Why Eels may be endangered & Norwich Fishing Report

• A month or so ago, a customer at Mike's Bait and Tackle, Voluntown, was asking if they had heard anything about declining eels and the possibility they might not be around to use for striped bass bait this year. When I called to get a fishing report for this column that week, this question message was relayed to me. At that time, I hadn't heard anything about eels being banned as a bait item, but promised to look into the matter when I had a chance. Ironically, within a few days a number of eel-related items came to my attention.
• Over the past year, there have been some news items from the DEP relating to new regulations regarding the taking of elvers, and the banning of their harvest. In fact, I assumed this was what the customer had heard about and simply confused the baby eels for the adults. Ironically, within a couple days of that phone call, I began running across a number of news items and briefs regarding eel declines, eel over harvest, and other such matters. I knew their numbers were in decline, but was not aware just how serious the matter actually is.
• It seems that over the winter, a petition was filed by the Watts Brothers to list eels as an endangered species, based on the decline in their abundance over the past few years. This triggered a series of information-gathering actions that are in the process of taking place by the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Council (ASMFC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), along with state agencies to access the status of our American eel population and to determine if protective measures need to be taken.
• The man at Mike's Tackle was right. If the status assessment finds eels in a serious enough decline to place them on the Endangered Species List as endangered or even "threatened," a process that will take a year to filter through the system, striper fishermen and tackle shops will be looking for another source of bait.
• This is a serious matter but no one needs to push the panic button quite yet. I called Dick St. Piere, a fisheries biologist from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who specializes in eel biology, to find out just what was going on and how serious this matter really is.
• Right now, it's too early to say, but the situation is a serious one that has federal and state agencies on their toes and jumping through various hoops to do the assessment work necessary to determine first, if there really is a problem and second just how bad it is.
• To fully understand the scope of these problems, it is first necessary to understand the American eel and its biology. Even scientists don't know all there is to know about this unique snake-like, catadromous fish, that has a life cycle opposite a salmon, which is an anadromous species.
• Anadromous species, such as Atlantic salmon, American shad, alewives, blueback herring, and striped bass, are all born in freshwater lakes and or rivers. The mature adults migrate in from the ocean into freshwater spawning rivers, to lay their eggs. The Eggs hatch, the fish grow and develop in freshwater for anywhere from a few months, as is the case of herring and shad, to two years in the case of an Atlantic salmon. Then, they migrate back to the ocean where they mature for varying amounts of time up to five or more years before returning to their home rivers to complete their cycle of life as spawning adults.
• American eels have a different life history. It hasn't been observed, but the adults mate at depths of more than 1,000 feet on their way to their spawning grounds in the mid Atlantic, an area that is full of the floating sargasso weed known as the Sargasso Sea, which is located about 1,000 miles east of Florida and south of Bermuda. It is here that all the eels from both North America and Europe go to spawn and die. (I don't think it is known for sure if all the adults die after spawning but it is assumed that they do.)
• It is from the Sargasso Sea, that all the young eels (elvers) from both sides of the Atlantic begin their long journey back to freshwater, where they migrate up stream ultimately taking up residence in freshwater lakes and ponds. There, they will grow and mature before heading back to the Sargasso Sea to complete their cycle. Female eels take anywhere from 5 to as much as 20 years to reach maturity, so they are a long-lived species.
• The eel eggs are buoyant. They evidently stick to or are somehow protected by the floating mats of sargasso weed where they hatch out into little critters that don't look much like the adult eels. Shortly after hatching, they move into ocean currents like the Gulf Stream and are carried northward and towards land as they move long the north Atlantic coast and across the ocean to Europe. As currents take them near land they move into rivers and streams and migrate up stream. It is not known if they go home to the birth place of their parents like salmon, but they do move up into freshwater lakes and ponds along the entire North Atlantic. The slime that is so obnoxious on an eels body allows them to move across dry land (usually during rains) to get into isolated lakes and ponds during this incredible journey.
• A couple of years ago the harvest of elvers, which reach our coastline at a length of 2-4 inches, was banned due to a huge decline in their abundance. During the peak of their slaughter these little eels were on high demand in the oriental and European markets and brought in between $400 and $500 per pound. A pound of elvers equates to about 1,000 individual baby eels and their harvest was in the hundreds of thousands of pounds annually.
• Measures were taken to end this slaughter a year or so ago, here in Connecticut and elsewhere. But who knows what kind of effect this slaughter could have had on adult populations over time? The population of adult eels has also declined seriously over the past 20 years and biologists like Dick St. Piere doesn't have an answer as to why.
• According to the National Marine Fisheries Survey, which was started in 1979, the recreational catch of adult eels has dropped from 107,000 in 1982 to a mere 11,000 in 2001. During the same time frame,commercial numbers dropped from 3.5 million pounds to 870,000. Numbers have dropped more since then, with the commercial landings in 2003 the lowest since record keeping was started in 1945.
• This is why the request was petitioned to put this species of fish on the Endangered Species list, a request that has set the wheels of an entire federal and state bureaucracy into motion. A status review is in the works which will bring together the current knowlege about the present status of eel populations throughout its range and then, from these findings, determinations will be made as to how the problem can best be handled. A status review takes about nine months to complete.
• According to Dick St. Piere, the elver harvest problem has been taken care of and the Feds don't seem to think that overharvest of the young eels is the reason for the decline in adult eels. but then again, the Feds never think commercial overharvest is a problem because they are tied too closely to politicians and the commerce department.
• Assuming the commercial fishermen aren't to blame for the decline of this species, then what is? The Watts Brothers claim it is hydro electric dams and their destruction of downstream migrating eels in their turbines. That does not really fly because, throughout the range of the species, eels have dealt with hydro dams for at least a century. Why would they suddenly decline over the last two decades? That does not make sense.
• The Europeans have been observing and working on this problem for many more years than biologists on this side of the Atlantic. At the International Eel Symposium that was held to bring this problem to public notice in 2003, a world wide decline in eels was reported. Some of the reasons put forth for this worldwide eel decline are contaminants, barriers to migration (which in this area are better not worse now than 20 years ago), turbine destruction, loss of wetlands, stream flow alterations, (a new one) parasites in the eels swim bladder and possible changes in deep ocean currents due to global warming and polar melt down.
• This latter reason is a new one European investigators are concerned about. Of the lot, the changes in ocean currents is of the most concern to me. The others are not really new and eels have dealt with most of them successfully for decades. This means something else is new or different and changes in currents could be that something. This could be very serious if it is indeed the primary cause of this decline, not only because it has many other consequences, but it is something scientists can't do a thing about.
• Researchers in Europe determined that if the eels ocean navigation angles were to change by as little as 3 degrees, due to changes in ocean current movements during the course of their travels into European rivers, the elvers could be lost at sea before they made landfall. That is a scary thought. In reality, odds are that all the above, plus overharvest contribute to the decline in eels.
• What ever the problems are, if the powers that be, believe the population of American eels is really in danger, steps will be taken to save them, the first of which would be listing them as threatened or endangered.
• Either listing would mean that at some time in the near future, perhaps a year or two down the line, after public comments and hearings, eels could dry up as a source of live bait for striper fishermen along the coast. But don't despair at this point, everything is still in the talking and figuring out stages. We will keep you posted as this situation develops and more information is brought to light.
  

Fishing Report
The miserable nor'easter that blew in on us this week has served to keep most anglers at home, hence providing little in the way of fishing reports to relay to you.

1. However, Joe Balint and Dennis from the Fish Connection ran across the Sound to fish Montauk Point last Saturday, along with a number of other anglers from this area. Where a week ago most only caught a couple fluke, this week everyone that made the run limited out on quality fluke. Joe and Dennis's catch averaged four to six pounds. Pat Abate from River1s End Tackle, Saybrook said that a couple fishermen he talked to had similar successes to relate. He said all the customers that made the Montauk run over the weekend and early in the week, before the winds became too nasty, limited out and each group seemed to have some doormats in their catch. He weighed fish up to 10 pounds since last week.
2. Striper action seems to be better in the rivers, salt ponds and inshore bays for the moment. There are some bigger fish to the west, near the New York line in Rye and also some bigger bass being reported from the Race and the Rhody shore line, but not in any great numbers at this time. With squid reported in high abundance throughout the region, expect both bass and fluke to find and feed heavily on them any time now, if they aren't already.
3. The cold weather has created excellent conditions for trout fishing, but it seems to be messing up the largemouth bass spawn, like it did last spring. All the area rivers were stocked for the last time this week.
4. Rennie Robinson said he1s been doing well at both the Yantic and Shetucket Rivers and catching fish in the 13 inch range on a regular basis.

