On The Water 4/27/06

• The recent rains and cold snap earlier in the week have served to stall the progression of events and chill area waters, especially shallow freshwater ponds. Freshwater bass are nearing their spawn and even on the beds in some shallower lakes while in others they are still in the pre spawn mode. Winter flounder fishing is so-so to horrible, with the Norwalk Islands and Niantic being the only two places in this week’s report where fishermen aren’t complaining.
• Over the line in Connecticut, Bill at King Cove Outfitters in Stonington said there is plenty of schoolie action in the Pawcatuck River, good numbers of smaller fish with the occasional keeper mixed in. These fish are chasing herring and a few adult bunker that showed up out of nowhere this week. That probably explains the keeper bass Captain Don heard about. Bill noted that customers have also been catching some small bass off Napatree Point and in the upper reaches of Stonington Harbor. There are some squid starting to show up in the commercial nets off shore, which means the migration of squid is about on time. When they get in closer to shore next week or the first week of May, count on bigger bass to be chowing them on the surface and fluke to be ambushing them from below.
• A few anglers have been chasing blackfish and winter flounder, but none of them have come back bragging about what they caught. Waters may be a tad cool in Rhody waters and the cooler, eastern end of Long Island Sound, but to the west from Madison, Connecticut to New York, the blackfish action has been excellent.
• Cheryl Al Fee of Shaffer’s Marina in Mystic said that it’s been a little quiet lately down her way; most of her customers either don’t have their boats in or have dropped them in so they can get to their lawns. Her brother Al caught a couple small schoolie bass in the Mystic River on a short excursion the other night. He said the bass are around but not really active yet. She has not heard of anyone taking winter flounder from the Mystic River since they opened the shop for the season, two weeks ago.
• Up the Thames River in Preston, Rennie of The Fish Connection told me that the both the Shetucket and Yantic River are fishing well lately. One problem is the loss of a major chunk of private land to access in the upper portion of the fly-fishing area. The lower, open end of the Yantic River has been more heavily stocked as a result. Rennie said that the Salmon River was stocked this week with some very big trout. Mohegan Park received a few nets of stocked trout on Wednesday as well. Wooly Buggers and bead-head nymphs were working well on the Moosup River and Farmington Rivers. Hendrickson hatches are also coming off. Small black gnat flies will work when these pesky little bugs out in abundance. At least they don’t bite around here like they do in the North Country.
• Thames River is loaded with schoolies, but the larger fish that were around a week ago were nowhere to be found this week for some reason. Near Greenville Dam there are a few keepers but no really hot action from larger fish yet. But there should be soon based on fish passage reports of alewives running strong at Greenville Dam with 1,800 already counted but only a shad or two so far.
• Richard at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford said that the winter flounder action has remained pretty good in the Niantic River. Over the weekend they weighed in a 2.5-pound winter flounder along with a few other nice fish. Blackfish catches have improved but the season comes to a close at the end of the month. They weighed in a 9.5-pound blackfish earlier in the week and customers have been talking about catching some quality fish. A few larger striped bass are rumored to have taken in the Thames and Connecticut Rivers, but no specific catches to report. The schoolie action remains good in the Niantic River.
• At the mouth of the Connecticut River in Saybrook, Pat Abate of River’s End Tackle said schoolies are all over the place and providing some great fishing action. The river is presently clean flowing and it’s not warming too fast, which when combined with the mild weather equates to tons of action from striped bass at this time of year. Even the anglers who are fishing from the DEP pier and the Causeway are catching and releasing good numbers of 14- to 20-inch fish. Those in boats are taking large numbers of fish, but all this stripers are less than two feet in length. Pat feels this small fish bite will change for the better in a few days. Up river in Portland, anglers are reportedly taking some stripers in the 25- to 30-inch range. Soon the jumbos will be chasing shad and herring below the Enfield Dam.
• Blackfishing has been excellent around the Clinton breakwater, but Pat said the winter flounder fishing has been “dismal” just as it has been pretty much every place to the east, other than Niantic River. He heard of a few weakfish in the New Haven harbor area, which is about on schedule. Most years, May is the time when these fish make a run across the Sound and provide some action for anglers in the triangle between Guilford, Falkner Island and the Housatonic River. Rivers End Tackle his holding a seminar on a hot new topic, “Fishing the Butterfly Jigs” presented by the Shimano pro staff, Saturday, May 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison verified the rumors that Pat heard about the weakfish starting to make their move into the New Haven area. Blackfishing has been excellent from Westbrook to Madison in close around the rocks with anglers coming into the shop with fish up to about 9 pounds. The Captain said it appears there are some fish moving out of the Hudson River because he’s been seeing some bigger and fresher looking small fish in the Madison area. He said some of these fish have sea lice on them. I’m thinking that based on the stripers the guys are seeing at Newport, these “fresh bass” could have turned the corner around Montauk Point and are some of the early run, immature, non-spawners that always hit this area before the big guys every spring.
