News Times 5/6/06

1. Awaiting Candlewood’s ‘super day’ : The warm weather we enjoyed last weekend turned out to be more of a tease than a trend, as cooler weather and rain followed close on its heels and put a halt on the season progression, at least temporarily. Yesterday though, a seasonally appropriate warming trend arrived — an occurrence that really should have changed things dramatically in the fish’s world. If yesterday didn’t push the Candlewood water temperature into the mid-60s and get things seriously rolling in the bass department, I’m not sure what will.
2. Since the smallmouth have become so dominant in Candlewood every season, there’s a week to 10-day period when the fishing is beyond exceptional. But there’s just about always ONE day that blows away the rest of the season, when the big females seem to be everywhere and ready to bite most anything in the morning, then move right to the beds in the afternoon. Experience shows that on Candlewood, that day occurs during the first week of May more often than not, and it usually follows a couple days of above average temperatures.
3. Today might just be THE day on Candlewood. I’m hoping so, because for the past several years, circumstances have made me miss being on the water on that one day when everything seems to happen in spades. Looking at my schedule, if I’m going to encounter it, it’s going to have to be today because I might not get the chance again this year to be on the lake during the short window when the first and heaviest wave of big smallies hits the shallows in earnest.Then again, it might not happen until tomorrow or the next day, or we might not get the “super day” at all this year.
4. Some years, spawning season just sort of slides in, without being preceded by that sudden burst of activity and catchability. The overall good fishing we expect on Candlewood in May and early June still takes place, but it doesn’t open with a bang like it does most years. I’m hoping, though, that we don’t miss out this year, and I’m sure that most of the Candlewood regulars are hoping the same thing.Whatever you do, try to get out on Candlewood as much as possible over the next few days, because if and when it happens, it’s something you’ll try to encounter every season from here on out.
5. The midweek rains muddied the rivers a bit, just as they were showing serious signs of clearing up from the very heavy rainfall two weeks ago. Still, trout anglers in the Housy and Farmington Rivers are reporting good fishing even with the higher, dirtier and faster-flowing water. Striper fishing in the state’s tidal rivers has maintained through most of the high water period as well. Right now, the big girls are in the Connecticut River, up as far as the Enfield Dam, and the best fishing there is during low light conditions, especially after dark.

Hartford Courant 5/6/06

FRESH WATER

1. TROUT:In-season trout stocking is well underway, and state trout parks are stocked every 7-10 days, including Baummer's Pond, Angus Park Pond, Bunnells Pond and trout parks at Stratton Brook, Black Rock, Wolfe Park, Horse Pond, Southford Falls, Wharton Brook, Chatfield Hollow, Kent Falls, Sleeping Giant and Natchaug River.
2. Rivers and streams: The recent rain has slowed fishing everywhere. Good reports were received from the Farmington (21-inch brown), Housatonic (browns to 20 inches), Willimantic, Natchaug, Aspetuck, Bantam, Blackberry, Scantic, Naugatuck, Hammonasset, Salmon, Mill, Ten Mile, Eightmile (Southington), Mianus, Coginchaug, Pequonnic, Pequabuck, Yantic, Little (23 inch, 5-pound brown), Pomperaug and Hockanum Rivers, and Leadmine, Latimer, Salmon, Sandy, Roaring (Somers) and Roaring (Glastonbury) Brooks. Bait anglers are having success with earthworms and a mealworm/corn combination. Successful fly anglers are using Winter/Summer Caddis (Nos. 18-22, early morning, minor hatch), Blue Wing Olive (Nos. 16-20, late morning, early afternoon), Blue Quills (Nos. 16-20, early afternoon) and Quill Gordons (Nos. 16-18, early, mid afternoon). Hendricksons (Nos. 12-14, early afternoon) are in full hatch on the Farmington River, and spinner fall occurs around 6:30 p.m. Blue Wing Olive, midges, Blue Quills, early caddis and stoneflies are suggested on the Housatonic River. White and yellow streamers and nymphs are producing some large fish, but the Hendrickson hatch is non-existent because of high water. Anglers can also expect good fishing in western Connecticut on the Farmington West Branch (above the TMA), Nonewaug, Pootatuck and Weekeepeemee Rivers, and the East and West Branch Salmon, and Pond and Hop Brooks. In eastern Connecticut, good fishing can be found at Hammonasset, Hockanum, Hop, Jeremy, Middle, Quinebaug, Shetucket, Skungamaug, Still (Eastford) and Tankerhoosen Rivers, and Broad (Preston), Bigelow, Choate, Crystal Lake, Indiantown, Kitt and Pattaconk Brooks.
3. Lakes and ponds: Good reports came from Colebrook Reservoir, Mashapuag (mixed results), Rogers (good), Wonoscopomuc (22-inch, 4.3-pound brown trout), Highland (22-inch brown), Crystal (Ellington), Candlewood (22-inch brown) and East Twin Lakes (20 fish for one angler), Squantz, Beach (some 12-15 inch browns), Great Hollow, Mount Tom and West Hill Ponds (52 trout for two anglers). Anglers can expect good fishing in western Connecticut at Black Rock Impoundment, Fountain Lake and Ball, Christensen's, Ender's, Mohawk, Tyler and West Side Ponds. In eastern Connecticut, the best reports came from Walkers Reservoir, Amos, Billings, Pattaconk, Bashan, Cedar, Gardner, Quonnipaug and Wyassup Lakes, Beach, Black (Meriden/Middlefield), Beaver Brook (Bibbins), Day, Schreeder and Valley Falls Park Ponds.
4. LARGEMOUTH BASS:Bass are moving into the spawning beds, and fishing is productive at Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Saugatuck Reservoir, East Twin Lake, Saltonstall, Wonoscopomuc, Amos, Bashan, Quonnipaug (6.48-pound bass), Uncas, Ashland, Bantam, Congamond, Highland, Middle Bolton, Candlewood (6.5-pound bass) and Coventry Lakes and Pachaug, Mudge and Ball Ponds.
5. SMALLMOUTH BASS:Fish are reported at Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Lake Housatonic, Candlewood Lake (4.75-pound smallmouth), Bashan and Gardner Lakes, and Squantz, West Hill and Ball Ponds.
6. CHAIN PICKEREL:Good reports came from Wonoscopomuc and Rogers Lakes (21-inch fish).
7. BLACK CRAPPIE:Fishing has been excellent at Lake Saltonstall, West Twin (30 fish) and East Twin (13.5-inch fish) Lakes, and Avery, Glasgo and Park Ponds.
8. NORTHERN PIKE:Fish are showing up at Bantam Lake (30 inches), Hopeville Pond, Ashland Pond and below the Pachaug dam.
9. CONNECTICUT RIVER:Striped bass are in the river up to Enfield, and legal-size fish (up to 40 inches are mixed in with schoolies). An inland fishing license is required to fish in the Connecticut River north of the Old Lyme/Old Saybrook railroad bridge. Sand and blood worms are working fell, along with soft plastics. Northern Pike are reported at Windsor, Haddam Meadows, Wethersfield Cove and White Oaks Cove. Catfish are in Wethersfield and White Oaks Cove, Middletown and Cromwell. Shad are reported in the river up to the Bissell Bridge.
10. WHOPPERS:Brown trout: Natchaug River (26 inches, 8.3 pounds, Jason Adams); Saugatuck Reservoir (6.5 pounds, Daniel Hripak of Bridgeport); Crystal Lake, Ellington (5 pounds, Ken Nyser).

SALT WATER

1. BLACKFISH:The season closed May 1 and opens June 15.
2. BLACK SEA BASS:The season is open year-round with a 12-inch minimum length and a daily creel limit of 25 per angler.
3. PORGY:Season opens June 1.
4. STRIPED BASS:Fishing in the tidal rivers and harbors remains good for 14-20-inch schoolies with some hickory shad mixed in. The usual spots include the Pawcatuck River, Mystic River, Thames River, Niantic River, Connecticut River (Great Island), New Haven Harbor (Sandy Point), Housatonic River (from Devon power plant to Derby Dam) and Norwalk Islands.
5. SUMMER FLOUNDER:The new minimum length is 18 inches with a daily creel limit of six. On the water, fillets must meet the minimum length or be accompanied by a legal-sized frame.
6. WINTER FLOUNDER:Fishing is fair at Bluff Point, Poquonock River, Pine Island, The Brothers, Niantic Bay and Norwalk Harbor.
7. CAPE COD:A number of striped bass exceeding 40 pounds have been taken off the Red River Jetties.
8. Bass River and some other estuaries have also produced some large fish. The south side of the Cape is loaded with fish as well with anglers in Pleasant Bay reporting schoolies up to 26 inches. Barnstable Harbor, Sesuit Harbor and Rock Harbor have all had a number of schoolies taken, mainly during high tide. There are no reports of bluefish yet, and flounder fishing is generally slow with a few flats taken off Sesuit Harbor.

Conn Post 5/5/06

1. Anglers started the week with a series of new saltwater fishing regulations. Fluke, whose season opened last weekend, have an increased size minimum of 18 inches. The daily creel limit remains fixed at six. This summer porgy hunters get a 30-day longer season, which runs June 1-Oct. 31. Black sea bass may now be caught all year.
2. No changes were made to the blackfish regulations. But that fact did not enter into the unselfish decision made by Harvey Thompson of Stratford last weekend. While fishing in a blackfish tournament, Thompson caught a 14.17-pound blackfish off the Housatonic River breakwater. The 67-year-old angler noticed that the big blackfish was a female laden with eggs. In the hopes that her eggs would help replenish the Long Island Sound blackfish population, Thompson released the fish.
3. Trout continue to draw anglers to area ponds and rivers, especially Black Rock State Park Pond, Weekeepeemee Brook, Nonnewaug River, Hop Brook, Little River, Fountain Lake, the Farmington River upstream of the Trout Management Area, Mt. Tom Pond, Pomperaug River, Ball Pond, Mohawk Pond, Tyler Pond, West Side Pond, Lead Mine Brook, Highland Lake, East Twin Lake, Enders Pond, Christensen's Pond, the East and West Branches of Salmon Brook, East Aspetuck River, Pootatuck River and Pond Brook. The state Department of Environmental Protection stocked the above waters last week.
4. Sometimes trout fishing can develop into strange adventures. Tuesday, Dale Robertson of Stratford created his own fishing lore on the Pomperaug River. While fishing the river, Robertson had to dive into the water to avoid getting slammed in the head by a low-flying goose. Cold and wet, Robertson drained out his waders and then continued casting a peach-colored Rooster Tail. His perseverance paid off with a 3.96-pound brown trout.
5. Several other noteworthy freshwater fish were caught during the week. Richard King of Fairfield caught a 5- pound brown trout in the Saugatuck River. Arthur Mims of Bridgeport reeled in a 3.70-pound smallmouth bass from the Saugatuck Reservoir. Both the above fish were caught on nightcrawlers and weighed at Ted's Bait & Tackle. Alan Sciuto Jr. of Fairfield also had good luck at the Saugatuck Reservoir, where he landed a 6.80-pound largemouth bass on a silver-colored No. 3 Blue Fox spinner. George Peterman of New Haven caught a 24-inch, 4.7-pound walleye on a Rapala Husky Jerk at Lake Saltonstall. The same lake gave Derek Halliwell of Madison three walleye — 22 inches, 23 inches, and 25 -inches — weighing between 3.5 and 5.7 pounds.
6. Winter flounder are surprising many anglers this year as good reports are coming from Norwalk, Stratford, Branford, Mystic and Stonington. Last week, Ray Signore and Tim Paradiso, both of Stratford, came in with limits of 10 flounder each. Their fish weighed between 1.91 and 2.08 pounds. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait & Tackle, said, "This was the biggest bucket of flounder I've seen in 10 years for two guys." Mike Otto of New Fairfield also stopped by the shop with a 2.86-pound winter flounder.
7. Wednesday, I saw several piles of trash around the shoreline of Long Meadow Pond. The trash obviously came from anglers as lure packages, bait containers and coils of used fishing line were very evident. Anglers need to pick up after themselves. Litter and disrespectful behavior toward private property often leads to closed fishing access. — FRANK MCKANE JR. ]

