Connecticut Sound still giving stripers and keeper tautog in early November

Early November has not cooled Connecticut's saltwater bite the way many years do. On The Water's Nov. 5, 2026, fishing report, built from tackle shops and charter skippers, said tautog fishing stayed solid across Long Island Sound while striped bass kept showing along rivers, reefs and rock piles.

Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook said the blackfish bite was good at all depths, with many anglers working 30 feet and shallower and looking for current. Reports east of the Connecticut River were improving faster than those to the west. Shops from Niantic to Norwalk also weighed solid keepers, including a 9.6-pound tog at Fisherman's World, with most action still in 10 to 30 feet and some fish coming off deeper wrecks.

Striped bass remained in fall-run mode. Captains and shops pointed to the Connecticut, Thames and Housatonic rivers, peanut bunker and adult bunker blitzes, and artificials ranging from glide baits to soft plastics and topwaters. Mixed-bag trips were still boxing sea bass and porgies alongside tog as water temperatures held in the high 50s. Several charters planned to run weather-permitting trips into late November.

This is a The Gillnet news desk summary, not a reprint.

Source: On The Water — Connecticut Fishing Report, November 5, 2026 (Will Sirotnak).

Photo: On The Water.