Capt Morgan Madison 12/1/05

1. Pick your days and you'll still hook into a striped bass, bluefish, and/or tautog. With some warm days left ahead (in spite of the recent blast of cold), the fishery in the Sound is refusing to totally yield. There is an emotional clash going on between fishermen that hunt and hunters that fish. Certainly, there are very few plausible excuses for empty space in the freezer this year as fish fillets are readily being packaged, fowl dressed, and venison processed.
2. No doubt, the weather will continue toward a wintry trend and dipping water temperatures will eventually bring this fishing season to a somewhat dormant state. I say "somewhat dormant," because there will still be activity in the Sound although limited. Moreso, of course, in the upper reaches of the tidal rivers where stripers can be coaxed into taking a lure or two once the contents of their stomachs have undergone a much slower digestive process.
3. For now, eels, chunks, and/or diamond jigs are working on any given bass or blue outing, weather conditions being the key. Successful eel and plug casting from shore depends also on the elements with smaller bass being caught at the base of the main tidal rivers. Look for striper fishing to continue into December or until such time as the water temperature dips below the mid-forties.
4. Fish for tautog, on the other hand, until Dec. 13 when the 2005 season officially closes for the year. Madison and Southwest Reefs have been the hot spots locally with fish in the four- to six-pound range now being caught. Hatchett's, as well as the walls in New Haven, have also been producing togs with many rock piles in-between holding fish.
5. Broodstock salmon fishing in the Shetucket continues to be good and, as mentioned earlier, is worth a trip or two. Some sizeable fish have been introduced into that waterway and it is the hope of most anglers who fish it that many will be returned so fishing for them will be prolonged. The largest caught to date has been 25.75 pounds.
6. Both the Naugatuck and Shetucket Rivers should have approximately 1,800 broodstock Atlantic salmon stocked this fall. Fish for them with only one free-swinging hook or single fly without additional weight added to the line. The limit is one salmon per day per angler from Dec. 1 through March 31—through Nov. 30, catch and release is the only game in town [The Day, Captain Morgan]