Capt Morgan 5/4/06

1. Probably one of the best early blackfish seasons in recent memory just concluded. This year's spring season was on the side of the fisherman with togs coming in earlier than usual due to the mild temperatures. Normally, the weather would have coincided more with the regulated season but because of conditions, more anglers were on the water to greet these bulldogs of the sea.
2. Togs huddled the breakwalls, jetties, reefs, and irregular bottom structures. Ten-plus pound togs were not uncommon although four- to six-pounders were the norm. Softer baits were responsible for a good portion of the catches while meat from crabs certainly attracted their fair share. We'll just have to wait until June 15 before loading up those Virginias or Gammies again.
3. Not to fret, striped bass are red hot. The major tidal rivers are loaded up with many of the smaller tidals seeing similar activity. As more and more fresh stripers enter the Sound through Hell's Gate from the west and the holdovers come down our rivers scattered throughout the shoreline, anglers are gathering to meet them. Lighter, more sensitive gear is being used to catch fish in the low- to mid-20-inch range while bass in the 30-inch plus range are doing their best to destroy those sensitive setups.
4. Signs of fish slipping in from the east are also beginning to show as schools of bass are hitting the Rhode Island shores. Still a bit in the early stages, anglers, nevertheless, are beginning to troll/drift the reefs and shoals. Spring runs of menhaden are making their way toward mid-Sound and entering the tidals and heading up river. Needless to say, the bass are right behind but don't grab your snaggers just yet.
5. Check out the smile on Madison's Maureen Andes after landing this hefty 40-pound plus striped bass on an American eel. Drifting over a local reef, this trophy was hooked and landed after reluctantly giving in to this determined angler. Could their future use as a bass bait be in jeopardy? From all indications, the answer is, most likely, yes.
6. On the freshwater side, trout are continuing to be stocked and challenge anglers. Deep holes still hold plenty of hatchery breeders that are doing their level best to taunt anglers by shunning their offerings. Hatches have been more predictable for the fly rodders fishing the rivers while live baits and traditional lures are successful options not only in the rivers but also in the lakes.
7. Both largemouth bass and crappie have now put on their spring colors. Activity in the lakes and ponds—especially in the shallows, by the drop-offs, and adjacent to submerged structure—is climbing. Coves in the upper main tidal rivers are drawing small boaters who are looking for mixed-species action. There has been an influx of bait in the rivers not only from the Sound but also as a result of being washed from the banks and recently hatched fry.

On The Water 5/5/06

1. As is nearly always the problem, weather got in the way of our fishing activities. I know there have been a number of days over the past week or ten days when I had planned to go fishing and didn’t, simply because I didn’t feel like fighting the winds, even though they were predominately from the northeast or west. The problem with cold northerly winds is on top of the winds, which drains trolling motor batteries and makes everything “tippy,” the barometric pressure is almost always high and rising, which is a “double whammy.”
2. The anglers who put up with these negative factors did well. Across the board, every tackle shop from Narragansett Bay to Norwalk reported some excellent catches of blackfish coming in during the last few days of the season. Striper action remains good and improving as far as the number of low- to mid-30-inch class, “keeper fish” is concerned. No one is talking about jumbos quite yet, despite the presence of menhaden in the Sound from New York to Niantic Bay. The average fish are out of the same mold, 13 to 20 inches on average, but they are literally everywhere and easy to catch on soft plastics and flies. Winter flounder fishing is spotty, with a few local’s producing minimal catches and every place else either not talking about them or complaining about the lousy fishing.
3. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina, Mystic said that they saw lots of blackfish during that big flurry of activity that took place during the last few days of the season. Her brother, Captain Al Fee, who runs a charter business out of the marina, is catching stripers every night on Creek Chub Poppers in the river. Other than that, she didn’t have much to report noting that many of their customers are still doing yard work and getting their boats set up for the season, with many planning to launch their craft this week. One odd thing is the fact that to date Cheryl has not heard anything about anyone catching winter flounder to date from the river or other local flounder fishing areas.
4. When I called the Fish Connection, in Preston this week, my fishing buddy Eric Covino was handed the phone. He said that on Saturday, despite the bluebird conditions and high winds in about three or four hours of schoolie fishing he and his son caught 117 bass in the Montville area of the river. He said all the fish were 13 to 22 inches average with the largest of the day a 26-incher.
5. He went pike fishing at Pachaug Pond late last week and had a couple follows, one from a high 30 inch fish the other from a smaller fish. His partner caught a 26-incher. It was tough, bluebird conditions that day and he said that he got “deskunked” by catching a few calico bass along the shoreline. There was no weed to fish and the water had regressed to only 57 degrees F. Two weeks ago I was getting temps up into the mid-60s in a small pond that tends to warm about the same rate as the much larger, but shallow and easily heated Pachaug.
6. Things are a replay of the last few seasons, with an early taste of heat, followed by cold nights, heavy rains and temperatures that go in reverse instead of forward, which should be happening at this time of year. Last year my small pond had water temperatures go backwards by 12 or 13 degrees during a three week period in May.
7. Rennie said Salmon River was stocked with some great big breeders mid-week. The Norwich Trout Unlimited Chapter helped stock both the Yantic and Shetucket Rivers with some quality trout on Wednesday. So at least these three rivers will be productive for the weekend. The cool temps lately have been very helpful in maintaining excellent trout fishing conditions in both lakes and rivers throughout the state.
8. Horton Cove is red hot on the Thames River at the present time. The Thames River Striped Bass Challenge Tournament will be a couple weeks later this year, and an overnight event from May 19-20. Call 860-464-7373 or check out www.chamberect.com/fishing2006.asp for more information regarding this popular event.
9. Largemouth bass fishing has been slow lately. It looks like in some of the shallower lakes they are on the nests, which usually makes for some slow action, especially from the larger mature bass.
10. Richard, at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle, Waterford said they weighed in a 19 inch, 3.17-pound winter flounder that was caught from the upper Niantic River this week. That is a trophy class fish! Like everywhere else, Hillyer’s had a mess of big blackfish brought in just before the season closed last week. Richard said that many of the nice fish they weighed were caught by shore based anglers who were fishing between the bridges.
11. Striper fishing hasn’t changed much since last week. They are hearing the same reports about hot action from schoolies in the Thames and a few fish up inside Niantic River and over in the lower Connecticut River.
12. Squid are in thick right now and right up inside the Niantic Bay. There are also some adult bunker swimming around in the outer bay that were seen over the past week. No one has mentioned anything about seeing or catching any big bass from these schools, but if the bunker are around you can bet the jumbo stripers won’t be far behind!
13. Pat Abate of River’s End Tackle, Saybrook said things haven’t changed much on the river since last week’s report. He noted that the fishing action is inching up a bit but still is coming mainly from schoolies. There is the occasional 30 inch or better bass being reported from the lower river and more often up river where the herring are abundant, below the Enfield Dam, but this fishery has not quite shaped up for the season at this point.
14. A few winter flounder are being caught locally around the lower Connecticut River, but he wouldn’t say anything more specific than that. This time of year look for the armada of boats set up around the east Breakwall and in the main channel and you’ve probably found the flounder. Blackfish ended with a bang here like very place else. It was the best spring blackfish season in a long time!
15. The schoolie action has been good off the DEP pier, the causeway and along Great Island for the boat anglers, for a couple of weeks now. The bigger stripers are at the Salmon River and upriver at the present time, but the lower river is full of schoolies. Nothing much up river but second hand reports, as relayed by Earl in Newport, “earlier” in this report, indicate that there are higher numbers of herring in the Connecticut River than in recent years. This is a good thing if it’s true. I know the fish life reports of the alewife runs in the Thames River were 1,800 last week, as compared to only 535 during the entire 2005 season. Things may be looking up for this beleaguered fishery.
16. Pat said that he heard of some squid and fluke being caught by the local draggers. He said there were also a few anglers bouncing bucktails off New York waters, which don’t open for fluke fishing until this Saturday, who were catching and releasing fluke off Montauk and Peconic Bay while schoolie bass fishing recently.
17. For those who may want to run to New York waters this weekend, the minimum length for fluke in NY is 18 inches, like Connecticut, but the creel limit is only 4 fish so don’t stock up with a 6 fish Connecticut limit. If you get stopped you get busted! This year, Rhody’s fluke regs call for 7 fish of 17.5 inches. This means if like myself you cruise between the three border lines you must carry the lowest common denominator which would be a NY limit of 4 18-inchers or risk a bust.
18. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle, Madison said that the blackfishing came alive just as the season closed this spring. It seems like there was more interest in this species this spring, the weather though not perfect was better than last, and apparently this species is in pretty good shape population-wise. He noted that a few weakfish are running south of the Falkner Island and Kimberly Reef, heading towards the West Haven area. Its not a “run” like there has been at times, but there are some fish around that may take a lure intended for schoolie bass, so don’t be surprised. He said there will probably also be some weakfish to catch in Peconic Bay, which is historically a great weakfish hot spot this time of year. There are lots of bass, small in the tidal rivers, with a few fish in the 36 to 38 inch range, though most are under 20 inches. The larger stripers seem to be appearing as the herring runs build up in coastal streams and rivers.
19. Menhaden numbers are limited in the Madison area, though he’s heard of fish to the west. West Haven and Milford have more bunker than Branford and Madison, but there are not great numbers anywhere east of New Haven at this point. Signs of them elsewhere are favorable. The Captain said “If they are in the New Haven area there will be some bunker in Branford and Madison within a week.” Captain Morgan anticipates that within the next week to ten days the overall fishing action will greatly improve for larger striped bass with the appearance of adult menhaden in the area. There are a few winter flounder around but nothing earth shattering. More anglers on the water and trying for different stuff lately so overall the volume of fishing reports have increased.
20. School bass are all over in the Housatonic and Connecticut Rivers. People all over the area are talking about 100 fish (schoolie bass) days. There doesn’t appear to be the high numbers of squid in the Madison / Guilford area yet, but with so many to the east there should be some in the area very shortly, which equates to the presence of some decent sized striped bass this time of the year.
21. Chris Fulton owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle in Stratford said that the blackfish spring season was unbelievable this year. One angler told Chris that he caught bass up to 25 inches from the Housatonic River Tuesday, but the numbers weren’t as good as they could be due to high pressure and high water flows.
22. Burt at Fisherman’s World, Norwalk said the fishing for school stripers was still excellent off Long Neck Point, Long Beach and the Calf Pasture Pier. All the stripers are small fish, averaging 15 to 22 inchers like very place. No big fish yet! Winter flounder are being caught by anchoring and chumming heavy from boats out in front of the pier. No monsters, but fish to 2 pounds are common. There’s still tons of bunker, with bigger stripers feeding on them to the west in New York waters. Burt said anglers who have made the run are reporting catching stripers in the 28 to 32 pound range. These fish haven’t moved into Norwalk quite yet but are expected to move east any time now.
23. This weekend, depending on winds, may be the time to begin looking for fluke off the South Shore Beaches of Rhode Island anywhere from Point Judith to Weekapaug. The other option is to run across “the pond” to Montauk Point or Peconic Bay for fluke and in the bay possibly a weakfish. Otherwise look for schoolie stripers everywhere with increasing odds of hooking into keeper fish, especially if the sun comes out and “cooks” the worms out of the mud some of Rhody’s salt ponds in the near future.

