Connecticut Post Online - Fishing report: Night right for stripers

• Striped bass — Nighttime is the right time for hunting those hard-to-life stripers during the hot mid-summer months. Anglers putting fresh bunker on the bottom or floating sandworms off docks during darkness are nailing the big ones. A few schoolies are still hanging around the river mouths and estuaries, but they are mostly loner fish. The reefs and bars off Niantic and Stonington are holding very nice sized fish in excess of 40 inches, with live lined porgies and hickory shad the real killer baits there.
• Bluefish — Smaller blues remain the dominant catch, but the size is growing in bays and harbors. New Haven Harbor witnessed a couple of surface frenzies way up under the I-95 bridge. Anglers who were lucky enough to be there said it was a blood batch. Buoy 18 and 20 and the area out back of around Charles Island are still producing.
• Snapper blues — Still too small to make fishing worthwhile, they've moved into the river mouths and along some beaches. Bridgeport's Seaside Park produced some 10-fish limits this week.
• Fluke — New Haven Harbor is the hot spot for summer flounder. All the winners of the Stratford Boat Owners tournament came from that area. Squid and worms are the bait of choice.
• Porgies — Improving near Penfield Reef and off St. Mary's. Clam chumming is still highly recommended.
• Largemouth bass — The DEP fishing continues to be good to excellent. Areas to try include Upper Moodus Reservoir, Quaddick Reservoir, Wononscopomuc, East Twin, Bashan, Gardner, Candlewood, Waramaug, Beseck, Middle Bolton, Wyassup, Mashapaug, Pickerel, Crystal (Ellington) and Kenosia Lakes, and Messerschmidt, Ball, Mudge, Ross, Long, Batterson Park, Black (Woodstock) & Hatch Ponds.
• Smallmouth bass — Lake McDonough, Candlewood, Highland, Coventry, Mashapaug and Bashan Lakes reporting catches. The Housatonic River smallmouth are keeping anglers very busy, and some fair to good fishing for smallies is reported from the Farmington River in the Tariffville area.
• Northern pike — Lake Lillinonah, Bantam Lake, Quaddick Reservoir, Hopeville Pond, Pachaug Pond and the upper Housatonic River fishing is reported to be good.
• Chain pickerel — Mashapaug, Highland, Wonoscopomuc & Winchester lake(s) & Wood Creek Pond have had steady catches. Walleye — Lake Saltonstall, Coventry Lake and Squantz Pond reported walleye catches this week.
• Panfish — The season is heating up with the arrival of warm summer temperatures. Now is the time to get the family out and experience the fast-paced action of fishing for panfish. Locations to try for good panfish fishing include Quinnebaug, Gardner, Hayward, Amos, Lower Bolton, Highland and Waramaug Lakes, and Mudge, Hatch, Bishop, Ball and Black (Meriden) Ponds.
• Trout — Fishing in the West Branch and mainstem of the Farmington continues to be very good. Other areas reporting good catches last week include the Housatonic, Naugatuck, Natchaug and Coginchaug Rivers. Early and late in the day are the best fishing times during the summer. Expect rainbow trout to be in the faster water and browns in the larger, deeper pools. Bait fisherman are using a corn/mealworm combination. (Charles Walsh, Conecticut Post).