Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt Stone at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook provided the following report for the week: “Freshwater fishing, particularly for trout, is your best bet right now. Water levels are good and there have been a lot of fish stocked. All your typical options including Panther Martins, PowerBait, nightcrawlers will work well. Holdover striper fishing seems to be picking up and there are some whispers of some bigger fish showing up and taking large soft plastics. We shouldn’t be too far away from it blowing open, but these colder days aren’t helping to accelerate things. There are more ospreys around, and word is that the river herring have started to move in with a vengeance. This, coupled with the recent warm-up, should kick up the bass activity to another level. Blackfish action has remained on the slow side, and a lack of bait has kept reports to a minimum. Green crabs are hard to come by, but if you’re set on trying to catch a tog before the spring season ends, don’t be afraid to turn to sandworms and clams.”
Heather from the Black Hawk in Niantic provided the following early season report: “Our first trip of the season will be May 1, and we can’t wait to get out there and go fishing! As usual, we will open our trips for booking on Monday nights at 8 p.m., with each Monday opening a new week of tickets. Head to our website and get your tickets online today. Squid trips will be posted as soon as possible; once we know the squid have arrived, we’ll get those tickets online. We’re still booking private charters, so send us an email so you can get your date soon. If you didn’t see last week, we’re proud to announce that we’ve been selected as a finalist for the ‘Best of the Best’ contest again. We know it’s because of our fantastic customers, so thanks for your support and for being a part of the Black Hawk family!”
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Anthony Charnetski at Game On Lures provided the following report for the week: “Herring continue to flood into the runs throughout the state and the striped bass have been hot on their tails. Those few days of warm weather seem to have caused the stripers to spread out and not congregate as heavily in specific areas. I even saw some herring being chased from an open beach in the Sound, which is great to see already. I’ve heard rumors of some fresh fish with lice, but I can’t confirm anything myself yet; I’m hoping the May full moon will bring a nice push of fresh migratory bass. A 6- to 10-inch plastic such as the DuraTech 7-inch Jerkbait, rigged on a jighead or weightless swimbait hook, has been the deal for getting bites. The freshwater bass and panfish bite continues to be excellent. These colder nights have caused many of these fish to stop thinking about spawning and reverted them back to pre-spawn feed mode. Jigs, jerkbaits, glide baits and paddletail swimbaits are always tied on this time of year.”
Captain Chris of Elser Guide Service is still getting the boat ready and geared up for the saltwater season. In the meantime, he has been enjoying some strong trout fishing across western CT. The fly hatches have started to pick up after this recent rise in water temps; Chris has been taking advantage of some large stonefly hatches over the past few days. With the recent stockings prior to opening day, there’s plenty of stocked fish on the fly hatches, along with a good bite in the wild trout streams.
Tyler, at Fisherman’s World in Norwalk, reports that last week’s warm temperatures helped to accelerate the local striped bass bite. By all accounts, it’s been a solid herring year, at least in the western Sound where all the typical rivers and streams have fish. Wherever you find these silvery spawners, striped bass won’t be far behind; reports in the shop have told of good action with most fish in the 24- to 36-inch range, and a good number of 40-inch-plus fish in the mix. Some of the local beaches are also seeing roaming packs of bass as they continue to push out of winter areas into nearshore areas adjacent to the local rivers, estuaries and harbors. Whether you’re fishing out front or in a tidal river, soft plastics are still the best bet, but swimming plugs like SP Minnows, X-Raps, and small darters are also effective, as are sandworms. Blackfish reports have been mixed and so far, it seems the shore crowd is finding more success than boaters. Most of the tog they’ve heard about have come from very shallow water, 10-feet or less, right in the rocks. Sandworms and clams have reportedly out-fished crabs, but all three offerings have worked well. The biggest blackfish reported at the time we spoke came in at 8 pounds. As water temperatures continue to climb, the fishing will only get better by shore and boat. Tyler said that as we get into the month of May, migratory striped bass will start to dump out of the Hudson and make their way into Long Island Sound. It’s not just bass that show up in May—early season blues will appear in deep water sometime around the second or third week of the month. Look for finning blues in 180- to 200-feet of water if you’re looking to tangle with an early-season gator. Weakfish will show in May, too, first on the North Shore of Long Island, then locally inside the islands.
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said striper fishing has been very good so far this season. They’re still targeting holdover fish for the most part, but that will change within a couple of weeks. They have been pleasantly surprised at the overall quality of the stripers encountered this spring, with the average fish running a bit larger than years past. They are seeing 28- to 39-inch fish with several fish over the 20-pound mark in the mix. Soft plastics have been effective, and the larger bass are indeed falling to bigger baits. Captain Mike noted that while the fishing is good now, things will only get better as we head into the month of May. By mid-to-late month they will be into waves of migratory striped bass as they move through Long Island Sound and its tributaries. Captain Mike and his team are already booking prime dates for the season and it’s never too early to lock in yours, so give him a call to book a spot now.
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Connecticut Fishing Forecast
Encouraging tautog reports came from the Western Sound this week, although things are still a bit behind schedule. The cold winter made it tough for the bait guys to find crabs as well, and they’re still rather hard to come by. If you’re looking to get out before the season ends, don’t hesitate to use sandworms or clams, which have also been working pretty well.
Holdover striped bass action has been steady across the state all season, and the overall size of the fish seems to be better than years past. Last week’s warm spell sent in loads of river herring, which has enticed even bigger bass to come out and play. Bass can be found throughout the river runs and are also starting to be caught in decent numbers on the beaches along the mouths of the tidal rivers, so basically anywhere a bass could intercept a river herring, you stand a good chance to find some action. We’re still a couple weeks away from true peak “spring run”, but there are certainly fish to be had at the moment.
Speaking of the spring run, shad interest has increased quite a bit this week as well. Solid reports are coming in from shad anglers in the northern stretches of the CT River, and a few fish are being caught in central CT. Trout fishing remains steady across the state, while the largemouth, pike, and calico (crappie) seem to be reinvigorated after a brief drop in temperatures.