Danbury Times 5/20/06

While trout fishing — especially in streams — and fishing for stripers in the tidal rivers took a nosedive with the heavy rains over the past week, fresh-water bass-fishing in lakes and ponds remained good, and walleye-fishing picked up considerably, in both the Saugatuck Reservoir and Squantz Pond.
Dawn and dusk fishing with live bait — preferably with live alewives at Squantz — fished on or close to the bottom in 6-to-10 feet of water seems to be the productive strategy for walleye at this time, as the fish have recently finished recuperating from the rigors of the spawn, and are now in “re-energize mode,” feeding heavily when bait fish are available in relatively shallow water under low-light conditions.
After dark, it should be possible to catch a few of those same walleye up in water three-feet-deep or shallower, tossing a slender plug capable of a passable imitation of an alewife. Jerkbaits like the Husky Jerk, X-Rap or Pointer Minnow are ideal, but don’t get carried away with the jerking and pausing. A slow, fairly constant retrieve will usually prove better with walleye after dark.

As far as the bass are concerned, quite a few smallies are still on the beds in Candlewood, and experience suggests that there’s another wave of brown bass that hasn’t yet spawned and is due to hit the gravely areas in three-to-eight feet of water sometime over the next week or so. Largemouth in ponds are about done spawning, but in the bigger waters like Candlewood, as well as small but deep lakes like Twin, Wononscopomuc, etc., the majority of them are staged and ready, but have yet to get serious about nesting. Expect to find them hanging around boulders in 3-to-15 feet of water, near the mouths of spawning coves.