Ice fishing remains strong, despite the recent rain, while a slight warm-up has provided better striped bass, trout and cod action.
Connecticut Fishing Report
Andrew, at Fishin Factory 3 in Middletown, told me that ice fishing continues to be the main focus for most anglers and results continue to be pretty strong. The river levels are quite high, but most of the coves are still holding good ice, and have been productive if you can get on. The same can be said for the coves along the Housatonic River impoundments. The striped bass action in the Housatonic has just started to pick back up a bit, as most of the ice has broken up and been flushed out. There are still plenty of fish holding up in there, and if the weather warms, the fishing attention should intensify quite a bit. The Farmington and Salmon River TMAs are starting to fish well now that the flows are starting to settle, and they are both great open water winter options.
The Valley Angler in Danbury had quite a few quality ice fishing reports coming in over the last two weeks. Bantam Lake is producing some nice pike at the south end of the lake, and big suckers seem to be producing the best. The ice remains very good across most of Candlewood as well, and the fishing has been outstanding. Football shaped perch have been commonplace all over the lake, and most anglers are reporting excellent smallmouth action throughout the lake as well. Some hefty trout have been coming up through the ice as well, and while not as common as the smallies, there seems to be enough to give you a decent shot every trip. The shop will be hosting its annual Jig n Pig tournament on February 10th; it is always a great event so check their website for details.
At Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, Rich reports that the fishing has been pretty weather dependent, and will remain that way through the winter. When the temps have been cold, anglers have been heading to the lakes for some ice action. When the weather is warmer, as it will be this weekend, the Housatonic heats up and anglers take advantage of some striped bass action.
Torrey, at Upcountry Sportfishing in New Hartford, reports that the river is free enough of ice to fish quite a few areas, and the flows are settling nicely from the rain earlier this week. Most anglers who are getting out there are finding some degree of success, and there have been a good number of double-digit catches. Fish to the 18-19 inch range have been pretty common, and nymphing has been the best tactic by far. There have been some rising fish, and this weekend’s warmer weather may result in even more; so be on the lookout. When targeting these rising fish, patterns such as Midge larva (black, red), Caddis Larva (olive/green), small dark nymphs (18-22) and Egg flies have been producing.
Rhode Island Fishing Report
Captain Matt, of the Frances Fleet in Narragansett, had a number of strong cod trips to report from earlier this week. The weather has gotten back to a state of normalcy and the fish seem to be back on the feed. Sunday’s trip was excellent, with a full boat limit of fat green cod to 20 pounds in very short time. Double-headers were common all over the boat, and anglers were throwing back as many good fish as they were keeping. Monday’s trip was more of the same, as Matt was able to dial in a strong bite right off the bat. Double headers and calls for the gaff were all over the boat, with a number of fish coming in over 15 pounds. They lost a few days to the wind, but were back at it today and looking forward to a great weekend forecast.
Snug Harbor Marina in Wakefield also reported that there has been an uptick in action reported from the cod boats, whenever they have been able to sail. The strong winds have made things challenging, but the fish seem to be biting as well as they have all year. There has been quite a bit of bait on the grounds including mackerel, herring and sand eels, but fresh clams have been the most consistent bait for large cod. There have been a good amount of ling, ocean perch, pollock and haddock on the grounds, which has helped supplement the catch.
Dave, at Ocean State Tackle in Providence, told me that ice enthusiasts from The Ocean State continue to cash in on one of the better seasons we’ve had in a while. Western and northern Massachusetts has good ice on just about all the lakes and ponds, big and small, while Rhode Island is holding ice on most of the small and moderate sized bodies of water across the state. The perch bite has been strong at most locations, with some good hauls coming in from South County over the past few days. Pike and pickerel action has been steady at Wordens Pond and Stump Pond, while bass, pickerel and perch are being landed consistently at Barbers Pond. RI DEM stocked 4,200 brook and rainbow trout for the winter trout season, between January 23rd and 25th. Barber, Carbuncle, Silver Spring and Olney Ponds are a few of the well-known locations that received trout, and you can check the RIDEM website for a full list of locations.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
The up and down weather of this winter will continue through the weekend, but not nearly as drastically as it has been. A slight warm-up after some cold days should set up for some very comfortable days on the ice. It should also warm up enough to open up some opportunities for striped bass in the river or a comfortable day aboard one of the cod head boats.