Category: REPORTS

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the porgy and sea bass fishing most of this week was still recovering from the effects of the hurricanes, with Saturday’s trip nothing short of excellent.  Limits of 45 jumbo scup with a good mix of sea bass rewarded most anglers on the trip. With the recent sea bass closure in both federal and Rhode Island waters, it’s put a little bit of a cramp on where and when we can fish for them. We keep jumping from state lines to state lines to keep it all legal. Can’t wait for it to reopen and make life a little easier for everyone. (Opens Oct. 22nd thru Dec. 31st)

The race is loaded with blues! If you’re looking for “non-stop, wear your muscles out” action, well, now’s the time! It’s so good that Capt. Matt, on Sunday’s blue fish trip, spent the slack pounding the porgies. We had a full boat load of patrons and they all loved the opportunity to get a different fishery and take home a nice big bag of porgy fillets besides.

Heather from the office reports that our schedule remains the same, fishing every day at 7:00 am.  Sundays and 

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the porgy and sea bass fishing most of this past week was still recovering from the effects of the hurricanes, with Saturday’s trip nothing short of excellent. Limits of 45 jumbo scup with a good mix of sea bass rewarded most anglers on the trip. With the recent sea bass closure in both federal and Rhode Island waters, it’s put a little bit of a cramp on where and when we can fish for them. We keep jumping from state lines to state lines to keep it all legal. Can’t wait for it to reopen and make life a little easier for everyone. (Opens Oct. 22nd thru Dec. 31st)

The race is loaded with blues! If you’re looking for “non-stop, wear your muscles out” action, well, now’s the time! It’s so good that Capt. Matt on Sunday’s blue fish trip spent the slack pounding the porgies. We had a full boat load of patrons and they all loved the opportunity to get a different fishery and take home a nice big bag of porgy fillets besides. Monday was more of the same, we started off with porgies and sea bass during the slack tide and everyone picked away at some real nice-sized fish. Once the tide started to run, we switched to blue fish and loaded up on some big, October blues. Now is the time for some great fall fishing!

We will continue to fish daily, leaving at 7:00 am. Sundays and Mondays are for blues and bass, Tuesday through Saturday is bottom fishing. No trips on October 10, October 11, and October 18. As always, stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for updated information. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Don’t forget, the very best is yet to come! We move BlackHawk over to Stonington Borough in November and will fish the remainder of the year and into January from there. It’s a short ride from Block Island and sea bass, cod & porgies will please all anglers. These trips will be limited to 35 passengers, by reservation only.

“I can’t remember when we lost 4 days in a row due to weather” reported Heather from the Bkack Hawk office. Blustery gale force winds from hurricane Jose keep the boat at the dock Tuesday through Friday. When they finally got out for Saturday’s trip, they were forced to fish locally instead of the usual Montauk – Block Island run. Capt. Matt was at the helm and fished the Race Rock and Fisher’s Island areas with decent results, despite the stiff northeast winds. Customers had to pick through the shorts, which were ferocious, but everyone had a nice cooler of sea bass with a lot of porgies. By afternoon, the winds dropped out and they were able to go to the race proper and again, had a really decent shot of keeper fish at the slack to end the trip. We pulled one out the hat ….. Black Hawk style!!

The bluefish are still chewing heavily. Last Monday’s diamond jigging trip before the blow, provided all the action you could want. As a bonus, during the slack, we picked away on the jumbo sea bass, with most everybody getting a nice pile of fillets to go home with. As of this writing, Sunday’s trip is in progress with a beautiful, calm, sunshine filled day. Once again, decent diamond jigging on the blues, with a few nice keeper striped bass mixed in. The trip is only a few hours old, so there’s plenty more hours of action yet to come!! Veterinarian Jim from the Catskills and Killer Kay from Ashford are aboard the Black Hawk today, so the fish will suffer heavy casualties at their hands!!

We don’t know what hurricane Maria has in mind for us this coming week, but stay tuned to our website and FaceBook for up to minute reports daily.

From the office, we’d like to thank everyone for their generous donations of underwear for our underwear drive for the victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. We shipped a huge load of undies down there this week, and we know they’ll be greatly appreciated by those who have lost so much. Additionally, this week, we’ll be dropping off several loads of donations at the homeless shelter and food bank, thanks to the incredible generosity of our customers. We have the best customers around!