DEP Weekly Fishing Report 5/3/06

1. INLAND REPORT: In-season trout stocking is well underway. Connecticut Trout Parks are experiencing heavy usage from families fishing. All are enjoying the frequent (7-10 day) stocking of these areas.
2. Locations to try for good trout: fishing include Baummer’s Pond, Angus Park Pond, Bunnells Pond, and the Stratton Brook, Black Rock, Wolfe Park (Great Hollow Pond), Horse Pond, Southford Falls, Wharton Brook, Chatfield Hollow, Kent Falls, Sleeping Giant (Mill River) and Natchaug River Trout Parks.
3. TROUT: Rivers & streams - The recent rainy weather has slowed everything down somewhat. However, anglers are still reporting good fishing for trout with reports from the Farmington (brown 21”), Housatonic (browns to 20”), Willimantic, Natchaug, Aspetuck, Bantam, Blackberry, Scantic, Naugatuck, Hammonasset, Salmon, Mill, Ten Mile,
4. Eightmile (Southington), Mianus, Coginchaug, Pequonnic, Pequabuck, Yantic, Little (23”, 5 lb brown), Pomperaug and Hockanum Rivers, and Leadmine, Latimer, Salmon, Sandy, Roaring (Somers) and Roaring (Glastonbury) Brooks. Bait anglers are having success using earthworms or a mealworm/corn combination. Successful fly anglers used Winter/Summer Caddis (#18-22, early morning, minor hatch), Blue Wing Olive (#16-20, late morning-early afternoon), Blue Quills (#16-20, early afternoon) and Quill Gordons (#16-18, early/mid afternoon).
5. Farmington River water temperatures are in the low 50’s °F, with clearing flows of 150 CFS (Riverton) and an additional 130 CFS from the Still River. Hendricksons (#12-14, early afternoon) are in full hatch on the Farmington River now! Spinner fall occurs around 6:30 pm. Housatonic River morning water temperature is 55°F (TMA area) with 1,000 CFS of off color flows at Falls Village and 3,600 cfs at Gaylordsville. Blue Wing Olive, midges, Blue Quills, early caddis & stoneflies are suggested here. Streamers (white/yellow) and nymphs are producing some large fish. The Hendrickson hatch was a total blowout on the Housatonic River due to the high water and is over for the year.
6. Anglers Can Expect Good Fishing in western CT at the West Branch Farmington (above TMA), , East Aspetuck, Little, Nonewaug, Pomperaug, Pootatuck and Weekeepeemee Rivers, and the East and West Branch Salmon, Pond, Hop and Leadmine Brooks.
7. In eastern CT, good fishing can be expected at: Hammonasset, Hockanum, Hop, Jeremy, Middle, Natchaug, Quinebaug, Salmon, Shetucket, Skungamaug, Still (Eastford), Tankerhoosen and Yantic Rivers, and Broad (Preston), Bigelow, Choate, Crystal Lake, Indiantown, Kitt and Pattaconk Brooks.
8. Lakes & Ponds – Good trout fishing was found in many lakes and ponds throughout Connecticut with reports from Colebrook Reservoir, Mashapaug (mixed results), Rogers (good), Wonoscopomuc (22”, 4.3 lb brown), Highland (22” brown), Crystal (Ellington), Candlewood (22” brown) and East Twin (20 fish for one angler) Lakes, Squantz, Beach (some 12-15” browns among the catches), Great Hollow, Mt. Tom and West Hill (52 trout for 2 anglers) Ponds.
9. Anglers can expect good fishing in western CT at Black Rock Impoundment, East Twin, Fountain and Highland Lakes, Ball, Christensen's, Ender's, Mohawk, Mt. Tom, Tyler and West Side Ponds.
10. In Eastern CT, good fishing should be expected at: Walkers Reservoir, Amos, Billings, Pattaconk, Bashan, Cedar, Gardner, Quonnipaug and Wyassup Lakes, Beach,
11. Black (Meriden/Middlefield), Beaver Brook (Bibbins), Day, Horse, Schreeder and Valley Falls Park Ponds.
12. LARGEMOUTH BASS fishing is productive as fish move onto the spawning beds. Try Mansfield Reservoir, Saugatuck Reservoir, East Twin, Saltonstall, Wonoscopomuc, Amos, Bashan (launching difficult), Quonnipaug (6.48 lb bass), Uncas, Ashland, Bantam, Congamond, Highland, Middle Bolton, Candlewood (6.5 lb bass) and Coventry Lakes, and Pachaug, Mudge and Ball Ponds.
13. SMALLMOUTH BASS are reported at Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Lake Housatonic, Candlewood (great, including a 4.75 lb smallie), Bashan, and Gardner (spotty) Lakes, Squantz Pond and, West Hill and Ball Ponds.
14. CHAIN PICKEREL are being caught at: Wonoscopomuc Lake and Rogers Lake (21”).
15. BLACK CRAPPIE fishing is excellent at: Lake Saltonstall, West Twin (30 fish) and East Twin (13.5”) Lakes, and Avery, Glasgo and Park Ponds.
16. NORTHERN PIKE are showing up at Bantam Lake (30”), Hopeville Pond, Ashland Pond, and below the Pachaug dam.
17. Connecticut River – STRIPED BASS are in the river up to Enfield. Legal size fish (up to 40”) are now mixed in with the schoolies. Inland fishing license is required to fish in the Ct. River north of the railroad bridge in Old Lyme. Sand & blood worms are working as well as soft plastics.
18. NORTHERN PIKE are reported at Windsor, Haddam Meadows, Wethersfield Cove and White Oaks Cove.
19. CATFISH are being caught in Wethersfield & White Oaks Cove, Middletown & Cromwell area of the river.
20. SHAD are reported in the river up to the Bissell Bridge.
21. WHOPPERS – Brown trout; - Natchaug River (8.3 lbs, 26”, Jason Adams), Saugatuck Reservoir (6.5 lbs, Daniel Hripakof Bridgeport), Crystal Lake, Ellington (5 lbs, Ken Nyser).
22. NOTES: Launching from the state boat launches at Bashan Lake, Quaddick Reservoir and Beseck Lake remains difficult due to low water levels.
23. MARINE FISHING REPORT:STRIPED BASS fishing in the tidal rivers and harbors remain good for schoolies with HICKORY SHAD mixed in. Schoolies range in length from about 14 to 20 inches. The usual spots include the Pawcatuck River, Mystic River, Thames River, Niantic River, Connecticut River by Great Island, Sandy Point area in New Haven Harbor, Housatonic
24. River from the Devon power plant to the Derby Dam, and the Norwalk Islands.
25. WINTER FLOUNDER fishing is fair at Bluff Point/Poquonock River, Pine Island area, the Brothers, Niantic Bay, and Norwalk Harbor.

Danbury News-Times 4/29/06

1. Fishing reports for trout all positive early in the season: For the most part, anglers have been reporting good trout fishing around the state. Reports of big fish from the Hockanum (24 inches), Housatonic, Naugatuck, Farmington (browns up to 20 inches), Eight Mile, Pootatuck, Weekeepeemee, Nonewaug, Mianus and Pomperaug Rivers, among others.
2. Earthworms and mealworms became the most productive presentations when the streams muddied up and got high and fast following last weekend’s deluge.
3. Fly fishermen in the Farmington and Housatonic Rivers report that nymph fishing has remained productive despite the water color and flow rates as high as 3,000 cubic feet per second. Whether fly, lure or bait as the flow rate diminishes a bit and the water temperatures inch into the mid-fifites, fishing is likely to get even better.
4. Expect good trout fishing at the West Branch and mainstem Farmington, Mianus, Naugatuck, Nepaug, Norwalk, Pequonnock, Pootatuck, Saugatuck (including the West branch) and Still River in Colebrook. Eight Mile Brook in Southford Falls State Park is also a good bet.
5. Still water trout fishermen have been reporting good catches from Colebrook Reservoir, East Twin (20-inch trout) and Wonoscopomuc Lakes, and Squantz Pond. Notable by its absence from that list, is Candlewood Lake. While there have been some reports of success, it’s mostly been with smaller fish, and there have been far more reports of disappointing outings. Perhaps the seemingly unceasing wind has put a damper on trout fishing on the state’s largest impoundment even more than it has affected the bass fishing there.
6. Speaking of bass fishing, largemouth action has been great on the smaller ponds — at least until last weekend’s cold rain slowed thing down. Candlewood’s smallmouth action has been great, and seems to have survived the cold spell. Jerkbait time seems to be still in full swing on Candlewood, but grubs and hair jigs shouldn’t be too far from you hand, as thing will switch over in a hurry as soon as the wind slows down enough to allow effective light jig fishing.
7. Lake Saltonstall in East Haven was considered one of the premier lunker largemouth lakes in the state when it first opened to fishing some years ago. Many Saltonstall regulars blame the walleye program for the downturn the largemouth’s fortunes there over the past decade. But the lake still produces its share of oversized bass, as well as some huge walleyes. A couple of the latter species in the 24 to 25-inch range were taken there in the past week, as was a black crappie weighing more than three pounds.
8. Walleye have also been a big part of the angler satisfaction index at Squantz Pond the last week or two, while in the Connecticut River, both the northern pike fishing and the striped bass run are as hot as can be right now. Most of the stripers are schoolies, but there have been enough fish in the 36 to 40 inch range taken to keep things interesting. The pike are mainly in the coves and setbacks, and will probably stay in those areas until the water flow drops a bit. But there’s plenty of big ones being caught — mostly on large soft plastic baitfish imitators. [News-Time, by Rich Zaleski]

