Conn Post 6/23/06

1. Summer arrived this week in full regalia. Hot and humid weather, along with the occasional thunderstorm, greeted anglers all week. This climate change has improved angler success rates. Those fishing during the heat of the day are reporting good luck with blackfish, porgy, trout and freshwater panfish. Once the sun sets, striped bass, largemouth bass and walleye become more cooperative.
2. In spite of the heat, trout fishing is fair to good in the Mianus River Trout Management Area, the mainstem of the Farmington River, Pootatuck River, the Saugatuck River and the Blackberry River. Fly fishers are having good results with March Brown nymphs, Isonychia, Sulphurs, tan and green Caddis, Green Drakes, Blue Wing Olives and stoneflies. Baiters are scoring with corn/mealworm combinations.
3. Largemouth bass action has improved significantly over the past week. According to state Department of Environmental Protection reports, bass weighing more than five pounds were taken last week from Quonnipaug Lake, Beach Pond, Lake Saltonstall and Candlewood Lake. Other noteworthy bass spots are Lake Zoar, Lake Stibbs, Lake Winnemaug, Lake Lillinonah, Highland Lake, East Twin Lake, Tyler Pond, Bashan Lake, Congamond Lake, Lake Kenosia, Silver Lake, Rogers Lake, both the upper and lower Moodus Reservoir, Scoville Reservoir, Dog Pond, Ball Pond, Black Pond and Batterson Park Ponds.
4. Those fishing after dark are catching largemouth bass on poppers, twitch baits, 12-inch long soft plastic worms and live minnows. During the day, try spinnerbaits, four-inch long soft plastic worms, tube lures, crankbaits and buzzbaits.
5. Walleye continue to delight anglers at Squantz Pond and Coventry Lake between sunset and sunrise. To a lesser degree, walleye are coming out of Lake Saltonstall, Gardner Lake and the Saugatuck Reservoir. Lake Housatonic is also stocked with walleye, but very few fish have been reported this year. Walleye are easy to distinguish from its look-a-like yellow perch cousin by their sharp canine-like teeth. The northern pike, another toothy fish, are biting well at Pachaug Pond, Mansfield Hollow Reservoir and the Connecticut River. Both walleye and pike can be taken on live minnows.
6. Blackfish season opened very successfully last week with plenty of four-fish limits coming off the reefs and rock piles east of New Haven. Locally, the New Haven Harbor breakwaters, the Middleground area, Greens Ledge and Copps Rocks are yielding blackfish. Many of the same areas are also producing porgy. Wise anglers use a tandem hook rig baited with crab chunks for blackfish and sandworms for porgy. The tactic often produces a mixed bag of fish, including an occasional black sea bass.
7. Striped bass are now in their summer feeding patterns. During the day, it is possible to catch numerous short sub-legal bass in the local harbors and tidal rivers. Anglers looking for daylight 28-inch keepers should fish out at the harbor mouths or along the near-shore reefs, like Penfield Reef and Sunken Island. As the sun drops, bass anglers will find a mixture of shorts and keepers off Lighthouse Point, the West Haven sandbar, the West Haven Beach jetties, Charles Island, in Bridgeport Harbor, off Penfield Lighthouse, along Sherwood Island State Park, off Frost Point, in Southport Harbor and off Calf Pasture Beach.
8. Elsewhere, fluke are being caught off Black Point, in Niantic Bay, along the New Haven Harbor channels near the breakwaters, and at the mouth of the Housatonic River. Bluefish are feeding off Sixmile Reef, along the western edge of New Haven Harbor, around Pleasure Beach and off the Norwalk Islands. Hickory shad are bending rods in Niantic Bay and the lower Connecticut River. [Connecticut Post, FRANK MCKANE JR.]