Hot, hot, hot! Both the weather and the fishing is red hot right now. Whether you’re fishing inland lakes and ponds or plying the waters of Long Island Sound, the fishing is great everywhere you go. Fortunately, it is easy for us anglers to regulate our body temperatures this time of year. Just jump in and take a quick dip to cool off!

Rivers & Streams – The Housatonic River has been fishing well for smallmouth bass. The fish will eat most any small offering that resembles a crawdad such as brown and black curly tail grubs on a 1/8th ounce lead head jig. Trout fishing in many of the states rivers and streams is getting tough with the low water levels. Your best bet is to head to rivers that are spring fed like the upper stretches of the Farmington River.

Lakes & Ponds – Trout fishing has been quite good on lakes such as Lakeville Reservoir, West Hill Reservoir and East Twin Lake. There are even some kokane salmon to be found in West Hill. Most fish are holding in the 20 – 40 foot zone. Leadcore line or down riggers are your best options for presenting your baits at the correct depths. Largemouth fishing has been great at locations like Lakeville Reservoir, Highland Lake and Ball Pond. Mark Kelley of Wethersfield reported catching a six pound largemouth bass from a private pond in Granby using a green Zara Spook topwater lure.

Marine District – The striper fishing is great right now on all of the Connecticut reefs. Many reports of fish in the 35 – 40lb range with a few reports of 50’s in there as well. Fluke fishing remains fair with decent numbers of fish to be found on most trips but the short to keeper ratio is still somewhat dismal. It shouldn’t scare anyone off though; reports of 7-8lb fish have been common for the part three weeks. Blackfish season is now open and the fish are there to be caught. Early reports have shown fish in water as shallow as 10 feet. Green crabs and Asian crabs are your best bet for success.

Summer weather can throw you a lot of curve balls which can affect both you and the fish. Like people, fish are most comfortable during stable weather conditions. But, falling barometric pressure can send fish into a feeding frenzy as they sense the impending storm. Like the fish, you should be prepared and make sure you have a quality set of foul weather gear, like Frogg Toggs rainwear, to keep you comfortable when the rain is coming down and you just don’t want to quit fishing yet!

Rivers & Streams – The Connecticut River has been fishing fair for largemouth bass but the catfishing has really been heating up. Good numbers of fish in the 5 – 8 pound range are available with a good shot at a fish or two over ten pounds. Fresh cut bait is probably your best choice although other popular baits include shrimp, liver and nightcrawlers. The upper stretches of the river above Hartford have been fair to good for smallmouth bass. Crankbaits, jigs and topwater plugs will provide the best action. Trout fishing is fair to good on most rivers and streams throughout the state. Fly anglers seem to be having the best success but spin fishermen can use a small float, preferably clear, to present a fly to wary trout on spinning gear.

Lakes & Ponds – Trout fishing has been quite good on lakes such as East Twin Lake, Highland Lake and Crystal Lake. Some folks are trolling spoons, spinners and plugs while others are fishing bait like worms and shiners on jigheads while drifting. The trick is being able to locate the fish with your electronics and then presenting your bait at that same depth. Largemouth fishing has been great at locations like Lake McDonough, Moodus Reservoir and West Hill Pond. Mark Oszurek reported excellent fishing at Long Meadow Reservoir with good numbers of fish up to four pounds on soft plastics and rattle baits.

Marine District – Stripers can be found on shoreline rock piles and the adjacent reefs. Reports of fish over 40 pounds have begun to show up. Most of these fish are being caught on live bait such as eels or porgy. Bluefish are very common now with numbers of blitzes to found along local shorelines. Fluke fishing seems to keep improving with many reports arriving of fish over seven pounds. The short to keeper ratio is still off with many fish going back over the rails, but, if you stick it out you’ll likely find a few nice keepers.

Some fantastic summer fishing is now upon us. The shoreline bite for both stripers and bluefish is really heating up and the fluke bite just gets better and better. Largemouth and smallmouth bass are moving into their summer patterns and river channel catfish are being quite aggressive, defending their nests while they spawn. And, most of the states trout rivers are holding their levels well providing for some great summertime trout action.

Rivers & Streams – Reports of stripers in the Connecticut River have really slowed to a crawl. Meanwhile, reports of large catfish have been on the rise with multiple reports of channel cats over ten pounds. Northern pike and largemouth bass fishing is quite productive on the river now, with Gary Brummett and Mike Perciballi of Connecticut Outfitters boating around ten bass a piece plus a half dozen pike on an afternoon outing using spinnerbaits in one of the local coves. Trout fishing remains good on the smaller rivers throughout the state. Mealworms, Powerbait and flies have proved most productive in rivers such as the Housatonic River, Farmington River and the Salmon River.

