CT Weekly Diadromous Fish Report

1. Connecticut River: Water temperatures on the mainstem are a bit cool (63-66F/17-19C) with flows dropping down to a seasonal 17,000 cfs. Temperatures in the tributaries are higher—Leesville was at 68F/20 C and Rainbow hit 75F/24C, which are temperatures at which salmon often stop migrating. We need a break in the hot weather to keep the system from overheating.
2. Smaller tributaries in Connecticut, not much has been observed other than some nesting lampreys and lots of smallmouth bass. Snorkeling surveys in tributaries indicate that the striper numbers have not rebounded to the level at which they were previously.
3. One big story is the total absence of blueback herring. Justin Davis of UConn is seeing them in his samples on the main river and coves but we’re not seeing them on spawning runs up any tributaries. The fishway counts are still very low.
4. Flows along the Connecticut shoreline have dropped back down to seasonal levels and all fishways are operational again. However, the alewife runs appears to be over in many places so the streams are pretty quiet.
5. The exception was the Housatonic River, where there have been reports of river herring at the Derby Dam (likely blueback herring), Mianus Pond Fishway (sampled, and confirmed to be bluebacks), and at Bulkley Pond Dam on Sasco Brook (sampled, and they were still alewives). No reports from many locations this week.
6. The Shetucket River is back down to normal levels and all three fishways are again operational. We resumed tagging shad at Greeneville this past week and this time, they were trucked around Taftville to below the Occum Dam. More tagging will continue next week.
7. Eel passage is starting to pick up at some locations although glass eel capture at the fyke nets remains low and reinforces the belief that the run is basically over.
8. For more detailed info and numbers click on the link.