TheDay Tim Coleman 5/27

1. Awful, depressing and downright yucky were some of the words used to describe the week's weather. At a time when marinas are normally busy, the boats were all in their slips, owners waiting for the end to another northeaster, compliments, as one tackle shop owner remarked, of a winter that will not end. Prior to the three-day storm that saw tress downed and winds in excess of 40 mph, people were out on the water and catching fish.
2. Al Golinski of Misquamicut said his neighbors headed to Montauk for large fluke before the winds came on. Shore anglers are getting smaller bass to about 13 pounds from the Watch Hill Lighthouse through Charlestown Breachway.
3. Jack at Ocean House Marina said the storm shut down most striper fishing in Ninigret Pond, at least for those in small boats. The worm hatches stopped and the only people he saw out were some die-hard shore anglers wading along Quonnie Pond even at the height of the storm. Better days are coming.
4. Capt. Al Anderson of Snug Harbor fished Tuesday in the Narrows of Point Judith Salt Pond with wind chills in the mid-30s and wind gusts over 35 mph. His client for that trip landed 26 bass to 34 inches in the one hour, 45 minutes they braved the cold on an eight-weight fly rod and silver and white Clouser. So far this year he and his charters have landed over 1,000 schoolie stripers, mostly from the upper Thames River, the rest from the Salt Pond.
5. Don over at King Cove in Stonington reported a couple of the steadies landed 35 schoolie bass at Charlestown Breachway on Thursday morning, fishing both the pond and ocean side. There are also schoolies up inside the Stonington Coves above the RR Bridges. Fluking was on hold until gale winds subside, hopefully in time for the long weekend.
6. They saw the first bluefish of 2005, said Cheryl at Shaffers Marina. The small blue was caught in the Mystic River on a popper tossed for stripers. That fishery was going on right through the storm at times around Six Penny Island. Some fluke were caught on the south side of Fishers and one over last weekend off the Monastery.
7. Jack at the Fish Connection cancelled charter trips like he usually does during the fall line storms. Before the wind cranked up to 40 mph on Wednesday night people had large fluke at Montauk and some on the south side of Fishers. You might hit that area on you way over to New York, give it an hour then continue on for the 14-mile trip across Block Island Sound. Jack tried the Watch Hill Reefs last Saturday but got nary a hit. He finished the day landing schoolies and small keepers at Bluff and Groton Long Points and back up in the Thames.
8. Steph Cramer sent in her e-mail about very poor conditions for wading and casting along the upper banks of the Thames. As you might expect, fishing suffered as a result. One of her co-workers though had a ball casting his spinning rod and poppers in a Rhode Island pond right through the worst of the storm.
9. Capt. Kevin Bentley of the Reelin also sent in an e-mail about some improving bass catches prior to the storm. On Friday the 20th the Sterling party had bass to 38 inches plus shorts in The Race and other local spots. That evening the group from Cristelli Enterprise fished a local reef for fine mess of fish that included a 50-pounder caught by Norm Nadeuea, age 72, the first such landed in our area this year. On Saturday the gang from the Daniels charter enjoyed a good trip with bass to 36 pounds and on Monday the 23rd the people from Tranmer Electric fished The Race for a nice take of stripers. When the tide picked up they moved to another reef enjoying “non-stop bass catching...all day.”
10. Hillyers Tackle reported large fluke at Montauk before the northeaster. Jim Mugavero of Quaker Hill came back with a 9.13-pounder plus others. Bass fishing in the Race started but stopped when the storm his us. There are some bass at the mouth of the Niantic River and here and there along the shore over to the mouth of the Thames River. A few small bluefish were plugged up in Niantic Bay on small poppers meant for schoolies. Squid jigs are selling well, many headed to Stonington Harbor after dark for squid up to 18 inches.
11. Capt. Danny Woods of J&B Tackle said nobody he talked with left the dock during the storm that was still blowing over 30 mph at New London Ledge Light yesterday morning. Charter boats had some good catches in The Race and local reefs prior to the unusual late-season northeaster. Private boats trolled some smaller bass around Hatchetts Reef during the day on a tube and worm.
12. Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme fished Isabella Beach in the afternoon on Monday but caught little in the very slow drift. That morning however a friend caught nine fluke in the same area. That spot or Montauk is perhaps your best bet for summer flounder this weekend when seas finally subside.
13. Pat at River's End Tackle said people landed fewer but larger bass casting poppers and Slug-Gos in the lower Connecticut River from Calves Island to the breakwaters at the river mouth. Biggest of the lot was around 40 inches. Bait fishermen caught schoolies and bass into the mid-30-inch range from both the DEP Pier and shore locations around Haddam. Everybody else stayed inside, waiting for the skies to clear and the wind to calm.

Essex plans 46th annual Shad Bake for June 4

• As you're heading for the 46th-annual Shad Bake in Essex, Conn., June 4, consider the shad, a once-lowly fish that's found a place in the history, as well as on the dinner plates, of America. We might even have lost the Revolutionary war, if not for the fish. A shad run on the Delaware River helped stave off starvation for George Washington's troops at Valley Forge. Elsewhere in history, General Pickett (of Pickett's Charge fame) was interrupted at a shad bake to fight the battle of Five Forks, near the end of the Civil War.
• So, you'll not only be filling up on fish, but you'll become part of the local lore of the shad, too. For, although the big fish don't run in the numbers they used to, they're still a part of the warp and woof of Connecticut River valley life. To grasp the importance of this fish locally, Waterlines goes back to the May 9, 1862 edition of the Willimantic Journal, and its feature on shad: "For many years, one of the principal industries of the town of Saybrook was its shad fisheries," the article begins. "Previous to the Revolutionary war, shad were not considered of much value, and it is said that if a family had one on the table, and saw a neighbor coming in, they would put it out of sight, being ashamed to be seen eating so common a fish."
• Still, the river, the Long Island sound coast, and every creek and bay, teemed with them each Spring, and the shad couldn't be ignored. The first organized fishing was mostly done with short seines, which were hauled onshore by hand.
• Shad piers (some still visible today) outfitted with capstans were the first improvement. "It is said that Capt. Daniel Ingraham, who lived to be 90 years old, built the first fishing pier on the river [early in the 1800s]. These piers, which were afterward used by most of the fisheries, were built on the river flats, near the edge of the channel, of logs and stone, the tops being out at high water, and on these, two capstans were placed for hauling in ropes attached to the two arms of the seine. The one built by Captain Ingraham was known as Jamaica pier, [and] was set directly off the mouth of Ragged Rock Creek."
• The fishery at the mouth of the river, near the now Inner lighthouse, was for many years one of the best. "No pier was needed there, the seine being hauled directly ashore. The beach was covered with stones, which gave it the name of the Pavement. Four thousand [shad] were caught at the Pavement in one day, the largest haul [taking in] 1,700 [fish]."
• In those days, the shad were mostly salted instead of being sold fresh, and the principal fisheries presented a busy scene in Saybrook at the height of the season. "The gangs usually consisted of eight or nine men ... employed to dress and salt. Large sheds were built to contain the salt, the hogsheads of salt fish, and the stores. [At one time], there happening to be a scarcity of salt in the town, an ox team was dispatched to Stanton's [store] in Clinton, for a 50-bushel load, to salt them with."
• When all the fisheries that were owned and fished by the people of the present town of Old Saybrook were in full operation they must have given employment to 250 or 300 men, the article says.
• Shad fishing from boats was another method, and it gave birth to a specialized vessel known as the Connecticut River drag boat. The article continues: "The fill net shad fisheries probably began about the same time that the seine fisheries did, and with nets about 20 or 30 rods long (roughly 350-450 feet), and small round-bottom boats or sharpies. While the hauling seines were set with one end fast to the pier or shore, and were hauled in at that point, the fill or drag nets, as they were called, were let off the boat at certain reaches on the river, and both boat and net were allowed to drift down with tide, the net being taken up whenever the owners saw fit, or when the tide was setting them upon some obstruction. Later on these nets were increased in length, till they swept nearly the whole channel in some places. They are usually made at present, from 60 to 80 rods in length. The boats have also been much improved, and Connecticut river drag boats are now some of the most able boats in the world. Some of the most successful drag men have sometimes caught from 3,000 to 5,000 shad in a season." Today, as the Journal put it 143 years ago, "the business is still carried on, but not so extensively and profitably as formerly."
• The Shad Bake, sponsored by the Essex Rotary, is set for June 4 at the Essex Elementary School, Essex, Conn., beginning at 5 p.m. For tickets and details, go to: essexrotary.com.

Conn Post, 5/27/05

1. Anglers generally had a rough time this week with cold temperatures, sporadic rains and blustery conditions. Those braving the weather found fishing good in most areas. Of all the fishing possibilities, trout — both the freshwater and saltwater types —were the stars in local waters. Stocked trout continue to bite well in rivers and ponds. Weakfish, often called the sea trout, have made an impression on some anglers.
2. Trout hunters hoping to catch a few stocked fish over the holiday weekend should try the Pequonnock River within the Trumbull open space area, Hop Brook, the Farmington River, Still River, the Bantam River Fly-Fishing Only Area, East Aspetuck River, the Saugatuck River Fly-Fishing Only Area, Pomperaug River, Shepaug River, Mt. Tom Pond, the Black Rock Flood Control Impoundment, Ball Pond, Mohawk Pond, West Hill Pond, Naugatuck River, Tyler Pond, West Side Pond, Highland Lake, Squantz Pond, Pootatuck River, Quinnipiac River, Far Mill River, Colebrook Reservoir, Lake Wononscopomuc, Candlewood Lake, Little River, Highland Lake, Wepawaug River, Rogers Lake and Gardner Lake. Also the trout parks in Monroe's Wolfe Park, Oxford's Southford Falls State Park, Watertown's Black Rock State Park, Hamden's Sleeping Giant State Park and Wallingford's Wharton Pond State Park offer great trout action.
3. Henry Wilk of Easton enjoyed a fishing trip to the Saugatuck Reservoir last week where he caught a 27-inch, 8.45-pound Seeforellen brown trout. The fish hit a live minnow and was weighed at Ted's Bait & Tackle.
4. Weakfish have been making a splash recently off Penfield Reef and along the West Haven side of New Haven Harbor. Usually sandworms dominate the weakfish catches, but lately lures have taken over. Swimming spoons, soft plastic worms and grubs, and small swimmer plugs are hot weakfish lures. John Posh, former owner of Stratford Bait & Tackle, scored big off Penfield Reef with a new fly pattern. The fly was a bucktail-style Deceiver Fly tied with polar bear hair instead of bucktail. His fly yielded an 11.56-pound weakfish. Also, Dave Redford Sr., of Fairfield, reeled in a 9.40-pound weakfish from West Haven. His lure of choice was a Yozuri Swimmer.
5. Walleye reports have been good at Squantz Pond, Coventry Lake and the Saugatuck Reservoir. But the best action is in Lake Saltonstall as Bob Vasilescu of Shelton reported. Last weekend he caught nine walleye measuring between 20 and 27.25 inches. According to his report, he caught the walleye on the outside weedlines in 10 feet of water.
6. Striped bass fishing slowed a little with the foul weather. Yet, Armando Aversa of Bridgeport managed to catch a 44-inch, 37-pound striped bass from Bridgeport Harbor. According to Ted's Bait & Tackle, the striper hit a live bunker. Other places still producing striped bass include New Haven Harbor, Gulf Beach, Seaside Park, Southport Harbor and Compo Beach.
7. Bottom fishing on Long Island Sound has been fair to good lately. Jimmy O's Bait & Tackle reported two nice flatfish last week. Fran Vitalli of Trumbull picked up a 2.50-pound winter flounder from the mouth of the Saugatuck River. Meanwhile, Mark Gagnon of Fairfield crossed over to Mattituck, N.Y., to catch a 10.60-pound fluke. Jack Wallace of Stratford stopped by Stratford Bait & Tackle with a 5.46-pound fluke, which was taken from New Haven Harbor. FRANK MCKANE JR.