TheDay 4/28/06

1. Greetings, another season has dawned and despite some chill spring winds, people are stirring out and about on our waters, looking for the first fish of a new saltwater fishing year. At this point the news is on the slim side, but we will begin.
2. Capt. Kerry at J&B Tackle in Niantic told me about some better than average flounder catches from the Niantic River. It's not numbers of years past but enough for people in small boats to catch supper and maybe a few left over for the next meal. Schoolie bass are up around Golden Spur taking small plastic lures on very light spin rods. No action to date at Millstone nor has an early bird ventured to The Race looking for the first larger bass of the year.
3. Al Golinski of Misquamicut is about two weeks away from putting his boat in the water. The only catches have been small bass from the shore between the Pawcatuck River and Matunuck, R.I. Be warned the weather along the beach is still very cool so bring extra clothes if you make the drive to Rhode Island.
4. Moving to Charlestown, we heard from Capt. Don's about a few flounder caught in the salt ponds with the exception of Quonny Pond. That body of water has been devoid of flounder for several seasons now.
5. Shore anglers are getting fair to excellent numbers of small stripers from the Pawcatuck River around Cemetery Cove east to the West Wall jetty at Point Judith, R.I. The hot lure of the moment is a three-inch Cocahoe Minnow in white or pearl on a 1/4-3/4-ounce lead head. The last warm day produced a worm hatch in Charlestown Pond, eager news for flyrodders from several states. Most locals who want cod and haddock are driving to Gloucester, Mass., to charter a six-man boat or got out for a day trip on a party boat.
6. Capt. Al Anderson spent this past Tuesday taking Dennis Kelly and Stephanie Cramer to the Thames River for 147 stripers to 41/2 pounds on fly rods, all tagged and released. Al remarked there are new, fresh-run stripers coming into the river on a steady basis.
7. At Stonington, King Cove Oufitters said anyone that wants to get out of the house can get schoolies from Cemetery Cove upriver almost to the Westerly Bridge, the flats off Napatree Point and of late, inside the Quonny Breachway, the latter spot best at the end of one tide, slack water and the beginning of the next tide before the current runs too hard.
8. Allen Fee at Shaffers said they've been open for business about two weeks now, seeing small bass caught around Six Penny Island and the north end of Mason's Island on lures and a 31-incher on a worm fished on the bottom from the dock along Cottrell Street. Sam Godfrey and Morgan Arnold, both from Mystic, have been catching tiny stripers at times from the Mason's Island Bridge on small Storm shads.
9. This year the fluke season in Connecticut opens on April 30. You are allowed to keep six fish with an 18-inch minimum size. Porgy season will start on June 1 with a 25 fish per person limit if the fish are 101/2 inches long. Sea bassing remains open all year long with a 12-inch minimum and a bag limit of 25 per day.
10. Some of the locals from Preston were driving to Point Judith to jig up squid from the docks at night said Capt. Jack Balint at the Fish Connection. The Thames River offers bass the whole length with the biggest ones currently around the base of the Greenville Dam when there's water coming over. Flounder catches are on the slow side from Bluff Point and the coves in the lower part of the river. There are so many little bass around right now one gent had them taking soft baits meant for blackfish at Sarah's Ledge.
11. Mark at Hillyers Tackle in Waterford reported some better flounder catches along the edges of the Niantic River channel up around the Army Base. Some people limited out while others had a couple in the bucket. Blackfish season is closed now and will reopen on June 15 with a four fish limit and 14-inch size requirement. The pound net in the bay is seeing a lot of squid at night; some of these are finding their way into the river where they might be jigged under dock lights.
12. My good friend Sherwood Lincoln is ready for another season and diamond jigging some bass in The Race around mid-May. Small boaters had lots of bass from 14 to 20 inches in the lower Connecticut River on a variety of small plugs and plastic lures. Flounder reports from the Spindle, normally a hot spot in years past, are few and far between.
13. Mark at River's End in Old Saybrook closed out our first column, saying the flounder fishing in the Connecticut River is very poor at this time, better over in Niantic. School striper fishing on the other had is at its spring peak number wise. In time the numbers will drop somewhat but the average size will improve. If you don't like casting lures, you can dunk a worm on the bottom from the DEP Pier in Old Lyme for both small bass and maybe some white perch. [The Day, Tim Coleman]

Capt Morgan 4/27/06

1. Trout fishing continues to be fairly consistent with most agreeing that catches are up. The main rivers like the Salmon, Farmington, Housey, and Hammo are giving up their share of stocked trout although timing the hatches such as the Hendrickson has been challenging. Midges, stones, caddis, and blue wing olives have been good choices. We've also found bead heads nymphs, streamers, ants, and small crappie-type jigs strong producers of quality fish.
2. Trout parks, especially Chatfield Hollow, are drawing numbers of happy anglers, considering its gates have been up making for easier access. The parks are generally stocked about every 7 to 10 days, at least until it warms up. Lures, flies, and various prepared soft baits all have caught fish although colors are changing with conditions. Live shiners, worms, and grubs continue to be standouts among anglers preferring to use live bait.
3. Our much-needed rain fell and with it rivers and stream levels rose. Live shiners, worms, and grubs ought to be excellent choices for those anglers preferring to use live bait now that run-offs from the banks and water movement picked up steam. Big browns and 'bows will take notice and will turn on to the new influx of food!
4. Largemouth bass seemed to have developed their springtime attitude. Activity is on the rise as more anglers are hitting their favorite lakes and finding out just how good it's getting. Things are coming to life along the edges and by the beds. River fishing is also attracting more anglers to popular northern pike and perch haunts. The recent low water seemed to have created some really good fishing in the coves. However, with the recent rainfall, things may hiccup for a bit until conditions settle down.
5. Striped bass to about 25 inches are all along the Connecticut and Thames rivers and spilling out into the Sound. Larger linesides have been caught in the lower tidals on both artificials and live bait. It's about time to check out a few of the reefs and perhaps drift an eel or cast one from shore. Sandworms and clams are being gulped up with an occasional piece of chunk being taken in the mix. Blackfish closes April 30 and have been quite active along the shoreline. With more anglers chumming for blackbacks, chatter has increased. However, unlike in years past, no great stories are being told unless from memory. [org published in The Source, Captain Morgan

Conn Post 4/28/06

1. Anglers did not fare well last week with the bad weather on the weekend and subsequent high water flows from rain run-off. But according to reports, those braving the situation did enjoy fishing for trout, largemouth bass, walleye, striped bass and blackfish.
2. Trout action this week was actually better than last week, thanks in part to the renewed stocking efforts by the state Department of Environmental Protection. This week hatchery trucks were to deliver fish to Baumer's Pond, Black Rock State Park Pond, Branch Brook, Bunnells Pond, Eight-Mile Brook, the Farmington River from Avon to Collinsville, Great Hollow Pond, Kent Falls, both the trout management srea and open section of the Mianus River, the Mill River in Sleeping Giant State Park, both the upper and lower sections of the Naugatuck River, Nepaug River, Norwalk River, the Pequonnock River in Beardsley Park, the Pequonnock River in the "Trumbull Valley," the Pootatuck River, Sandy Brook, both the fly-fishing-only and open sections of the Saugatuck River, Southford Falls State Park Pond, Starrett Pond, Lake Stibbs, Stratton Brook, Still River, Twin Brooks Park Ponds, West Hill Pond, Wharton Brook State Park Pond and Wononscopomuc Lake.
3. Other locations consistently giving up trout are the trout management area on the West Branch of the Farmington River, Bantam River, the Salmon River TMA, Pequabuck River, Chatfield Hollow Trout Park Pond, Lake Saltonstall, Highland Lake, Candlewood Lake, East Twin Lake, West Side Pond, Black Pond, Ball Pond, the Saugatuck Reservoir and Colebrook Reservoir.
4. Largemouth bass angling has been very good because of the early spring weather. These fish have been hitting live minnows, suspending jerkbaits and tube lures. Small spinnerbaits also work well as Dawn Shewchuk, formerly of Naugatuck, expertly demonstrated last week while practicing for the upcoming "SF" tournament. She caught two bass and a pickerel on a small pond in Torrington. Some of the best bass action has come from Crystal Lake, Bantam Lake, Highland Lake, Gardner Lake, East Twin Lake, Candlewood Lake, Hatch Pond, Ball Pond, Long Meadow Pond, Rogers Lake, Nells Rock Reservoir, Lake Saltonstall and Moodus Reservoir.
5. Walleye fishing is steadily improving. According to Bill Hyatt, director of Inland Fisheries for the DEP, at least one walleye exceeding the state record has been electro-shocked in Squantz Pond during a recent biological survey. Along with Squantz Pond, Lake Saltonstall has the potential to produce a walleye that can eclipse the record. You may also catch walleye in Coventry Lake, Lake Housatonic and Gardner Lake.
6. Striped bass fishing in the tidal rivers is good to excellent. Most of the fish are well below the 28-inch size minimum. The norm has been 18 to 22 inches. Your best fun will come from the lower Pawcatuck River, Connecticut River south of Great Island, Sandy Point in West Haven, the Housatonic River between I-95 and the Derby Dam, Southport Harbor and Greenwich Harbor. Casting spoons, swimming plugs, bucktail jigs and soft-plastic herring all work well.
7. Blackfish are getting easier to find on the breakwaters and rock piles between Norwalk and Milford. But anglers are reminded that the blackfish season will be closed May 1-June 14. Flounder fishing is spotty at best with a few wayward fish being caught off Bluff Point, Pine Island, and in Norwalk Harbor. [FRANK MCKANE JR. ]

