.  We've also seen quite a few seals still around the area, with all the activity with the bluefish and the massive amounts of bait around, who knows what's swimming around with us.

Our 4-10 trips have been incredibly successful- last week, for our special trip with WCTY, everyone caught their fill early in the trip and released most fish back to the water.   We were also able to get loads of fish fillets to donate to the United Way- thanks to all our wonderful customers for your donations!  These trips will continue into September, so be sure to call for your reservations soon.  We look forward to more great fishing, and more bass as we move into September. 

We're also getting ready for porgy season, which will start just after Labor Day.  Check our website for a full September schedule, including our September Big Bass Night Trips. 

Capt. Greg reports another week of fantastic fishing- a good combination of bluefish in all sizes with a good mixture of striped bass mixed in too.  There are definite advantages to certain styles of fishing in certain areas.  Diamond jigging works extremely well in some places, while bait works better in others.  Our 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm trips continue to be outstanding, with bass up to 25 pounds this week.  Last Thursday, long time customer Bruce Witik joined us on the day trip, where he won the pool.  He stayed for the 4:00 trip, and he won the pool again!  Congrats Bruce!

We've also been catching a few fluke on the bait rigs- and they're obviously big to bite a 12 ounce drail and a whole herring.  We've caught fluke up to 12 pounds this week.

There's been activity at Bartlett's Reef lately- there are lots of birds at certain points of the tide.  There's been some top of the water action for some of the smaller boats who are fortunate enough to bump into it.  

We continue to sail 7 days a week for bass and blues.  We will start fishing for porgies just after Labor Day, and are looking forward to a great porgy season.  As always, check our website for details, videos, and some great new pictures.

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the bluefish have arrived!  They arrived early last week in numbers.  Hordes have invaded the Race, Plum Gut, and Wilderness.  Our customers this week caught their fill with a good mixture of bass too.  Our 4pm to 10 pm trips are filling up earlier every week, as people hear about the success of the trips.  Thursday's trip had the entire ebb tide to fish and the fishing was sensational, with all parties catching their fill and then releasing the rest.  A nice mix of both blues and bass up to 39 pounds.  Our full moon captain's choice trips saw a lot of bass action as well, with fish up to 41 pounds.  Because of the bluefish population increase, at times we were pestered by the bluefish even at night.  With the plentiful bluefish in the past week, we were happy to get a significant amount of fish for the United Way food bank.  Thanks to everyone who donated!

One other noteworthy item: We have been noticing so many small skiffs throwing back fish after they've been flopping around on deck and grabbed with towels.  It's so easy to use a de-hooker- you don't have to touch the fish, you don't even need to bring them onto the boat.  These de-hookers are inexpensive and available in tackle stores everywhere.  In this fishery, it's important to catch and release- but just as important to release properly. 

As usual, check our website for schedules and updates.  We start porgy fishing on September 7th.  The full September schedule, with night bass trips and all porgy dates, will be posted on the website soon.  We have just posted some great new videos- check them out, then come join us on a trip and you might just see yourself staring in one of our videos!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that huge amounts of bluefish have moved into the mouth of the Thames River and Bartlett's Reef area.  As long as there was a lot of current, the fish chewed on diamond jigs spectacularly.  All sizes of fish, from 2-3 pounds up to 10-12 pounds were caught.  The fish were up on top, and a lot of smaller boats were taking advantage with light spinning gear.  

Daytime fishing in the Race is still better on the Ebb tide.  We've been using a combination of bucktails, diamond jigs, and bait, and all three are working successfully.  The flood tide is still presenting its share of problems- at times it can be very good, in the Race, Pigeon Rip, and Plum Gut- with certain tide and weather conditions.  Other times, it falls flat.  If you're gonna go, go on the ebb.

Nothing short of spectacular fishing all this week on our night trips.  Tuesday night was the best, with everyone on board getting their share and then throwing them back.  Fish up to 40 pounds were caught.  Bucktails and eels are on the menu for the night trips.

As always, we'll continue to sail our 4pm to 10pm "After Work Special" trips on Thursdays and Fridays.  These trips have been very successful, so come join us.    Stay tuned for a special "After Work Special" to be announced this week- a very limited number of tickets will be available for this one time trip.  Check the website for details.

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports another good week of fishing. The weekday trips were decent all week, with some days being better than others, but all trips caught a good amount of fish.  The slowest day of the week was Friday during day trip.  These day trips had mostly bluefish, which were biting the bait in Plum Gut.  It was a good week for the United Way, which got plenty of fish thanks to customers who had more than their fill and donated the rest to the food bank.  Thursday's After Work Special trip was good, with several nice bass, in addition to quite a few blues.  Friday's After Work Special trip, though, was incredible.  It was amazing to see how the fishing could be so mediocre during the day and so red-hot that afternoon.  We had a full trip of 30 people, and caught just under 60 bass! That's not even taking into account the blues and the bass we threw back!  It was an incredible trip- the fishing was absolutely as good as it gets.  The bass were biting on bucktails.  Saturday morning, with thick fog, cloudy skies, and the constant threat of rain was fantastic- nearly everyone on board caught their limit.  Sunday morning wasn't nearly as good due to the bright sunshine and flat calm seas- although the fish were there, there were just too many boats out there to be successful.  The After Work Special trips have been selling out, so it's a good idea to call for reservations. Also, the Black Hawk would like to remind everyone that we have our special

fireworks cruise next Saturday night- it's our "Christmas in July" trip- the fireworks cruise is FREE when you bring a new and unwrapped toy as part of our Black Hawk & the Community program.  Check the website, or  call the office and talk to Heather for more info.

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk says that while the fishing started slow this week, by the end of the week it was fantastic.  Monday and Tuesday were slow, but by mid-week, the blues were here and the fishing was great.  We had a great private charter on Wednesday afternoon, with everyone in the group catching plenty of blues and numerous nice bass.  Thursday and Friday were good during both the day trips and our "After Work Special" 4pm-10pm trips.  Lots of bluefish, plus a bunch of nice bass as well.  Special congrats to Ellie Funk, from Ashley Falls, MA, who was the big pool winner on Thursday, July 1st.

There are so many baitfish in the sound right- and bait is far surpassing diamond jigs every day.  We've still been using bucktails for the bass, but for everything else, bait is the way to go.  On Saturday, we even caught a handful of fluke, up to 6 1/2 pounds, on bait!

Saturday and Sunday were better than expected, given it was the holiday weekend with beautiful sunshine and flat calm seas.  Both trips Saturday were successful, as was the July 4th Sunday morning trip.  As of this report, the boat is out for the Sunday afternoon trip, with several fish already on board.

We will continue to sail our After Work Special trips from 4pm to 10pm on Thursdays and Fridays- these trips have been very popular, so reservations are strongly suggested.  Check the website for more details, pictures, and videos.

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the night bass fishing has been good.  The best of the bass are on particular tides, and even particular segments of the tides.  The best last week was Wednesday night, when just about everyone on board caught their limit.  Bluefishing has been a disappointment, there's simply no other way to put it.  They should be here in numbers by now, and yet there's only a mere scattering of fish. Again, like the bass, the fishing has been better on particular tides and parts of the tides than others.  If you come and you get one of the tides when they're not biting, the catching results are unfavorable.  We're all concerned and hoping that after this moon and some northeast and easterly winds the conditions will improve.  July's night bass schedule has just been posted, be sure to check the website for dates and times.

Heather from the office of the Black Hawk reports another steady week of bass fishing.  "You had to pay attention to the bottom, and be a good fisherman to cash in on the bass this week" says Capt. Greg.  Thursday evening's trip was a highlight, with the fishing about as good as it gets, with many customers getting more than their limit and releasing fish.  Friday was not as good as Thursday, but was still darn good weekend.  Unfortunately, as the Father's Day weekend arrived with flat calm seas and bright sunshine, it made for tougher conditions.  The fish would bite at particular stages of the tide, and then not for very long.  Bucktails worked the best this week.  We're looking forward to a full week of night fishing this week. 

Capt Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the bass fishing remains very good.  As usual, certain tides provide better fishing than others.  Diamond jigs are still the way to go.  We're also starting to see more and more bluefish come into the area.  The night bass fishing reports have been excellent, with reports of fish up into the 50s, so we can't wait for our trips this week!  Look for next week's report to see how it went.  The Black Hawk begins our 7 days a week sailing schedule on Saturday, June 12th.  We're really looking forward to our "After Work Special", which will run Thursdays and Fridays from 4pm to 10pm.  Should be a great time to get some good fish.  

 The Black Hawk had a great week of fishing! Several private charters during the week went very well, with most trips catching their limit of bass. Simply put, there has been excellent fishing during the day trips.  Night trips started this week, with our first night trip of the season being on Wednesday night.  What was supposed to be "possible scattered thunderstorms" turned into a squall, with 45 mph winds, thunder, lighting, and pouring rain.  The weather certainly didn't cooperate and hampered the fishing, but we still managed to get a good number of bass on board, including some up to 38 pounds.  The weekend had excellent fishing.  Saturday morning was spectacular, with loads of bass.  We're also noticing more and more blues around, and some bigger ones too.  The afternoon trip was a bit slower, but still had a good number of fish.  As of this report, the Black Hawk left the dock at 6:00 am Sunday morning and is hoping for a day like Saturday.  The Black Hawk will begin sailing on Fridays starting this Friday, June 4, with our full 7 days a week schedule starting on June 11.  June Night trips are still available as well- Visit the website for details.  

Greg from the Black Hawk reports that this week was a week of overall some of the best bass fishing we've ever seen.  We had charters during the week- Joe Caise from Norwich brought his crew with him, and everybody caught their limit and we were throwing them back.  On Thursday, the Tony Murphy party of Berlin had fantastic fishing.  Over the weekend, the morning trips were not as good as the afternoon trips.  Saturday afternoon's trip was nothing short of spectacular- a boat full of people and a boat full of bass.  Diamond jigs and three waying are still the best way to catch ‘em.  With these kind of results during the daytime hours, we're really looking forward to our night trips, which start this week.   A few spaces are still available; call (860-448-3662) for details and more info. 

A great weekend of fishing!  Saturday morning they headed out to the Greenport area, and found a load of blues; everyone caught their fill.  Saturday afternoon was about as poor as the morning was excellent.  Flat calm conditions, bright sunshine, and hundreds of boats kept the fish down- (it was opening day of fluke season in NY) and the fishing was tough.  Diamond jigs were working the best.  Sunday, we headed to The Race both tides.  The morning trip found some nice big bass- and a special treat when Chris Relyea of Waterbury caught his first saltwater fish- and it was a beautiful 32" striper!  The afternoon was even better fishing on the eb tide with a lot of people getting their limit.  Newlywed Jessica Brown of West Haven was on the afternoon trip, and out-fished her new husband, catching two big keepers before helping her husband catch his first one.  Multiple fish up to 37" were caught.  A few bluefish were mixed in with the bass as well.  Diamond jigging and artificial lures work the best.