Conn Post Frank McKane 7/22/05

1. Summer took a dramatic turn over the past week with hazy, hot and humid weather. This climate change seemed to affect anglers more than the fish. While air temperatures were pushing 90 and keeping fishers near air conditioners, the water surface temperature in Long Island Sound only ranged from the mid 60s to the low 70s. Inland, the lake water temperatures are in the mid- to upper-70s. These water temperatures are very comfortable for most game fish species.
2. Two great children stories came out of Stratford. Allison Bourque, 7, of Stratford, won East End Yacht Club's annual children's fishing derby last weekend after she caught a 13.50-pound sand shark. Joe Mancini, 15, of Stratford, caught his first keeper striped bass last week off the Birdseye Street fishing pier. His fish weighed 14.64 pounds.
3. Fluke action seemed to rebound this week. Locally, the five-plus pound mega-fluke have all but vanished. But there are enough three pounders to keep the fishery alive. If you want to catch big fluke, head to the deeper waters of the eastern Sound, where most of the trophy class fish are coming from water greater than 100 feet deep. In the shallow water, look for fluke off Shea Island in Norwalk, Buoy 2A, the mouth of Southport Harbor, Penfield Reef, the breakline at the mouth of the Housatonic River and the New Haven Harbor channels outside of the breakwaters.
4. Larry Lainey of Stratford tried fluke fishing in New Haven Harbor last week where he caught a limit of fluke. His largest fish weighed 4.12 pounds. Two other fish were close to four pounds at 3.91 and 3.86. Anglers are reminded that the state Department of Environmental Protection imposed a 17-inch minimum and a six-fish daily creel limit. Also, if you fillet your fluke on the water, you must keep the skeleton rack to prove the fish met the minimum size requirement.
5. Striped bass fishing has been fair to good throughout the Sound. Two hot tactics have emerged for catching the trophy 30-pound bass. The first option is to catch a bunch of porgy and keep them in a live well. Then, free-line the live porgy over reefs and points. The bass can't resist the struggling scup. Another proven method is to troll or drift with a snake and eel skin. Look for the snake models made from rubber instead of latex plastic. The rubber gives a better action and holds up against fish teeth, barnacles and sharp rocks.
6. Gary Smith of Weston caught a 36-pound striped bass off the Middleground last week. He was drifting a black bucktail jig with a yellow pork rind trailer on a three-way set-up according to the Jimmy O's report. Nick Terek of Fairfield stopped by Ted's Bait & Tackle with a 23.65 pound striped bass he landed off Stamford. Chris Alvarez of Shelton hooked a 12.90-pound striper in the Housatonic River. Both of the above fish were taken on bunker chunks.
7. Elsewhere on the Sound, small harbor bluefish are cooperating in all the area harbors. Blackfish action is fair to good on the reefs off New Haven. Porgy are on most of the reefs and rock piles in 25 to 40 feet of water. Mark Stanley of Stratford was fishing for fluke at the mouth of the Housatonic River last week. Instead of catching a fluke, he hooked a 10.66-pound weakfish on a squid rig.
8. Largemouth bass fishing is good to excellent around the state. The best reports have been coming from Gardner Lake, Beseck Lake, Congamond Lake, Mamanasco Lake, Candlewood Lake, East Twin Lake, Stillwater Pond, Hatch Pond, Lake Saltonstall and Mansfield Hollow Reservoir. Anglers fishing the larger, water-skiing lakes report the better fishing is coming around dawn and in late evening when the pleasure boats are in dry dock.
9. In spite of the heat, trout remain active in the Housatonic River trout management area, the upper Naugatuck River, Farmington River, Fivemile River and Salmon River. Look for rainbow trout in the fast water rapids and brown trout in the larger, deeper pools.