The Day New London

• Hot weather is threatening to have the fish, especially stripers and fluke, scurrying for deeper, colder waters, and the fishing, both freshwater and saltwater, into the summer doldrums. In no way does that mean there are not plenty of fish to be caught.
• It is just that the tactics for hooking them require a bit more imagination. Live lining bunker, bottom fishing with baited jigs in deep water and iincreased flyfishing and spinning at night fishing are all good ways to do an end run around hot weather blahs. A good blast of cooler air could liven things up, however.
• SALTWATER: Striped bass — If the number of large bass being weighed in at regional tackle stores is any indication, the stripers did not get the hot weather memo. The BH (Bridgeport Harbor) Buoy and buoy's 18 and 20 have been yielding some pretty impressive fish, mostly on chunks. Again, chunking from jetties and from boats is the top choice when pursuing large linesiders.
  
• Gulf Beach and Charles Island are still, if not hot, warm.
• West Haven sandbar has coughed up some decent catches.
  
• In the Westport/Norwalk area, good bass fishing can be had at the spot where the Mill Pond empties into the Sound. Where there's bunker the bass are likely to be there, too.
• Bluefish — It is not that the blue fishing is slow exactly. It's just small. Blues in the 4- to 6-pound range are all over and a lot of fun as they smash small surface poppers and plastic baits. Larger blues are feeding on top on bunker schools flats off the coastal audubon center in milford and in milford point have had a stead pick of lively on.
• Fluke — It's getting to be a broken record, but if it's keeper fluke you are looking for, a trip to Long Island's north shore is still the place to go. One trip Wednesday produced a limit of keepers to six pounds in and around buoy 13. There were more released small fish that keepers but patience pays off.
• Porgies— The porgies season is just getting under way rolling with some good catches off Milford and off the golf course in Westport. Chumming is a must.
• FRESHWATER: Trout— Anglers are reporting good trout fishing in rivers and streams with a brisk flow of clear water, says the Department of Environmental Protection. So far the heat wave has not put the fish into hiding.
  
• The Farmington above the trout management area should have good to excellent fishing for the holiday weekend.
• Lake Candlewood and Bunnell's Pond in Beardsley Park have been yielding nice fish. Water temps in the Housatonic are near 70. Streamer flies are doing the most damage both mornings and evenings. Watch out for storms that will roil the waters.
• Largemouth bass — A number of lakes and ponds are reporting improved largemouth fishing this week. Lakes Lillinonah, Zoar and Bantam are doing well.
  Smallmouth bass Squantz Pond and the upper Housatonic have tons of these aggressive hitters. Try them on a fly rod with almost any brightly colored concoction in your box.
• Calico bass — Silver and Highland Lakes are producing some of the fish, as are some of the upstate laves and reservoirs. by Charles Walsh, pub Connectict Post)

(Tim Coleman, TheDay)