We will continue to fish daily, leaving at 7:00 am. Sundays and Mondays are for blues and bass, Tuesday through Saturday is bottom fishing. As always, stay tuned to our website and Facebook page for updated information, especially as Hurricane Maria makes her way up the coast. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports a terrific week of fishing started off with Monday’s annual afternoon Vietnam Veterans trip. Thanks to our generous sponsors: Peter Pan Bus Lines, N.E Saltwater Fishing Club, House Brothers Plumbing, Atlantic Outboard Inc, Thurston Food, Construction Services Unlimited, Dover Painting Co, Evans Automotive Repair, Wetmore’s Marina, PennyWise Oil Company, Peter Cummins, Mike’s Auto Service, the Glastonbury Elks 2202, Connecticut Plumbing & Heating, & Powers Ink. The 45 veterans had a great afternoon of weather, fishing and camaraderie. The fish were all donated to a soup kitchen in Middletown, CT. Check it all out on our Facebook page.

“I think we set the new North American record for bluefish on Thursday. We diamond jigged the heck out of ’em.” We had our monthly charter from upstate New York. One group took the all day trip and the 2nd group took the 1/2 day afternoon trip. They’re a community group, they love bluefish and they eat every one of them! They get them all bled and filleted, package and ice them properly to ensure great quality when they get them home. These guys are killers, both the men and women alike. You couldn’t ask for better weather or any better fishing …. it was Red Hot!! During the slack we baited up a half a hundred Jumbo Sea Bass to give em a little variety. Thanks folks!

On the bottom fishing scene, it was another banner week at Block Island. Easy limits on the sea bass with jumbo porgies mixed in, with the regular sharp anglers easily getting their 45 fish limit. Weekly customer Henry from Mount Snow, Vermont, stayed for both Friday and Saturday trips, easily filling everything up. In addition, a lot of cod fish mixed in. On Friday’s trip alone, we had over 25 nice cod up to 20lbs. Great sign for the near future.

Don’t forget, the very best is yet to come! We move BlackHawk over to Stonington Borough in November and will fish the remainder of the year and into January from there. It’s a short ride from Block Island and sea bass, cod & porgies will please all anglers. These trips will be limited to 35 passengers, by reservation only.

Heather from the office reports that we continue to fish daily at 7:00 am. Sundays and Mondays are for blues and stripers, Tuesday through Saturday is bottom fishing. This schedule will continue through Columbus Day.

Stay tuned to our website, and follow us on Facebook for up to the minute reports, pics and live videos. We didn’t get to be Connecticut’s number 1 party boat three years in a row by dragging our feet. Ask your friends and neighbors who they fish with! “We Catch Em…..Ask Around!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that on Monday, Labor Day we went bluefishing and it was good. Unfortunately, we had to skip Tuesday because of high winds and rough seas. Wednesday we went back to the bottom fishing and it was very, very good fishing. Thursday was probably the best of the week, and we had some nice weather for it. We started off drifting on the seabass, and everybody got their limit. It was excellent fishing. We left there and went over to the porgy grounds, and anchored up on a pile of poriges, and it was just non-stop, 2 at a time action, with most people, if not getting their 45 fish limit, coming very close. Friday, Matt ran the boat, and it wasn’t as good- it was still very good but not as good as Thursday. Capt. Greg ran the boat on Saturday, it was good, but Thursday remained the highlight of the week.

Bluefishing has been nothing short of excellent on all the afternoon trips. Diamond jigging as many fish as you want, hot action through the whole tide. Unfortunately, no striped bass to report. The striped bass are pretty non-existent in the area at the moment.

There’s still a lot of bait around, and there are bluefish everwhere- there are even bluefish in the Niantic River at the dock! They’re shagging bait up on the beach, exploding in the morning, white water all over the place, just a preview of things to come!

Heather from the office wants to thank everyone for your support of our Underwear Drive so far. We’re getting ready to send our shipment down to Texas to help those impacted by Hurricane Harvey. Your support is incredible, thank you so much! Don’t forget, grab some undies wand bring them down to the boat for your next trip to help those in need!

We continue to fish daily, leaving at 7:00 am. Sundays and Mondays are for bass & blues, Tuesday through Saturday for porgies and seabass. Don’t forget, there is no trip on Thursday, September 14, and our trip for Saturday, September 16 is by reservation only. All other trips have tickets available online or at the dock. As usual, check our website and Facebook page for updates, reports, photos and more! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

“The rods are bending on the BlackHawk as jumbo sea bass, porgies, and a few fluke come over the rails”, reports Heather from the office. The entire week showed excellent catches. On Saturday of the Labor Day weekend, it was nothing short of phenomenal. The weather was perfect, flat calm, the boat was loaded with eager anglers and the fish cooperated. We had a scattering of anglers from far off areas; Philly, south Jersey, even a couple from the state of Washington. They all went back with a load of fish and stories to tell. Don’t forget, as of September 1st, the porgy party boat limit went up from 30 fish to 45 fish per angler. So, now’s the time to come and fill your freezers.

On the bluefish scene, diamond jigging is still red-hot on some tides and just good on others. Thursday, 4 pm After-Work Special was decent, but Friday’s was excellent. Sunday’s morning trip was hampered by gale force winds but Capt. Matt found protection at Plum Gut. The fishing wasn’t red hot, but under the conditions, he did the best he could.

