Captain Morgan's Bait and Tackle

Captain Morgan’s emailed over their report to say, “Laser-focused on striped bass, anglers are hitting the suds, bays and tidal rivers looking to capitalize on the Spring run. Hooking up is a carryover from last week only more of it. The menu has not changed much (live, fresh frozen and artificial), but feeding has cranked up. Over-the-slot 40’s have turned some heads with most of the action having been slot and throwbacks. The shoreline has seen linesiders around 24 to 29 inches on swimmers, paddletails and flies. Many of these fish are just in from their salty journey and gorging on menhaden and river herring, along with some hickories. The western Sound has been seeing some limited fluke activity by the sand waves on the New York side. Best attempts at the early migrators would be squid on either a Hi-Lo or three-way drift rig If you’re hungry for scup, wait a bit longer until water temps hit about 55 degrees when feeding activity picks up, even though you can find porgies already in shallower water. Little by little, the Sound is beginning to fill as baitfish, like bunker are schooling. Likewise, freshwater is maintaining its recent reputation as being extremely active. Trout continue to top the list, but arguably, bass anglers are insisting that bucketmouth and bronzeback catches make the case for them. Cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs and soft plastics are being worked from drop-offs into the shallows as the pre-spawn/spawn fish become more and more aggressive. Many local lakes and ponds are showing off formidable chain pickerel caught on both hard and soft baits. Additionally, there is no letup of quality black crappie being caught on small jigs, twister tails and worms, either. Yellow perch and other panfish are making for excellent fish-fries or just plain fun. On one hand all things fish are finally coming together and on the other hand, we are into the middle of May already. Read on in Captain Morgan’s fishing blog! As we look forward to an exciting fishing season, we are open for business as usual and still unloading weekly deliveries to meet demand. To accommodate, we are fully stocked with natural, artificial (including flies) and live baits, to fill your fishing needs - including servicing rods and reels. Gift Certificates, too! Time permitting, we will do our best to assist anglers who have difficulty acquiring licenses on line. If you are looking for popular productive spots in the Sound and want to set up your electronics for your specific fishing needs, 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 on a seven day spring hour schedule while supporting the fishing community. Calling ahead (203-245-8665) and leaving a message is advisable. Pay us a visit at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison and you will see why, as a seasoned full-service fishing outfitter, we say, ‘We don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better.’”

Captain Morgan’s emailed over their report to say, “Over-the-slot striped bass broke through the Sound barrier this past week. Anglers had a blast as linesiders took to the bays and lower tidal rivers taking topwaters and swimmers right around the full moon tides. Stripers were not just taking these artificials, they were slamming them - eating hickories, too. Fish from 30 to 36 inches made their presence known with tail-slapping and stunning runs. Hitting it right meant non-stop action but not necessarily long stints. Nearshore rocky structures were definitely in the foraging loop with the occasional T/W paying off. Compared to last season, striped sea robins have gotten a jump on the season. It won’t be long before the comments start rolling in. As a reminder, summer flounder (fluke) opened Monday, May 4th to 3 fish at 19 inches. Expect the first of the action at the western end of the Sound before migrating east. The headline for inland fishing has to be the new CT rainbow trout record catch. It crushed the old record by 2 pounds. After all else failed, this semi-camouflaged Goliath of 16-pounds, 7.6-ounces and 31-inches was subdued on a mealworm. Pick a stocked water as well as native brookie streams, catches remained brisk across the board of bows, browns, brookies and tigers. Pre-spawn/spawn largemouth bass are being caught transitioning into the shallows while smallies are being hooked along the weed lines. Black crappie continues to be good to excellent as are yellow perch, sunfish and catfish. Good size chain pickerel seem to getting larger and more aggressive. The fishing season is really coming together! Pay us a visit at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison and you will see why, as a seasoned full-service fishing outfitter, we say, ‘We don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better.’”