Captain Morgan, 6/3/09

East winds blew for almost the entire week with slight shifts in the early evening and predawn hours. As waters in the Sound churned, menhaden found refuge within the confines of several shoreline harbors and tidal rivers. Anglers who attempted some daylight fishing outside the windows of opportunity tasted the briny and had a thorough wash down chore waiting at the docks. With porgy/scup season now open, holding fast on a reef was a challenge. The same held true for the sea bass bite. However, more bait entered the Sound including sand eels and herring; moving downriver both striped bass and bluefish fed throughout the week. Both offshore reefs and inshore tidal rivers and coves produced numbers of “linesiders” on fresh and artificial baits. Seaworms, soft plastics, tubes, worms, small jigs, and swimmers caught numerous fish in the shallows both on flood and ebb tides.

Menhaden/moss bunker created some feeding frenzies among bluefish while live-lining them on reefs like Cornfield, Hatchett’s, Southwest, Charles, Faulkner’s North Rip, and Brown’s, sparked striper catches in excess of 46 inches. Smaller bass in the 20- to 26-inch range, as well as those that fall short after a stretch, are in abundance—loads of fish less than 20 inches. Look to the tidal rivers for shad action on light gear. Fly rodders are doing well on the flats while anglers are connecting along shoreline breaks and troughs from their ‘yaks.

Recent stockings brought out more sweet water anglers where many found catching trout in this past week’s turbulent weather a good alternative. The annual spring stocking program is wrapping up with more than 700,000 trout stocked. Now is the time to look for the big fish. The Hammo continues to produce good catches along with several local rivers and streams—flows are optimal. Lakes and ponds are seeing good large- and smallmouth activity along the breaks and in the shallows. Juvenile sunnies are in abundance along with pickerel and catfish where stocked. Trolling floaters or live shiners with spinner chains are producing both trout and walleye in about 20 to 25 inches. Pikers should also be into near-record catches.

There’s still time to register! Once again Captain Morgan’s sponsors Trout Unlimited (TU) Hammonasset Chapter’s Catch & Release Trout Tournament. Plan on a date with the Farmington River and plenty of fish on June 6 at 10 a.m. Four-member teams will enjoy a great dinner, prizes and awards, a raffle, and a whole lot of fun. Proceeds go toward TU’s youth education programs. Contact the shop at 203-245-8665 or Ted Gardziel at 203-415-2117.