From the office, Heather reports that we continue to fish every day at 7am- Sundays and Mondays are for blues and bass, Tuesday through Saturday is bottom fishing. We have one After Work Special coming up, this Friday evening, leaving at 4pm. There are only a few spots left, so be sure to grab one soon! As always, check our website for details and schedule updates.

We’ve received many calls from local residents who are aware of our involvement in the local community. They know we are always willing to help out in times of need, and asked what we are doing to help those in Texas who are dealing with such horrible devastation from Hurricane Harvey. So Heather reached out to some friends in the area and found out that something the residents need the most- underwear. So, we will be holding an underwear drive to send some clean undies down to Texas. Bring a package of underwear to the boat on your next trip- our goal is to get 1,000 packages of underwear in the next week or so and get them down to Texas as soon as we can. Thanks in advance for all of your support!

We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

“Bottom fishing still remains nothing short of excellent,” reports Heather from the BlackHawk office.

Capt. Greg and Capt. Matt has both been concentrating on fishing for the jumbo seabass, and most patrons are having no problem quickly getting their 8 fish limit. These are Jumbo’s, not fish just skimping by the 15-inch size limit. We then switch over to the porgy grounds and go pound the scup. Don’t forget, September 1st, the porgy limit goes from 30 to 45 fish per man. Get ready folks….the best of the fishing is yet to come. Just a reminder, we move the boat over to the picturesque Stonington Village for the winter months starting in November. Block Island is a short ride away and we add some nice codfish to the sea bass and porgy mix. We’re already seeing a few codfish, although mostly shorts, where we’re sea bassing, which is a good sign of things to come.

FYI…. Capt. Matt reports on Friday, a big load of bluefins were slashing all around the BlackHawk on the sea bass grounds. Customers got a bird’s eye view of tuna fish. Matt and the deck hands got a little frustrated tossing diamond jigs to ’em in an attempt to hook up. Effort rating…excellent, Results…not so good. They were only there on the one tide. Friends in other boats went back later to try for them, but they were gone.

Diamond jigging on the bluefish remains very good at times and slow at others. Seems you only get about 2 hours of really decent fishing each tide and then that’s it; done. When they’re biting, you better darn well catch ’em- don’t think it’s gonna last the whole tide. A lot of jumbo sea bass still climbing on the jigs even during the peak times when the blues are really chewing. Those are some brave Sea Bass!

Heather from the office reports that our current fishing schedule now has daily trips leaving at 7am, heading out for bass and blues on Sundays and Mondays and bottom fishing Tuesday through Saturday (except September 14, no open trip that day). Tickets can be purchased online in advance from our website, so check it out and join us soon. As always, check our Facebook page for updated reports, photos and more!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that we had a week of good weather and good fishing. The porgy fishing was very, very good with easy limits of jumbo scup. There are some seabass mixed in with the scup, but most of the time we actually leave that particular scup area and go to another area where it’s mostly seabass and we limited out on most days on those too. Nice fish, over 5 pounds is common. A few fluke involved too. There’s still a lot of bait, a lot of sand eels, a lot of butterfish- the seabass are coming up spewing up butterfish.

As far as the bluefishing, that’s hot and heavy right now in the Race. Both tides, the diamond jigging is very, very good. A lot of bass mixed in with them, and a lot of seabass at times. Some of the customers are requesting some sea clams for bait during the slack when the tide slows down, and they’re clobbering the seabass. Good, steady fishing.

Heather from the office reports that our Cruisin’ for a Cause trip, a special sunset cruise for 15 year old Marik, was a huge success. We’d like to thank Illiano’s Pizza of Niantic for donating pizzas for the trip, and some special families for donating some delicious desserts. Marik is currently battling cancer for the third time, and we’re happy to help his family however we can. Still thinking about our Black Hawk and the Community program, we were happy to drop off a car load of school supplies to Safe Futures (formally the Women’s Center) where they will be distributed to children who are living in their safe houses and shelters, so they will be prepared to start school like their classmates. Thanks for all of your support!

Our schedule remains the same through August- Monday through Friday, 1 trip daily for porgies and seabass, and Saturdays and Sundays, 2 trips daily for bass and blues. This will change in September, when we change to one trip each day, leaving at 7am. Sundays and Mondays will be for bass and blues, and Tuesday through Saturday we’ll head out for porgies and seabass. As always, check out our website and follow our Facebook page for up to date reports and schedules. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

“The Montauk-Block Island areas are just teeming with bait, you name it, it’s here. Sand eels, bunker, butterfish, mackerel, etc. The fish have everything they need to stick around and gorge themselves,” reports Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk. Scup, sea bass, and fluke fishing remains excellent. Regulars have no problem getting their limits and filling their coolers. You want to show your kids, or your grandkids, some really hot non-stop action? Well, now is the time to come, before school starts. Don’t have kids? Bring a neighborhood kid and be a hero!