On The Water, Bob Sampson, Jr. 5/26

1. Winds, rain, doom and gloom have dominated the fishing scene since last weekend. Since that time a combination of bad reports and bad weather has kept many anglers off the water. For this reason, good, firsthand angling reports were sparse.
2. Captain Jim White of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingstown told us no one has been out since the bad weather blew into the area. He said that prior to the nor’easter, fishing for striped bass of all sizes had been pretty good up inside Narragansett Bay. Right now, with the difficult winds and weather conditions, anglers are pretty much staying home. He expects the fishing to pick up quickly once this system blows out of the region.
3. Rob at Saltwater Edge, Newport said, “If you don’t mind getting wet and beat up, the fish are around to catch.” He and the guys from the shop fished the upper bay successfully until the miserable weather hit late Tuesday. There are also some bass being caught from First and Second beaches. He had gone out fishing the previous two nights and caught some decent-size bass that weighed up into the midteens by casting heavy plugs around solid structure. Rob noted that he heard of a 45-pounder that was weighed in last week but could not personally verify this catch.
4. When asked about the water temperature changes resulting from the recent cold weather assault, he said that on Tuesday night it was warmer to the touch than the 40-degree air and guessed it was in the low 50s, possibly higher.
5. Captain Andy Dangelo of Maridee Bait and Tackle, Narragansett, R.I. said nobody is going out on the water this week due to the winds, rain and bad weather forecasts. A couple of his hard-core local anglers came into the shop this week and reported that “nothing was really happening,” due primarily to the horrid weather and high winds, which have made casting and working baits and lures more difficult.
6. Roe at Breachway Tackle, Charlestown said the cold and rain have pretty much shut down the worm spawn activity at near by Ninigret (Charleston) Salt Pond. The worms were coming out every night after the string of sunny days a week or so back, but the sudden drops in temperature resulting from the most recent string of cold nights, intermittent cold and chilling rains have pushed the temperatures back below their comfort levels. For the time being, the spawns are on hold. Odds are, like last year, the evening after the next couple of hot, sunny days should bring the worms back out to play and now there are plenty of stripers around for them to attract.
7. Captain Don of Captain Don’s Tackle, Route 1, Charleston, R.I. reported that the Quonny Breachway is so dirty from all the wind and strong tides that it’s been difficult to fish. I can personally vouch for dirty waters in this area. Last Sunday a friend and I did some fluke fishing off Misquamicut Beach. There was so much junk on the bottom and floating in the water that we could not keep our lines clean long enough to do any damage.
8. Captain Don did say that he’s sure there is still some “stuff,” as he put it, in the back end of the salt pond to catch, but no one has been launching their boats and trying. When the wind dies, those anglers who go out and fish are catching a few bass wherever they have been fishing, but the numbers and quality has not been anything to get excited about lately. But this is a situation that can change for the better, literally over night this time of year, when all the major species are on the move.
9. He said that he’s been seeing tons of blackfish around the rocks at the Quonny Breachway and speculates that they are probably doing the same thing around all the local breachways, rock piles and jetties. Note that the Rhode Island blackfish season is open, but Connecticut is closed. Connecticut anglers who catch blackfish in Rhody can not be caught possessing this species, even if they were caught legally across the border.
10. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic said that a customer caught their first official bluefish in the lower Mystic River over the weekend, but sadly, that was the greatest angling event she’d heard of, due to the lousy weather reports.
11. It blew hard on Saturday for most of the day, but winds moderated for Sunday morning through the early afternoon. A friend and I made a fluke fishing tour, testing four of our favorite spots from Long Island Sound to Misquamicut Beach, and back out to the south side of Fishers Island and didn’t land a single fluke. My buddy had two live squids that he jigged up that were quickly attacked by fluke after they were sent to the bottom wearing a pair of tandem hooks. Both fish were missed.
12. All we caught all day were a pair of sculpins (sea ravens) and three of those dam skate. It’s a pretty sad day when I have to get deskunked by a stinking, miserable, spiny skate. I certainly hope this will be my penance to the angling gods for a while. Like many other fishermen, I’ve been abused by about everything I have targeted, both in fresh and saltwater so far this season, and I’m tired of it!
13. Cheryl noted that those hearty anglers who have been fishing when and wherever they can have been catching small stripers, pretty much everywhere, but nothing of note since that 20-pounder from The Race two reports ago.
14. There have not been any fluke caught so far off the Mystic River area, but she feels it’s more from a lack of trying than lack of fish because there are plenty of squid in the area.
15. Water temperatures have been fluctuating wildly due to the constantly changing weather, a factor that will turn fish off and on and occasionally drive them from a given area when temps drop below their preferred comfort levels. Al Fee was fishing Friday evening and said the water in the river was warm, 68 degrees in the lower river. Saturday morning, after a very frigid night and a tide change, the waters were only in the high 40s.
16. Rennie at The Fish Connection, Preston told us that there are still “tons of little dink stripers still hanging around in the (Thames) river.” There have not been many reports of keeper-class, or even 20-inch-plus, fish being caught lately. There are supposedly lots of little rats up inside the Pawcatuck River, as well, with fishing reportedly pretty good in the cove near the cemetery. The action at the Greenville Dam has slowed down a good deal lately. They (the guys at the shop) believe this is because many of the baitfish, namely alewives, seem to have left the area already. As we can pretty well be assured, there will not be many blueback herring or menhaden entering the river at this point in the season to draw any new slugs of larger striped bass up into the river, like they used to a decade or more ago.
17. Dennis, one of the guys who works at Fish Connection, fished Montauk Point for fluke with Joe Balint over the weekend and experienced a very successful outing. They caught their limit of beauties that averaged in the five- to six-pound range. However, locally, on this side of the Sound, fluking has been very slow. But again, there have not been many boats fishing in close to Mystic or Niantic to catch any fish that may be present. Most have been making the longer runs to Montauk or Fishers Island. The Stonington area is currently loaded with squid, which bodes well for when the fluke finally make their way across the Sound to this side.
18. Lately, Rennie has been fishing for both largemouth bass and trout on a regular basis. The Shetucket and Yantic rivers were both stocked this week, so the fishing is easy for the moment, especially with the cool, dreary conditions. Many years in the past, area trout are parboiling by this point in May and the fishing has begun to slow. This spring appears to be running super cool, like last season, which means (unless conditions and trends suddenly warm up) anglers can expect decent trout fishing action from area lakes and rivers well into June again this year.
19. The trout that have been stocked this year are of much higher quality than in the past, said Rennie. He has been consistently catching trout that average 11 to 14 inches from both places this year, including a tiger trout that was 13 to 14 inches during Tuesday’s trip to the Shetucket River. A mutual friend he ran into on the Shetucket told him he’d caught and released about 30 fish already that day. The trout have been hitting well on dry flies and small olive green emergers.
20. Rennie has not seen any largemouth bass nests yet in his fishing exploits to date, which is disconcerting to me. He has fished Gardner Lake, Aspinook Pond and Ashland Lake over the past two weeks and has not seen a fish on a nest in any of them. Most years by late May, water temperatures are in that 62- to 65-degree range that is required before the bass will ripen, make their circular beds and spawn. Some anglers have reported seeing largemouths on their beds as far back as three weeks ago, so maybe the bass in these places were already done spawning when Rennie fished them. At Mohegan Park, where I go twice a week with my science classes to monitor these sorts of things, I did not see a bass sitting on a nest until last Thursday, and that fish was gone by Friday morning due to the fact that temperatures dropped overnight from 66 to 60.1 degrees. The Quinebaug River was only 58 degrees earlier this week, according to one report, which means the bass are probably not spawning there, either.
21. When temperatures rise and fall as they have been for the past two weeks, the bass move onto nests late in the day when temperatures rise and leave overnight, leaving any eggs they may have dropped unprotected. This cold trend may force them to drop their eggs under these poor conditions, which could lead to very low recruitment of young bass from this spring’s spawn, throughout the region. The bass definitely need a few sunny days to help bring their spawning areas up to that 62 to 65 degrees they prefer to spawn in. It looks like either bass in many lakes are still not on the beds or have not laid their eggs under these poor conditions. Either way, the bass numbers will be down four or five years from now when the lack of successful spawning will show up at the end of our collective lines.
22. Note to would-be Thames River anglers for the Memorial Weekend, the Dock Road Launch in Montville will be closed starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 26, through May 31.
23. Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said, “It’s almost winter. I’ve never seen a May as bad as this one. I keep saying it’s gotta get better and it keeps getting worse.” He also said, “The thing is we have fish and guys champing to get at the fluke off Montauk Point and the bass that are moving into The Race and area reefs right now, but due to the weather and poor forecasts, are not going out fishing.” He noted that many anglers don’t even have their boats ready and in the water, due to the string of wet, miserable weekends the region has endured to date.
24. Up until late last week, before the storm, the winter flounder action locally, primarily up inside the Niantic River, had been the best he’s seen in years. Blackfish are around and being caught, but must be released due to the closed season.
25. Pat Abate of River’s End, Saybrook mentioned that earlier in the week, specifically Sunday and Monday, brought some good fluke catching action off Montauk Point. He said the shop weighed in fish up to 10 pounds. All the reports showed a big improvement in fishing for this species since last week when catches were spotty. This time around, everyone was limiting out and had a couple doormats on the boat to show for their efforts and investment in gas. Reports indicated no single hot area; the boats were all spread out along the south side from the point to the town beach and probably drifting in 30 to 50 feet of water.
26. The striper fishing earlier in the week in the lower Connecticut River produced fewer but larger stripers. Not so many smaller fish as earlier in the season. This week the average catches are running 20 to 24 inches, with a few fish running up to the 40-inch range. Bass are hitting topwater on Slug-Gos and jerkbaits.
27. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that lots of bass are moving all over and through the Madison/Guilford area. Wind and rain have made fishing difficult but not impossible for those who don’t mind donning rain gear and taking a pounding. He noted that larger bass in the mid-30-inch to high 40-inch range have become more consistent in catches. There have been some 30-pound-plus fish, but the catch along the shore is still dominated by smaller schoolies in the rivers and along the rocky coastline.
28. Fluke are improving in numbers but nothing great yet. The cool miserable weather has all but shut down the close-to-home fluking. A few fish are in the area, but no one is doing much fishing for them at the moment.
29. Customers have been catching some nice browns from the Hammonassett and West rivers, and bragging to him about trout into the 20-inch-plus range. He’s also been seeing and hearing about decent largemouth bass in the four to six pound range. The bass he’s been seeing live at the shop appear to be spawned out, with nothing full of eggs.
30. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle, Stratford told us that a couple of his anglers did well on fluke in New Haven Harbor, as well as across the pond off Mattituck, Long Island, by fishing in-between the rain and wind squalls.
31. Lately, he noted there have been some big, tiderunner weakfish cruising off West Haven sandbars, which usually means they may also be found on down the shoreline to Charles Island and the Milford Gulf. John Posh, the previous owner of this store, caught and released a potential fly-rod tippet class world-record weakfish earlier in the week, when he landed a monster 11.56-pound tiderunner off Penfield Reef. Other than this noteworthy catch, he said there have been reports of a few bass, nothing big, caught in the Bridgeport area. Bluefish are showing here and there, but no consistent reports coming in of large concentrations at this point in the season.
32. Nick at Fisherman’s World, Norwalk told us that a regular customer, Andy Trister, caught four keeper fluke to 8 pounds off Mattituck last Thursday before the weather began to turn sour. Otherwise, there has not been too much in fluke fishing reports generated since the weekend. He said that a few boats were catching small bluefish in the Middle Passage off the Norwalk Islands on poppers and swimmers on Tuesday, which is a good sign for the near future.
33. Right now, the big news is the fact that most of the large stripers are still being caught to the west, around Mamaroneck and Rye, New York. A few bass have also been caught in the Greenwich area. Nothing really impressive has been caught locally. Nick noted that most of the bigger fish are still to the west. The best catch he heard of this week was of a long, big-headed, skinny 47-incher that only weighed in at 31 pounds off Sherwood Island State Park on a bunker chunk last weekend.
34. At the present time, there are a few decent bass up into the 20-pound range out off Buoy “11 C” and the Obstruction Buoy to keep local anglers busy until the jumbos arrive. He’s sure it will happen soon, and any time now there will be bigger fish around, once the weather clears and more anglers get out to wet a line.

