Norwich Bulletin Fishing Report

The cold snap and high winds have slowed the bite and angler activity levels to a near standstill. Places like the Thames River, which had begun turning on before the big chill, has slowed way down. The fish are there, but not cooperative, because of the retrograde in water temperatures. For instance, a couple of weekends ago, Chapman Pond, a shallow bass lake in Rhode Island, was pushing 50 degrees. Tuesday afternoon, after a series of very cold nights, was 40 degrees and the fish had lock jaw. Despite the continued below-average day and nighttime temperatures, every day the sun shines on the water, it unloads its energy into the bottom of shallow lakes and coves, pushing temperatures up.

Freshwater: Remember, places that are not stocked with trout are open to fishing. This time of year, the sun will help get fish moving, which means biting, later in the day. This is the time of year when the nighttime temperatures are freezing. Don't bother setting the alarm for dawn, it probably won't be worth it. Perhaps the best fishing option this weekend might be fishing for bass or panfish shallow (weedy in the summer) ponds with stumps and floating mats of organic matter. Places such as Chapman Pond, Pachaug Pond and Glasgo Pond have a better chance of producing a few bites than the deeper lakes in the area, which in all likelihood are closed because the deeper lakes tend to be "trout lakes."

Saltwater: Winter flounder: Bluff Point and Niantic River continue to yield fish to those who work hard. There are enough flatfish around to target with expectations of catching some for supper.

Striped bass: Any day now, the Thames River will turn on, but until water temperatures get into the low 50s, it will probably continue to be a day-to-day slow go of it. Three weeks ago, when temperatures had risen after a couple "warming rains," Eric Covino and company caught an astounding 1,614 schoolie bass (all less than 26 inches) from a spot in the Connecticut River over two days of fishing with three others in the boat each day. They fished from noon until dark both days, but this was a really high level of success. The following week, two of the crew caught 80 fish in the same spot and last Saturday two of them fished the Thames for a single striper.