Bait can be seen shimmering on the surface all over and a few threshers were seen busting into them and causing havoc. Capt. Matt took a day off from his Black Hawk duties on Wednesday and went sharking and clobbered a 300 pound thresher from his center console. Good going Matt!

The bluefish have finally arrived in numbers in the Race areas and are providing great fishing on both tides. The half day trips over the weekend were non-stop diamond jigging action with a good mix of striped bass. Long time customer Henry from Vermont, who fishes every week, clobbered the scup Friday with seabass too, then went diamond jigging for blues, bass and seabass for the next three trips. He’s the local northern fisherman, giving away a lot of his fillets to relatives, friends and neighbors. Great job Henry!

Heather from the Black Hawk office reports that we continue to fish every day through August- Monday through Friday we head out at 7am, and Saturdays and Sundays we have two trips, leaving at 6am and 1pm. In September our schedule will change for the bonus porgy season. We have a very special trip heading out on Saturday, August 19, at 7pm. This sunset cruise is a fundraiser for 15 year old Marik from Ledyard, who is fighting cancer for the third time. Join us for this special trip and help raise some money for Marik and his family has he continues his courageous battle. As always, check our website for a full schedule and updated information. Follow our Facebook page for daily fishing reports, photographs, and special trip updates!

“Diamond jigging on these bluefish can drive you bananas this year,” reports Capt. Matt of the Black Hawk. One tide it’s red hot with customers loading up, non-stop action, with quite a few bass mixed in and then the next tide it’s almost non-existent. Fortunately, when they refuse to bite, the action on the sea bass makes the trip. A good example: On the Saturday morning trip, it was all you wanted on the blues, with some bass mixed in. On Saturday afternoon, lock-jaw, but switching over to the bottom filled coolers with limits of jumbo sea bass. How do you figure??

The bottom fishing still remains excellent in the Montauk area. Customers are having no problem with limits on both jumbo sea bass, most pushing the 5 lb plus range and mean-monster porgies. A few incidental fluke round out the daily catches. Been a lot of shark activity lately, mixed in on the sea bass grounds. Capt. Greg saw a small mako; 60-80 lbs chasing bait, and Capt. Matt had a thresher thrashing around on the surface. A lot of bait around, including a large quantity of mackerel. We’re even caught quite a few on bare hooks coming up. Speaking of sharks, a sincere congratulation goes out to my long time friend Capt. Chuck of the charter boat Joy-Sea of Montauk. The caught 7- that’s right- 7 Threshers in the Mako-Mania Tournament at Montauk with the one they kept weighing a whopping 581 lbs. Big Money Fish! Contrats Chuckie!!

Heather from the office reports that Saturday evening turned into a beautiful night for our annual sunset cruise fundraiser for the WARM Center in Westerly. A full boat of customers, delicious food, beautiful sunset- we couldn’t have asked for a better night. We’re planning another fundraiser for August 19, this one for a very special young man from Ledyard. Marik is 15 and is fighting cancer for the 3rd time. Join us for a beautiful sunset cruise and help raise funds for Marik and his family. For more information, please see our website and Facebook page. We hope you can join us for a great cause!

We continue to fish daily. Monday through Friday it’s one trip daily at 7am for bottom fishing, Saturdays and Sundays have our two half-day trips for bass and blues. This schedule will continue through August. We have a few dates open at the end of August for private charters, so contact Heather soon to get your group on board. As always, visit our website or check our Facebook page for updates and more info. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the big news this past week was the annual Channel 3 Kid’s Camp Fishing Trip. Over forty kids plus chaperones experienced a great afternoon of bottom fishing. Most of these youngsters have never been on a boat before, so to catch a pile of sea bass and porgies was a real treat. Being only a four-hour trip, we had to stay local, but plenty of fish were caught. A simple dogfish, caught at the end of the trip, was the hit of the day. You’d think it was a 17-foot man-eater with the screaming and scampering around the deck with everyone taking photos. We all take for granted this wonderful shoreline area we are so fortunate to grow up in and the rewarding fishing occupation we have. It takes a few laughing kids to put everything into perspective. Thank you, Channel 3, for this opportunity.

Seabass and porgy fishing still remains excellent. We had a week of great weather and the Montauk area is still the hot place to be. We would like to point out that the quality and sizes of the fish cannot be compared to anywhere else. Porgies are monsters; 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. are the norm for every customer’s coolers. The sea bass pushes the 5 lb mark plus and above. Both these species are grown adults; they get up on the wrong side of the bed every day with an attitude, are mean and hungry. Simply put…..it’s great fishing!! Bring your cooler, with a load of ice and we’ll help you fill it.