On The Water 4/27/06

• The recent rains and cold snap earlier in the week have served to stall the progression of events and chill area waters, especially shallow freshwater ponds. Freshwater bass are nearing their spawn and even on the beds in some shallower lakes while in others they are still in the pre spawn mode. Winter flounder fishing is so-so to horrible, with the Norwalk Islands and Niantic being the only two places in this week’s report where fishermen aren’t complaining.
• Over the line in Connecticut, Bill at King Cove Outfitters in Stonington said there is plenty of schoolie action in the Pawcatuck River, good numbers of smaller fish with the occasional keeper mixed in. These fish are chasing herring and a few adult bunker that showed up out of nowhere this week. That probably explains the keeper bass Captain Don heard about. Bill noted that customers have also been catching some small bass off Napatree Point and in the upper reaches of Stonington Harbor. There are some squid starting to show up in the commercial nets off shore, which means the migration of squid is about on time. When they get in closer to shore next week or the first week of May, count on bigger bass to be chowing them on the surface and fluke to be ambushing them from below.
• A few anglers have been chasing blackfish and winter flounder, but none of them have come back bragging about what they caught. Waters may be a tad cool in Rhody waters and the cooler, eastern end of Long Island Sound, but to the west from Madison, Connecticut to New York, the blackfish action has been excellent.
• Cheryl Al Fee of Shaffer’s Marina in Mystic said that it’s been a little quiet lately down her way; most of her customers either don’t have their boats in or have dropped them in so they can get to their lawns. Her brother Al caught a couple small schoolie bass in the Mystic River on a short excursion the other night. He said the bass are around but not really active yet. She has not heard of anyone taking winter flounder from the Mystic River since they opened the shop for the season, two weeks ago.
• Up the Thames River in Preston, Rennie of The Fish Connection told me that the both the Shetucket and Yantic River are fishing well lately. One problem is the loss of a major chunk of private land to access in the upper portion of the fly-fishing area. The lower, open end of the Yantic River has been more heavily stocked as a result. Rennie said that the Salmon River was stocked this week with some very big trout. Mohegan Park received a few nets of stocked trout on Wednesday as well. Wooly Buggers and bead-head nymphs were working well on the Moosup River and Farmington Rivers. Hendrickson hatches are also coming off. Small black gnat flies will work when these pesky little bugs out in abundance. At least they don’t bite around here like they do in the North Country.
• Thames River is loaded with schoolies, but the larger fish that were around a week ago were nowhere to be found this week for some reason. Near Greenville Dam there are a few keepers but no really hot action from larger fish yet. But there should be soon based on fish passage reports of alewives running strong at Greenville Dam with 1,800 already counted but only a shad or two so far.
• Richard at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford said that the winter flounder action has remained pretty good in the Niantic River. Over the weekend they weighed in a 2.5-pound winter flounder along with a few other nice fish. Blackfish catches have improved but the season comes to a close at the end of the month. They weighed in a 9.5-pound blackfish earlier in the week and customers have been talking about catching some quality fish. A few larger striped bass are rumored to have taken in the Thames and Connecticut Rivers, but no specific catches to report. The schoolie action remains good in the Niantic River.
• At the mouth of the Connecticut River in Saybrook, Pat Abate of River’s End Tackle said schoolies are all over the place and providing some great fishing action. The river is presently clean flowing and it’s not warming too fast, which when combined with the mild weather equates to tons of action from striped bass at this time of year. Even the anglers who are fishing from the DEP pier and the Causeway are catching and releasing good numbers of 14- to 20-inch fish. Those in boats are taking large numbers of fish, but all this stripers are less than two feet in length. Pat feels this small fish bite will change for the better in a few days. Up river in Portland, anglers are reportedly taking some stripers in the 25- to 30-inch range. Soon the jumbos will be chasing shad and herring below the Enfield Dam.
• Blackfishing has been excellent around the Clinton breakwater, but Pat said the winter flounder fishing has been “dismal” just as it has been pretty much every place to the east, other than Niantic River. He heard of a few weakfish in the New Haven harbor area, which is about on schedule. Most years, May is the time when these fish make a run across the Sound and provide some action for anglers in the triangle between Guilford, Falkner Island and the Housatonic River. Rivers End Tackle his holding a seminar on a hot new topic, “Fishing the Butterfly Jigs” presented by the Shimano pro staff, Saturday, May 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison verified the rumors that Pat heard about the weakfish starting to make their move into the New Haven area. Blackfishing has been excellent from Westbrook to Madison in close around the rocks with anglers coming into the shop with fish up to about 9 pounds. The Captain said it appears there are some fish moving out of the Hudson River because he’s been seeing some bigger and fresher looking small fish in the Madison area. He said some of these fish have sea lice on them. I’m thinking that based on the stripers the guys are seeing at Newport, these “fresh bass” could have turned the corner around Montauk Point and are some of the early run, immature, non-spawners that always hit this area before the big guys every spring.
• There are a few winter flounder are around but not many being caught.
• Trout action is still red hot in the Hammonassett River. The heavily stocked trout park at Chatfield Hollow has been productive lately. This is a great place to take a family, kids, or anyone who’s just getting started on fishing because these places are stocked heavily and odds of hooking up are high.
• Some of the best catches in the Stratford area this week were some nice big blackfish they weighed in at Stratford Bait and Tackle, said owner Chris Fulton. Henry Booth caught an 11-pound, 2-ouncer and his partner an 8.6-pounder along with the remainder of a two-man limit. They caught their fish on sand worms and Asian crabs. Larry Leiney brought in a fat a 4-pound blackfish earlier in the week.
• Not much in the way of bigger striped bass yet, but there are tons of schoolies around. Due to the rains over the weekend and extreme tides, there has been so much junk floating in the Housatonic customers have been finding the fishing very tough. This weekend should see some improvement.
• Burt at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk said their customers have been catching lots of schoolies from the Calf Pasture pier, along with a few winter flounder. Greg Hooper and friends caught 20 winter flounder from a boat in front of the pier over the weekend. These guys are chumming heavily with ground clams; no chum equals fewer fish. Rick Dayhuff caught 18 stripers from the Housatonic River earlier in the week. One guy caught 28 bunker in a gill net on Friday in Norwalk Harbor, which bodes well for the movement of some bigger stripers into the area any time after the bunker show. The islands are holding good numbers of stripers, with anglers who fish from the pier reporting 7, 8 or more stripers per person, up to about 22 inches. They are hooking some keeper-class fish, but most are lost when they have to walk them down the pier to the rocks to land them. The bigger fish simply break off in the pilings or work the hook free during the extended battle.
• Their freshwater customers have also been successful lately. Frank Albano caught a 6.5-pound largemouth bass from parts unknown while Robert Bray caught a 5.75-pound rainbow over in the Trumbull area on a Phoebe lure.
• Freshwater:
• Bill Hopkins of Hope Valley Bait and Tackle, Hope Valley, Rhode Island said the bass action is a mix right now, with lots of cruising fish and a few sitting on the nests in the shallower, warmer areas of Rhody’s many small, shallow lakes. The state stocked trout Wednesday in the Wood River and Trout Unlimited folks did a float stocking near Route 165. This week Bill has been weighing in many larger trout between 3 to 6 pounds, now that the fish are starting to feed after getting used to their new homes. He said he’d rate the trout fishing at “A-plus” right now with the cooler waters and higher flow rates. May flies, size 20 mosquitoes, black gnats in sizes 20 to 24 have been working. On over cast days and in the evenings, toss bigger stuff like stone flies and Wooly Buggers. He sayid to move them faster so the bigger fish don’t get a good look at the fraud.
• Over in Lebanon, Connecticut, Jim Dimitri of Lebanon Sports Center said that meal worms are producing the best catches of trout for their customers, noting its “the bait of choice at the present time.” So far it’s been a very good season on the Yantic River and nearby Salmon River, with many quality fish being caught and released
• Some very nice trout have been weighed in at Mike’s Bait and Tackle in Voluntown, including a 8.25-pound rainbow that came in from the Shetucket River and a 4.25-pound rainbow out of Lillbridge Pond, along with many big browns from Beach Pond since the last report. People are talking about fishing in Beach Pond for but no one is telling him if much has been caught. Beach Pond was initially stocked three years ago, so this year the walleyes from the first year’s fingerling stocking will be reaching the state’s 18-inch minimum length by mid summer. I’m sure a few of the faster growers are probably that size and maybe as large as 20 inches by now.
• Captain John Planeta, owner of Franks Tackle in Marlborough said the water in the area streams rose dramatically from the heavy rains this past weekend, which has improved the conditions on many trout streams in the area. On Opening Day he weighed in a 6.5-pound largemouth from a farm pond in Hebron. Roaring Brook produced an 8-pound rainbow over last weekend and he heard of a 4-pound rainbow that was caught and released mid week (probably just after the fresh stocking of quality fish) in the Salmon River. One customer accidentally caught, photographed and immediately released a 4-foot long sturgeon that ate the sand worms he was using to catch striped bass. John said the schoolie stripers are all over the Connecticut River at the present time.
• Your best bet this week is still school stripers for sheer action and blackfish for some fillet material. In the freshwater, trout, panfish and largemouths will be hitting well in area lakes and rivers. We haven’t heard much from the calico bass fishing crowd, but these fish should be peaking in many area lakes right about now.

