CT DEP Weekly Marine

1. STRIPED BASS fishing is good off Watch Hill, Sandy Point and Ram Island Reef in Fishers Island Sound, south side of Fishers Island including the rip off Wilderness Point, the Race (Valiant Rock), the Sluiceway, Plum Gut, Bartlett Reef, Millstone Point, Long Sand Shoal, Sixmile Reef, Southwest Reef, the reefs off Branford, Sandy Point in New Haven Harbor, Stratford Point area, Penfield Reef, Norwalk Islands, and the Cows off Stamford. The tube and worm combination has been working well for cow linesiders.
2. HICKORY SHAD fishing is fair to good in the Niantic River.
3. SUMMER FLOUNDER fishing is fair with alot of sub-legal "throwback" being reported. Flounder spots include the Mystic River to Groton Long Point, south side of Fishers Island (Isabella Beach), Black Point area, Niantic River, Westbrook-Clinton area, off Hammonasset Beach, Falkner Island area, off the New Haven Harbor breakwaters, and the Milford area to the mouth of the Housatonic River.
4. BLUEFISH fishing remains consistent in the Race and off Wilderness Point (Fishers Island), Plum Gut and Millstone Point, Sixmile Reef off Clinton, New Haven Harbor, the Milford-Charles Island area to the mouth of the Housatonic River, and off the Norwalk Islands.
5. TAUTOG fishing is good on the major reefs in Fishers Island Sound, Goshen Point (Harkness Memorial State Park), Bartlett Reef, Hatchett Reef, Sixmile Reef, Kimberly Reef, Goose Island, the reefs off Branford, Stratford Shoal/Middle Ground, Penfield reef, and Greens Ledge.
6. SCUP can also be found on the reefs and wrecks throughout LIS.

Conn Post 7/6/06

1. Anglers wishing to catch their own largemouth bass can visit Lake Zoar, Lake Saltonstall, Winchester Lake, the Bolton Lake chain, Highland Lake, East Twin Lake, Mashapaug Lake, Tyler Pond, Wononscopomuc Lake, Quonnipaug Lake, Lake Waramaug, Pachaug Pond, Moosup Pond, Moodus Reservoir, Bashan Lake and Lake Kenosia. The fish have been hitting poppers, buzzbaits, spinnerbaits, soft-plastic worms, "Flipping" tube lures, Slug-gos and live minnows.
2. For smallmouth bass, travel to Gardner Lake, Highland Lake, Mashapaug Lake, Candlewood Lake, and the Housatonic River between Lake Lillinonah and Bulls Bridge. In-line spinners, topwater plugs and slow-moving crankbaits are the smallmouth bass hunters' mainstays.
3. Elsewhere on the freshwater scene, northern pike are cooperating at Bantam Lake, the Connecticut River and Pachaug Pond. Walleye fishing is fair to good at Lake Saltonstall and Gardner Lake. Only modest walleye reports have come from Squantz Pond. Chuck Saxonmeyer of Fairfield caught a 3.70-pound walleye in Lees Pond earlier this week. Lees Pond is not stocked with walleye, but Saxonmeyer's fish swam about seven miles downstream from the walleye-stocked Saugatuck Reservoir.
4. Trout fishing remains good in spite of the summer heat. Joe D'Lugos of Stratford caught a 5.92-pound natural brown trout at the Saugatuck Reservoir last week on a live minnow. The reservoir also gave Albert Tirnadi of Fairfield a 13.00-pound Seeforellen brown trout. This fish was caught on a Krocodile Spoon and verified at Ted's Bait & Tackle.

5. Long Island Sound is loading up with fish now that summer has taken hold. On Monday, I took a trip aboard the "Middlebank" Part Boat from Captain's Cove Seaport. The boat's 31 patrons caught 59 fluke and uncounted sea robins during the trip. Only six keeper-sized fluke came topside, including a five- pound fish. The Sound has plenty of fluke, but anglers must work hard to catch 18-inch legal fish.

6. Along with fluke, sea bass, porgy and blackfish abound on the rocks and reefs. Bob Barnes of Monroe weighed in a 5.22-pound black sea bass at Stratford Bait & Tackle. He caught the fish off Milford on a squid strip. Bob Kristoff of Oxford landed a 2.84-pound porgy off Clinton last week.

