New England - Connecticut Fishing Reports

I spoke with Rich at Fisherman’s World who said local striper fishing was still the main draw for most folks making their way into the shop. Fish are still mainly coming from inside the rivers coves and harbors although a few anglers have reported catching fish out front on the beaches adjacent to those areas. The bulk of the bass are school-sized but there have been some better fish, up to 35-inches mixed in. There is a good amount of small bait inside the harbor and most of the fish seem to be keyed in on that. For that reason, small soft plastics and swimming plugs continue to be the best bet if you’re looking to tangle with some linesiders. There were several reports of spring blackfish limits that came in over the course of the days with better conditions. Tog were coming from shallow water and falling to both sandworms and clams. A few anglers were looking to complete the “spring slam” by catching a winter flounder after they’d finished their blackfish limits but so far, they hadn’t heard of anyone who could complete the striper/blackfish/winter flounder trifecta. Freshwater fishing was the focus for many of their customers this week as the trout harvest season opened over the weekend. The Saugatuck Reservoir is open again and a few anglers were headed up there. The Mianus, Mill, Norwalk and Saugatuck Rivers have all been fishing well despite being high. Traditional baits like Rapalas, Rooster Tails, small spoons, shiners and worms are all taking their share of fish and the fish is loaded up with trout tackle and bait.

Bobby J’s told me not a lot had change over the course of the week and that was a good thing. The biggest change was the opening of the trout harvest season over the weekend. Many customers reported excellent trout fishing from just about everywhere they went. The hungry fish were falling to shiners, crawlers, trout worms, Rapalas, jerk baits, traditional spinners and other small metal lures. Tog fishing has also been popular for many folks judging by the amount of Asian crabs they’d been selling. Good reports continued to come in from both east and west of the shop. Many anglers were able to fill their two fish limit. The shop has plenty of crabs, sandworms, rigs and jigs for anyone looking to bag a spring blackfish. Striper fishing has been steady. Fish continue to spread out around the region. While the Housatonic bite is still going bass can be caught in other areas outside of the rivers harbors and coves. Fish in the river are now more willing to chase down a swimming plug rather than a bottom bounced soft plastic and one angler reported taking a few fish on topwater plugs late in the week. Bass can also be found along a few beachfronts adjacent to harbor and river mouths. Some schools of stripers have been following schools of herring as they move through the area and good action has been reported to the east over in the West Haven area. The shop is open six days a week, Tuesday through Sunday for the rest of the month.

Captain Morgan’s emailed over their report to say, “We knew something was up when popular historic Guilford Harbor’s Grass Island shack was ripped from its pilings by gale force southerly winds and became partially submerged creating a potential hazard to navigation. Those winds continued putting yet another damper on the spring blackfish season. After a couple days when things finally settled down, near shore Long Island Sound water temperatures settled to around 50 degrees when the tog bite improved. The walls and inshore rock piles were eager to take seaworms, as well as crabs and clams on single and double hook rigs and tog jigs. Shorts prevailed however, togs 16 inches or better were caught and others averaging between 3 and 5 pounds were the norm. The shop is still looking to log in a springtime whitechin approaching double-digits. A few small vessels made it out looking for some blackback winter flounder or at least, better than 12 inches. Those that did hit the inshore salt managed their limits of two from their traditional local channels and sandy spots using seaworms and/or clams. Ducking the wind and holding anchor was key. With menhaden and hickories now showing up and striped bass on the feed, fishers have been hooking up those baits with the edge going to seaworms, artificials and flies when winds were either calm or from the north during normally flood tides. Schoolies and linesiders reaching the slot limit have presently been the norm. Being that ‘catch and keep’ day opened on Saturday in most inland waters, trout dominated the conversation. Rivers remained up and flows required more weight to either hold bottom or maintain an acceptable drift. Smaller ponds and lakes were easier to fish while large lakes caught a lot of wind. Nevertheless, with the number of fish stocked, catches were good although, challenging in some waters. Effective baits used covered the range of natural live baits, scented ones, hard lures, nymph and steamer flies. Following the weekend when winds calmed down and lakes/ponds became more manageable, largemouth bass and other springtime species tasked anglers with some wild pre-spawn hookups. No question about it! The season is heating up and looks full of promise. So, join in and catch the early bite. We continue to hear from some anglers who are having difficulty acquiring licenses online. Give us a call or swing by the shop and if time allows, we’ll do our best to help you out. The fresh and saltwater season is upon us! If you have not had your reels serviced yet, we’ll do our best to get them up and running as soon as possible. Fly Fishing Clinic: We are in the midst of arranging fly fishing lessons and clinics as well as trips getting out on rivers and streams. We have well established and very experienced guides that would be accommodating. Gift Certificates are available. These are outstanding opportunities for the experienced or intermediate inland and marine fly fisher interested in trout, salmon and sea-run browns to striped bass, bonefish, permit, tarpon, etc., techniques learned and skills honed will improve your fishing. Captain Morgan’s remains well stocked for majority of your fishing needs. Currently, live and scented freshwater baits are available including an assortment of lures and flies for all waters. If you are looking for popular productive fishing spots in the Sound and want to set up your electronics for the season’s fishing, swing by the shop and check out one of our marked and recently updated charts for sale. Captain Morgan’s (an Authorized PENN Premium and Daiwa Tournament Dealer) is fully stocked (gift certificates available) and remains open 7 days, to support the fishing community. Due to the volume of calls received, leave a message and pertinent ones will be returned as soon as possible. Pay us a visit at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison and you will see why we say, ‘We don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better.’”