DEP Weekly Report 4/26/06

1. INLAND REPORT: In-season trout stocking is well underway. Connecticut Trout Parks are experiencing heavy usage from families fishing. All are enjoying the frequent (7-10 day) stocking of these areas.
2. Locations to try for good trout: fishing include Baummer’s Pond, Angus Park Pond, Bunnells Pond, and the Stratton Brook, Black Rock, Wolfe Park (Great Hollow Pond), Horse Pond, Southford Falls, Wharton Brook, Chatfield Hollow, Kent Falls, Sleeping Giant (Mill River) and Natchaug River Trout Parks.
3. TROUT: Rivers & streams - The recent rainy weather has slowed everything down somewhat. However, anglers are still reporting good fishing for trout with reports from the Farmington (brown 21”), Housatonic (browns to 20”), Willimantic, Natchaug, Aspetuck, Bantam, Blackberry, Scantic, Naugatuck, Hammonasset, Salmon, Mill, Ten Mile, Eightmile (Southington), Mianus, Coginchaug, Pequonnic, Pequabuck, Yantic, Little (23”, 5 lb brown), Pomperaug and Hockanum Rivers, and Leadmine, Latimer, Salmon, Sandy, Roaring (Somers) and Roaring (Glastonbury) Brooks. Bait anglers are having success using earthworms or a mealworm/corn combination. Successful fly anglers used Winter/Summer Caddis (#18-22, early morning, minor hatch), Blue Wing Olive (#16-20, late morning-early afternoon), Blue Quills (#16-20, early afternoon) and Quill Gordons (#16-18, early/mid afternoon).
4. Farmington River water temperatures are in the low 50’s °F, with clearing flows of 150 CFS (Riverton) and an additional 130 CFS from the Still River. Hendricksons (#12-14, early afternoon) are in full hatch on the Farmington River now! Spinner fall occurs around 6:30 pm. Housatonic River morning water temperature is 55°F (TMA area) with 1,000 CFS of off color flows at Falls Village and 3,600 cfs at Gaylordsville. Blue Wing Olive, midges, Blue Quills, early caddis & stoneflies are suggested here. Streamers (white/yellow) and nymphs are producing some large fish. The Hendrickson hatch was a total blowout on the Housatonic River due to the high water and is over for the year.
5. Anglers Can Expect Good Fishing in western CT at the West Branch Farmington (above TMA), , East Aspetuck, Little, Nonewaug, Pomperaug, Pootatuck and Weekeepeemee Rivers, and the East and West Branch Salmon, Pond, Hop and Leadmine Brooks.
6. In eastern CT, good fishing can be expected at: Hammonasset, Hockanum, Hop, Jeremy, Middle, Natchaug, Quinebaug, Salmon, Shetucket, Skungamaug, Still (Eastford), Tankerhoosen and Yantic Rivers, and Broad (Preston), Bigelow, Choate, Crystal Lake, Indiantown, Kitt and Pattaconk Brooks.
7. Lakes & Ponds – Good trout fishing was found in many lakes and ponds throughout Connecticut with reports from Colebrook Reservoir, Mashapaug (mixed results), Rogers (good), Wonoscopomuc (22”, 4.3 lb brown), Highland (22” brown), Crystal (Ellington), Candlewood (22” brown) and East Twin (20 fish for one angler) Lakes, Squantz, Beach(some 12-15” browns among the catches), Great Hollow, Mt. Tom and West Hill (52 trout for 2 anglers) Ponds.
8. Anglers can expect good fishing in western CT at Black Rock Impoundment, East Twin, Fountain and Highland Lakes, Ball, Christensen's, Ender's, Mohawk, Mt. Tom, Tyler and West Side Ponds.
9. In Eastern CT, good fishing should be expected at: Walkers Reservoir, Amos, Billings, Pattaconk, Bashan, Cedar, Gardner, Quonnipaug and Wyassup Lakes, Beach,Black (Meriden/Middlefield), Beaver Brook (Bibbins), Day, Horse, Schreeder and Valley Falls Park Ponds.
10. LARGEMOUTH BASS fishing is productive as fish move onto the spawning beds. Try Mansfield Reservoir, Saugatuck Reservoir, East Twin, Saltonstall, Wonoscopomuc, Amos, Bashan (launching difficult), Quonnipaug (6.48 lb bass), Uncas, Ashland, Bantam, Congamond, Highland, Middle Bolton, Candlewood (6.5 lb bass) and Coventry Lakes, and Pachaug, Mudge and Ball Ponds.
11. SMALLMOUTH BASS are reported at Mansfield Hollow Reservoir, Lake Housatonic, Candlewood (great, including a 4.75 lb smallie), Bashan, and Gardner (spotty) Lakes, Squantz Pond and, West Hill and Ball Ponds.
12. CHAIN PICKEREL are being caught at: Wonoscopomuc Lake and Rogers Lake (21”).
13. BLACK CRAPPIE fishing is excellent at: Lake Saltonstall, West Twin (30 fish) and East Twin (13.5”) Lakes, and Avery, Glasgo and Park Ponds.
14. NORTHERN PIKE are showing up at Bantam Lake (30”), Hopeville Pond, Ashland Pond, and below the Pachaug dam.
15. Connecticut River – STRIPED BASS are in the river up to Enfield. Legal size fish (up to 40”) are now mixed in with the schoolies. Inland fishing license is required to fish in the Ct. River north of the railroad bridge in Old Lyme. Sand & blood worms are working as well as soft plastics.
16. NORTHERN PIKE are reported at Windsor, Haddam Meadows, Wethersfield Cove and White Oaks Cove.
17. CATFISH are being caught in Wethersfield & White Oaks Cove, Middletown & Cromwell area of the river.
18. SHAD are reported in the river up to the Bissell Bridge.
19. WHOPPERS – Brown trout; - Natchaug River (8.3 lbs, 26”, Jason Adams), Saugatuck Reservoir (6.5 lbs, Daniel Hripak of Bridgeport), Crystal Lake, Ellington (5 lbs, Ken Nyser).
20. NOTES: Launching from the state boat launches at Bashan Lake, Quaddick Reservoir and Beseck Lake remains difficult due to low water levels.
21. MARINE FISHING REPORT: STRIPED BASS fishing in the tidal rivers and harbors remain good for schoolies with HICKORY SHAD mixed in. Schoolies range in length from about 14 to 20 inches. The usual spots include the Pawcatuck River, Mystic River, Thames River, Niantic River, Connecticut River by Great Island, Sandy Point area in New Haven Harbor, Housatonic
22. River from the Devon power plant to the Derby Dam, and the Norwalk Islands.
23. WINTER FLOUNDER fishing is fair at Bluff Point/Poquonock River, Pine Island area, the Brothers, Niantic Bay, and Norwalk Harbor.

Norwich Bulletin 4/22/06

• This time of year, some of the fastest fishing action to be experienced is in the Thames River and other coastal estuaries that are harboring large schools of hungry, active striped bass.
• Most of the fish being caught in the Connecticut, Pawcatuck, Mystic, Niantic and Thames rivers are small schoolies averaging 14 to 22 inches. However, in the upper reaches of the Thames and other places with spawning runs of alewives, there will be some very large stripers to catch, particularly after dark or early in the day.
• Alewives tend to move up river to spawn with an incoming tide after dark and stripers are nocturnal. So, the combination can make for some pretty exciting big-fish action, if you're in the right place at the right tide.
• Stripers are all over the Thames River's shallow flats and coves right now and will be present in large numbers for at least a few more weeks. The runs of bigger bass are temperature-dependent and tend to have a much shorter duration in the herring spawning areas.[org pub Norwich Bulletin by Bob Sampson, Jr]

On The Water 4/20/06

1. Its schoolies, schoolies, schoolies, occasional keepers and a few flounder. Everyone along the coast has something around to play with. Western Long Island Sound has some bunker penetrating as far east as Bridgeport Harbor, with some bass into the 30-pound range feeding heavily on them. There’s a large body of menhaden still in New York waters with some larger fish feeding on them that can be expected to move eastward over the next two weeks. Winter flounder are being caught, with a few people even talking about limits, though most places it’s a slow pick at best. Schoolie stripers, some migrants, are in the Newport area and winter holdovers in the large rivers like the Thames are abundant and providing some very fast fishing action when anglers hit the tides right.
2. Freshwater fishing is also red hot. With trout season open, many angler’s are hitting the local lakes and streams with trout being their main interest, though largemouth bass are very active in the smaller, warmer shallow ponds and lakes throughout the region.
3. Bill at King Cove Outfitters in Stonington CT said they’re starting to hear about some action in the Pawcatuck River from around the cemetery on down to the mouth. Charlestown Breachway has also been active the past few evenings. The bass are small and being caught on flies and small soft plastics and plugs. He also noted that a few of his customers are fishing for winter flounder, but no one is reporting back on doing much “catching” at this point.
4. Cheryl Fee of Shaffer’s Marina in Mystic, CT said they just opened up on Friday. Alan caught a small striper in the river over the weekend. Not many of their boats are in the water yet so she hasn’t heard much about winter flounder. Kids are taking a few small bass on Storm shads off the causeway bridge. Al said the lower river was 48 degrees on Saturday night but it dropped to 44 off the Pawcatuck River on Monday (which is closer to the cooler open ocean). Temps are ahead of last year at this calendar date and shaping up nicely for spring and early summer fishing throughout the region.
5. Our Thames River report comes from Captain Jack Balint of The Fish Connection in Preston, CT. The river has been seeing bass everywhere up and down the river, from Buoy 27 up to the Greenville Dam. Its been mostly schoolies but there are some nice bass up to 15 to 18 pounds being caught from lower Poquetanuck Cove. There are also some bigger bass being caught up at the dam when the tides are right. Try to fish near the top of the tide and you will catch some of these bigger, herring-chasing stripers.
6. Freshwater fishing is turning on pretty well.Low water conditions made fishing easier in the area’s rivers and streams by concentrating the fish into pools where they could be easily reached and caught. The water is almost too low in some parts of the Yantic and other smaller rivers. Jack said that the Salmon River, the Black Ledge River (which flows into the Salmon River), Shetucket and Natchaug are all producing some decent fish.
7. Mark at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle in Waterford CT said that the Niantic River, Jordan Cove vicinity, has been producing winter flounder in good numbers. Many of the fish are quality sized, with a fair number of anglers actually limiting out. He said they are anchoring up and chumming the channel for flatties up inside the inner bay near Camp Rell. Down closer to the bridges they are catching some nice blackfish, along with some flounder, near where the channel bends to flow under the drawbridge. Schoolie stripers are also present in the upper river, with the best action taking place early and late in the day.
8. Mark also heard reports that the lower Connecticut River has been producing some stripers up to 30 inches, with Great Island and Lieutenant River near the DEP dock being the hot spots. The outgoing tide has been (and always is) best in the Connecticut River, with guys using flies and soft plastics. There are reports of stripers being caught in and around the mouth of Hamburg Cove as well.
9. White perch are hitting well at Hamburg Cove, though more towards the mouth than up higher in the cove around the marinas. Reports from some hard core perch fishermen indicate that numbers are good but the size is down from past years. American shad are just starting to move here and in the Thames.
10. Pat Abate of River’s End Tackle in Saybrook CT said the striper fishing has been good in the lower Connecticut River for a week or more now, from Lieutenant River to Great Island and also up-river around South Cove at Essex. The catches, like everywhere else, are mostly small fish with occasional 30-inchers being caught around dark in and near creeks that support herring runs. Bigger fish are separated from the smaller fish and chasing these much larger baits.
11. Winter flounder are being caught in Niantic, but note there’s not much action around the lower river mouth at this point. Generally the Connecticut River flatfish bite is a tad later than the coves and bays to the east and concentrates around the outer breakwall when it happens.
12. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison CT said that it’s been all trout since opening day. The weekend brought heavy fishing on both days. Low waters helped customers catch fish in the streams.
    
