Herring Moving In!
Another hallmark of spring happened this week; herring were reported in the Middleboro, MA run and several other runs followed suit. These herring signal the next stage in ‘waking up’ holdover stripers across the region and should mean that the fish will begin taking some faster-moving plugs and larger profiles. The other big news this week was a noticeable spike in heavyweight largemouth bass, many of these fish took large baits that mimic herring, perch and stocked trout. It’s only going to get better from here!
Striper action is beginning to spread out according to the crew at Fishermans World while the Housy is still top dawg, there are fish from schoolies to 30 inches in Norwalk Harbor and inside some of...
Striper action is beginning to spread out according to the crew at Fishermans World while the Housy is still top dawg, there are fish from schoolies to 30 inches in Norwalk Harbor and inside some of the tidal rivers as well. This seems to be fueled by the movement of Atlantic herring back into the area. In the Housy the bite has been picking up with some bigger fish showing in daylight now too. After dark though, is still the best bet for larger fish on average. The fish are becoming more active now and will hit swimming plugs and darters as well as the usual soft plastics on jigheads. On the freshwater front, its been mostly a trout game for their customers; all the usual rivers are producing Mill, Norwalk, Mianus just remember that its catch and release only right now.
Captain Morgans emailed over their report to say, As daily highs rose 18 20 degrees above average, anglers hit the highly productive inland rivers, lakes and ponds. Except for certain designated m...
Captain Morgans emailed over their report to say, As daily highs rose 18 20 degrees above average, anglers hit the highly productive inland rivers, lakes and ponds. Except for certain designated management waters, trout fishing remains catch and release in CT until the 2nd Saturday of April. Considering how the spring itch has affected many, it did not seem to deter the class of fin hunters normally looking for table food. The motivating factor has not only been bursts of favorable weather but also the surge of stocking that has been taking place. From brooks, browns and bows to even some tigers, state waters are being fed with numbers of bragging-right salmonids. Heavy rains have left rivers swollen with flows considerably faster than normal making fishing them challenging. With trout generally hugging the bottom, countdowns, heavier spinners, bead-head nymphs and streamers and/or scented or natural baits with enough shot to get them down, yet drift naturally, have been productive. In most cases, Atlantic salmon rivers have been fast and furious and needed to drop closer to 1,000 cfs in order to get things moving again. The bass and panfish bites have been very good in the local waters as bassers discovered when testing them. Picking and choosing your tides and locations carefully can yield some early holdover spring stripers - mostly in key tidal rivers - but the Sound itself with water temperatures around 44ºF has yet to produce any sizable linesiders of any consequence. Lower tidal rivers are worth more than a second thought although, the junction of those tidal rivers and adjacent beaches are on track to come alive sooner than mid-April when meaningful action has shown up in the past. St. Patricks Day weekend could not have been planned better for both angler and fish. The weather held and end-of-day fishing turned out better than expected for most with expectations for a good week of mixed sun, clouds and mild temps. If you are one of those still having difficulty acquiring licenses on line. Give us a call or swing by the shop and if time allows, well do our best to help you out. No update yet as we are still waiting for the final word on the 2024 regulations for summer flounder and scup. Time is running short to have reels serviced in order to get them back in time for your season opener.
Matt from Black Hall Outfitters emailed over their report to say, Water levels have stabilized and fishing has resumed. Some anglers have reported finding some holdover bass in the backwaters that w...
Matt from Black Hall Outfitters emailed over their report to say, Water levels have stabilized and fishing has resumed. Some anglers have reported finding some holdover bass in the backwaters that were willing to take paddletails. Others have had good success with panfish. Outside the river there have been some good largemouth bass reports for those throwing jigs and jerkbaits, and a few of these fish have been pretty nice ones. Trout fishing continues to produce good results throughout local waters, and the rivers should continue to fish well as long as we have nor water levels and flows.
Andrew at Fishin Factory 3 said now that things have leveled off in the river, the fishing is returning to normal. Now is a great time to target pike up in the Haddam area or in the mouths of some o...
Andrew at Fishin Factory 3 said now that things have leveled off in the river, the fishing is returning to normal. Now is a great time to target pike up in the Haddam area or in the mouths of some of the tributaries. A popular method is fishing live shiners under a float and it does catch plenty of fish, but a lot of the hardcore guys use big jerkbaits in bright colors like clown, firetiger, hot pink, chartreuse and white. Panfishing for perch and crappie should be firing up now as well. The MegaBass Vision 110 jerkbaits continue to fly out the door too as the bass guys are finding good action in some local ponds. And trout fishing has been hitting on all cylinders as well.
Heather at The Blackhawk office said, We're still busy, even though we're not fishing! We're working on finishing up at the shipyard in New York, and we can't wait to have the boat back in Niantic...
Heather at The Blackhawk office said, We're still busy, even though we're not fishing! We're working on finishing up at the shipyard in New York, and we can't wait to have the boat back in Niantic. We're continuing with our Talkin' Tackle, so be sure to check it out. We continue to book charters for 2024, so if you've got a specific date in mind, be sure to contact us to get your date on the calendar. We are loving our current photo contest- send us your old photo and get ready to check out these amazing pictures when we share them next week!
J&B said most of their guys have been doing more prepping than fishing as anglers come in for various needs in preparation for the coming saltwater season. A few guys have been hitting some local stoc...
J&B said most of their guys have been doing more prepping than fishing as anglers come in for various needs in preparation for the coming saltwater season. A few guys have been hitting some local stocked trout at places close to home, while others take off for the serenity of the Farmington. And some holdover action in the Housy is drawing some local interest as well, these anglers are in and out stocking up on soft plastics and jigheads.