I talked to Captain TJ Karbowksi at Rock and Roll Charters who told me he was working on the boat daily and making all the preparations for the season ahead. They are going to begin their trips on May 18th and if this season is anything like last year they dates are already booking fast and Captain TJ said he’s looking forward to fishing with his returning crews as well as meeting new ones.

Matt from Black Hall Outfitters emailed over their report to say, “Local stripers are getting increasingly active with the nights staying warm. Moreso than the days, I find the warmer night temperatures to be a better indicator of fish/animal changes. When those nights stay warm, it feels like you wake up to life already bustling, whereas when the nights are cold it seems like nature takes half the day to thaw before becoming active. The striper bite has been good at night. I've been out at 3 a.m. the last few weeks and found consistent action in the dark. Daiwa SP Minnows, Yo-Zuri Mag Darters, soft plastic paddletails, and soft plastic flukes are all producing. A couple local guys even had topwater striper blowups recently which is very cool. Local tog in the central sound is slow but improving. Freshwater fishing has been consistent and largely unchanged. Largemouth bass are still in the early stages of pre-spawn, as water temperatures have been slow to warm. Jerkbaits and jigs or anything moved slowly and with pauses is good to try right now. Crappie are active on warmer mornings on the surface and are schooled up pretty well. Small spinners and crankbaits or shad darts work for them. Trout fishing has been great, with water levels fluctuating as we get these big rainstorms. Overall though there are plenty of trout in plenty of streams and rivers taking flies, inline spinners, and trout worms.”

Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters emailed over his report to say, “Fishing has been improving with the warmer weather, the stripers are becoming more active and we actually had a few big fish in the mix, including one over 20 pounds. I’m expecting that, as the water temperature continues to rise, we should start to see an improvement in the topwater bite as well. We have openings over the next two weeks, which should be primetime” Give him a call today to book your spot.

Andrew at Fishin’ Factory 3 told me the opening day of the trout harvest season had created a pretty good buzz at the shop over the last week. Many customers were excited to start their season, spool up their reels and take a few trout home to the table. Most of these hopeful anglers were ‘in luck’ as trout fishing has been very good just about everywhere the state has stocked. The Salmon and Coginchaug Rivers are popular locales and with good reason as plenty of large fish come from each of these streams every season. That said, some of the lesser known waters fish just as well and tend to be less crowded. Black Pond, and other lakes and ponds were also fishing well. The feisty trout were falling to shiners, trout and meal worms, as well as traditional trout lures – all of which the shop is well stocked up with. Striper fishing in the Connecticut River and its tributaries ticked up this week and anglers soaking sandworms reported catching schoolies from the dam to the mouth before the recent rains blew the river out. When the water comes down and clears a bit this action should pick right back up where it left off and should get better and better as the month goes on. Andrew noted the amount of osprey on the river is a sign that the herring are in. Though they hadn’t heard of many shad caught yet that bite should be starting up soon as well. They have plenty of willow leafs and drail weights for anyone looking to get in on that action. They are still selling lots of green crabs to customers looking for a spring blackfish. The best togging they’d heard of in the shop was at the New Haven break walls. The shop is back open seven days a week and will be for the rest of the season.