CT DEP 5/23/05

INLAND REPORT

• DEP’s annual OPEN HOUSE AT THE RAINBOW FISHWAY is scheduled for Saturday, June 4 from 10:00 am until 3:30 pm. On this day, the inner gates are thrown open and the public is invited to come in and tour the facility, including the hydroelectric plant and the downstream bypass where we sample the salmon smolts. Visitors can also come downstairs to check out the underground viewing window. With the weather and the slowed runs, there could be still getting a lot of fish moving up on June 4. Great activity for families. No charge.
• Directions: I-91 to exit 40 (toward Bradley International Airport). Follow Rt. 20 to the exit labeled “Hamilton Road South”. At the end of the exit ramp, turn left and within a few hundred feet turn right onto Rainbow Road. Watch for signs. The entrance is about ¼ mile down on the left.
• Reminder to anglers: Memorial Day Weekend means high volume boat traffic on our waters. Use extra caution when on the water and enjoy your long weekend!
• Rivers & streams - Anglers can expect excellent Connecticut trout fishing for Memorial Day Weekend! Good reports from a number of areas including the Farmington, Housatonic (22-24” browns), Fenton, Willimantic, Wepawaug, Hammonassett, Pootatuck, Natchaug, Pomperaug, Quinnipiac, Naugatuck, Mill, Salmon (10.16 lb rainbow, by Steve Kozikowski of Ellington), Natchaug (10.5 lb rainbow, by Ray Gantick of Willington on his 73rd birthday, Happy Birthday Ray!), Shetucket, Five Mile, French and Quinebaug Rivers.
• The Farmington River is in the low to mid 50’s°F with clear water flows (325 cfs at Riverton plus an additional 100 cfs from the Still River). Current hatches include: Blue Winged Olive, Green Caddis (delayed due to cool temperatures) and Brown/Tan Caddis. Fishing may be a bit off for several days this week due to the rains and cool air temperatures. Weather is predicted to improve (although still less than ideal fishing conditions) for the holiday weekend. March Brown nymphs (#12-14), Blue Wing Olives (#18-22, mid-late afternoon), Caddis (tan #14-18, all day) and Midges (#22-32) are the current patterns working. Some Hendricksons (#12-14) are still being found above Riverton. The Pale Evening Duns (Epeorus vitreus #14-16, early evenings) has not started yet due to the cool temperatures. The Housatonic River is 58°F with flows (as of 5/26) of about 800 cfs (Falls Village) of clear water. Current hatches include: Blue Winged Olive, Green Caddis, Brown/Tan Caddis. Blue Wing Olive (#20-22, early morning; spinner fall in evening) and Gray Foxes (#14-16) are producing. Green caddis (#14-16, early morning and evening) are on the water. Midges (#22-26) are being seen at the mouths of tributaries on the Housatonic River. Areas to try this weekend include Farmington, Naugatuck, Blackberry, Whiting, Mill and Wepawaug Rivers in western CT, and the Blackledge, Branford, East Branch Eight Mile, Eight Mile, Farm, Hammonasset, Hockanum, Jeremy, Moosup, Mount Hope, Natchaug, Quinebaug, Salmon, Scantic, West, Yantic and Shetucket Rivers, and Blackwells, Chatfield Hollow, Indiantown, Mashamoquet and Shunock Brooks in eastern CT.
• Lakes & Ponds – Anglers are finding good trout fishing in many of the state’s lakes and ponds including Crystal (Ellington), Candlewood, Maltby, East Twin (very good), Wonoscopomuc, Mashapaug (23.5” brown), Alexander and Highland Lakes, Squantz Pond, Long Pond, Beach Pond, and at the Southford Falls and Wolfe Park (Great Hollow Pond) Trout Parks. Areas to try this weekend include East Twin Lake, Wononscopomuc Lake, Mohegan Lake, West Branch (Hogback) Reservoir, Saugatuck Reservoir, Green Falls Reservoir, Walkers Reservoir, Beach Pond, Mohegan Park Pond, Uncas Lake and the Chatfield Hollow Trout Park.
• LARGEMOUTH BASS fishing is reported as good in many lakes and ponds including: Quaddick, Hancock, Hamilton, North Farms, Upper Moodus, Mansfield Hollow (7.4 lb bass) and Colebrook Reservoirs, LakeWintergreen, Lake Housatonic, Middle Bolton, Gardner, Maltby, Pickerel, Winnemaug, Congamond, Bantam (5 lbs.), Beseck, Bashan, Tyler, Billings and Roseland Lakes, and Beach, Branford, Wood Creek, Mudge and Pachaug Ponds. Good reports for SMALLMOUTH BASS at Rainbow Reservoir, Lake Lillinonah, Candlewood Lake (3.5 lb smallie), Squantz Pond and the Housatonic River. Some NORTHERN PIKE action reported from Lake Housatonic, Lake Lillinonah, Bantam Lake, Hopeville Pond, Ashland Pond and Pachaug Pond. Good WALLEYE catches at Saugatuck Reservoir (21”), Lake Saltonstall and Squantz Pond (a number of 10+ lb fish among the catches). Several ATLANTIC SALMON catches reported from the Naugatuck River and the Housatonic River below the Derby Dam.
• Connecticut River – STRIPED BASS are in the river from Haddam to Enfield. School size (16-25”) fish and adults up to 42” can be found. Surface poppers are providing some exciting action under clear water conditions while trolling tubes, sand and blood worms work best in stained water. SHAD are reported in the river up to Windsor area. NORTHERN PIKE (up to 28”) catches are reported from Wethersfield Cove, White Oaks Cove, and in the Windsor area.

MARINE REPORTS

The mid Long Island Sound buoy located south of New Haven registers a water temperature of 54 °F. Check out the following web sites for more detailed water temperatures and marine boating conditions:
Rutgers Marine, NOAA, Weather Underground

• STRIPED BASS fishing is good for schoolies in most of the tidal rivers: Thames River (Norwich Harbor to Gales Ferry), lower Pawcatuck River, Mystic River, Niantic River, the lower Connecticut River (South Cove, Great Island (the Woodlot), North Cove, Calves Island, and the “Hole” up in Essex, the Devon power plant just north of the I-95 Bridge (Housatonic River) by the State Boat Launch, Bond’s Dock and the Fred Kaeser Fishing Pier (off Birdseye St.) and Short Beach in Stratford. Fly fishing methods and light spinning gear armed with small metal lures (kastmaster) work well. Other spots include Millstone Point, Sandy Point (“The Sand Bar”) in New Haven Harbor, Bridgeport Harbor (Seaside Park) and the Norwalk Islands. The spring migration is on throughout LIS! Larger stripers in the 30 to mid 40 inch range can be found in the Watch Hill area, the Race, Bartlett Reef, Hatchett Reef, Cornfield Point, Southwest Reef, Sixmile Reef, the reefs off Branford, and the reefs off Black Rock Harbor. Live lining eels and hickory shad, tube and worm combination, and trolling parachute rigs on wire line are all effective methods.
• HICKORY SHAD are in the Connecticut River mixed in with school striped bass. Other shad spots include the Mystic River, Niantic River, New Haven and Norwalk Harbors.
• SUMMER FLOUNDER (fluke) fishing is still good on the New York side by Montauk Point with doormats weighing in over 7 lbs. being reported. Fluke can be caught throughout LIS but fishing is spotty. The north shore of Long Island is normally an early season hot spot.
• WINTER FLOUNDER reports are still coming in from Norwalk Harbor but other than that fishing is slow.
• WEAKFISH and BLACK SEA BASS should be showing up in the channels of New Haven Harbor and the Sandy Point area.
• With the water temperatures approaching the mid 50’s °F., BLUEFISH should be in the Race, at Millstone Point (power plant outflow), and the north side of Long Island.