7. Bluefish are increasing in numbers and size throughout the Sound, especially in New Haven Harbor, off Milford, at the mouth of the Housatonic River and off the Norwalk Islands. Matt Silva, 15, of Stratford, caught a 10.08-pound bluefish last week behind Charles Island on a popper.

8. Striped bass action remains good to excellent on the offshore reefs and shoals. Live-lining eels, hickory shad, bunker or porgy has been the best tactic for catching big bass. The smaller fish are striking lures, small bunker chunks and tube-and-sandworm combination rigs. Some of the better offshore areas have been Buoy 28C, Buoy 20, Middleground, Stratford Point, the reefs off Branford and Southwest Reef. Look for inshore bass along Long Wharf, off Walnut Beach, Gulf Beach, in Milford Harbor, the Housatonic River between the Merritt Parkway Bridge to Short Beach, Bridgeport Harbor, Fayerweather Island and inside Black Rock Harbor. [FRANK MCKANE JR.]

On The Water, 7/7/06

1. Best Bets for CT & RI: The concentration of big bass that was stagnant in the extreme western end of Long Island Sound and the bunker they were eating seem to be heading east so anything can happen over the next week or two. This weekend, look for pulses of larger bass to continue moving east along the coast, especially if the sun comes out and cooks the shallows to levels they don’t want to tolerate. If the bunker continue to move eastward as well count on the potential to catch bigger stripers any place a school is located. Block Island is probably the best spot to take a 50-pounder as always this time of year. Keep in mind that it’s the summer big bass period and it’s always fickle, good one day poor the next, no matter where you drop an eel or live bait.
2. We had so much rainy, water-cooling weather last month that some of the movement of fish has been delayed to a point. Captain Jack Balint, who runs a charter boat out of the Fish Connection, said that he doesn’t think that the bigger bass have settled into the shallower waters around Fishers Island where he does a good deal of his light-line fishing. This appears to be the case based on reports of some larger bass still lingering to the west, between Stratford and the New York border, which is late for this calendar date. But there’s still adult bunker schools that are being spread out in the areas where the 30-pound-class bass are still being caught. Bluefish are moving in and everyone is talking about porgies this week, which is a bad sign for anglers who fish shallow with tube and worms and fluke angler who have their baits ransacked by scup all summer long.
3. Fluke fishing is the same story no matter where you go. Lots of fish, mostly small.
4. Peter at Saltwater Edge, Newport reports that after a five to seven day hiatus, the bait is coming into their area once again, so the striped bass and blues are also in the area to eat them. There have been “lots of skunkings” until Wednesday of this week, according to Peter, but the action has definitely improved in the past few days. No one is catching any “epic fish” down in the Newport area lately, but there are still 20-pound-plus fish to be caught especially by fishing after dark with live bait of some sort.
5. The larger striper still seem to be holding up inside Narragansett Bay and feeding on the schools of bunker that have been in that area for a few weeks. One commercial fisherman pulled in a net for bunker and had a couple of 40-pound-class bass mixed in with the haul. This means they are still seeing pulses of fish moving through the region. Everything else I have heard of fits this scenario, fish moving rapidly along the coast as water temps warm.
6. Rob at Wildwood Outfitters has a mobile bait truck running along the fishing spots from Green River to the south shore. Check their web sight for the schedule. No one out at Block Island is even talking about fish under 20 pounds and there are some 40’s being caught off the southeast corner, with improved quality of fish showing up off the North Rips as the season progresses.
7. Wildwood’s crew has been either catching or hearing about good fluke catches that have been as high as 50/50 shorts/keepers being taken from the west gap and center walls at Point Judith. Along the beaches the best catches have been coming from 30 to 35 feet of water.
8. Justin at Breachway Tackle, Charlestown said the fishing is still good in their region of the south shore. There are still good numbers of schoolies inside the salt pond, with some much bigger bass cruising along the beaches, but mostly outside around the breachways and reefs adjacent to the salt ponds. Ronnie who owns the shop, has been catching limits of 30-pounders all week with his charter customers.
9. Everyone from Saltwater Edge, to Wildwood Outfitters, Breachway and Captain Don’s said that the blues have moved in for the summer. Most of the fish are smaller, in the 2- to 4-pound range, but there are some anglers who are reporting ten-pound-class catches.
10. The waters off Charlestown produced fluke of 7.5 pounds and 8.2 pounds over the weekend. However, the keeper to short ratio has ranged from one to three Rhode Island 17.5-inch legals for every 10 fish brought into the boat. Anglers are catching 30 fish and bringing home 2 to 4 keepers. One guy Justin heard of only caught a single keeper out of about 30 fish that he caught over the holiday weekend. I made a trip to Misquamicut a week ago and only caught a single Connecticut keeper out of the 20 I landed, but four or five would have been legal had I been a Rhody resident.
11. John of Captain Don’s, Tackle, Route 1, Charlestown, Rhode Island said fluke action is clearly picking up in the number of keepers to shorts. This is due in part to growth. Fish that were 17.5 inches a month ago are pushing legal size right now. The quantities are the same but the size has improved. Don Dinucci took fish to 8 pounds over the weekend off Charleston in 45 feet of water. Armand Mateo from Pawcatuck caught a near 5-pounder off Misquamicut early in the week.
12. There was a monster bass of 56 pounds caught off Block Island during the holidays. John said they didn’t officially weigh the fish they just saw it, the official weight was taken somewhere else, but it was a monster. Tube and worming is still productive for mostly small bass up inside Quonny Pond, for bass of medium to schoolie size. There are big stripers in the breachways but they have been difficult to catch lately. Scup are abundant all over the place and are beginning to become a negative factor for fluke fishermen and anglers trolling tube-and-worm rigs in shallow water.