On the bluefish and bass scene, our 4 pm to 10 pm After Work Specials has seen great action. Diamond jigging is very good on the blues with a good mix of keeper bass too. Nothing huge like the night trips, but decent fish to 24 lbs. These trips are by reservation only and limited to only 28 customers, so be sure to call and reserve your spot.

On Saturday of this past weekend, we had a stiff northeast gale to contend with and fish production was definitely affected. You had to work for ’em; a few jumbo sea bass were climbing on the jigs besides. As of this writing, Sunday morning, the winds dropped out and Captain Matt reports the blues are chewing on the jigs. For daily reports, pictures, and live videos, stay tuned to our Facebook page, Twitter, and our website.

Heather from the office reports that we continue to sail 7 days a week, Monday through Friday at 7am, and Saturdays and Sundays at 6am and 1pm. We have currently booking for August charter dates, and they’re filling fast, so be sure to contact our office to get your date reserved. As always, check our website, follow us on Facebook, or give the office a call for up to date info on trips, fishing reports, and more. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Heather from the Black Hawk office reports diamond jigging for bluefish has certainly seen its ups and downs this week. Most mid-week afternoon trips have been very good with all you wanted and a good mix of striped bass. Come the weekend, it was a different story. Tides were screaming in the Race and fish were at a premium. They almost seem to know when the weekends are coming. We’re all hoping for more consistent fishing when the tides slow down this week.

Seabass and porgies on the other hand remain nothing short of excellent. Great weather all week, full coolers of great eating fish and arm weary anglers. The only time they slowed down was during the peak of the hard running tides and that only lasted for a very short time period. In addition, a few fluke were also added to the mix. We had only one night bass trip this week and fish were a lot smaller in size then what we’ve been consistently catching the last four weeks. The pool fish was 25 lbs, still worth a hefty $360 in the pool!! More night trips to come, so check out our website for a schedule.

We continue to sail 7 days a week, Monday through Friday at 7am, and Saturdays and Sundays at 6am and 1pm.  Don’t forget, this Tuesday, July 25th we have a special morning half day trip so we can be in for the Channel 3 Kids Camp Fishing Tournament in the afternoon.  We’re looking forward to a great day fishing with the kids!  We have currently booking for August charter dates, and they’re filling fast, so be sure to contact our office to get your date reserved.  As always, check our website, follow us on Facebook, or give the office a call for up to date info on trips, fishing reports, and more.  We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports that the porgy fishing has been excellent. Full coolers of jumbo porgies and we’ve also seen more of an influx of seabass this week, with most people easily getting their limits. It’s just a real good combination of excellent porgy fishing, excellent seabass fishing, and the occasional fluke in there, just to break it up a little bit. On the weekends, even though they’re half day trips, we’ve been going over to Montauk for some trips. This past Saturday, we had the Milford Striped Bass Fishing Club and they just clobbered the porgies and seabass. It was excellent fishing, couldn’t get any better.

On the bluefishing, well, it’s really a little frustrating this year. We should have excellent bluefishing by now, and we do, on some days. Some days you can diamond jig up as many as you like, with a nice mix of striped bass thrown in there, and then you go there the next day and struggle to catch a half a hundred. I don’t know what the deal is, there just doesn’t seem to be a lot of bluefish around. On our 4-10 After Work Special trips, sometimes it’s very, very good and other times it’s just a pick.

Our night bass fishing remains excellent. Wednesday night’s trip was nothing short of phenomenal, with all big fish. We had our full boat limit and released many fish over 40 pounds, just superb fishing. I don’t know how long it’s going to last but we’re doing a lot of them and people are just tickled pink about it.

On Saturday evening, we had our annual “Christmas in July” trip as part of Celebrate East Lyme Day. We had a full boat of people join us for this free trip, each bringing a toy and a book for our collection. Thanks to everyone, we collected loads of toys and books to be distributed to local children during the holidays.

On Sunday, we were part of East Lyme’s Farm Day, and welcomed hundreds of visitors to the dock to learn about Long Island Sound, preservation and fishing. Kids got to try fishing, see some crabs and lobsters, and learn about our local waters. It was a great day and we’re already looking forward to next year!

Heather from the office reports that we’re fishing every day. Monday through Friday it’s one trip at 7am, Saturdays and Sundays 2 trips at 6:00 am and 1:00 pm. On Tuesday, July 25th we’ll have one special morning trip at 6:00 am as we’ll be heading out in the afternoon for the Channel 3 Kids Camp fishing tournament. We’re looking forward to again hosting the campers from Kids Camp! We have our After Work Specials on Thursdays and Fridays. Our July private charter calendar is full, but we still have a few dates open for August, so be sure to contact us soon if you want to grab a date for your group. As always, check the website and Facebook for details and updates. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Capt. Greg Dubrule of the Black Hawk reports another great week of beautiful weather and excellent fishing. Boat limits of jumbo scup with seabass and a few fluke mixed in, sending customers home with full coolers.