Wethersfield Post - 05/19/2005

• Over the past week the DEP has been out restocking both lakes and sections of rivers and streams. Unfortunately, the rain last weekend kept many anglers off the water. The Hendrickson hatch is in full swing on the Farmington and Housatonic Rivers. Dry fly action is consistent, but emergers and wet flies are out fishing the surface imitations. On those rainy and cloudy days, Blue Wing Olives hatch throughout the day making "match the hatch" a shell game for anglers. Bait fishermen are scoring with meal worms dead drifted in riffles. The Salmon, Ten Mile, Farm, Mill, Naugatuck, Hammonasset and Mianus Rivers are all producing good catches of trout.
• West Hill and Highland Lakes were recently restocked and anglers are reporting excellent fishing. Lures and live bait are both yielding trout. Areas to try this weekend include East Twin Lake, Highland Lake, Ball, Ender's, Mohawk, Mt. Tom, Tyler, Christensen's and West Side Ponds, and Black Rock Flood Control Impoundment, Cedar, Gardner, Pattaconk, Quonnipaug and Wyassup Lakes, Black, Day, and Valley Falls Park Ponds, Walkers Reservoir, and the Chatfield Hollow and Horse Pond Trout Parks in Eastern, CT.
• The Candlewood Lake smallmouth bite is on with numerous fish in the 3 to 4-pound range being taken. Largemouth's are hitting well at Lake Lillinonah, Winnemaug, Wood Creek Pond, Wyassup Lake and West Side Pond. Best fishing is in shallow coves.
• Striped Bass are now in the river up to Enfield. Legal size fish are now mixed in with the schoolies.
• In the salt and brackish waters, striper fishing is improving on a daily basis. Almost any tidal rivers and coves will be holding school stripers including the shallow coves in the Pawcatuck River, Mystic River, and Thames River. Other spots include Millstone Point, Niantic River, and the lower Connecticut River including South Cove, Great Island and North Cove during an ebb tide. Sandy Point in New Haven Harbor has heated up and is worth a shot. Also the Devon power plant Bond's Dock and the Fred Kaeser Fishing Pier in Stratford, Bridgeport Harbor, Penfield Reef, Ash Creek in Fairfield, Saugatuck River, the Norwalk Islands, and Stamford and Greenwich Harbors are good springtime striper haunts.
• Winter Flounder fishing is fair at best. Spots worth trying include Bluff Point, Pine Island area at the mouth of the Thames River and Niantic Bay.

Norwich Bulletin, WALLEYE

The Walleye Show

1. Lake Saltonstall is that great big reservoir just this side of the Quinnipiac Bridge, where Interstate 95 crosses into downtown New Haven.
2. Lake Saltonstall is a public water supply reservoir open to fishing under a strict set of guidelines, which allow fishing either from shore or from rental boats.
3. This lake can provide some excellent fishing for high quality bass, panfish, trout and walleyes. Last year on a walleye fishing trip to Saltonstall, I accidentally caught a 1 1/2-lbs, 1 1/2-inch bass on a jig intended for walleyes, along with a couple of 12-inch-plus yellow perch.
4. Anglers frequently catch calico bass of 2 pounds, largemouth bass to 8 pounds or heavier and the DEP turned over 10-pound-plus walleyes while sampling the walleye population with their electro-fishing boat last spring.
5. It's a lake where an angler can rent a boat and have a very real chance to land the fish of a lifetime on any given day. Instructions and phone numbers for reservations on this incredible lake can be found on page 22 of the 2005 Connecticut Anglers Guide.
6. The other day I received a copy of an e-mail from a hardcore walleye fisherman by the handle of Bob V, who frequently fishes both Lake Saltonstall and the Saugatuck Reservoir for their trophy class walleyes.
7. Bob V was fishing Saltonstall this past Sunday and not having a very productive day. He said he worked very hard to land two small walleyes, a yellow perch and a rainbow trout.
8. At one point during the day, he saw a young kid catch a rainbow trout from the pier. The youngster had a stringer with a couple of foot-long rainbow trout on it already, so he adds the new fish to his stringer and sets it back into the water.
9. According to Bob V, a short while after the trout stopped flopping on the stringer, one of the lakes monster walleyes comes up, grabs the fish and tries to swim off with it, pulling hard on the stringer in the process.
10. Bob goes over to check on the situation. The kid is screaming for a net as he tries to save his trout from the hungry and aggressive walleye, which won't let go of his trout. The kid would pull on the stringer and the huge marble eye would pull in the other direction nearly as hard.
11. Bob, who is an experienced Connecticut walleye angler with some trophy class catches to his credit, said he just stood there, awestruck never having experienced anything like this in his life time on the water.
12. Finally, as Bob was looking on, the kid lifts the stringer, the walleye's huge toothy head comes out of the water, giving him a good look. He estimated the fish at 28 to 30 inches and 10 or 11-pounds, at least.
13. Finally, the walleye rips one of the trout or part of a trout off the stringer, leaving the youngster with a couple of sliced up rainbow trout as a souvenir of his ordeal.
14. I've had a 12-inch smallmouth bass grabbed and killed by a huge pike at Gogama Lodge, Ontario; a 10-inch bass killed by a 5-pounder in one of the ponds on the UConn Campus; small stripers ripped up by huge bluefish and cod filleted by blue sharks. But I've never seen a fish with the gall to come up and grab a fish while it was on a stringer.
15. Every year since I've been hearing the stories of Saltonstall's giant walleye, I promise myself I will take the time to figure out this lake, but never do.
16. I'm already revved up enough by this fish story to be planning a trip the next time the barometer is dropping with the approach of a rain storm.

Fishing Report:

1. Joe Balint of the Fish Connection said the Thames is still holding loads of those dinky stripers, with occasional keeper fish showing from time to time. In addition to all the bass, a school of 2- to 3-pound bluefish has moved into the river to do battle with the anglers who are fishing for the stripers.
2. The worm spawn finally got revved up at Ninigret Salt Pond starting last week.
3. The occasional hot, sunny days gets the worms out that evening and the pond is now holding a good number of quality stripers along with nightly appearances by the all important yellow jawed clam worms, or cinder worms, as they are often called.
4. Anglers can fish from shore at Ninigret State Park or from a boat that can be launched at the Ocean House Marina for a $10 parking fee. I looked for the worms both days last weekend, but the spawns were minimal at best. We landed a total of 19 stripers for both trips combined.
5. The largest fish was a 33-incher caught by Jack Reed, but, unlike the hundreds of fish I've seen and caught recently in the Thames River, where none have been longer than 22 inches, that was the smallest of the 19 fish we took on Slug-Gos and 4-inch-long Senko-type worms. The average stripers there have been 24 to 27 inches.
6. However, as the worm spawns continue, and they will rage through early June, the average size will drop down into the teens as smaller fish are pulled into the fray, along with hickory shad and small bluefish. It is a fun fishery, my favorite way to catch stripers even though the odds of taking a fish much heavier than 12 pounds is very low.
7. Fluke action finally began to improve this week as the fluke have begun to push this way from Montauk Point. Reports indicated anglers who fished Montauk Point this past weekend and this week did well, whereas a week back, all reports from Montauk Point were negative.
8. In addition, we had the first reports of anglers catching decent numbers of fluke both off Carpenters Beach in the Charleston area of Rhode Island and off the south shore of Fishers Island near Isabella Beach. Both reports indicated the anglers did not limit out but waded through large numbers of short fish to catch three or four keepers each.
9. The the good thing is there are some fish there to catch, even if they are under the new 1 1/2-inch minimum length.
10. Remember this year all three states, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New York have a 1 1/2 -inch minimum length for fluke, but the creel limits vary, with Connecticut allowing six, Rhode Island allowing seven and New York allowing five fish per day.