13. I took a run to the south side of Fishers Island on Monday to do some tube and worming with a couple friends and the action fit the description of many areas to the west. We didn’t catch any larger fish, even after dark on eels. All we managed was a dozen bass, top end about 28 inches, a half-dozen bluefish to about 4 pounds and a whopping big 15.5-inch scup. One charter captain I talk to frequently gave me exactly the same report for Sunday in the shallows along the south side of Fishers, not many fish and all small, but he caught more blues than we did. I skipped areas once we caught a bluefish, he didn’t.
14. Captain Jack Balint of The Fish Connection, Preston said the ratio of fluke off the beaches is still off kilter. His dad Joe and another angler made a run that touched the south side of Fishers Island and the beaches from Misquamicut to the west and had a tough time, taking a keeper for every 10 fish they boated. One thing anglers can do to reduce the handling of smaller fluke is to use larger hooks and larger baits. Rather than using a four-inch strip of squid, use a whole squid or a fillet of big fish like a mackerel, hickory shad or bunker rather than a small frozen smelt or silversides.
15. It appears that the hordes of larger stripers that have been concentrated in the western end of Long Island sound are at least beginning to trickle to the east. Howard at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford told me they have been hearing of a few more 20-pound-plus stripers being caught in along the shore, rather than from the Race and other deepwater reef areas over the past few days. Local fluking good has continued to improve over the past week. Still mostly shorts but they saw fish up to 8 pounds at the scales. Blackfishing is still holding up very well in the Niantic area. Some nice fish, but nothing like the 10- to 14-pounders reported just after the season opened, have been caught over the past week in the Niantic area. The interesting fact is many fish over 4 pounds have been caught from shore, right from the pilings and docks between the bridges in Niantic as well as off Harkness Park.
16. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said the big news this week has been the influx of bluefish. The reports of larger stripers seem to have faded for the time being, maybe because the blues are getting in the way like they tend to do when both species are competing for food or to strike a lure. Fluke action in this area remains about the same, but no reports of doormats this week. The Captain heard of decent summer flounder being caught off Long Sand Shoal, off the mouth of the Connecticut River and in the shoals just south of Falkner Island. He didn’t weigh in any stripers over 20 pounds or so this week, but there are reports of bunker moving through the area. To me this is probably some of the bait that had been west of New Haven for the past few weeks. If there are some adult bunker in an area you can count on the jumbo bass to be right on their tails.
17. To the west, from Stratford to the New York border it looks like the big bass and bunker that they had been eating are on the move. There are still some nice stripers being caught, but the rate has slowed a great deal since last week’s report.
18. Chris Fulton owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle Stratford said the big striped bass that his customers had been catching in 40 to 60 feet of water off the mouth of the Housatonic River and in the deeper waters of the Sound have moved. Some apparently have moved east, but some of these larger fish have simply moved inshore, which has created some decent plug fishing in the lower Housey and areas around Bridgeport. For the past three weeks anglers fishing the surf with artificials have not done well, but things finally changed for the better this week as the “after work crew” finally began to connect with some decent, keeper-class stripers. As the blues have come inshore, they out compete the bass for lures and baits, a typical summertime scenario. Bluefish are moving into the area, but the bass action continues to hold up despite their presence, at least for the time being. There are some bluefish in the area that are pushing 10 pounds, but the average fish are in the 5- to 8-pound range, a good deal larger than the dinks anglers are dealing with to the east and along the Rhody coast.
19. The fluke action has improved. The smaller 17.5-inchers are finally growing into keeper size, because Chris said anglers are doing better than the ten-to-one, short-to-keeper ratio we’ve been seeing elsewhere. One lucky angler caught some decent black sea bass of 5.2 pounds and just over 4 pounds while fluking off Charles Island, in the channel leading out from Milford Harbor. The fact that the sun has finally shined for a few days has helped the fishing reports by allowing many anglers the opportunity to finally get out on the water and see what’s happening.
20. Nick at Fisherman’s World, Norwalk said that there are still a few bigger bass up to about 30 pounds left in their area, but most are being caught in deeper waters due to increasing water temperatures this time of year. The larger bass are still coming from Budds Reef, Buoys 11-B, and 28 -C from anglers who are catching their fish on bunker chunks and three-way worm rigs. There are still some bunker in the area but they are hard to find. Chris had the sense the bunker are being pushed through the area at the present time. There are bunker in Blackrock Harbor but that’s the only place they can be counted on. The deepwater reefs are the places to look for larger stripers right now as inshore shallow waters begin to get too warm for their liking.
21. Blues are in the middle of the Sound and feeding on top, where fishermen are catching them on poppers. Look for diving birds or swirls and you’ve probably found bluefish in western Long Island Sound.
22. Fluke fishing is remains good off Eatons Neck and off the Golf Course. A few anglers are saving gas and catching them locally, in the Norwalk Islands off Middle Package, Pecks Ledge and out in the waters in front of Sherwood Island State Park. No monsters are coming in from these areas, but it is not unusual for people to come into the shop with fish of five or six pounds. One angler caught an 8-pound doormat off Cockenoe Island over the weekend. Porgies are hitting now, with the best catches coming in from Can #1, Buoy 28, around all the high spots off Middle Passage and along the outer edges of the islands.