13. Winter flounder are hitting coves and inlets along the shorelines of Madison and Guilford. Nothing spectacular in numbers or size are being reported, but those who know what they are doing are catching a few flatfish. Anglers who are targeting blackfish are catching some decent sized ones in close to shore around the rockpiles where they will be spawning in a few weeks. The Connecticut blackfish season closes April 30 so there’s not much time left to chase this great eating fish.
14. Plenty of schoolie bass are present and being caught in the coves and river mouths in the Madison area as well.
15. Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait and Tackle said Bridgeport Harbor has some bunker with fish up to 40 inches being caught under the schools. Bass are all over the river up to about 30 inches. Flounder action has been good. The best is a 2.88-pounder at this point.
16. Trout season has been productive with fish to 6 pounds from the Saugatuck Reservoir. There were tons of kids fishing with their parents over the weekend. The kids are off from school and can take advantage of the trout season.
17. Burt at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, CT told us customers have been nailing the schoolies on a regular basis from the Calf Pasture Point Pier. A few keeper bass have also been caught from this productive springtime spot. There are still some big schools of adult bunker in the bays and inlets along the New York coastline that are producing some bigger stripers. One school of these bigger fish moved into Bridgeport Harbor where a group of customers said they caught stripers of 30 and 32 pounds using live menhaden for bait.
18. It looks like there may be some fish on the move out of the Hudson River based on these “big fish reports” which is good news. The larger concentrations of big bass and bunker are west in New York Waters but they should begin moving our way within the next week or so.
19. There are also a few winter flounder being caught off the pier. The best flatfish catches are being made in the Norwalk River by those who are chumming heavily with ground clams and setting their lines back into the chum slick. The shop has weighed flatties up to about 2 pounds. Last year fish over 3 pounds were caught a little later in the season.
20. CT Freshwater:A few trout fishermen caught some walleyes up to 23 inches from Beach Pond on opening day, which bodes well for that fishery this summer.
21. The lack of ice on area lakes probably saved the lives of many pike and walleye. Over the 35 years I’ve been writing reports like this one, summers following mild, “no ice” winters, the bass, pike and walleye fishing is always better for quality and quantity of fish.
22. This week, anyone should be able to hook into trout in area lakes or ponds, bass in the shallow lakes, and stripers pretty much anywhere along the coast. There are a few winter flounder around to catch, with Niantic Bay and the Norwalk Islands sounding like the best spots to target flatfish. Big bass are not in the area in abundance yet, but they’ll be here real soon anywhere there’s a herring run, and under the bunker schools in Western Long Island Sound. [org pub OnTheWater by Bob Samspon]
    

Conn Post 4/21/06

• Warm weather and calm winds greeted anglers as the trout season officially opened Saturday. The spring climate continued all week to further delight fishers. As expected, the trout cooperated for some and completely fooled others. But catching fish is only a small part of the opening week atmosphere.
• Part of the trout-fishing spirit is the chance for parents to spend time outdoors with their children. This week it seemed that many families did not miss this special opportunity. Surveys around the state showed numerous adult/child fishing partnerships working the stocked lakes, especially the trout parks.
  
• The fishing outings paid big dividends for several youngsters, like Sam Emanuel, 8, of Stratford. The young caster caught a 5.92-pound brown trout from Candlewood Lake. He also reeled in two more brown trout weighing 2.46 and 2.38 pounds. Nick Vanfleet, 12, of Milford, hooked a rare 18-inch tiger trout from the Wepawaug River. Nick Rossi, 9, of Trumbull, picked up a tagged 14-inch rainbow from Gould Manor Pond. Brennan Cunningham, 4, of North Haven, caught a 20-inch, 3-pound rainbow trout on Berkley Powerbait in Maltby Lake #3. Conner Peterson, 11 of Fairfield, tried catching trout at Lake Mohegan, but ended up with a bunch of nice crappie.
• Adults also had good opening week luck. Ken Richie of Stratford weighed in a 5.96-pound Seeforellen brown trout at Stratford Bait & Tackle. He caught the fish at the Saugatuck Reservoir on a Krocodile spoon with green prism tape. Pablo Padillo of Bridgeport hooked a 4.22- pound rainbow trout at Unity Park on a nightcrawler. Ron Merly of Fairfield weighed in a 6.75-pound rainbow trout at Jimmy O's Bait & Tackle. According to the report, he caught the big trout on a yellow "coachdog" colored Rooster Tail. Bridgeport school teacher Eli Dyson of West Haven picked up a 3-pound brown trout in the Trumbull section of the Pequonnock River on Berkley Powerbait. Don Drake of Bridgeport opted for a mealworm to entice a 4.75-pound rainbow trout at the Norwalk River. Those who didn't catch many fish on opening day can take heart as there are eight more weeks of trout stocking. This week the state Department of Environmental Protection stocked both the Cornwall and Bulls Bridge trout management areas on the Housatonic River, the Farmington River TMA, Kent Falls Brook, the Mill River in Hamden, the Pequabuck River and Scoville Reservoir.
• Saltwater angling has taken a backseat to freshwater with the onset of trout season. But those working Long Island Sound are enjoying striped bass. Also, a report from Tom's Marine indicated plenty of schoolie striped bass in the Housatonic River below the Derby Dam. Hector Martinez of Bridgeport scored at Seaside Park last week with a 37-inch, 17.45 pound and a 38.75-inch, 21.05 pound striped bass. Both fish were weighed at Ted's Bait & Tackle. Meanwhile, Harry Sheffield of Bridgeport caught a 36-inch, 17-pound striper off the east end of Seaside Park. All the above bass were taken on bunker chunks.
• Blackfish are keeping anglers entertained as Joe Lucibella of Fairfield discovered when he boated an 8.42-pound blackfish. The fish struck a sandworm off the New Haven Harbor breakwaters. [org pub CT Post, written by FRANK MCKANE JR.

DEP Weekly 4/19/06

1. INLAND REPORT: Angler reports on Opening Day weekend varied from slow to excellent. All reports indicate that the Trout Parks (stocked every 7-10 days) provide an exceptional family fishing experience. Six of the Trout Parks were stocked fish on Opening Day and children were invited to help stock trout and they really enjoyed it. DEP staff were on site at many of the Trout Parks to answer questions and they report that family participation at Trout Parks continues to increase.
2. DEP recommends fishing spots for children and families. Locations to try for good trout fishing include: Angus Park Pond (Glastonbury), Baummer’s Pond (Naugatuck), Bunnells Pond (Bridgeport- a new addition to the trout stocking schedule), and the Chatfield Hollow, Stratton Brook, Black Rock Pond, Wolfe Park (Great Hollow Pond) Horse Pond, Southford Falls, Wharton Brook, Kent Falls, Sleeping Giant (Mill River-Hamden) and Natchaug River Trout Parks.
3. TROUT: Rivers & streams - There are plenty of trout in the water and there have been reports of trout up to 24 .Most anglers are having success using earthworms or mealworms and corn. Good fishing reported from the TMA’s on the Housatonic, West Branch-Farmington, Mianus and Willimantic Rivers, the Mill, Farm (22 rainbow), Norwalk, Natchaug, Quinnipiac, Fenton, Coginchaug, Salmon, Farmill (8.5 lbs. brown), Naugatuck, Saugatuck and Bantam Rivers, Dickenson Brook and Stratton Brook.
4. Farmington River - Water temperatures are in the mid to upper 40’s, with clear flows of 139 CFS (Riverton) and an additional 59 CFS from the Still River. Successful fly anglers are using Blue Wing Olive (#16-18), Hendricksons (#12-14), Winter Caddis (#16-20), Midges (#20-28) and a variety of nymphs.
5. Housatonic River – The morning water temperature is 57°F (TMA area) with 685 CFS of clearing flows at Falls Village. Hendrickson (#12-14), Midges (#20-28) and black/brown stoneflies (#12-16) are the current hatches. With the warmer temperatures more bugs will start to show up.
6. Anglers Can Expect Good Fishing At: the Pachaug, Green Falls, Hammonasset (including TMA), Salmon, (including TMA), Scantic, Shetucket, Still (Eastford), Willimantic, Yantic (including the TMA), Farmington (West Branch TMA), Housatonic (including both TMA’s), Mill and Pequabuck (Rockwell Park - Blvd. area) Rivers, Beaver, Bigelow, Kent Falls (Trout Park), Chatfield Hollow (Trout Park), Hunts, Indiantown, Mount Misery, Myron Kinnie, Shunock, Roaring (Stafford) and Susquetonscut Brooks.
7. Lakes & Ponds – Good fishing and some excellent fish were found in many lakes/ponds throughout Connecticut including the Great Hollow, Stratton Brook, Black Rock, Chatfield Hollow and Wharton Brook Trout Parks, Lake Saltonstall, Lake McDonough, Highland (8 lbs. brown), Rogers, Coventry, Gardner, Crystal (Ellington), Cedar, Mashapaug (6 lbs. brown), Candlewood and East Twin (23 brown trout) Lakes, Valley Falls, Saint Martha’s, Bigelow, West Side, West Hill, Black (Meriden) and Ball Ponds, Saugatuck Reservoir and Colebrook Reservoir.
8. Anglers Can Expect Good Fishing At: Black (Woodstock), Broad Brook Mill, Hewitt Fly, Horse, Paine, Schreeder (Chatfield Hollow TP) and Saw Mill Ponds, Green Falls Reservoir and Scoville Reservoir.
9. LARGEMOUTH BASS fishing is good due to above normal water temperatures. Good bass fishing is reported at Crystal (Ellington), Highland, Coventry (6.8 lb bass), Gardner, Waramaug, East Twin, Candlewood and Mashapaug Lakes, Hatch (44 fish for two anglers), Pachaug, Ball (7.5 lb bass) and Beach (7.7 lb bass) Ponds and Moodus Reservoir (7 lb bass).
10. WALLEYE are being taken at from Coventry Lake and Lake Saltonstall (2 over 6 lbs.).
11. Connecticut River – STRIPED BASS are throughout the river up to Windsor, Ct. School size (16-25 ) fish and adults up to 40 (lower river) are showing up. A reminder to anglers that an Inland fishing license is required to fish in the CT River north of the interstate route 95 bridge in Old Lyme/Old Saybrook. Sand and blood worms work best in early season stained water.
12. SHAD are just beginning to show up in the Connecticut waters. NORTHERN PIKE are reported in Wethersfield Cove, and downstream from Hartford to Haddam (smaller fish).
13. NOTES: Due to low water levels, launching from the state boat launches at Quaddick Reservoir and Beseck Lake may be difficult (at best).
14. STRIPED BASS fishing in the tidal rivers is good to excellent for schoolies. The Pawcatuck River, Thames River up to Norwich Harbor, Connecticut River by Great Island, Sandy Point area in New Haven Harbor, Housatonic River from the Devon power plant to the Derby Dam are the places to fish. Kastmasters,Hopkins spoons, swimming plugs, bucktail jigs and soft bodied jigs all work well.
15. WINTER FLOUNDER fishing is iffy at best. Flounder spots include Bluff Point, Pine Island area, the Brothers, and Norwalk Harbor but don’t expect much.
16. BLACKFISH should be getting more active on the local rock piles as water temperatures warm up.