TheDay.com, New London, CT

1. Bass are moving into The Race, said Capt. Kyle Douton at J&B Tackle, though it's not consistent, day to day, tide to tide. As of yesterday the flood tide was better than the ebb but all this is subject to change as out waters warm up and more fish push on through. Diamond jigs and three-waying bucktails are your best bets; be ready to switch from one to the other as conditions change.
2. Fluking has improved at Montauk, though one boat had to run eight miles west of Montauk on the south side of Long Island to find a body of fish on his last trip over, noting it was a costly trip due to the price of gas.
3. Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme made a run to Montauk from Niantic and burned about $120 worth of fuel in his 24-foot outboard. He and a friend had a fair catch that made for some great eating but from now on he'll wait until the fish move into this side of the Sound. Striper fishing is improving as it always does this time of year with some larger bass coming out of The Gut and Valiant Shoal.
4. Al Golinski of Misquamicut said two of his sources went over to Isabella for fluke and landed 10 fish to six pounds between them. As of press time there isn't a real run of bass on the Watch Hill Reefs though nearby Stonington Harbor is full of squid. It shouldn't be too long before the fish are on this end of Fishers Island.
5. Jack at Ocean House Marina in Charlestown reported plenty of worm hatches in Ninigret Pond just before dark with ever more people out taking advantage of them. Some larger stripers were caught along the outside beaches on chunks and more fluke now in deep water off the breachway and down toward Point Judith. No scup nor sea bass yet but the season is getting into gear despite some very cool days on the water.
6. Don at King Cove Tackle Shop in Stonington said the coves about Stonington Harbor are full of 14-18-inch bass with a few up to 24 inches. Two locals fished the reefs on Tuesday but landed only a couple smaller fish, not the jumbos the area is famous for. Shore anglers are landing a mix of bass to 34 inches and hickory shad along the Rhode Island shore from Watch Hill to Charlestown Breachway. Fluking has started at Isabella but nothing much to date in Connecticut waters and Fishers Island Sound.
7. Over at the Fish Connection, Jack said one of his regular customers landed 30 fluke at Fishers Island, keeping a limit to tops of eight pounds. He got mixed reports from those going over to Montauk. The Race is coming into form with fish caught on both six- and eight-ounce diamond jigs and bucktails depending on the strength of the current. Lots of squid can be jigged after dark in Stonington Harbor and around the Niantic River mouth. Jack said it's been several years since he sold this many squid jigs, a sure sign of good run of the creatures. Live eels and nine-inch Slug-Gos are still fooling some heavier bass on a weekly basis around the Greenville Dam.
8. Stephanie Cramer said tides in the upper Thames were mediocre all week. As a result fishing was just so-so with some tiny stripers caught Monday and Tuesday evenings on spin rods. One of her fellow workers at the Mystic Aquarium fished a Rhode Island salt pond on Wednesday evening, wading and casting for bass to 32 inches.
9. Richard at Hillyers had reliable information about some limit catches of winter flounder in the Niantic River and improved numbers of fluke from Montauk. One fellow used a plug made by Gapen to troll up two bass in the 20s in The Race at slack tide. The Millstone outflow has schoolies and tiny blues for the people with boats too small to fish The Race. Shore anglers are also landing schoolies and some fish in the mid-30-inch range at the mouth of the Niantic River after dark.
10. Mark Turek of the Connecticut Surfcasters has been busy this spring with bumper numbers of schoolies in the Housatonic River and also outfitting a brand new beach buggy. He and fellow members have made several trips to the west, fishing the Smith's Point section of the river both in the evening and after dark for stripers to 34 inches on a variety of lures. Another member fished the Charles Island sand bar at Milford for a 21-pound bass and a third caught a 36-inch bass that was full of fresh squid from an Old Lyme beach. His last piece of news was about another member who launched a small boat in the Connecticut River, ran it over to Great Island and fished from the shore there for a 42-inch bass.
11. Mark down at River's End in Old Saybrook reported bass to 40 inches taken this week on topwater plugs and nine-inch Slug-Gos in the lower Connecticut River. Flyrodders had American shad at the mouth of the Lieutenant River and hickory shad and schoolie stripers along other sections of the river from Calves Island to the mouth. Flounder news from the river and the beaches just outside is very poor.
12. Allen at Shaffers said people from his marina are coming back from Montauk with fluke catches. The New York regulations call for five fish per person with a 17.5-inch minimum and current Connecticut regs will allow you to keep six fluke per person per day with same minimum size. Valiant Rock is producing some bass on diamond jigs and bucktails but the Watch Hill Reefs have yet to see consistent action. Small boaters can get schoolies in the Mystic River around Six Penny Island, especially with full tide just at daybreak.
13. Tim Coleman is The Day's saltwater fishing columnist. He can be reached at thewreckhunter@aol.com © The Day Publishing Co.