Rivers End 7/706

1. STRIPED BASS- Theres a few big bass around the mouth of the Connecticut River and adjacent reefs. We have more bunker at the mouth than we have had in many years, and where the bait is the bass aren't too far away. The bunker are thick enough to snag at times but I wouldn't rely on that, gill nets are getting most if the baits. Live baits be it bunker, hickory shad or porgies are scoring at Long Sand Shoal, Hatchetts Reef and Black Point. While we're on big bass, please don't kill your limit. Theres nothing wrong with eating bass, but dragging in cows to the dock every day is overkill. Theres been schoolies along the Old Lyme shoreline at dusk as well as out on Hatchetts Reef. Tube and worm and chunking have been productive during daylight hours. Schoolies are also behind Napatree Point during low light and dark with a few keepers mixed in.
   
2. BLUEFISH Theres some schools of small blues Mid-Sound feeding on what appears to be small butterfish. Closer to this shore theres some medium to large blues at the mouth of the River, sometimes hitting on the surface, more likely to hit on chunks. Blues are in Plum Gut favoring the incoming tide. The Race has a better shot at them on both tides.
   
3. FLUKE- Still short. Theres some reports of etter sized fluke at Fishers, Montauk and off the RI Beaches, however most reports from those areas are short fluke mixed in with dogfish. The River and Soundview have fluke, mostly sub-legal.
   
