On The Water Magazine

Best Bets for the Weekend: Sounds like the Mianus River might be worth a check given all the good reports coming from multiple shops in the region. Winter flounder seems to be a reasonable bet as well, either in the far western section of Long Island Sound or over in the Poquonock River (Groton) area. Of course, if you want to see some real action, head far to the east, cross the border, purchase a Rhode Island license and chase around a mess of nice trout on the opening day of the RI season this Saturday.

1. The question of the week is “can climate change cause a mini ice age?” The answer obviously is yes, or at least an incredibly protracted winter season as we are seeing this time around.
2. Capt. Thom Pelletier at Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle in North Kingstown reported a few anglers going out in search of largemouth bass, but the cold and the wind has kept all but the hardiest (or is that fool-hardiest?) off the water. Capt. Pelletier had no reports coming from saltwater areas and didn’t expect any through the weekend due to weather, and of course, Opening Day in Rhode Island this Saturday. Quaker Lane Bait & Tackle is stocked to the gills with bait and fishing licenses and will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, reopening at 3 a.m. Saturday and staying open until 6 p.m.
3. Wildwood Outfitters in Wakefield has reports of stripers being taken from the West Wall and the mouth of the Narrow River, as well as from deep inside a few of the south shore salt ponds. The action is very slow as the water temperature simply refuses to increase given consistently chilly temperatures and incessant winds. School bass are still active in upper Narragansett Bay, mainly in the Providence River area. Freshwater reports coming in to Wildwood Outfitters are slow, slow and more slow. Largemouth bass are being taken in Hundred Acre and a few other ponds, but the recent cold has driven water temperatures downwards, slowing fish activity.
4. Mike’s Bait & Tackle in Voluntown reported “No report” according to Archie. Nothing at all going on with the onset of the cold and the wind, except an occasional angler popping in for supplies for an upcoming opening day. Try back after opening day in Connecticut was Archie’s plea.
5. Charlie at Colonial Sports in Bozrah reported that the Yantic River has fish, but the water is still so chilled that the fish are not moving around much. Persistent anglers are picking up a few fish here and there on nymphs dredged right along the bottom, but the fish are tough to come by. The Salmon River, however, is doing a bit better. Charlie had good reports of pretty consistent action all along the river, with some nice fish in the 15- to 16-inch range being taken. Charlie thinks that the action is better because the Salmon has been stocked twice so far while the Yantic only once to date.
6. A bit south in the Thames River, stripers are getting active all along the length of the river from Norwich Harbor to the Montville Power Plant. Ren at The Fish Connection in Preston reported that catches of 40 to 50 stripers is not uncommon, and several of the fish in that number will be nicer fish in the 30-inch range. Ren also reported blueback herring in the river, though he has not heard any news of bigger stripers up near the Greenville Dam, at least not yet. Ren suggested giving the spot where Indiantown Brook empties into Poquetanuck Cove a try. The spot is often overlooked and can be very, very productive. Also in the salt, Ren reports anglers doing quite well to winter flounder with several anglers taking their limits, in the Poquonock River, mainly in the upriver areas.
7. On the eastern portion of Long Island Sound, the waters are still chilly – in the mid-30s to be exact – and the consistent winds have been keeping most would-be-angling boaters off the water. Capt. Morgan at Capt. Morgan’s Bait & Tackle in Madison reported that there are winter flounder in the region, but it has been too difficult to get out to them much of the past week. In the meantime, Trout Management Areas throughout the central Connecticut region are fishing well, with no one particular spot being best consistently. Capt. Morgan did mention the “Capt. Morgan’s Annual Codi/Bubba Memorial Trout Contest” that will take place again this opening day – prizes go for heaviest trout weighed in on Opening Day at the shop. All you need to do is register before 6:00 a.m. on Opening Day.
8. Chris at Statford Bait & Tackle in Stratford was singing the cold-weather blues as well, reporting that the cold wind is keeping anglers off the Sound for the most part, despite initially good catches of winter flounder in the area when the season opened. The Trout Management Areas are fishing well, but sporadically. Of the bunch of them in the area, the Mill River and Mianus River TMAs are the most consistent fish producers.
   In Danbury, John at Valley Angler was in tune as well, wailing away on a couple of “No Fishing Blues” riffs, lamenting over the lack of global warming in New England. While things have been quiet around the area, John did have two bright spots of light to report on – the Mianus River, which is fishing quite well on a consistent basis, and the Farmington River, which is experiencing some caddis and blue-wing olive hatches and offering up a bit of dry-fly action.
9. At Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, Rick actually had an uplifting report, noting that there have been good catches of winter flounder, with some even being taken from shore. Productive spots have been the East Channel in Norwalk Harbor, particularly while chumming on the incoming tide, and just southwest of Calf Pasture Pier. Anglers who know what they are doing are taking their limits of fish up to 16 inches or so.
10. Eric at Westport Outfitters in Norwalk also had some good reports, mainly from the Housatonic River, where he is getting verifiable reports of striped bass stacked up like cordwood in the river area from Sunnyside down to the mouth. Fish up to 29 inches are being taken, but Eric reports that it is a lot of effort to get the fish to take just about anything being offered. The water is cold, and the fish are not budging much to eat. According to Eric, if you can swim a lure or bait into their mouths, you will take some fish. The only other report is that the Mianus River is fishing pretty well. (Alan Desbonnet, On the Water)