Lakes & Ponds – Trout fishing has been very productive on lakes such as Squantz Pond, Candlewood Lake and Crystal Lake. Fish have been hitting lures and bait at depths of 20 – 40 feet down. Bass fishing seems to be moving into summertime patterns with quality fish being found both shallow and deep. Lakes containing very clear waters or supporting lots of daytime boat traffic can often be fickle in the summer. Try fishing in depths over 15 feet or focus your angling efforts on after dark hours for increased success.

Marine District – The striper fishing continues to get better and better out on the near shore reefs. The numbers of fish are increasing as well as the average size of the fish. Fluke fishing appears to be improving across the Connecticut shoreline with multiple reports of fish up to eight pounds. Productive baits have been cut or whole squid, spearing, sand eels and fresh bluefish strips.

Thunderstorm season is upon us! But, the fishing in between the storms has been stellar. Pay attention to the onset of storm fronts as they are moving in, especially after a few days of stable weather. The dropping pressure in the atmosphere will often times send the fish into a feeding frenzy since a bad storm can hinder their ability to hunt for a few days. They essentially try to fatten themselves up in preparation for adverse conditions.

Rivers & Streams – Trout fishing continues to be quite good in the local rivers. Most streams are still flowing well and providing plenty of action for both spin fishermen and fly anglers. The Connecticut River is still producing stripers but the numbers are becoming fewer and the size of the fish is becoming smaller. The mouth of the river is still proving some consistent action but things are slowing down. The lower end of the Shetucket River is still producing some fish as well. Jeremiah Godbout not only had a banner day of striper fishing there last week, but he also caught smallmouth bass, trout and a walleye.

Lakes & Ponds – Bass fishing has been good with reports of number of four and five pound fish. Most of the fish have moved off the beds and are hanging around the outside edges of weed lines or the closest distinct break or drop off. Though, not all fish in a lake are in the same mode at one time so you will still find fish in other locations as well. Trout trollers are doing well across the state. Most are trolling lead core line out about 4 or 5 colors to get their baits to the correct depths. Spoons and diving minnow plugs like Rapalas are taking some very nice fish right now.

Marine District – Fluke fishing continues to improve as fish are moving into shallower waters in the bays. Striper fishing also continues to get better as larger fish are moving further up the coastline. A few 50” fish have been reported this past week. Bluefish are moving in now in heavy numbers with early morning fishermen reporting finding large schools of them feeding on the surface. Cast a surface lure within a few feet of surfacing fish and you are guaranteed to get bit!

Everything is falling into place nicely as the summer patterns begin to set in. The marine waters are now warming quickly and the reefs are coming alive. Freshwater bass are finishing their spawn and the trout are moving into cooler, deeper lake waters. The diadromous fish in the river systems are beginning to drop back into the ocean waters as the river waters warm. And, every changing season brings new fishing opportunities to anglers!

Rivers & Streams – Trout fishing in the states river systems has been very productive. The water levels have been slowly dropping and fly patterns seem to provide the best action. A 21.5” brown trout was landed and released by Derrick Kirkpatrick last week on the Farmington River on a secret fly pattern. The herring have been moving back downstream as the waters warm on the Connecticut River. Without the food source around, the striped bass have no reason to stay and they are also beginning to leave the river systems. You best bet for success is currently south of Middletown and the action should improve the farther south you go.

Lakes & Ponds – There are still a few lakes around that are harboring shallow, bedding bass but they are quickly diminishing. Those big female bass usually slide off of the beds after doing their business and head to the first adjacent drop off and rest up for a couple of days. Then, they begin feeding again. Make sure you are covering those locations in between your shallow water fishing. That is where you will find your kicker fish for the day!

Marine District – The Western Sound has been bragging for the past few weeks about their exceptional striper fishing while the Eastern folks have been waiting for their shot. The time has arrived as the eastern reefs heat up with lots of bait and birds and feeding fish breaking the surface. Bluefish blitzes have been erupting from Groton to Old Saybrook. The fluke fishing is getting off to a nice start with reports of good numbers of fish from Branford to Niantic. One report even included a 10.10lb doormat. Fish are still moving into the Sound and can be found anywhere from 80ft – 20ft of water.

Early signs of summer weather patterns have begun to set in here in Connecticut. The Connecticut River water temps are up into the 70’s, the bass are finishing their spawning and thunderstorms are predicted every few days, it seems. But, that has not stopped the fish from biting or the anglers from chasing them.