4. PORGIES- Spotty action on most of the local reefs. They're not as many as previous years where they were on the entire reef. Its important to find them on the depth finder before anchoring up tide of them. If you want to hold on to the school, put out a chum pot. Hatchetts and Black Point have had some good reports.
   
5. BLACKFISH- Fewer reports came in this week.
   
6. BLUE CRABS- Good reports of smaller crabs with enough keepers to make it worthwhile are coming in from the Oyster River and the tributaries coming into the Connecticut River. It seems like a better year than last.

CT DEP Weekly

1. TROUT: RIVERS & STREAMS - Rains again have raised most of the state’s rivers and streams to unfishable levels. Last week, anglers reported variable fishing success, with some good catches reported from the West Branch Farmington (including a 28” brown trout), Housatonic, Scantic and Pequabuck Rivers, Sandy Brook and Salmon Brook.
2. Farmington River water temperatures remain in the mid 50’s °F. Above Riverton, West Branch flows are moderately high (about 350 cfs) but fishable. Flows below Riverton are currently very high, about 1,200 cfs thanks to inputs from the Still River (about 800 cfs as of Thursday morning), and the river is generally unfishable. Barring further precipitation, the Still River should drop, and the TMA may become fishable late in the weekend. Farther downstream, the East Branch Farmington is currently adding an additional 250 cfs. Isonychia (#10-14, evening), Blue Wing Olives (#14-18, mid-late afternoon), Sulphurs duns, (#14-20, afternoon to early evening for spinners), Caddis (tan #14-18, all day; green #22-26, evening), Midges (#22-28, morning), Black Ants (#14-18, morning), Flying Ants (#18-22, when humid) and Pale Evening Duns (Epeorus vitreus #14-18, afternoon & early evenings) were successful patterns.Try streamers and bottom bouncing nymphs in the riffles.
3. Housatonic River- Morning water temperatures are near70 °F. Flows are murky and have again increased to unfishable levels (currently 2,600 cfs at Falls Village and 4,350 at Gaylordsville, as of 6/29, call NGS at 1-888-417-4837 for updated flow information). Under high flow conditions, big streamers and nymphs are a good option.
4. LAKES & PONDS – Many of our lakes are still producing good trout fishing. Areas to try include Colebrook Reservoir, Saugatuck Reservoir, Mashapaug, Wonoscopomuc, Crystal (Ellington), Highland and East Twin Lakes, Squantz Pond and West Hill Pond.
5. LARGEMOUTH BASS fishing is reported as good to very good at many areas including Lake Zoar, Lake Saltonstall, Winchester, Middle Bolton, Highland, East Twin (5.4 lb bass), Mashapaug (17 keepersized bass for one angler), Tyler, Wonoscopomuc, Quonnipaug & Waramaug Lakes, Pachaug Pond and Moosup Pond. Mixed reports from Glasgo Pond.
6. SMALLMOUTH BASS action reported at Gardner, Highland, Mashapaug and Candlewood (many 4-5 lbs.) Lakes.
7. NORTHERN PIKE catches reported from Bantam Lake and Pachaug Pond.
8. KOKANEE SALMON are being caught at West Hill Pond (including a 2-lb beauty) at 6 colors of lead line.
9. WALLEYE fishing is fair to good at Lake Saltonstall (catches include a 8.1 lb, 27.5” fish) and Gardner Lake.
10. CALICO BASS action is reported to be good at Highland Lake, Silver Lake and Park Pond.
11. CONNECTICUT RIVER – Recent rains have again increased flows to levels that may make boating and fishing difficult in some areas.
12. STRIPED BASS in the upper river had still been producing schoolie stripers. Fish are being caught on sand worms & using chunk bait. The main effort recently has been at the mouth of the river where anglers are using plastics & poppers for bigger fish.
13. NORTHERN PIKE fishing was good last week, with some nice catches reported in the Haddam Meadows area (36-40” pike).
14. Some SHAD (46 fish) were still being caught in the Windsor area on white/red shad darts.
15. A few WALLEYE (22”) have being caught in the upper part of the river.
16. SMALLMOUTH BASS are being caught in north of Hartfvord, especially near the mouth of the Farmington River.
17. CATFISH are consistently being taken on frozen herring & cut/chunk bait.
    

