Everyone is pretty much sick of the snow at this point. Fishing in places that are a little out of the way takes a lot of effort to get to when you have to tromp through all the snow and slush. There is also 18″+ of ice in a lot of places and people with hand augers are having a hard time out there, to say the least. Some anglers got out late last week to places like Black Pond, Long Pond and West Side Pond to jig up freshly stocked trout before the end of the season. Now most trout waters are closed until opening day (which has been bumped up to the second Saturday in April) except for Trout Management Lakes, which are open until 3/31. But the regulations change for all of March so be sure to know and follow them. With that said, trout reports were limited this week with some decent fish coming from Candlewood and Highland. Squantz also gave up quite a few trout but they were all stocker-sized fish measuring 12-14 inches.
Largemouth bass reports were plentiful this week with some nice fish coming from Candlewood, Hatch Pond, Squantz, Pachaug Pond, upper Moodus, Pickerel Lake, Rogers Lake, Kenosia and Lake Housatonic. A few anglers also hit up their favorite bass ponds in town for a chance at some easy lunkers. Smallmouth fishing has still been going strong on Candlewood, Lillinonah, Squantz and coves on the CT River. Some fish were taken on jigs but it seems that a lot of anglers are setting up traps and are just trying to stay warm while waiting for flags to fly. Be sure to target structure and weed lines if you want to find success out on the ice. If you’re pulling up dead and brown weeds, keep moving until you find that green stuff.
Squantz actually gave up a few nice walleye over the weekend. Squantz is going to be your only chance to ice some eyes until next season. Pike reports were basically nonexistent except for some small fish from Wethersfield Cove. A few cats were reported from Silver lake on both live and dead shiners fished just off the bottom. Once again this week, pan fish saved the day(s). Lake Housatonic and CT River coves gave up a ton of white and yellow perch. Candlewood is still producing jumbo yellows and so are Lillinonah and Zoar. Crappie fishing has been great on Lillinonah, Zoar, Hatch pond and coves all along the CT river. Keep moving until you find an area that they are in. These fish will cruise deep basins and flats chasing bait fish. When you find one, keep working because there will be plenty more to follow. Another thing to note is the bluegill bite this season has been amazing. There are some big gills in the 8-10″ range being caught lately too. Bluegill can be found in just about any body of water and good places to target are small ponds/farm ponds and also try to focus on coves on larger bodies of water. Essentially its like fishing a pond within a lake. There are some brutes to be had and these fish fight so very hard. Small tungsten jigs tipped with scented soft plastics or spikes are the ticket to getting into some monster gills.
NOTE: Gov. Malloy is proposing to cut funding for sportsmen here in CT. More specifically, he is trying to once again shut down the Kensington Hatchery. This will affect the Atlantic salmon, Seeforellen and other trout stockings in Connecticut. Follow this link for information and reach out to speak up! http://www.fishingnortheast.net/wp/news/local-fishing-news/letter-to-governor-malloy/