Striper fishing in our tidal rivers has been decent, but we just had a mean cold snap and things have slowed a bit. This is really a game of finesse and patience. Schoolies are abundant and you have a shot at some keeper-sized fish but only the hardcore anglers seem to be out there right now. The night bite can be great, but you need to be willing to brave the cold. Four-inch soft plastics on 1/2-ounce jig heads have been producing. You can go up in size from there, but it seems the smaller artificials have been doing well. Some anglers also reported catching good fish on Andy’s A-rig with all 1/4-ounce heads and 3.8″ Keitechs. Some schoolies came from the CT and again, the Housatonic gave up better quantities as well as quality of bass. Being on a boat will increase your odds of hooking up, especially if you’re equipped with electronics. But even then, some anglers are finding schools but the fish are tight lipped. You just need to keep on moving.
We are in a weird transition stage where bodies of water are freezing but not safe yet, so they remain unfishable at the time. This has some anglers turning to rivers and streams to stay busy. However, some bodies of water up in the NW hills are frozen and have been. Some small bass and decent pan fish action came from Dog pond, Tyler pond, Burr pond and Howell pond. Anglers have been working hard to find fish. The perch are stacked up so when you do find them, its on! Try targeting downed trees, weed lines and any structure that you may know of. Deep basins are also great for pan fish, especially slab crappie. Experiment with depths because they can either be hugging the bottom or suspended and that may change on a day to day basis. Some small trout were jigged up on Tyler pond. Chunky largemouth came from Pachaug pond. A few pike were reported from Winchester and they were taken on live shiners. Of course the pickerel have been more than willing to bite if nothing else is. This drop in temperature has really helped the ice situation. Every day more and more places become locked up and safe ice is being found. After this weekend I’m certain that ice fishing reports will be booming. Other than that, its been somewhat of a slow week but some nice trout came from the upper Housatonic, Farmington and the Naugatuck river. The seeforellen craze has slowed down at least for now, hopefully we see some of these pigs come through the ice. A few decent salmon were pulled from the lower Nagatuck river this week as well.
NOTE: Dress appropriately for the weather and keep a spare change of clothes in the car with some blankets. Wear proper safety gear while on the ice and always check the ice thickness everywhere you go. Let someone know where you will be and when you plan on being home. Stay warm and be safe out there, tight lines!
Kyle Quine
Fishing CT