The Day 6/30/06

1. There are still some bigger stripers around the base of the Greenville Dam, said Capt. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection in Preston. People are catching them on large plugs during the higher tides, the whole fishery going on much later in the summer season than normal. Usually that fishery is over by now, said Jack.
2. In other news, Jack took a charter to the Watch Hill Reefs, where they landed six bass casting lures early in the morning then a few more to 20 pounds trolling the tube and worm on the south side of Fishers Island in very dirty water. They ended the trip casting to more small bass on top around Race Rock and the red can over toward Race Point.
3. About mid-week, some bigger blues moved into The Race but to date the porgy catches have been just fair at best. You best chance for a limit of keeper fluke is down off the Rhode Island beaches from the Pink House to Green Hill.
4. Al Golinski of Misquamicut said he didn't try for bass on the reefs this week, instead went down to beach for good numbers of small and medium fluke to 4.8 pounds on both Sunday and Monday. There are some doormats mixed in with all the smaller ones like the 8.8-pounder landed by Bruce Vass on Sunday, fishing in 25-50 feet of water from the Pinky House to the east.
5. Capt. Don's in Charlestown said a small number of very large porgies caught from the rocks along the Quonny Breachway. Just at first light you can catch small bass, maybe a keeper, along the sand bar near the launch ramp. The average person out for fluke is finding lots of shorts, culling through those for some keepers.
6. Capt. Al Anderson continues to find lots of bass from 25-31 inches on the inner bar of the North Rip at Block Island and along the west side from the Dump down to the Hooter Buoy. On Wednesday they landed 20-plus fish before the storm drove them home. An evening trip produced 35 fish to 32 inches for fly rodders, fishing from 6:45-8:30 p.m.
7. Dogfish are bothering boats drifting for fluke during the day and drifting live eels deep in the North Rip after dark. Sharking reports are very poor unless you head out 40 miles and then don't expect much. Many of the shark boats are putting up with dogfish just like the people on the inshore grounds.
8. King Cove in Stonington was sorry to say the surf fishing, very popular with Connecticut residents, is very slow from Watch Hill to East Beach. Fluking is somewhat improved with more keepers than the week prior. Porgy catches have been so-so with few people targeting them and those doing so getting only fair results. Bass catches on the reefs were both good and very poor as all the weather fronts marched past. Kayakers however did well with small and some medium bass plus a few bluefish in Lambert's Cove and Stonington Harbor.
9. The weather was very ugly this week, said Shaffers Marina in Mystic. In between rain drops and cloud bursts, slip customers landed more keeper fluke in 42 feet of water off Isabella. Allen Fee took out a charter that landed some blues and small bass on diamond jigs at Valiant Shoal on the flood tide then eight keeper fluke off Fishers Island.
10. In the evening, kids caught small blues from what's left of the Mason Island Bridge. Dana Pollard and his girlfriend got out on Monday night for a 36-inch striper and two blues plus they lost another bass drifting live eels over Ram Island reef.
11. Up in Uncasville, Bob's Rod and Tackle reported lots of action for shore anglers along the Thames River around Horton's Cove to the mouth for small bass on worms on the bottom. Small boaters trolled the tube and worm for the same small stripers and unwanted small bluefish. A few locals made the run to Montauk for fluke but found dirty water and poor to fair fishing.
12. Stephanie Cramer continues to get tag returns from all over southern New England for small stripers she tagged during the winter in the Thames. One fish she tagged back in February was re-caught on May 27 on the Brewster Flats on the Cape. Another tagged in the river on Nov. 13, 2005 was caught next year on May 26 in the Westport River in Massachusetts. Still a third tagged on April 22 was caught a few months later on June 1 up around Fall River, Mass. As Steph said in her e-mail, “they do get around.”
13. Capt. Brad Glas of the Hel-Cat rated it a good week out in The Race. At times they had to wait out the tide but results were good numbers of blues and a respectable showing of stripers. Over the weekend they sailed in the rain and people ready with rain gear were treated to some good action, especially on Sunday. Big fish of the week was a 17-pound striper caught by Mike Joy of Windsor Locks.
14. Sherwood Lincoln of East Lyme got out on Tuesday, netting some live bunker and hickory shad in the lower Connecticut River then drifting those at Hatchetts Reef for four stripers from 20-25 pounds. Fluking in the eastern Sound is still very slow with mostly throwbacks caught around the mouth of the river.
15. River's End started off by saying the fluke catches were very poor off Old Saybrook and Westbrook, somewhat better around Gardners Island. Black fishing on the other hand is well worth your time at places like Inner Southwest Reef, Black Point and the rocky humps off Cornfield Point.
16. Porgies are big for this time of year but the numbers are way down from previous seasons. Casting for bass in the lower Connecticut River at dusk and daybreak is still surprisingly good, normally the fish have moved out of the river into the Sound at this time.
17. Small boaters using plastics and poppers caught shorts, small keepers and a few in the low 30-pound range along with a couple bluefish. Sharpies using live bait on the local reefs are finding plenty of bass but the average angler using other methods during the day is not doing near as well. [Tim Coleman is The Day']