The best of the week for our night striped bass fishing trips was Tuesday with a full boat limit and also releasing many more. These trips are limited and by reservation only.

Thursday and Friday’s “After Work Special” trips, from 4 pm to 10 pm, were flat out fantastic. Bass and blues hit the diamond jigs right off the bat with everyone loading up on fish.

Weekend half day porgy trips were typical weekend fishing. Experienced anglers had their limits, while some struggled, ending up with ten to fifteen.

There was no better way to end a great week of fishing than our SailFest New London Fireworks trip, with a full boat of customers and perfect weather.  As part of our Black Hawk and the Community program, customers brought packages of diapers for our diaper drive. Over 2,000 diapers were collected, which will go a long way to help local kids and families.  We can’t thank everyone enough for their incredible generosity.  It was a great fireworks display, and believe me if you haven’t seen it by boat, it’s the only way to see it. The Niantic Fireworks trip is next Saturday evening, July 15th, as part of Celebrate East Lyme Day,  and is offered free of charge if customers bring an unwrapped Christmas gift worth $10 or more and a children’s book.  This is also part of our Black Hawk and the Community Program.  These Christmas gifts will be distributed in the Groton/New London area during the holiday season.  

Heather from the office reports that we are sailing every day, Monday through Friday at 7am with two trips on the weekends, at 6:00 am and 1:00 pm.  As always, we have our After Work Special trips heading out on Thursdays and Fridays at 4pm.  On July 25, we’ll be heading out for an early morning trip so we are back in time for the Channel 3 Kids Camp tournament that afternoon.  We are looking forward to a great day!  As always, stay tuned to our Facebook page and website for details and information.  We look forward to seeing everyone soon! 

It can’t seem to get any better, reports Heather from the Black Hawk office. Wonderful weather all week and hungry, jumbo porgies filling everyone’s coolers. Tuesday was the opening day of seabass and the Black Hawk took full advantage of it. Capt Greg would spend half the day on the porgy grounds and the remainder of the trip on the sea bass beds. Good anglers had no problem getting their limits with a few nice fluke thrown in for good measure. A lot of short sea bass, at times a little annoying, are in the mix. So far, it’s not as good on the sea bass as last year, but we’re optimistic that a lot more are on the horizon.

On the holiday weekend half-day trips, we couldn’t go to where we’ve been fishing during the week due to wind and a ground sea. We fished in some secondary spots and did the best we could with what we had to work with.

All of our big bass night trips this week were excellent, with Wednesday being nothing short of sensational, reports Captain Matt. Full boat limits with fish to 45 pounds and on Wednesday night’s trip we were releasing anther 16-18 big fish. Customers were ecstatic, just the best of the best! These trips are hand picked for tides and times, and by reservation only. Check out our Facebook page for colorful live reports and photos. We give you the straight scoop- live!

The only slow trip this week was our After Work Special – 4pm to 10 pm trip – on Thursday. Lousy Southwest winds made it miserable in the Race and only a handful of bluefish and striped bass were landed before we threw in the towel and came home early. The Race area is still not consistently producing it’s fair share of bluefish yet, with a lot of short stripers and a few keepers to be found. Same scenario as the last few years. Hopefully the next few weeks will get substantially better fast. Stay tuned.

Don’t forget, we are now fishing every day- Monday through Friday at 7am, and two trips on the weekends at 6am and 1pm (no 6am trip on July 15). Tickets are available online through our website for those who like to purchase in advance. We are also taking reservations for our fireworks cruises on July 8 and July 15. They’re filling fast, so be sure to grab a spot soon. Our private charter dates are filling up, although there are a few July dates left, so be sure to contact us soon if you’d like to grab one. As always, check our Facebook page and website regularly for updates and information. We’ll see you soon!

Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk reports another good week of porgy fishing. Some really good trips. Saturday morning we had a troop of Boy Scouts from Torrington, and although it was thick fog and miserable conditions with pouring rain, we still clocked ’em- big porgies at Montauk. The kids had a blast and are well on their way to earning their fishing badges. Great job, kids!

We’ve been catching a few fluke mixed in with the porgies, a couple of bluefish too.

Diamond jigging, locally, well, there’s really no other way to put it than it’s slow. There’s a few bass around, a lot of shorts. One of our night trips last week was very good – the next night they didn’t bite at all. The tide was running so hard we only had a couple of keepers and a lot of shorts. We’re going again this week on a couple of trips so stay tuned for reports.

Seabass opens this Tuesday, so hopefully we’ll get a little smorgasbord by adding some seabass to the mix.

