Weekly Fish Column C. Walsh, ConnPost 6/13/09

SALTWATER

Striped Bass -- With sand eels remaining the most common bait in local waters, inshore fish for bass has been good in some area poor in others.

The Milford side of the Housatonic breakwater has produced some very nice fish, including a few keepers for anglers tossing blue-on-white plastics, surface poppers and shallow swimmers. The mouth of the Saugatuck River is yielding schoolie bass and so is Southport Harbor. Striper action has generally slowed around Fairfield, however. Chunkers and pluggers are still doing well at buoy 18 and other deepwater haunts outside Bridgeport harbor and in Black Rock Harbor.

Bluefish ­-- Bunker schools are spotty, a condition some say is caused by the rain, so bluefish are scattered. Casting poppers, particularly in the morning have the highest odds of finding bluefish. The choppers that are being caught tend to be long and skinny. Bottom line: cast a popper at almost any beach from Westport to Milford and sooner or later a bluefish explode behind it.

Fluke -- Anglers drifting clams and squid around Charles Island have been rewarded with three-fish limits of 19.5 inch fluke. St Mary's is also another spot to try. It not a bonanza, but determined anglers with the right tackle and bail can have a successful day on fluke.

Porgies -- Fair is the word for porgie fishing. Sunken Island and Penfield Reef and Charles Island in Milford are yielding enough fish to make a trip worth the effort.

FRESHWATER

The Department of Environmental Protection report that rain and cool weather and will likely extend the trout season in many areas. Anglers have been faced with variable and area-specific conditions due to rainfall patterns over the last week, with some areas, like the upper Housatonic, unfishable and others with more comfortable flows. Forecasts indicate continued variable conditions through at least the upcoming weekend. Fishing smaller streams and tributaries is the safer and more productive when flows are high. [Charles Walsh, Connecticut Post]