Position
41°15.7′N 72°54.9′W
New Haven Harbor is a sheltered, triangular bay about four miles long, closed off from Long Island Sound by three large breakwaters. Three rivers, the Quinnipiac, Mill and West, flush bait out on every ebb tide, and the harbor's flats, weed beds, shellfish beds and shipping channel make it a handy fluke, porgy and blackfish spot for small boats, with several public shore sites around its edge.
When to fish
- Spring: blackfish around the breakwalls, and winter flounder in the area.
- Summer: fluke and porgies, plus stripers and bluefish. Fluke numbers are down from their peak in the western Sound, but good fish are still caught.
Where to fish
By boat (The Fisherman's four hot spots for fluke):
- The oyster stakes off West Haven: fish the shellfish beds on a moving tide around high water; blackfish live here too.
- Mid-harbor channel edges: work the slopes of the shipping channel, especially late in the outgoing tide.
- Between the West and Middle breakwalls: good current for drifting.
- The shipping lane between the Middle and East walls: the west side of the channel is a steady producer.
- The breakwalls themselves: On The Water suggests them for blackfish.
From shore (DEEP's listed sites): Fort Hale Park's wharf and fishing pier, Lighthouse Point Park, Sandy Point and the West Haven shore, the West Haven Beach fishing piers, and the Savin Rock/Bradley Point/Palace Street pier. Fort Hale, Sandy Point and Savin Rock are Enhanced Opportunity Shore Fishing sites.
How to fish it
The water is shallow and the tides are milder than in the eastern Sound, so three ounces of weight or less holds bottom. Drift when the wind and tide run the same way, so your bait moves naturally with the current toward fluke facing into it. The Fisherman's standard rig pairs bucktail with natural bait: a whole mummichog, a silverside, a squid strip or a fish-belly strip. If you keep missing small bites, it's probably big porgies; switch a rod to porgy hooks with clam or squid.
Getting there
The Fisherman lists launches in West Haven, at Lighthouse Point, and in Branford, all a short run from the fluke grounds. The outer breakwalls can only be reached by boat. At the Enhanced Opportunity sites, minimum sizes for fluke and scup are lower than elsewhere; check the Connecticut Saltwater Fishing Guide for current limits. A Connecticut marine waters fishing license is required.
From the water
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Field guide
What you can catch
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