Trout still rule most fishing reports in the region. Rhode and Connecticut waterways are all open for business and continue to receive fresh batches of trout. Some monster breeder rainbow and brown trout were weighed in over Connecticut’s opening weekend.
However, Saturday’s downpour turned many bodies of water high and murky, but things are getting back to normal and fishing is picking up where it left off. On the salt front, newly arriving schoolies covered in sea lice are starting to show up at early-season spots in the Ocean State and larger resident stripers are cooperating in estuaries and rivers throughout the region. Winter flounder and blackfish seasons are not off to an epic start, yet should be gaining momentum with increasing water temperatures.
Rhode Island
Despite recent high and stained water in some locations, trout fishing remains strong across the state. Water level and clarity are much better now than earlier in the week and should be ideal by this weekend. Dave at River and Riptide suggested the Wood and Falls River as two solid options. For fly anglers, he recommended tried and true nymph patterns such as pheasant tails and the hare’s ear. Dave also mentioned that trout are starting to look up, referring to surface activity, but admitted we need a warm spell for insect hatches to really get going. The well-stocked Carolina Trout Pond is another spot worth trying your luck and could be a great place to bring a newcomer to the sport. Fishing with baits like garden worms, meal worms, or shiners under a float should do the trick.
It was music to my ears hearing about striped bass with sea lice being caught in Rhode Island. No one seems to be bailing them just yet, though a number of migratory fish are starting to show. Arden from Saltwater Edge and a friend landed their first schoolies of 2011 from a Newport beach on Tuesday. He told me a Jumpin’ Minnow was responsible for at least one fish and the thought of topwater fishing again made me drool. Paddle-tail swim baits in the 3-inch range also worked for them. If nothing else, it’s a good sign that fish are arriving and a long season is just beginning. Things will only get better from here on out and there is plenty of herring here for bass when they come. Arden also hinted that worm hatches in local estuaries aren’t incredibly far off either, so fly guys and gals should be prepared.
I talked to Steve McKenna at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle and he told me that this is the longest he’d ever gone in spring without landing a striper. He’s made five trips to the West Wall so far and has only seen four schoolies caught in all, and said usually that number would be more like 400 by now. Steve thinks part of the reason for the later start is because we’re not getting the southwest breeze needed to warm the water quicker. Mike at Watch Hill Outfitters let me know about schoolies hitting small Super Strike poppers and 3-inch paddle-tails in Cemetery Cove. He checked the water temperature behind his shop while on the phone with me and the thermometer read 51 degrees, 6 feet underwater – what he thought was a very good sign.
Not everyone is waiting for traveling fish. On The Water contributor David Pickering landed a beautiful keeper striper from the Providence River while fishing a Zoom Fluke. He believes that fish was a holdover bass capitalizing on the spring herring run.
Connecticut
The starting gun for Connecticut’s trout season was more like a cannon. Jack at The Fish Connection mentioned that he’s weighed-in more big fish over this past opening day weekend than any other in 21 years at the shop. Three breeders over the magic 10-pound mark came in from the Shetucket River alone. Two brown trout hit the scales at 12.5 and 11.5 pounds, and the other was a rainbow trout weighing 10.5 pounds – I would have loved to watch those battles. Angling pressure around the state probably wasn’t as high last weekend as an average year due to high and murky water on Sunday. That only means that there are that many more fish still to catch out there. To further assist anglers this year, the DEP has actual trout stocking maps available on their website (www.ct.gov/dep) – talk about cutting out some legwork.
I spent this past weekend fly fishing the West Branch Farmington River, both inside and out of the upper Trout Management Area. There wasn’t much surface activity to speak of, but we had success with small rainbow trout and some nicer brown trout using nymph patterns like golden stones, pheasant tails, princes, green caddis larva, as well as some pink off-beat stuff. Freshwater bass action is starting to warm up as the water does. John at the Valley Angler told me that both the large and smallmouth bite is pretty good at Candlewood Lake. He said even as cold as it’s been, bass there are cruising anywhere from the shallows to 20 feet deep. John suggested jerkbaits and hair jigs as two good early-season options for bass coming off lockjaw. He also had a customer report a monster 7-pound smallmouth from Candlewood, but is still waiting for photo confirmation.
There are plenty of areas, mainly in and around tidal rivers, that are holding striped bass right now, but no one I spoke with can confirm if any migratory fish are mixed in just yet. Fresh schoolies will be trickling in any minute if they’re not here already. Jack at The Fish Connection knows plenty of his customers are taking advantage of bass feeding on herring in the Shetucket River. Large soft-plastic baits like Slug-Gos and Hogys in white and pink during the day and black at night. This should be no surprise, but Jack said bigger fish are being taken after dark, so it may be worth trying the night shift. Captain Blaine Anderson of CT Outfitters said the Connecticut River water level is extremely high, but dropping, and that many ramps are unusable at the moment. He believes that the striper fishing there should be ‘game on’ by early to middle of next week.
Nick at Fisherman’s World said the Housatonic River has been good for stripers as of late. Though there are bass from the Derby Dam to the river mouth, Nick noted that many of his customers are concentrating midway near the Sikorsky Bridge. He suggested retrieving Slug-Gos quickly over the surface or trolling Bombers and even umbrella rigs.
By most accounts, winter flounder fishing seems off to a subpar start, but that’s not to say you can’t catch your limit on any trip. The weather hasn’t exactly been cooperative for boat fishing lately. Matt at Hillyers suggested Giants Neck, Bluff Point, and the Niantic River as three good eastern Sound spots to try. Cappy from Captain Morgan’s Bait and Tackle said some flounder catches have been reported from around the Thimble Islands, as well as the channels in Guilford and Madison. Cappy also talked about the slow blackfish bite, but is hopeful that it will pick up next week and last until the season closes at the end of the month.
Best Bets for the Weekend
The first few weeks of trout season are some of the best of the year, mainly due to the sheer number of fish stocked in our waterways. So get while the getting’s good. Give the Wood River a shot in Rhode Island or the Shetucket for Farmington Rivers in Connecticut. Freshwater bass anglers can try plying the shorelines of Candlewood Lake for an April trophy. For the striper nuts among us, it’s just getting started. Welcome back arriving schoolies at the West Wall, or take your herring imitations and target active holdovers in the Shetucket or Housatonic Rivers. If you’re bent on catching a keeper winter flounder, use clam chum and sandworms inside the Niantic River.