On The Water 5/20/05

1. Water temperatures are still running on the cool side throughout the region, with the majority of checkpoints along the coast reporting water barely into the low 50-degree range in the open ocean and deeper parts of Long Island Sound. However, up inside salt ponds, bays, and estuaries the sun has done its work and warmed the water into the low 60s. The recent sunny, calm days warmed the bottom sediments enough to kick off some worm spawns throughout the area. From Niantic Bay east to Narragansett Bay, anglers are talking about worm swarm activity, with the Rhode Island salt ponds the epicenter of this highly anticipated annual event.
2. To the west, the first slugs of larger striped bass are apparently moving out of the Hudson River and pushing their way eastward in pursuit of some schools of menhaden that have moved into the western end of Long Island Sound since last weeks report.
3. Fluke action picked up considerably out around Montauk Point this week, after some disappointing reports last week. Fluke are reported in larger numbers both along the south side of Fishers Island as well as along the South Shore beaches of Rhode Island and into the Sound as far as Guilford. Anglers are culling through many shorts for each keeper but at least the action has improved since last week throughout the region.
4. Captain Jim White of Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, North Kingston told me there are lots of bass feeding on squid and worms up inside Narragansett Bay from Providence to Sallie Rock. Most of the fish are smaller schoolies but a few bass are running into the mid teens. He has not heard of any fluke or weakfish up inside the bay yet. Right now all of the fluke action seems to be from Point Judith down toward the Connecticut.
5. Peter and the crew from Saltwater Edge, Newport were apparently out fishing this week, because no one was there to answer the phone when I called on Wednesday.
6. In the Point Judith area, Captain Andy Dangelo of Maridee Bait and Tackle, Narragansett said there are still lots of schoolies off the walls at Point Judith, but not much in the way of quality fish being reported yet. Captain Andy said that there have been a few more winter flounder caught up inside the Point Judith salt pond. However, overall there is not much interest in the flatfish now that the fluke and striper fishing has picked up. A few blackfish have been caught by anglers going after other species, mainly off of breachways and jetties, but there is no news so far this spring of anglers targeting these fish and taking good numbers. Everyone seems to be out chasing stripers or fluke. He said his regulars are catching more fluke outside the breakwalls and on down the coast to Carpenters Beach, but the majority of the catches have been shorts. So far no one has taken any doormat fluke but no one is complaining about the few keepers they are catching.
7. Farther south along the coast, Roe at Breachway Tackle, Charlestown said the fishing has improved drastically in Ninigret Salt Pond over the past week. Worm spawns have been picking up, particularly after those warm sunny afternoons last week. Even when the cool nights have shut the worms down, there have been good numbers of bass in Ninigret. Three- inch Slug-Go’s are best for fishing in the worm spawn, but 4 ½ inch Slug-Go’s to 4.5 inches are taking fish when there is no activity associated with the worms. The fish are of decent average size, and there is a reasonable chance to hook into a keeper-size striper at any time. Roe, who runs Gunner Charters out of Ocean House Marina located along the north shore of the salt pond, said that he has been guiding lately and doing well on all his trips. He and his customers have been catching as many or more stripers out along the channel in areas without worms as in the middle of the worm swarms, where a hooking up can be a real challenge when worms are super abundant. This is something I have also noticed in Ninigret. He also noted that on Tuesday he saw a couple small schools of hickory shad entering the pond. He didn’t catch any but one of his friends caught a couple of shad earlier in the week. The presence of hickory shad is always a good sign, because they usually attract some jumbo bass that are looking for an easy meal.
8. I made two trips to Ninigret over the weekend and both times worms were spotty, only showing in a couple of areas along the warmer north shore. We also caught more of our stripers in open areas, right along the main channel than we did when we fished in the boiling bass and the swarming worms. Even where we saw stripers boiling on the surface we had to search the water to see any worms. The worms were nowhere near peak abundance at the time, but that will quickly change after the next couple of hot sunny days. In two outings, we caught something like nineteen stripers in total, with the largest a hard fighting 33-incher. They were all quality fish, averaging 24 to 27 inches, without a single dinky 12-incher in the entire catch! In think the smallest bass we landed was about 22 inches.
9. Roe said that fluke fishing was just beginning to pick up after a slow start. He mentioned that two customers who drifted for two and a half hours off Charlestown and fished in 60 feet of water had four keepers to show for their efforts. They were disappointed but Roe called that a decent start to the season.
10. No one has reported catches of winter flounder from Ninigret so far this spring. He said that this fishery has fallen off tremendously this year, mentioning how even a fyke net that one customer has set up in the pond was not even catching any flatfish. He said a buddy has only caught something like five flatfish all season so far in his net.
11. On the southern end of the salt pond, Captain Don of Captain Don’s, Tackle on Route 1 in Charlestown told me that worm swarms were beginning to happen in Quonny Pond as well as up the coast at Ninigret. Quonny Pond turned off Tuesday after a chilly evening, but it had been red hot on Monday and over the weekend. In addition to worms up inside the pond to attract hungry stripers, Captain Don said there were also loads of squid. For some reason the catches from both the Quonny Breachway and Pawcatuck River have slowed down this week. However, the odds are this lull will only be temporary with all the bait in the area and so many fish moving into and through the region.
12. Fluke fishing has been slower at the southern end of the South Shore beaches so far this season, which is normal. Usually, the fluke seem to show first off Point Judith before they push along these beaches and into the eastern end of Long Island Sound. Don told me that on Wednesday, two customers came in and said they each caught four keeper fluke. One angler had been fishing along the south side of Fishers Island near Isabella Beach and the other had fished off Carpenters Beach, a few miles down the shore from Point Judith. Both anglers said they had to cull through many 15- to 16-inch short fluke for every keeper they put into the live well.
13. Remember this year all three states, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York have the same 17.5-inch minimum length on fluke. Each state has different creel limits, with Rhody allowing seven, Connecticut six and New York five fluke per angler.
14. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina in Mystic said two customers came from Montauk Point with glowing reports of the fluke action. George Horvath from Wallingford caught about 30 fish total, with a limit of keepers, all taken on “fluke sandwich rigs” while fishing off Montauk Point on Saturday. A fluke sandwich rig is a bucktail or plain jighead that is baited with a strip of squid and a mummichog or shiner, live if possible. I also add a scented Mario’s Plastic Squid strip underneath all this real bait, so if porgies or crabs rip the softer baits off, there is still a smelly, soft hunk of plastic left behind to draw strikes. On Wednesday, another angler quickly limited out off Montauk Point. Cheryl said that so far there have not been any reports of anglers catching fluke on this side of the Sound, but that may be due as much to a lack of effort as a lack of fish. Squid have been reported in the Mystic River, Niantic Bay and around a couple of the local reefs. Normally, wherever squid are found at this time of year, both stripers and fluke are usually right there feeding on them. Normally, fluke are present on this side of the Sound as soon as the first reports of squid make it to the local tackle shops.
15. A few hickory shad showed up in the Mystic River over the weekend. Last Friday, the Mystic River at Shaffer’s was still a chilly, 48 degrees dring an incoming tide, which was probably closer to the temperature of the Sound rather than the warmer, shallow bay inland from their docks. More than likely the river has warmed a few degrees since then. Most years, the Mystic River’s worm spawn takes place within three days on either side of May 22, so watch for this short-lived but often intense event if you happen to fish this area on a regular basis.
16. This week, for some reason, Cheryl said they did not have any specific reports from their avid striper fishing crew. Her brother Al, who is normally good for a couple of fish stories every week, has not been doing any fishing due to the workload at the marina.
17. Joe Balint of The Fish Connection in Preston said that the Thames River is still loaded with small striped bass with a bunch more bluefish in the 2- to 3-pound range showing up in the mix. The majority of bass in the Thames are those foot-long dinks that have been so abundant thus far this season. Outside in the Sound, Joe has had reports from his regulars of schoolie stripers coming in from the surf at Harkness Park and points around the lower Thames near its mouth.
18. Joe said that customers have been catching white perch in Poquetanuck Cove right under the Route 12 bridge, which is located about a tenth of a mile from the shop. Anglers can launch small boats and canoes at this location and gain access to the very fishy waters of Poquetanuck Cove, which isn’t only a great white perch spot but also a good place to cast for striped bass.
19. Joe said that it is ironic that now that the blackfish season has closed in Connecticut, they have had a rash of anglers reporting they caught and had to release some decent blackfish while fishing for other species. The oddest of these catches was a fish caught off the Norwich town docks, a place where the surface waters are totally freshwater run off. This type of thing happens annually, but usually the blackfish are caught in Norwich later in the summer when the saltwater wedge is much more dominant in the river.
20. Fish Connection customers have been reporting a few fluke off Misquamicut and along the south side of Fishers Island, but they have been working hard so far for a small number of keepers. The best fluke catches are coming from Montauk Point, which is red hot right now. Joe mentioned that Shelter Island and Peconic Bay have been a disappointment so far this season in the fluke production department. The reason is there are so many squid hanging outside the bay, on the ocean side, that the fluke have not been searching for food up inside as they normally do at this time of year. Wherever those squid are concentrated fishing for both fluke and striped bass has been excellent.
21. In the freshwater department, Joe noted that calico bass are hitting well in Glasgo Pond, Oxoboxo Lake, the weedy end of Long Pond, Avery Pond and in the Shetucket River off Exit 83-A near the launch ramp. Largemouth bass reports have been scattered. No one is sure if the bass have spawned yet. Cold nights have been driving them off the beds in one of the small ponds I visit on a regular basis. However, it is possible that in some of the shallower ponds the largemouths are off the beds. With the water still in the high 50s it is simply too cold for them to have spawned in the majority of deep water lakes in this area.
22. Trout fishermen will be happy to hear that pretty much all of the local waters have been recently restocked by the DEP. As promised, anglers have been catching a higher percentage of one-pound plus fish than in the past as a result of changes made to production schedules as a part of the trout management plan that went into effect two years ago.
23. There have not been many reports lately from the anglers who chase the stripers up at the Greenville Dam. It’s been quiet since a week before the big tournament. However, the first shad catches of the spring have been made below the Greenville Dam and over 600 shad have been passed over the dam in the fish elevator. This means fishermen can begin to catch shad in some of the areas above the dam but below the closed zone below the newly commissioned fish passage facility in Taftville at the Ponemah Mills Dam. In time, as shad runs are improved through the passage of shad upstream to spawning areas that haven’t been used for two hundred years or more, this fast water below Taftville and the Shetucket River from the Occum Impoundment to the Scotland Dam could become some of the best shad fishing waters in the Northeast.
24. Matt at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle Waterford said that all the marine fishing is ready to bust loose anytime now. This is based on the information that right on schedule, the first few decent sized (20-pound class and larger) stripers have been caught out in the Race, and you can expect their numbers to increase every day for the next few weeks as the migration progress. The first big striped bass of the year were reported mid week, last week. However, the fishing was spotty over the weekend, due in large part to the unfavorable weather forecasts, which kept many anglers at home. By the middle of this week, catch reports began to improve noticeably. Every year the big bass seem to enter the Race right around May 20 and they are right on schedule so far this season. The catches have not included any huge fish yet. So far the majority of the larger fish reported have been weighing up into the mid to high, 20-pound range. A couple of anglers trolled the new “Polish Perch” shad colored lures that are fast becoming the rage in this area and said they took two 20-pound class stripers along the edge of the rip line.
25. Matt said that at this time of year, with all the squid around, three-waying a bucktail with a pork rind or Mario’s plastic teaser is the best way to consistently catch those big bass from the Race. Other successful methods include trolling umbrellas, tube and worms or drifting the depths with live eels on a three-way rig. He said the striper action had been pretty good over the weekend and earlier in the week up inside the Niantic River because there had been a worm spawn earlier in the week. Not realizing the Race was turning on, a couple of customers made the run across to Montauk Point and reported finding good numbers of both bass and fluke feeding on the abundant squid that are in that area.
26. To our surprise, winter flounder are once again being caught in the Niantic River. Last spring some of the most consistent catches of flatfish from this half of the state were made in the Niantic River and later on the Niantic Bay by a couple of local winter flounder experts, which include Matt’s brother, John. The flatties have not been caught in very large numbers, but these sharpies are catching some fish when they try. Matt said: “Everything is poised and ready to bust loose. All we need is some decent weather so the fishermen can get out and do their thing.”
27. Mark Lewchik of River’s End Tackle, Saybrook reported that lately up inside the lower Connecticut River a few more of the stripers have been caught and they have been coming up and whacking topwater baits. Most of the fish are small schoolies but more good-sized have appeared since the last report. This week customers have reported stripers running up to about 40 inches, probably drawn into the river by migratory herring and shad. Tons of schoolies are concentrated off Lieutenant River and on down along the west side of Great Island, with the best time to fish being the dropping tide. The bigger fish seem to come out of nowhere, said Mark.
28. Usually, by this time in the season there is a fleet of boats fishing for and catching winter flounder in the lower river around the breakwalls during the flood tide. Unfortunately, so far this spring there has not been much at all in the way of winter flounder reports from the lower river. The Lieutenant River has been producing some white perch lately from the access points up river, with reports of a few American shad and hickories caught from its mouth, where it enters the Connecticut River near the state angler access pier.
29. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that “a lot of everything is happening this week!” There are fish all over the place with some larger stripers finally beginning to show up. He also noted that there is a major squid run going on in his area that is naturally drawing the attention of some pretty decent stripers out around the reefs. Captain Morgan said that he caught the top of the flood tide Tuesday evening and hit fish right through the beginning of the ebb catching small bass close to shore on soft plastics, and larger stripers up to the low 40-inch size class off the reefs on live eels after dark. The water temperature in this middle portion of the Connecticut shoreline is in the high 40s, bumping up to 50 from time to time closer to the shore and near out flowing rivers. When asked about worm spawns, the Captain said they occur in his area but are sporadic, short lived and therefore difficult to predict and fish. He said that normally he knows after one has taken place because he sees the worms floating down the river when he goes to his boat at dawn for a fishing trip. In his area there aren’t major, long term worm spawns like anglers observe in places such as Ninigret Salt Pond.
30. Fluke catches improved from near zero to hearing about a few, mostly “short fluke” coming from the drifts along the shore from Hammonassett Beach on west to Guilford. Few anglers are targeting fluke on this side of the Sound; most of the catches he’s heard of have been accidental catches made on sandworms intended for winter flounder or by anglers who were casting bucktails for schoolie bass.
31. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait &Tackle was out fishing when I called, so I don’t have any update from him as to what’s taken place since last week, but I have heard from other sources that there are some bluefish pushing some menhaden around in Bridgeport Harbor. If there are menhaden it won’t be long before some big striped bass show up to feed on them.
32. Nick Mola of Fisherman’s World, Norwalk said that Oyster Bay and Hempstead Harbor, New York, have been producing good numbers of jumbo stripers lately ranging from 25 to 45 pounds. These fish have been feeding hard on some schools of adult menhaden (bunker) that showed up suddenly over the weekend. The fish are still to the west but he figures that these bigger bass will be in and feeding in the mid Sound area off Buoy 11-B and the Obstruction Buoy south of Norwalk and filtering into the Norwalk Islands within a week. In the meantime, local anglers continue to catch schoolie striped bass and a few decent-sized winter flounder in the Norwalk River channel and out off of Calf Pasture Point Pier. The fluke have not yet made it to the Norwalk side of the Sound. He said one customer, Mike Hannon caught a 4-pound fluke off Eatons Neck and fish to 7 pounds have been reported by anglers who made the run across the way to fish at Mattituck, Long Island.
33. This week anglers should be on the lookout for worm spawns in the larger bays and inlets along the coast, with Quonny Pond, Ninigret and Point Judith Ponds probably being the region’s hot spots for worm spawn fishing. Big stripers will continue to build up in abundance in the deep waters of the Race, which means more fish will begin to filter into the Sound and along the coast to feed on the squid that seem to be around all the reefs and rock piles throughout the region. Fluke action is picking up and with Montauk red hot last week, odds are there should be a few more quality fish to catch on this side of the Sound as well as off Fishers Island and along Rhody’s south shore beaches. by BOB SAMPSON, JR

New York Fishing Reports 5/13/05

• ANGLERS fishing both the saltwater and freshwater will find the action more to their liking now that the weather is improving and the seasons for walleye and pickerel are open.
• Fluke, stripers, bass and bluefish are moving along the South and North Shores of Long Island. Fluke are becoming more and more a target as anglers know the big fish are caught early.
• Stripers are providing lots of action in lower New York Harbor, Raritan Bay and Jamaica Bay. There seems to be a ton of bass in western Long Island Sound, especially all the bays and harbors.
• The best winter flounder fishing on Long Island is in Moriches Bay and the big ones are over 3 pounds.
• Fluke fishing around Montauk picked up considerably when the wind died down and the sun came out. The open boat Lazybones had a nice afternoon trip on Tuesday with 10 keepers being taken and the pool tipping the scales at 8 pounds, 12 ounces. There are also big blackfish being caught off Block Island.
• The walleye season opened last Saturday in New York and thanks to the DEC stocking program, good walleye fishing can be found on Long Island, with anglers reporting fish up to 6 lbs. from Lake Ronkonkoma and Fort Pond the past 2 years.
• Excellent walleye action can also be found in the lower section of many of the Hudson tributaries, including Catskill Creek, Rondout Creek and the Wallkill River. The Delaware River is also a productive walleye fishery.
• Anglers who can't wait for the June 18 opener of muskellunge season in New York can take advantage of the DEC's tiger muskellunge stocking program. Tiger muskellunge, a northern pike/muskellunge hybrid produced in New Yorks hatcheries, are stocked in 40 waters throughout the state. In the eastern half of New York, good tiger waters include Cossayuna Lake, Lake Durant, Lake Lauderdale, Lincoln Pond and Round and New Croton Reservoir and Rockland Lake.
• Many of the best chain pickerel waters are in the southeastern section of the state with some good choices being the Rio and Mongaup Falls reservoirs, Harriman Park Lakes in Rockland County and Walton Lake in Orange County. On Long Island, the Peconic River provides some of the best chain pickerel fishing.

