TheDay 4/28/06

1. Greetings, another season has dawned and despite some chill spring winds, people are stirring out and about on our waters, looking for the first fish of a new saltwater fishing year. At this point the news is on the slim side, but we will begin.
2. Capt. Kerry at J&B Tackle in Niantic told me about some better than average flounder catches from the Niantic River. It's not numbers of years past but enough for people in small boats to catch supper and maybe a few left over for the next meal. Schoolie bass are up around Golden Spur taking small plastic lures on very light spin rods. No action to date at Millstone nor has an early bird ventured to The Race looking for the first larger bass of the year.
3. Al Golinski of Misquamicut is about two weeks away from putting his boat in the water. The only catches have been small bass from the shore between the Pawcatuck River and Matunuck, R.I. Be warned the weather along the beach is still very cool so bring extra clothes if you make the drive to Rhode Island.
4. Moving to Charlestown, we heard from Capt. Don's about a few flounder caught in the salt ponds with the exception of Quonny Pond. That body of water has been devoid of flounder for several seasons now.
5. Shore anglers are getting fair to excellent numbers of small stripers from the Pawcatuck River around Cemetery Cove east to the West Wall jetty at Point Judith, R.I. The hot lure of the moment is a three-inch Cocahoe Minnow in white or pearl on a 1/4-3/4-ounce lead head. The last warm day produced a worm hatch in Charlestown Pond, eager news for flyrodders from several states. Most locals who want cod and haddock are driving to Gloucester, Mass., to charter a six-man boat or got out for a day trip on a party boat.
6. Capt. Al Anderson spent this past Tuesday taking Dennis Kelly and Stephanie Cramer to the Thames River for 147 stripers to 41/2 pounds on fly rods, all tagged and released. Al remarked there are new, fresh-run stripers coming into the river on a steady basis.
7. At Stonington, King Cove Oufitters said anyone that wants to get out of the house can get schoolies from Cemetery Cove upriver almost to the Westerly Bridge, the flats off Napatree Point and of late, inside the Quonny Breachway, the latter spot best at the end of one tide, slack water and the beginning of the next tide before the current runs too hard.
8. Allen Fee at Shaffers said they've been open for business about two weeks now, seeing small bass caught around Six Penny Island and the north end of Mason's Island on lures and a 31-incher on a worm fished on the bottom from the dock along Cottrell Street. Sam Godfrey and Morgan Arnold, both from Mystic, have been catching tiny stripers at times from the Mason's Island Bridge on small Storm shads.
9. This year the fluke season in Connecticut opens on April 30. You are allowed to keep six fish with an 18-inch minimum size. Porgy season will start on June 1 with a 25 fish per person limit if the fish are 101/2 inches long. Sea bassing remains open all year long with a 12-inch minimum and a bag limit of 25 per day.
10. Some of the locals from Preston were driving to Point Judith to jig up squid from the docks at night said Capt. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection. The Thames River offers bass the whole length with the biggest ones currently around the base of the Greenville Dam when there's water coming over. Flounder catches are on the slow side from Bluff Point and the coves in the lower part of the river. There are so many little bass around right now one gent had them taking soft baits meant for blackfish at Sarah's Ledge.
11. Mark at Hillyers Tackle in Waterford reported some better flounder catches along the edges of the Niantic River channel up around the Army Base. Some people limited out while others had a couple in the bucket. Blackfish season is closed now and will reopen on June 15 with a four fish limit and 14-inch size requirement. The pound net in the bay is seeing a lot of squid at night; some of these are finding their way into the river where they might be jigged under dock lights.
12. My good friend Sherwood Lincoln is ready for another season and diamond jigging some bass in The Race around mid-May. Small boaters had lots of bass from 14 to 20 inches in the lower Connecticut River on a variety of small plugs and plastic lures. Flounder reports from the Spindle, normally a hot spot in years past, are few and far between.
13. Mark at River's End in Old Saybrook closed out our first column, saying the flounder fishing in the Connecticut River is very poor at this time, better over in Niantic. School striper fishing on the other had is at its spring peak number wise. In time the numbers will drop somewhat but the average size will improve. If you don't like casting lures, you can dunk a worm on the bottom from the DEP Pier in Old Lyme for both small bass and maybe some white perch. [The Day, Tim Coleman]