Conn Post 6/30/06

1. The fisheries on Long Island Sound have begun to blossom despite the recent bouts of foul weather. Striped bass, bluefish, porgy, blackfish and black sea bass all are readily willing to bite. Additionally, the number and size of summer flounder being reported have increased significantly over the past two weeks. Saltwater anglers should find some great fishing fireworks over the holiday weekend.
2. Over the past month, New York held a monopoly on the Sound's fluke action. That changed somewhat this week, as Steve Hockenburger of Stratford discovered while fishing around the New Haven Harbor breakwaters. In one trip, he caught a 10.32-pound fluke, two nice-sized black sea bass and a 29-inch long weakfish. Mike Otto of New Milford stopped by Stratford Bait & Tackle with a 10.50- pound fluke earlier this week. This fish, which was taken off Port Jefferson, is the current leader in the shop's yearlong fishing contest.
3. Along the Connecticut coast, look for fluke off Black Point in East Lyme, in Niantic Bay, off Long Sand Shoal at the mouth of the Connecticut River, among the islands and channel cuts between Westbrook and Clinton, around the east and middle breakwaters guarding New Haven Harbor, and at the mouth of the Housatonic River. Those traveling to New York should stop at Horton Point, the Mattituck Inlet and Port Jefferson Harbor. Sandeels are the best baits for New York, while local fish are taking squid-and-spearing combination rigs.
4. Striped bass fishing remains very good between Norwalk and New Haven. Fishing offshore in the late afternoon and at the night with eels and bunker has been productive, especially around the Norwalk Islands, Buoy 28C, Buoy 11B, Sunken Island, Penfield Light, Buoy 20, Middleground and the breakline at the mouth of the Housatonic River. Shorebound anglers are doing their best off Lighthouse Point, the West Haven Sandbar, all the public access points in the Housatonic River between Caswell Cove and the river's mouth, the east side of Seaside Park, Fayerweather Island, Penfield Reef, the St. Mary's Seawall, Sherwood Island State Park and Calf Pasture Beach. These same areas also harbor some early summer bluefish.
5. Last week, Milton Scantos of Stratford did well off Short Beach. He caught two keeper striped bass, weighing between 15 and 16 pounds on bucktail jigs. Scantos also landed a 10.06-pound bluefish, which hit a popper.
6. Trout anglers are still finding fish in the Farmington, Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers. Anglers fishing the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers are reminded that the "thermal refuge areas" are closed to all fishing until Sept. 1. Thermal refuges are areas within 100 feet of the mouth of any small tributary stream. These feeder streams bring cool water from the hills to the main river. Trout often congregate in the cooler water to avoid the summer heat.
7. With the holiday weekend, freshwater anglers may want to search out smaller ponds to avoid pleasure boats and water-skiers. Some of the better pond fisheries include Lake Saltonstall, Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Quonnipaug Lake, Bolton Lake, Pataganset Lake, Hatch Pond, Mudge Pond, West Hill Pond, Silver Lake, Dog Pond, Ball Pond, Winchester Lake, Mamanasco Lake, Park Pond, West Side Pond and Pierrepont Pond. These ponds have motor and speed restrictions. [FRANK MCKANE JR. Waterbury Republican]