Rivers & Streams – The striper fishing on the Connecticut River continues to be excellent for many and frustrating for others. The fish are constantly on the move, chasing bait as it travels up river so; there are times when certain spots will produce fish one day and then seem devoid of fish the next. In these situations, it is best to develop a “milk run” of spots that you can fish if one spot isn’t producing for you. Successful anglers are reporting fish up to 40” common. The trout fishing on the Farmington River and the Salmon River has been very good for fly, artificial and bait fishermen.

Lakes & Ponds – Trout trollers have been going to town on lakes such as West Hill Reservoir, East win Lake, Squantz Pond and Highland Lake. Leadcore line and spoons, Rapalas and bait such as corn, mealworms and trout worms are popular tactics that have been putting football sized trout up to 8lbs in the boat. Some lakes and ponds are also still seeing bass spawning in the shallows while others have seen the last of the spawn. If you’re lucky enough to site a bass bed with a fish on it you can often get it to strike a topwater bait thrown passed the bed and then worked back across the surface to the fish. If that fails, a fish will always grab a 3 or 4 inch grub rigged on a jighead when it falls directly on to the bed.

Marine District –The reefs are heating up quickly now with stripers up to 40 inches. Bluefish have arrived as well with bite offs being common while striper fishing and blitzing schools of blues arriving in some bays. Fluke fishing has been fair to good with some folks having decent success in 20-40 feet of water while others have been striking out. When fluking is tough it always best to read your depth finder and find the bait. Mark the bait schools on your GPS and then deploy your baits on those specific locations.

Beautiful weather has blessed us this past week and it has brought the anglers out in droves. Boat launches across the state have been loaded with trucks and trailers, indicating that there is some fantastic fishing to be had right now. Diadromous fish reports account for hundreds of thousands of herring and shad, not to mention the striped bass that have also invaded the coastal river systems.

Rivers & Streams – The Connecticut River is essentially chock full of striped bass. Reports have been coming in all week long from Enfield to Old Saybrook of fish anywhere from 18”-36” with a few reports of fish in the low 40” range. Lots of folks are fishing from the shore at locations such as Charter Oak Landing, Wethersfield Cove, Haddam Meadows and the DEP docks in Old Lyme. Chunk bait and sandworms or bloodworms have been the most popular baits while many of the boaters are throwing large soft plastics like Slug-Go’s and Houdini Shads as well as topwaters and large swimbaits such as the Revolution Shad and the Bass Assassin. Bill Stratton landed a 40.5” striper along with a number of other sizable fish using Mambo Minnows and other swimming plugs. Trout anglers are doing very well across the state in rivers such as the Salmon, Farmington and Hammonassett River. Small earthworms and mealworms have accounted for a lot of nice rainbows this year.

Lakes & Ponds – Bass fishing has been reported as good across the state including lakes such as Lake McDonough, Red Cedar Lake, Gardener Lake and Lake Housatonic. Fish are feeding actively and chasing baits more aggressively as the waters warm. The topwater bite has begun on many lakes, providing for some very exciting shallow water action.

Marine District – Summer flounder season opened this weekend and while most boats were heading over to either NY or RI waters to fish more popular early season spots, there were a few who stuck with the local waters of Long Island Sound and reported finding fish from Westport to Mystic. The fish are probably just starting to show up so it is a perfect time to get out there. Try focusing on 20 – 40 feet of water and look for pods of baitfish on your fishfinder. When you find the bait you will find the fluke.

What a week it has been with large numbers of shad and stripers moving up the Connecticut River. Anglers have been taking both species from Old Saybrook to Enfield and other springtime spawners are showing up in great numbers including alewife, blue back herring, sea lamprey, darters and white suckers. Another nice surprise has been the increased catch rates of walleyes in the stretch of river from Hartford through Middletown. Whether the population is growing on this end of the river or if fish from the northern sections are moving south is currently unknown but go get them while you can.

Rivers & Streams – Normal river levels are making access to the river banks quite easy and folks are catching their fair share of striped bass up to the high 30” range with some larger fish in the low 40” range. Cut bait and sandworms fished on the bottom are catching plenty of stripers. Swimbaits, topwaters and soft plastics are taking their share of fish as well especially during early morning and early evening. Chris Partelow and his fishing partners landed over 75 fish in one day last week with 55 of those fish being over 28 inches. All fish were caught on artificial lures.

