Fishing CT Update | December 24, 2014

Connecticut Saltwater Fishing Report

Consistent reports of schoolie striped bass came from the Housatonic, Connecticut and lower Thames rivers. There are definitely some keepers in the mix too. The cold is setting in an deeper water seems to be more productive as bass are stacking up. The night time bite is best as always. Low and slow is really the key to producing fish. One mistake I see many anglers make is if they get a hit and miss it, they frantically retrieve to cast again. Instead, try to control that urge and just continue your painfully slow retrieve. There are a lot of fish and if you miss that one, there are many more that are sure to follow up your bait almost immediately. Top producers were small 5-7″ soft plastics, mostly sluggos and Fin-S fish. Boat anglers can make a day or night on the river and literally catch more than 100 schoolies, but of course electronics help a lot. Shore anglers can get into some decent numbers of fish as well, but its a bit more difficult.

Connecticut Freshwater Fishing Report

Ice, ice, baby! A few lucky anglers were fortunate enough to find some barely safe ice in the NW hills this week. The reports from these particular bodies of water were that the ice was 2.5-3″ on the edges and 3-4″ out more. However, with the warmer temps and rain, that ice is sure to be gone by the end of the week. Sadly, this was just a teaser of the upcoming season. Some decent crappie, perch and gills were jigged up but thats it.. Other anglers brought out the canoe/kayak to break up NOT-safe ice to fish for a bit. Some decent largemouth came from Candlewood, CT river and Zoar. Smallie reports were just as slow with a few fish coming from Candlewood and Lillinonah. Some nice pike were landed via kayak along the CT river. More toothy northerns were taking on dead baits from the bank of the river as well. A lot of yellow perch and calico were jigged up by kayak fishermen in coves on the CT. Swedish pimples tipped with mummy worms did the trick!

It seems a lot of anglers are in hot pursuit of these seeforellen and just trout in general. Some nice browns up to 18″ came from Candlewood on live shiners. More trout were reported from Squantz, Black pond, the Farmington and upper Housatonic. Seeforellen specifically came from almost all the places that were stocked with Black pond being hit the hardest. But some nice ones came from Highland, West Hill and Cedar lake as well. The biggest fish weighed was just shy of the 15lb mark! These seeforellen are a bit confused by their new surroundings and have been basically cruising the same areas that they were stocked in. Fish were caught on a variety of baits/lures including shiners, rapalas, spinners and even power bait dough. DEEP stocked Long pond, East Twin lake, Squantz pond, and Mashapaug with more jumbo seeforellen this week. There were also some great salmon pulled from along the Naugy in Campville and Seymour.

NOTE: If you choose to search for ice in the near future, please BE SAFE! Bring proper safety gear, including a spud bar, ice picks, creepers and rope. A life jacket isn’t a bad idea either during first ice. Be safe, have fun and Happy Holidays!

Kyle Quine
Fishing CT