Conn Post 4/14/06 Trout Stockings

1. Freshwater anglers spent much of the week gearing up for Saturday's trout season opener. By the 6 a.m. start time, the state Department of Environmental Protection expects to have about 410,000 trout awaiting fishers in 97 lakes and 200 rivers. Before planning your trip this weekend, review the following list of stocked waters along with last year's trout stocking numbers.
2. Lakes and ponds stocked with trout in Fairfield and New Haven counties are Ball Pond, 4,595; Baumer's Pond, 600; Black Pond, 6,650; the Branford Supply Ponds, 700; Candlewood Lake, 16,970; Fountain Lake, 500; Hop Brook Flood Control Pond, 4,730; Lake Mohegan, 1,630; Nells Rock Reservoir, 1,180; Picketts Pond in Osbornedale State Park, 850; Prospect Park Pond, 890; Quonnipaug Lake, 4,550; Lake Saltonstall, 2000; Saugatuck Reservoir, 4000; Scoville Reservoir, 1,550; Squantz Pond, 4,250; Starrett Pond, 1,160; Lake Stibbs, 690; and the Twin Brooks Park Ponds, 420.
3. The rivers and streams receiving trout are the Aspetuck River, 600; Beacon Hill Brook, 600; Bladens Brook, 500; Branford River, 3,260; Byram River, 500; East Swamp Brook, 400; Eight Mile Brook, 550; Farm River, 4420; Farmill River, 3,485; Hammonasset River Trout Management Area (TMA), 4,410; Hop Brook, 1,550; Indian Hole Brook, 300; Kettletown Brook, 650; Little River, 1,270; Long Meadow Pond Brook, 400; Long Swamp Brook, 200; Mianus River TMA, 3,080; Mianus River Open Section, 2,245; Mill River TMA (Fairfield), 1,340; Mill River Open Section (Fairfield), 1,080;
4. Mill River Open Section (Hamden), 6,445; Muddy River, 2,945; Naugatuck River, 8,280; East Branch of the Naugatuck River, 2,230; Nonnewaug River, 1,470; Norwalk River, 9,570; Pequonnock River, 7,905; the West Branch of the Pequonnock River, 350; Pomperaug River, 10,375; Pond Brook, 1,330; Pootatuck River, 1660; Quinnipiac River, 1,470; Race Brook, 300; Saugatuck River Flyfishing Only Section, 1,650; Saugatuck River Open Sections, 7610; West Branch of the Saugatuck River, 1,050; Sprain Brook, 600; Weekeepeemee Brook, 1,350; and Wepawaug River, 1,105.
5. Trout parks get very heavy helpings of trout. The regional trout parks are Black Rock State Park Pond, 6,220; Great Hollow Pond, 5000; the Mill River in Sleeping Giant State Park, 4,400; Southford Falls State Park Pond, 5,450; and Wharton Brook State Park Pond, 4,960.
6. Many anglers travel north into Litchfield County to enjoy the scenery and fisheries. Some of the more popular destinations are the Blackberry River, 2,885; Colebrook Flood Control Pond, 5,240; East Twin Lake, 15,130; Highland Lake, 12,800; Mohawk Pond, 3,175; Mt. Tom Pond, 5,250; Stillwater Pond, 1,835; Tyler Pond, 3,450; Hogsback Reservoir, 3,100; West Hill Pond, 14,800; West Side Pond, 2,440 and Wononscopomuc Lake, 8,550.
7. The Farmington River System is the most heavily stocked river in the state. Anglers will find 10,260 trout in the open sections of the river and 18,775 trout in the TMAs. The West Branch of the Farmington River will get 8,850 trout in the open sections and 18,090 in the TMAs. Likewise the Housatonic River TMAs were stocked with trout. Flyfishers should enjoy 2,000 trout in the Bulls Bridge TMA and 3,000 fish in the Cornwall TMA.

On The Water 4/13/06

1. Across the line in Connecticut, Don at King Cove Outfitters in Stonington said winter flounder are being caught in the Mystic River between the bridges. None of the catches are earth shattering, but the small group of anglers who are fishing this area are reporting a few keepers and some shorts. They have been catching enough fish to keep them coming back since the season opened in Connecticut two weeks ago. (Editor’s Note: This is where I caught my first flounder when I was a kid, growing up in Mystic. In the old days every finger pier had a couple of fishermen on the end fishing for flounder at this time of year. The Mystic River is quite narrow between the bridges and all the founder from upriver are funneled through this area. It should be considered a “best bet” although it’s no secret that the flounder fishing everywhere is a shadow of what it once was. Gene Bourque, editor)
2. Another group of anglers have been catching some schoolie bass in the Providence River and another group have found bass off the West Wall. Don has also heard about the fish in the Connecticut River at Hamburg Cove from yet another group of anglers.
3. It’s funny, everyone is talking about seeing sea lice on the bass, which most people assume means they are migratory fish from the south. This could well be true, but up in side Hamburg Cove at this time of year and with current river temperatures I doubt the bass are migrants from Chesapeake. I have a feeling that at least some of the lice are being picked up in the wintering areas and are, like the bass, getting active now so they are jumping on their host species. My guess is that these are local, over-wintering fish that are waking up as water temps warm into the 50s.
4. Captain John Planeta, owner of Frank’s Tackle in Marlborough said the Connecticut River is hot right now. The area in front of Wethersfield Cove is producing tons of small fish. Mostly those are 12- to 16-inchers that seem to be everywhere with the largest fish he’s heard of up to 24 inches. Everyone coming into the store lately is buying gear and licenses for the Connecticut trout season opener this Saturday. He noted that the TMA on the Salmon River has produced some three-pound trout.
5. Not much word on pike in the Connecticut River. Evidently the lack of snowmelt and flooding has done something negative to the spawning this year. No one is talking about the pike for the moment, but they have to be present somewhere in the river.
6. Joe Balint and Rennie of The Fish Connection in Preston said that the Thames River bass fishing is red hot in this river’s extensive shallows. Schoolie action is about the only thing going on at the moment. Everyone is preparing for the trout season opener. White perch have shown up in Poquetanuck Cove. There was a big school of white perch in Norwich Harbor recently and this is probably the school of fish that moved into the cove to spawn, like they do every year at about this time.
7. Winter flounder fishing still going fairly well at Bluff Point, Harkness Park and Seaside, in Waterford. No one talking about Jordan Cove but odds are there are some flounder there and probably up inside the Niantic River as well.
8. The Fish Connection is hosting their annual Opening Day contest and giving gift certificates as prizes for the three largest trout by weight, ties broken by who came in first.
9. I heard just about the same report from Richard at Hillyer’s Bait & Tackle in Waterford. He said customers are talking about catching winter flounder at Bluff Point, Jordan Cove and up inside the Niantic River. One fish caught on Tuesday was 2.5 pounds but skinny for its length; Richard said if it had any thickness it would have been three pounds for sure. One customer caught some nice blackfish on worms off one of the local reefs out in Niantic Bay.
10. Schoolie bass are also up in the river, with a few bigger fish chasing herring in the upper Thames River, according to a couple of customers.
11. Captain Jerry Morgan of Captain Morgan’s Tackle in Madison reports that all kinds of good things are going on. His Opening Day trout contest features prizes for the three biggest trout brought in prior to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Entrants who don’t will be eligible for additional prizes, determined by a drawing.
12. Winter flounder are being caught around the Thimble Islands; in East and West Rivers, Guilford; and off Madison around Tunxis Island. The Captain has also heard of but not seen a few blackfish, but nothing of any notable size. Schoolies are active up inside all the rivers and bays in the area with a few starting to move into New Haven Harbor.
13. Water temperatures in the Sound around Madison range from 46 to 48 degrees, which is a whole lot higher than last year on this date!
14. Head for the Housatonic River in the late afternoon, fish soft plastic and you may catch stripers up to 40 inches in length said Chris Fulton, owner of Stratford Bait & Tackle. Anglers are wading out and working 5-inch shads in bunker color along the channel edge are hooking up on a regular basis. One angler caught three keeper-sized bass in the Housatonic on Sunday.
15. Winter flounder fishing is slow. One customer caught two fish on Opening Day near Sprite Island in Westport but Chris has not heard a word about any other catches since then. Most of the interest right now has to do with Saturday’s trout season opener.
16. Rick Mola of Fisherman’s World in Norwalk said there are some flounder in the Norwalk Harbor area. Not many limits are reported at this time, but anglers are generally pleased with their catch results; he’s hearing of daily catches of four to seven fish averaging, 16 to 17 inches. Last year many flatfish to 3 pounds were caught; this year the best so far are only in the 2-pound range. Those big flatties didn’t begin to show until later in April and early May, so there is hope the same scenario will take place this spring.
17. Rick has also heard of a few schoolies around the Bridgeport Power Plant. The big news is a big school of adult bunker in Bridgeport Harbor and plenty of striped bass to 40 inches feeding under them. Manhassett Bay is loaded with bunker right now, which will draw the attention of the Hudson River’s jumbo bass once they drop down river after spawning sometime in the near future. Right now there’s some pretty good fishing for stripers in the warmer, western end of Long Island Sound. Otherwise, everyone is waiting for trout season to open Saturday.
18. Jim Dimitri of Lebanon Sports Center said people are fishing in the Yantic River TMA but no one has been catching any big trout on a regular basis.
19. The folks at Lebanon Sports Center in Bozrah are hard at work getting ready for their 40th or so annual Opening Day Contest and it is a gala affair, complete with hot dogs, beverage and prizes. Customers can chow down until the grub runs out. Their contest has both an adult and a kid’s division.
20. Last week’s Pachaug Pond “Ice Breaker Tournament” was slow, said Steve at Mike’s Bait and Tackle in Voluntown and no one talking about catching very much. The shop is holding their annual Opening Day Contest for the longest trout in adult and kid’s (under 16) divisions.
21. This week the best bet for sheer action will be trout in any of Connecticut or Rhode Island’s stocked waters, or striped bass in coastal rivers and shallow bays or salt ponds. With freshwater temps into the 50s, shallow weed-filled bass ponds will also be producing some pre-spawn largemouths.

New: Bridgeport, Ansonia, Naugatuck

The DEP added Bunnell's Pond in Bridgeport to its spring stocking list. Also stocked with trout for the first time this year are Fountain Lake in Ansonia and Seymour, and Baummers Pond in Naugatuck.

CT pays for the trout, non-residents pay again

The battle for fishing fees at Southington's Crescent Lake has been lost. Non-residents who want to boat or fish at Crescent Lake will have to buy a one-year permit for $25 if the Board of Park Commissioners approves a motion to that effect at its April meeting.

Crescent Lake is still being stocked with fish by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and a catch-and-release policy for fisherman is in place there.

Next up: charging non-residents hiking fees.