Connecticut Fishing Report
Matt, at Black Hall Outfitters in Westbrook provided the following report for the week: “The striped bass bite is getting better. There are some anglers pulling in fish in the 35- to 40-inch range. Soft plastics of all sizes, fished weightless, seem to be working well in the shallows. Striped bass anglers are also doing very well on sandworms both in the rivers and along some of the adjacent beaches. Things are definitely trending upward and I’ve gotten good reports of herring, which is probably fueling the bite right now. No bluefish reports yet, but I don’t think it will be long. We just need this warming trend to keep going.”
Captain Nick Pace at Reel Mayhem Outfitters in Greenwich saw the strong late April fishing continue right into May. Striped bass action has been very consistent in the Western Sound, and each tide seems to be bringing in fish of better quality. The influx of bait—mostly bunker—has not stopped in the Western Sound, and therefore, neither has the bass bite. The fish have been of all sizes with plenty of slot-size keepers on each trip, and it will only get better from here. They are booking open boat, split charters, private charters and both day and night trips, so reach out to book your dates!
Captain Chris at Elser Guide Service has been getting his boat ready and it will hit the water next week! In the meantime, he’s spent a bit of time on a clients boat in the salt between some freshwater fishing. In the salt, he found a good push of mainly slot-class bass west of Norwalk. There were some solid pods of bunker in the area helping to fuel the bite, which will undoubtedly catch the attention of bigger bass as they move in from the west. On the freshwater scene, the smallmouth and trout action has been excellent. He’s been able to manage good numbers of both species in the Western CT rivers on both dry flies and streamers.
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Captain Joe Diorio at Diorio Guide Service provided the following report: “Fishing this week has been absolutely lights out, especially for this early in the season. Most of the stripers are 28 to 36 inches with a few fish right around the 40-inch range. We have been doing best targeting stripers in 15 feet of water or less, and 95% of our fish are on topwater. Our go-to lures have been the 6.5-inch Skipper and weightless soft plastics. Over these next few weeks, we will see even more fish come into our system and the fishing should continue to get better and better. We have dates available over the next month if you’re looking to get in on the action!”
Heather from the Black Hawk out of Niantic provided the following early season report: “We finally get to report some fishing news! Our season opener on the scup grounds on Friday was a success. Despite the extremely cold winter and early spring we had, we were pleased to find the fish waiting for us. Although it wasn’t a ferocious bite, as soon as we came tight on the anchor, they started coming over the rail and continued to for the entire trip. Some anglers were able to produce limits, others were not far behind, and some just got what they wanted for dinner and enjoyed being back on the water. Saturday and Sunday were a bit different, with the wind and tide not cooperating and making conditions difficult. It was a very finicky bite, we tried many spots but just couldn’t get the bite going like we wanted to. We put in some overtime, but sometimes we have tough days and that’s just fishing. We’ll always be honest and tell you when it’s good, and when it’s not so good. We’re looking forward to some warmer weather and better fishing ahead. Our famous “Calamari Safari” trips will start this weekend. Trips go on sale Monday night at 8 p.m., and are sure to fill up fast, so grab your spot! We’re still booking charters, with only a few spots left for the end of May and early June. Summer dates are also filling fast, so email the office to get your date on the calendar soon. Thanks for a great start to the season, we look forward to seeing everyone soon!”
Anthony Charnetski at Game On Lures provided the following report: “Spring feels like it has finally arrived this past week! Water temps are on the rise, and it’s got everything chewing. The freshwater bass bite has picked right back up and the fish are starting to make the transition to shallower areas to feed up for the spawn. Jigs, jerkbaits, paddletails, lipless crankbaits, and chatterbaits are all great options to target bass right now. Improved reports of American shad in the rivers have started up this week from Cromwell to Windsor, and while it’s up and down, a few anglers have reported some very solid numbers at times. The herring have been funneling in more and more every day, so hopefully it only improves from here! The resident stripers have been gorging themselves on the first round of herring that arrived, and there have been some rumors of schoolies with lice on them; 5″ to 10″ soft plastics rigged either weightless or on a jighead are great choices to target these stripers right now. The 7″ Duratech jerkbait rigged with a weightless 7/0 grappler has been working well for me. As water temps rise, these bass will start hitting smaller topwater plugs, so the 4.5″ or 6″ X-Walk will also be a great option coming up soon.”
Captain Mike Roy at Reel Cast Charters said the full moon brought on some better bass action as they continue to see bigger and bigger fish with regularity. Bass are on the move, and he said that he expects to see a push of fresh migratory fish hit the Eastern Sound region within the next week or so. Soft plastics continue to be the name of the game for springtime bass. They use mainly Slug-Gos and Fin-S Fish for most scenarios they encounter. Captain Mike and his team are booking prime dates for the season and it’s never too early to lock yours in, so give him a call to book a spot now.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
May has brought about improved striped bass fishing in the river mouths and portions of the Sound, while the upper stretches of the rivers continue to see bass on the tails of herring. The lower stretches of the Connecticut River have started to heat up this week, as we undoubtedly are starting to see some larger, migratory striped bass start to show up. Unweighted soft plastics of all sizes have been getting the job done for most, and there have been some bass rising for topwaters on warmer days. The upper stretches of the river are seeing some quality bass around the herring runs, but they’re moving around quite a bit from day to day. Back west, the Housatonic continues to fish well from the mouth to the upper stretches, while the Western Sound, west of Norwalk is starting to see larger bass and schools of bunker show up. There should be no shortage of striped bass action, no matter where you reside in CT!
Scup season has opened, fluke season is right around the corner, and while you’d likely have to travel to find decent action from either species right now, it signals that we are getting closer to summer fishing.
Right on schedule for early May, the shad bite has improved quite a bit as well. The shad fleet has been out in full force and are reporting good catches from central CT to nearly the MA border. Trout action has benefitted from some colder temperatures, along with the recent Hendrickson hatch.