Heather from the office reports that we are now fishing every day. Monday through Friday we go out at 7am. Saturdays and Sundays we have two trips leaving at 6am and 1pm. We also have our After Work Special trips on Thursdays and Fridays at 4pm. Check our website for a full schedule and to buy your tickets online. We’re also taking reservations for our fireworks trips, these trips are very popular so call the office to grab a spot before they’re sold out. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Heather reports from the office of the Black Hawk another week of excellent porgy fishing. The boat has been going to the Montauk grounds where the scup are thick and have ferocious appetites. The Father’s Day weekend was hampered somewhat by thick fog but Saturday’s trip was probably the best of the week with doubleheaders of huge slob porgies coming over the rails. Sunday’s trip was more of the same.  The holiday crowd had no problem loading up. It was great to see all the dads out there, fishing with their kids.

Still a lot of bait milling around the entire Montauk area, with a lot of bluefish activity, some bass and throw back sea bass. Don’t forget, New York sea bass opens June 27th, so we can start keeping ’em instead of throwing them back.

The three night bass trips this week, again, had consistent fishing with Monday night’s trip the best with fish limits and fish to 40 lbs. We always have the biggest of high-dollar pools on these exclusive trips and Wednesday night was no exception with the largest of the week at $450. A pretty good payout by anyone’s standard.

On Friday nights 4 pm to 10 pm After Work Special trip, we stayed in the Race due to weather. There are not a lot of bluefish in our local area yet but the diamond jigging produced a lot of bass to just over 30 lbs. with a lot of “shorts” mixed in. Don’t forget, these trips are limited to 30 passengers by reservation.

Our current schedule is Monday through Friday, one trip daily at 7am. Weekends have two trips, at 6am and 1pm.  (Please note there is no 6:00 am trip on Saturday, June 24 or Saturday, July 15) After Work Specials continue on Friday evenings, and we’ll add Thursdays as well, starting June 29.  Continue to check out our website for upcoming trips and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Capt. Greg at the Black Hawk reports another week of great fishing with excellent catches of porgies, bass, and bluefish. Monday, we had the VIP fishing tournament on board; the Visually Impaired Persons Fishing Tournament, sponsored by the Berlin Lions Club. It’s our 3rd year working with the Lions Club and everyone on board had a great time with plenty of action and loads of big porgies. Wednesday’s trip was a one drop spot at Montauk with good, steady action all day. Sharpies had no problem filling their coolers.

Big bass trips on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights were nothing short of fabulous. With Capt. Matt at the helm, they had all the action you could ask for: full boat limits on all three nights, fish to just short of 50 lbs, nice weather…simply great fishing. Remember, these trips are in high demand and by reservation only, so call and book your spot for upcoming nights now. Check our calendar for dates and times.

Friday’s 4-10 “After Work Special” trip was another slam-dunk of the week. We steamed right down to the elbow off Montauk and crushed the bluefish and bass on diamond jigs. Fishermen were arm weary after 15 rounds of this heavyweight battle. We’ll be doing these trips every week, and they are limited to only 30 fishermen by reservation only. So, if you don’t like crowded shoulder to shoulder party boat fishing, then these are the trips for you.

Saturday & Sunday’s weekend trips were back at Montauk on the porgies. We had wonderful weather and it was a little crowded with boat traffic. Saturday morning was a full boat charter and had a steady pick all day. Saturday afternoon Capt. Matt went back to Montauk and crushed ’em. Big Black Hawk clam-seeking porgies, 3 1/2 to 4 pounders. On all these porgy trips, there’s been a good amount of seabass, bluefish, and stripers mixed in.Sunday’s trip had the same results. A full boat of customers, with many at their limit and others close to it.

One interesting footnote is the Montauk area is alive with bait….it’s everywhere. Reports from offshore recently show whales, sand eels and some tuna in the 30-fathom area. All the fish we’ve been catching, everything from porgies to blues and bass are choker blocked full of small bait. Why they bite clams on a diamond jig with their stomach bulging at the seams is a mystery, but they do, and we’re certainly glad for it!

Heather from the office reports that we’ll be heading out for night trips this week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Be sure to go online to grab a spot before they’re filled up. We’ll start our full time, regular schedule on Saturday, June 17, just in time for Father’s Day: Saturdays & Sundays will be two trips at 6:00 am and 1:00 pm, and Monday through Friday will be one trip at 7:00 am. As always, check our website for details and a full schedule (no 6:00 am trip on June 24th).

Our Black Hawk & the Community program is off to a strong start, thanks to everyone for bringing in books, toiletries, socks and more. We’re continuing to collect socks throughout the month of June, so grab a pack next time you’re at the store and bring some down on your next trip. As always, thanks for helping us help the local community.

We still have a few June “After Work Special” charter dates available, and our July calendar is filling quickly, so be sure to email Heather if you’d like to get your group out on the boat with us. We look forward to seeing everyone soon!

Another overall excellent week of fishing reports Capt. Greg from the Black Hawk. Sunday saw a full boatload of eager fishermen and they weren’t disappointed with a full limit of scup. Monday was a little difficult; stiff easterly winds and bone-chilling rain made for simply miserable conditions. Those that were dressed for it and endured the cold got their limit, but quite a few gave in to the heat of the cabin, along with some hot chocolate and coffee.

Wednesday we had another nice load of people and had our boat limit by 12 noon. Whenever we catch em’ good, we try to spend a little time and do some fluke fishing to mix it up. Sometimes we catch a few nice ones, and sometimes only shorts. It all depends on how the porgies bite and what tide conditions we have. Thursday we had a retirement charter, a combination sunset cruise/seal watch trip. Fortunately for them, it was the best weather of the week; bright sunshine and flat calm.

The porgies are definitely spawning out and are on the move to their summer grounds. Friday and Saturday morning we went to Montauk on an exploratory mission for the first time to see what was up. Much larger scup; I mean big scup, 3 to 4 pounds. Fishermen that had a little braid and could fish in the tide clobbered them. Friday turned out to be the better day with easy limits for some. Quite a few throwback sea bass with a few bluefish, striped bass, and even a few blackfish mixed in.

Friday night, Capt. Matt had the bass run and had a lot of action with diamond jigs and bucktails after dark. Just a few short of a boat limit; nothing huge, all 28 to 32 inch fish with a lot of shorts and a few bluefish mixed in.

We have 2-night bass trips scheduled this week, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, limited to 20 fishermen and only by reservation. Get your spot; they go quickly. Don’t forget, we now have On-line reservations available.

One item that we keep mentioning time and time again on all our trips is that the fishermen with the better gear, the better rods, and reels, braid line, the better rigs definitely consistently catch better. If you’re in the market for a new rod and reel, go to a local, reputable tackle shop and get the right equipment. Sure, you can a cheaper set up at Wal-mart, but it costs you fish and enjoyment in the long run, so support your local tackle shop! As in party and charter boats, “cheap tackle is not good and good tackle is not cheap.”

Heather from the office reports that our schedule for the next week has us fishing our night trips on Tuesday and Wednesday, day trips on Wednesday and Friday, and 2pm on Saturday and 6am on Sunday. Our regular full time schedule will start on June 17. We’ll be fishing two trips on the weekends, leaving at 6am and 1pm, and one daily trip at 7am during the week. We’ll also have our After Work Specials available. As always, check our website for the full schedule and special updates (no 6am trip on June 24.) We look forward to seeing you soon!

Capt. Greg of the Black Hawk reports another banner week of jumbo porgy fishing. Tuesday, we had a light crowd and hot fishing, getting our limits and then going fluke fishing. Wednesday’s trip was a repeat, clobbering the scup, filling everybody up and then adding a few fluke to the mix. On Wednesday nights bass trip, they really chewed!! Capt. Matt had the honors of starting off first with our specialty hammered diamond jigs and then switching over to bucktails at dusk. To say it was an excellent striped bass fishing would be an understatement!! Everyone carefully threw back keepers and shorts alike; looking for that one to win the big money pool. They left ’em biting and easily got their full boat limit.

Friday was another scheduled porgy trip with Capt. Matt again at the helm. The tide was right for a couple of bonus drifts on the bass on the way out. And yup, you guessed it, Bingo! Some nice bass started the trip off. Porgies once again cooperated when he anchored up with great action and full limits of Jumbo Blackhawk Scup! Not trying to be repetitious but Memorial Day weekend showed up more of the same…. nice full boat of customers and full limits of scup all around. As of this writing, it’s Sunday late morning and the Black Hawk is once again working on a full boat limit. With our huge chum pot down and working, along with the tide starting to ease off, the bite is going to go from really good to Out of this World!!

A lot of kids came out with their Dads this holiday weekend. Great to see, and fun was had by all!! Take a Kid Fishing….whether on our boat or somebody else’s. One quick footnote, the Black Hawk has added a commercial electric fish scaler to its arsenal of tackle. It can scale a porgy or seabass before you can say porgy or seabass. (well, maybe Blackhawk instead). Just another addition in our constant strive for excellence within our fishing business. There’s a reason why we were voted again, for the 3rd year in a row, Connecticut’s most popular party boat by you, the public. We thank you for the honor and we will always do our very best, in every aspect of our business, for you, our valued customer.

Heather from the office reports that we’re fishing on the weekends with some weekdays mixed in as well- check our website for a full schedule. Customers are loving our online ticketing, so they can get their tickets before they get to the dock. We only have a three dates open for June charters, so give the office a call to get your group on the boat before they’re sold out. As always, follow our website, Facebook and Twitter for fishing reports, schedules, and more!! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!