Time to keep a watchful eye on Hurricane Earl

Hurricane Earl is the No. 1 topic of conversation for area fishermen and boaters. Everyone is urged to keep a close watch on the tract of the storm, for a 50- to 100-mile shift to the west from its centerline projection could spell the difference between just rain and windy conditions to an escalating problem.

Matt Hillyer at Hillyer's Tackle has been through many approaching hurricanes in his decades of selling fishing tackle in Waterford. He said IF the storm keeps on the main track of its projection, it will disrupt fishing and boating through Friday and Saturday. But there is a chance of salvaging Sunday and Monday from the long weekend.

If it becomes necessary to pull boats if the storm tracks more to the west, Matt remembers the fall of 1985 when people pulled their boats because of a storm, some not returning, missing what was a good fall season.

On the fishing front we have a lot of blues, very normal for this time, and steady bass catches for those drifting eels at night when blues thin down. You might also catch a blue on a plug from Harkness or in a small boat at Millstone. Porgies are biting well around bell buoy 6 at the entrance to Niantic Bay, Bartletts Spindle or other local rockpiles. You don't have to go far to catch large porgies. Black fishing is temporarily closed, reopening Oct. 1 with a four-fish limit and a 14-inch minimum.

Jeff at AW Marina reported locals seeing very few false albacore to date in local waters. He took his 17-foot boat down to Misquamicut on Tuesday to limit out on sea bass. Two of his friends went to Block on Sunday to catch and release a 12-pound fluke because the season is closed back in state waters so you couldn't legally return to the dock with one. Shore anglers have their best chance to catch a bluefish from Fort Trumbull pier in the evening into sunset.

Joe at The Fish Connection said shore anglers are catching blues from time to time at Norwich Harbor docks by snagging a bunker then letting it swim around until a bluefish grabs it. You might also catch a blue at the various shore access points down river including Erickson Park.

Out in the boats people are seeing very low numbers of bonito on the surface - some days not seeing any - and when they do see some, they are very, very difficult to fool. Bass fishing is tough during the day, your best bet may be trolling some on the tube and worm on the south side of Fishers. Six locals took a trip to Block on Tuesday, landing roughly 100 sea bass but only 20 of them were big enough to keep.

I spoke with Al Golinski of Misquamicut on his cell on Wednesday while he was fishing along the rocks at Block Island. Using small bunker he netted in the Pawcatuck River, he had caught two very large blues and two bass of 15 and 18 pounds by 10 a.m. Last Saturday, he and his wife had a good fluke trip to Block, that fishing still legal in Rhode Island waters, returning to a Rhode Island port.

I'm still selling a lot of clams to porgy fishermen was the report from Red at Bob's Tackle in Uncasville. Some of his customers are also using them to catch sea bass on some of the rocks in the Sound and running down to the rockpiles off Misquamicut. Blues are prowling the lower part of the Thames, sometimes within range of people on the local pier.

Over at King Cove, Don called the striper fishing on the Watch Hill Reefs very iffy. Some days they catch a fish or two but it doesn't seem to build to anything, said Don. The Outer Reef is your best bet right now; Sugar, Catumb and Wicopesset do not seem to be holding much at all.

The coves along Route 1 have mix of small jack crevalles, small mullet, needlefish and small bunker but not all of each in each cove. Blues continue to prowl after the bait around Stonington Harbor, getting hooked at times, farther out at others. Sea bassing is good at Block and Misquamicut but of late some of the reports from the latter spot told of more small fish than keepers.

Roger at J&B said you might be able to catch a bass or two during the day by trolling wire at Race Rock or the Sluiceway, maybe getting away a bit from all the blues on the ebb tide in the Middle Race. They are seeing small numbers of bonito on some days but getting them to bite is another matter. Big porgies are on all the rocky humps. Plus they had one report of some giant tuna hooked in the Mud Hole off Block Island early in the week. If anyone is thinking about fishing the canyons over the holiday, caution is advised with Earl approaching from somewhere off North Carolina.

Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist.