Captain Morgan's Bait and Tackle

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.’”

Captain Morgan’s emailed over their report to say, “Another wind-blown and washed-out week as springtime weather kicked up Long Island Sound and drove its water into the lowlands with flooding results. If that did not put fish and fishers down, how about the vibrations of the 4.8 magnitude earthquake felt in NY, CT, etc? There was enough rain to raise river levels and increase flows to high levels making inland fishing challenging in those trout waters. With that backdrop, few toggers were on the cool water soaking tog bait, but there were a few working the shore jetties with mixed results catching mostly average localized blackfish. April 1st opened the month-long spring blackfish (tautog) season with less fanfare due to the weather. However, now is the time to pick up your custom tog jigs, rigs, hooks, bait, etc. at the shop and get ready for better fishing ahead. We know striped bass are coming down the Hudson and holdover bass are into the lower tidal rivers and have been trickling into the Sound, along the beaches and bays. Hickory shad and alewives have been a key forage for those linesiders having the munchies. Soft plastic swim baits, hard swimmers, good plugs, spoons, natural baits and sinking flies on windless breaks have been credited with catching holdover fish. As in the past several weeks, trout fishing has been capturing the attention of the sweet water angling community. Stocking has been ongoing, anglers have been getting ready for ‘catch and keep’ coming up this weekend and prospects for warmer air temperatures and better conditions although, a bit rainy, are projected. Based on the quality of trout caught and released over the past several weeks, enthusiasm for career-best catches is peaking. Since many of these trout have been hooked and returned to the water unharmed, their education is going to put anglers on notice. Presentation and fishing tactics will need to be sharper especially, with trout that have gone through basic training 101. Natural and scented baits, hard/soft lures and flies all have been successful, but determining which to use all depends on conditions. Largemouth bass have been keeping lakes and ponds in the forefront along with a variety of panfish. Catches of bucketmouths have been drawing more and more anglers out to test the waters. Most are finding decent catches within reach between weather fronts. Using a mix of hard/soft baits and natural live ones when working the bottom and very often near the shallows have been productive. More osprey nests are becoming populated each week which means ospreys are tending to those nests, feeding and competing with anglers as well as stripers for food so, keep a good eye on the lower tidals and bays.”