• There are a few winter flounder are around but not many being caught.
• Trout action is still red hot in the Hammonassett River. The heavily stocked trout park at Chatfield Hollow has been productive lately. This is a great place to take a family, kids, or anyone who’s just getting started on fishing because these places are stocked heavily and odds of hooking up are high.
• Some of the best catches in the Stratford area this week were some nice big blackfish they weighed in at Stratford Bait and Tackle, said owner Chris Fulton. Henry Booth caught an 11-pound, 2-ouncer and his partner an 8.6-pounder along with the remainder of a two-man limit. They caught their fish on sand worms and Asian crabs. Larry Leiney brought in a fat a 4-pound blackfish earlier in the week.
• Not much in the way of bigger striped bass yet, but there are tons of schoolies around. Due to the rains over the weekend and extreme tides, there has been so much junk floating in the Housatonic customers have been finding the fishing very tough. This weekend should see some improvement.
• Burt at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk said their customers have been catching lots of schoolies from the Calf Pasture pier, along with a few winter flounder. Greg Hooper and friends caught 20 winter flounder from a boat in front of the pier over the weekend. These guys are chumming heavily with ground clams; no chum equals fewer fish. Rick Dayhuff caught 18 stripers from the Housatonic River earlier in the week. One guy caught 28 bunker in a gill net on Friday in Norwalk Harbor, which bodes well for the movement of some bigger stripers into the area any time after the bunker show. The islands are holding good numbers of stripers, with anglers who fish from the pier reporting 7, 8 or more stripers per person, up to about 22 inches. They are hooking some keeper-class fish, but most are lost when they have to walk them down the pier to the rocks to land them. The bigger fish simply break off in the pilings or work the hook free during the extended battle.
• Their freshwater customers have also been successful lately. Frank Albano caught a 6.5-pound largemouth bass from parts unknown while Robert Bray caught a 5.75-pound rainbow over in the Trumbull area on a Phoebe lure.
• Freshwater:
• Bill Hopkins of Hope Valley Bait and Tackle, Hope Valley, Rhode Island said the bass action is a mix right now, with lots of cruising fish and a few sitting on the nests in the shallower, warmer areas of Rhody’s many small, shallow lakes. The state stocked trout Wednesday in the Wood River and Trout Unlimited folks did a float stocking near Route 165. This week Bill has been weighing in many larger trout between 3 to 6 pounds, now that the fish are starting to feed after getting used to their new homes. He said he’d rate the trout fishing at “A-plus” right now with the cooler waters and higher flow rates. May flies, size 20 mosquitoes, black gnats in sizes 20 to 24 have been working. On over cast days and in the evenings, toss bigger stuff like stone flies and Wooly Buggers. He sayid to move them faster so the bigger fish don’t get a good look at the fraud.
• Over in Lebanon, Connecticut, Jim Dimitri of Lebanon Sports Center said that meal worms are producing the best catches of trout for their customers, noting its “the bait of choice at the present time.” So far it’s been a very good season on the Yantic River and nearby Salmon River, with many quality fish being caught and released
• Some very nice trout have been weighed in at Mike’s Bait and Tackle in Voluntown, including a 8.25-pound rainbow that came in from the Shetucket River and a 4.25-pound rainbow out of Lillbridge Pond, along with many big browns from Beach Pond since the last report. People are talking about fishing in Beach Pond for but no one is telling him if much has been caught. Beach Pond was initially stocked three years ago, so this year the walleyes from the first year’s fingerling stocking will be reaching the state’s 18-inch minimum length by mid summer. I’m sure a few of the faster growers are probably that size and maybe as large as 20 inches by now.
• Captain John Planeta, owner of Franks Tackle in Marlborough said the water in the area streams rose dramatically from the heavy rains this past weekend, which has improved the conditions on many trout streams in the area. On Opening Day he weighed in a 6.5-pound largemouth from a farm pond in Hebron. Roaring Brook produced an 8-pound rainbow over last weekend and he heard of a 4-pound rainbow that was caught and released mid week (probably just after the fresh stocking of quality fish) in the Salmon River. One customer accidentally caught, photographed and immediately released a 4-foot long sturgeon that ate the sand worms he was using to catch striped bass. John said the schoolie stripers are all over the Connecticut River at the present time.
• Your best bet this week is still school stripers for sheer action and blackfish for some fillet material. In the freshwater, trout, panfish and largemouths will be hitting well in area lakes and rivers. We haven’t heard much from the calico bass fishing crowd, but these fish should be peaking in many area lakes right about now.