TheDay 5/13/05

• After two weeks of dismal reports of winter flounder, we finally have some good news to write about. Jack at the Fish Connection saw a catch of 24 fish to 3.8 pounds made by Ed Cubanksi and friends, location unknown, but Jack surmised they might have been caught off Jupiter Point.
• Small bass are spread out along the edges of the Thames River channel, and mixing in of late are a few 2-3-pound bluefish. Jack got a phone report on Thursday morning about a good catch of stripers made Wednesday night at Greenville Dam on eels and a plug by Gapen that looks exactly like a river herring. Squid are moving into both Niantic Bay and Stonington Harbor in good numbers and can be jigged at night with squid jigs; chumming helps.
• Richard at Hillyers Tackle also had some flounder limits to talk about. From Monday through Wednesday he saw three catches of eight flounder per person, one of them by a local named Frenchy, from the Niantic River above the roadway bridge.
  
• The pound net in Niantic Bay owned by Brian Sullivan is full of squid being sold to area tackle shops. Some people are out catching them on their own. In the last seven days the shop sold 50 squid jigs, plastic lures around two to three inches long with metal spikes sticking out of the bottom at a 45-degree angle. You lower one of these weighted lures down to the feeding squid that grab hold and get their tentacles caught in the spikes. Some people rig the jigs in tandem, getting multiple squid in one drop. Millstone started pumping again and as soon as the hot water started flowing out into the Sound it attracted schoolie stripers and the first small blues of the 2005 season.
• Down along the Rhode Island shore, Jack at Ocean House Marina said one of their slip customers had a great day in Ninigret Pond last Sunday. Using light conventional tackle with top water plugs and white bucktails he landed 34 stripers, five of them keepers. Fluke fishing remains very slow but shad are showing up in the pond and out along the surf line.
• Capt. Al Anderson of Snug Harbor has been splitting his time, catching school bass along the middle part of the Thames River and in the Narrows of Point Judith Pond. With all the cooler weather, the water temperature in the latter spotted dropped from the high 50s to high 40s in only a few days.
• King Cove Tackle in Stonington said people are having a ball catching schoolie bass in Stonington Harbor and in the coves above the railroad bridges plus both sides of the Pawcatuck River from The Ditch down past the Barn Island launch ramp. Those braving some of our cooler, windy days caught a few winter flounder at the mouth of the Mystic River. There are squid on the Watch Hill reefs but only a few sporadic stripers so far, and those were on the small fish.
• Cheryl at Shaffers in Mystic said the season is moving along, slow but sure, in spite of plenty of cold, windy days. Bob Lamphere fished with worms from the shore in the upper Mystic River around the I-95 Bridge for five stripers to 23 inches and one winter flounder. Allen Fee and Bill tried off the West Mystic rock pile on Monday for one lone schoolie. The next day they hit spots in Fishers Island Sound but caught only one more bass, a 27-incher off Seal Rock. Jim Meacham used a diamond jig around Valiant on the flood tide for a 35-inch bass and another went over to the south side of Fishers, returning with one keeper fluke. Bruce and Chuck made a run over to Montauk for six keeper fluke to 22 inches on Wednesday.
• Stephanie Cramer sent in her regular report saying she and a friend picked up 66 tiny bass from opposite Stoddard Park down to Horton Cove on her last trip in small boat to the Thames. The wind and cold kept her from wading and casting around buoy 27.
• Over at J&B Tackle in Niantic, Kyle Douton said we should see at least the start of bass catches in The Race by the 15th of this month. Fluking has started at Montauk but it's a slow pick as of press time. The Millstone outflow holds schoolies and small blues or you can try in Niantic Bay, anchored up and chumming, jigging for squid, either for food, or bait for bass or fluke.
• Sherwood Lincoln said the fluking over in Peconic Bay remains pretty slow as of Wednesday. With warmer weather and rising water temperatures this is expected to improve markedly. The lower Connecticut River is loaded with schoolies from the DEP Dock down to the Black Hall River.
• Mark at River's End said two of his customers saw a school of fish chasing bait on the surface off Harkness Park but couldn't tell just what they were. A third trolled umbrella rigs at Hatchetts Reef for his first two bass of the new season. You just might get a flounder or two, anchored up and chumming along some of the outside beaches with sandy bottom from Westbrook through Old Lyme.

New Britain Herald

• FISHING REPORT: River and stream trout fishing is excellent in most areas! Bait anglers are having success using worms and corn/mealworm combinations. Successful fly anglers are fishing Pheasant Tails, Yellow Prince Nymphs and Mahogany Duns. On the Farmington, the Hendrickson hatch is being called one of the best in recent memory. The Housatonic River is also producing both numbers and size of trout.Adamsin the evening are producing. Some Blue Wing Olives are on the water with Green Caddis starting to show up. Hendrickson spinner-falls are coming to a close. Good to excellent fishing is also reported from: the Farmill, Mill, Muddy, Naugatuck, Norwalk, Pequonnock, Quinnipiac and Still Rivers, Hall Meadow Brook, Sandy Brook, and the Kent Falls Trout Park, and the Branford, Coginchaug, Farm, Fenton, Five Mile, Jeremy, Moosup, Mount Hope, Natchaug, and theSalmon River.
• Anglers are enjoying good to excellent trout fishing in many lakes/ponds throughout Connecticut including Lake McDonough, Lake Wonoscopomuc, Crystal Highland, Candlewood Alexander, Coventry,East Twin, Amos, and Congamond Lakes, West Hill, Beach, Squantz ,Black Pond, and the Black Rock, Wolfe Park, Stratton Brook and Chatfield Hollow Trout Parks.
• Largemouth bass fishing is improving in most waters. Good fishing is reported from Lakes Saltonstall, Zoar and Lillinonah, Candlewood, Highland, Quonnipaug, Gardner, Pickerel, Pattaconk, Wyassup, Congamond, Rogers, Crystal Bashan, East Twin and Oxoboxo Lakes, Beach, Hatch, and Lower Moodus, North Farms and Taftville Reservoirs.
• Smallmouths are hitting at Lillinonah and Candlewood Lakes.
• Striped Bass are now in the river from Haddam to north of Hartford. Mostly school size (16-25") fish with some adults up to 42" reported.
• Out in the salt, striper fishing is good in the Pawcatuck River, Mystic River, Thames River, at Millstone Point, Niantic River, and the lower Connecticut River Fish are also being caught t in New Haven Harbor, the Devon power plant Bridgeport Harbor, Saugatuck River, Penfield Reef, the Norwalk Islands, and Stamford and Greenwich Point.
• Winter flounder angling is just fair at best. Flounder spots worth trying include Bluff Point State Park, Pine Island area at the mouth of the Thames River, Niantic Bay and Jordan Cove.
• The first bluefish of the season put in an appearance off Greenwich Point on Wednesday.

Conn Post 5/13/05

• Many anglers appear to be missing out on some the season's best fishing. Recent trips to the stocked rivers and ponds showed few anglers were out enjoying the nice weather and good fisheries. Those venturing out found plenty of trout, largemouth bass and striped bass available for the asking.
• Jack Ready of Stratford didn't stay home last week. He took a trip to the trophy trout park within the Pequonnock River Valley in Trumbull. Success came quickly when he caught a walloping 9.46-pound rainbow trout. According to Stratford Bait & Tackle, the big trout hit on a yellow Rooster Tail. Tom Taylor of Fairfield scored big at the Saugatuck Reservoir with a 6.10-pound Seeforellen brown trout. This fish hit on a live minnow.
• The state Department of Environmental Protection set a busy stocking schedule this past week. Trout-stocking trucks visited the lower Farmington River Trout Management Area, the Farmington River between Route 4 and Route 177, Muddy River, Quinnipiac River, Pickett's Pond, Stillwater Pond, the east and west branches of the Naugatuck River, Hall Meadow Pond, Lake McDonough, Colebrook Reservoir, Prospect Town Park Pond, Far Mill River, Nells Rock Reservoir, Stratton Brook State Park Pond, Hop Brook, Upper Fulton Park Pond, Black Rock State Park Pond, Kent Falls Brook and Southford Falls State Park Pond. They also visited Lake Winfield, the Farmington River from the Goodwin Dam to Route 20 and from Route 20 to the West Branch Trout Management Area, Wharton Brook State Park Pond, the entire Pequonnock River, Great Hollow Pond, Mill River in Hamden, Norwalk River, Mad River Flood Control Impoundment, Mad River, Sandy Brook and Still River.
• Largemouth bass angling also is highly rated with great reports coming from East Twin Lake, Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Highland Lake, Ball Pond, Hatch Pond, Mudge Pond, Halls Pond, Lake Lillinonah, Lake Zoar, Lake Saltonstall, Candlewood Lake, Gardner Lake, Bantam Lake and Beach Pond, which, according to the DEP, gave up a 9.1-pound largemouth bass last week.
• Anglers fishing Candlewood Lake should be aware that boat launching may be difficult at the Lattins Cove State Boat Ramp because of low water levels. Use the Squantz Cove State Boat Ramp or the ramp at the Danbury Beach.