Lakes & Ponds – Candlewood Lake has been producing fantastic numbers of brown trout. Most of the fish are very fat as they are feeding on landlocked alewives. Two pound fish have been very common with good numbers of fish surpassing that size. Largemouth fishing is great across the state as warmer water temperatures are pushing those fish up towards the shallows to begin their spawning period. Smaller male bass will be moving into shallow water to begin fanning out their spawning beds and the larger females will usually be staging in slightly deeper water at this time.

Marine District – Winter flounder are still available. Guys that are finding them are finding decent numbers, usually in water that is 10 feet or less. Sandworms are your best bet for these tasty little flatfish. Large stripers are beginning to set up on the reef systems in the Western Sound so it will only be a short time before the rest of the shoreline areas begin to heat up. Bluefish have already been reported from Millstone, the Thames River, the Connecticut River and the Western Sound.

This past week was another banner fishing week. The spring runs of stripers, shad and herring are right on time and fish are being caught from Old Saybrook all the way up to Enfield. Trout fishing continues to be very productive across the state indicating another stocking job by the DEP. There have even been a couple of reports of sturgeon caught and released by anglers pursuing stripers with bait on the bottom.

Rivers & Streams – The Connecticut River is running at normal levels making access to all boat launches and favorite shoreline venues a breeze. Striped bass over 40” have been reported from Old Saybrook all the way up to the Enfield dam. Kevin Joyal landed a 21 pound striper on a Slammer up in the Windsor area along with a number of other sizeable fish and many reports have been coming in from all over the river valley of mid-30″ fish being very common. The moratorium on river herring is still in effect and all herring accidentally caught must be immediately released. Sandworms, bloodworms and chunk bait have all been catching their fair share of fish. Artificial baits that have been working well include large Slug-O’s, Bombers, topwater plugs andswim baits.

Lakes & Ponds – Trout trollers have been doing quite well on the trophy trout lakes this season. Fish have been holding from the surface down to around 30 feet so lead core trollers have been using 3-4 colors to get into some decent fish with trolling flies, spoons and jointed Rapalas. Largemouth bass fishing continues to be great with reports of fish up to seven pounds being reported this past week. The usual spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and jigs have all been producing but it seems if you’re after a big fish your best bet it to concentrate on throwing large swim baits like the Revolution Shad of the Castaic trout baits. You won’t get as many bites but when you do it will be a good one!

Marine District – Winter flounder reports have not improved, unfortunately. The fish are sparse and the new creel limit of two fish has kept many anglers uninterested in pursuing these fish. It seems the blackfish moved into their shallower lairs just as the season closed this week. The last couple of days of the season saw reports of fish up to 10lbs taken from 20-30 feet of water and good numbers of 4-8lb fish in the mix. The first reports of bluefish have also arrived from the Eastern Sound with schools of 5-8lb fish blitzing on baitfish. Stripers are appearing at shoreline locations but the mouths of the large river systems seem to producing the best as most of the stripers are following bait into the rivers.

Great fishing continues across the state with notable catches of larger sized striped bass in the coastal river systems. The shoreline is warming up as well with reports of keeper fluke and striped bass over forty inches. Designated lakes, ponds, rivers and streams across the state have been stocked again with trout.

Rivers & Streams – The Connecticut River continues to produce stripers on a daily basis though the productive spots can change on a day to day basis as these fish move through the river system chasing the herring. There has been an increase in the number of “big fish” reports, many of them confirmed with bass up to 48”. Lures that replicate the general size, shape and profile of a herring produce the largest fish. Bombers, Danny’s plugs, and swimbaits have been producing both large fish and numbers of fish. The Salmon River produced another lunker trout recently that weighed in at over 8lbs. The Farmington River also continues to produce high numbers of trout many being larger than average in size.

Lakes & Ponds – The timing of the bass spawn is definitely different from lake to lake. In some locations the fish are done spawning or close to it, while in other places the largemouth spawn is in full swing. Smallmouth bass have mostly finished spawning except in a few lakes and ponds. The waters are still at optimum temperatures for keeping the fish relatively shallow. As usual, Jim Boyne again made it look easy by hauling a 5lb and 6lb largemouth out of an undisclosed location using a black jig n pig.

Marine District – Fluke season is off to a decent start with the usual reports of lots of throwbacks and a few keepers. The creel limit for fluke is three fish at a minimum size of 19.5 inches. Stripers are beginning to set up on the reef systems of Long Island Sound. Live eels are a favorite bait for stripers, especially at this time of the year. Bluefish are beginning to make their presence known with some of the bruisers being in the 10 – 12lb range.