Heather at The Blackhawk office reports, “We are just about ready to go!  We can't wait to start fishing!  Our season will start on Friday, May 3.  Tickets will be posted online on Monday night at 8 p.m., just like in past years.  Be sure to check out our calendar so you see what's coming up! We continue to book private charters, so be sure to email the office to get your date on the calendar. We are humbled to once again be in the running for the best charter boat in the "Best of the Best" contest.  We would be honored if you'd vote for us! We look forward to seeing everyone soon!”

Ed at Hillyer’s Bait and Tackle told me the rough weather and wind had tamped down local effort late in the week but he said we’re getting to the point of the month where blackfish and schoolie action should become much more reliable. He’d been selling plenty of crabs to diehards headed out in search of some local tog and from the reports he heard the action had ticked up this week over last. There were a few fish taken from a couple of different areas by both boat and shore. Ed said traditionally the last two weeks of April are when the bite picks up and with some decent temperatures forecast for the week ahead it could go off any day. The shop has plenty of crabs sandworms and bloodworms as well as rigs and jigs if you’re looking to get in on the early season tog fishing. Schoolie stripers are on the move in the rivers and other local tributaries and have ranged from fussy to somewhat cooperative depending on day and tide. Sandworms and soft plastics fished on jig heads are still the best bet until the water gets a bit warmer. Again this week, a few brave souls went out in search of winter flounder and a few of them were successful in their effort. Chum logs and sandworms were the ticket for the elusive flatfish.

J&B told me not much had changed since last week. Those looking for local action were focused on schoolies and blackfish. The blackfish action close to shop is pretty reliable. The school striped bass bite is usually the most popular thing going close to home and the fish will increase their activity throughout the month. They hadn’t heard much from the cod grounds but cod fishing should keep going strong as long as the weather holds.

Captain Mike at Tartan II said the boat was being hauled out this week for a fresh coat of paint and following the would be prepped and ready for the season. They look to start fishing Memorial Day Weekend and Captain Mike and crew are excited for another great season ahead. Some of the more popular weekends are already booking up so give them a call to secure your spot now while you still can.

Captain Bob of the Sunbeam Fleet reports, “As the weather warms and the days grow long, we're eagerly anticipating the start of 2024 fishing season. Our start up trip for public fishing aboard the Sunbeam VII will be April 27 at 7 a.m. fishing for blackfish. Then we will switch to Peconic pogies on May 4 and 11. Our first fluke trip of the year will sail on May 8 and our first bass and blues trip is slated for May 10. We highly recommend reservations for all trips. Check our website for all other trip details. The Sunbeam VI charter boat which carries up to 15 passengers and has had major overhaul this past winter giving us more power and speed. We're confident you'll be impressed by the advancements in our technology system we have installed. In order to receive prime days for private charters (6-80 passengers) whether is just family, friends or team building you may book online or contact office if you have any special dates or times we will do our best to accommodate you.”

Karen at AW Marina told me a few folks were in getting licenses and trout worms to take advantage of the opening of the trout harvest season. The state was stocking Mohegan Park with trout for the local kids and trout fishermen when we spoke. Trout fishing will be good throughout the spring and is a good option for folks looking to scratch the fishing itch before the eastern sound rounds into form. The shop was selling lots of sandworms to customers headed out in search of school bass and blackfish. There were a few reports of schoolies caught in the Thames and its tributaries in the upper river. While several anglers were headed out in search of a spring tog armed with crabs and sandworms no successful reports had yet to make their way back in. The catch of the week was a winter flounder snared by Scott Schnieder. Scott said he had to work for it but he did manage to land an elusive flatfish. Karen thought it was very important for folks to take note of the upcoming Marine Fisheries Commission meeting on Atlantic Herring and to make your voice heard. The overall lack of herring has been concerning for her and her customers and it’s important to take the opportunity to comment on any proposed regulations that impact the fishery.