CTO and Daiwa teamed up for our first annual customer appreciation day aboard the Black Hawk party boat. We had been planning this for month and weren’t sure how well it would be received. As it turns out, we shouldn’t have worried as the trip sold out in less than 24 hours. For $45, the customers got an all inclusive trip. Gear, rigs, bait, lures, food and drink were on us for the 6 hour trip. Daiwa provided us with hats, shirts and 16 different combos to pass out around the boat for customers to test out. We had every thing from Saltists to Saltigas to Dendoh electric reels and to top it all off, we gave away 2 Saltist 30′s spooled with braid and mounted on Saltiga rods! THANKS DAIWA!!!

The boat left the dock at 4 and we headed out to the Race. It poured the entire way out but our crew were dressed for it. It took a little for the tide to get moving and for the bite to start, but eventually the fish began to eat. It wasn’t fast and furious but it was a steady pick of bass with a few blues in the mix. We used diamond jigs, Daiwa Sacrifice jigs, bucktails and eels. Everything caught… Just about everyone on the boat entered the pool and the big fish won $500 along with a Daiwa rod and reel… That’s about a $900 night!

The conditions were miserable for much of the night, so I didn’t get as much video and pictures as I had planned. Captain Greg even went into extra innings for us and stayed out for well over another hour. We got back to the dock somewhere around midnight.

Greg and his crew couldn’t have worked any harder than they did for us. Everyone was a pleasure to be around and it’s easy to see why the Black Hawk has so many regular customers… THANKS Grag and crew!!!!

Here is a video from the trip:

Rivers and Streams:

Hickory shad are again, this week, in the Angling news around mid-state.  Early morning and late afternoon, you can cast from shore and get your own fresh chunk baits for the ocean right here near home.  Willow leaves behind a drail, cast, count it down and vary the retrieve speeds until you hit the right combination.  

Smallmouth fishing is doing very well in the usual places; fast moving current near weedlines and deeper holes.  Soft plastic worms, grubs, and creatures in green pumpkin color, and crankbaits are producing strikes.  Make sure you target the deeper sections of the water column.

Stockie Trout are still doing well in the larger, stocked, catch and release areas (TMA) of the state like Mill River (Hamden) and Eight mile from Devils Hopyard downstream.

Lakes and ponds:

Night Fishing live bait under lighted bobbers.  That’s about all you need to do to increase your likelihood of putting a lunker on the business end of a hook, no matter what the FW species or which body of inland water.

No Pike fishing reports this week….

Black Crappie are starting to respond to cooling temps, and the panfishing is starting to heat up. Joe Wilson of Hartford hit the launch in New Hartford this past week with a bucket of pinheads and some maribu jigs for a load of tasty Black crappie he found in 14-18 feet of crystal clear water. Good eatin Joe!

Marine:

Striper hunters report doing well at the race and beyond.  Diamond jigging, umbrella rigs, and Tube & Worm rigs are all producing well.  Fishing for Big Morone Saxatilis is a little tough inside the sound right now due to a few factors; especially high water temperatures and the sheer numbers of huge Bluefish. The predicted weather pattern for the next several days should help the water temps cool some. Schoolie stripers up to 24” are still in good numbers and Bunker have begun to show near the mouth of the CT River.  If the Bunker come in good, it should attract some of the larger stripers back in closer.

Flukin gets better the closer you get to the Rhode Island border, so think about heading east and target areas of 60 feet depth or greater to increase your chances of keepers.  Flashabou Teasers seem to be the ticket to enticing the keeper Fluke to your rig, so make sure you tie one on.  

Snapper Blues have made their annual late summer entrance to the rivers and creeks flowing into the sound, and they bite at almost anything you drop in the water.

For something new, try dragging a seine around your favorite beach or estuary.  You can learn a lot about the fishery by seeing what small aquatic life is in abundance.  And the kids love to see what ever gets dredged up with a seine too!

There’s still plenty of good angling opportunities out there, so get the rods, get some bait, and take a kid fishing. GET OUT!

Connecticut Outfitter’s weekly fishing report for the week of August 9nd, 2010.

Rivers and Streams:

The Connecticut River outside of Wethersfield/Hartford has been giving up a very encouraging number of Walleye!  Steve Sliva of Rocky Hill landed a 20 inch Eye near the Wethersfield/Glastonbury line on a deep diving crankbait (Bomber Fat Free Shad Crawfish pattern 14-18 feet).  This despite the surface water temp of 80 degrees this week.  That trip also saw a 4lb LMB boated with an OZMO.

Smallies still doing well on the Housy, looks like Crayfish patterns and Pumpkinseed power grubs are the right offering.

Church Pool on the Farmy reports lots of fish left to fight!  6lbers were seen, but not landed.  AN average of 20 fish per angler is not uncommon by fishing mealies on fluorocarbon line with graduated split shots under a float.  The water up there is always COLD.

 Lakes and ponds:

Candlewood has water temps of 72 outside Lattins cove this week with Smallies hitting from out of 17-20 feet of water.

Walleyes are still coming up short (lengthwise) in Coventry lake, but they’re there and worth fishing with some keepers mixed in.  Berkley Gulp Alive Leeches work well there, fished deeper in the day, and in the shallows and points at night.

Marine:

Well “off shore” is off the hook right now.  Yellowfin on Ballyhoo, Bluefin on Topwater, and Dorado (Mahi) in the mix.  Light tackle opportunities are out there.  If you can’t get WAY out there, there are even reports of some tuna in close around both the Cape and at Weekapaug. The water temps are bringing more and more fish north and closer to inshore.

Squid, squid strips, and Sandworms have all been the popular baits for marine anglers targeting many marine species.  Tube and worm trollers continue to constantly produce action taking advantage of T-Man Custom Tackle.

CT Flukin closes in a few weeks so many guys and gals are targeting the doormats relentlessly with good pay offs.  There are still (and may always be) a huge number of shorts to keepers.  Anglers have voiced concern for the mortality of released fish and how that may affect the fishery in years to come…

Bluefish are still everywhere and frustrating Striper Hunters by chopping up baits before the stripers get a chance.  The younger anglers are still having fun with snapper blues and harbor blues from causeways and docks alike.  We hope you cook and eat every single snapper blue you can!

Blue Crab reports are still very strong this week with lots and lots of huge crabs already! Spotlighting at night with a long handled crab net is a cool way to fill a basket, but you gotta be quick!  

There’s still four weeks of traditional summer left, so get the rods, get some bait, and take a kid fishing. GET OUT!

Connecticut Outfitter’s weekly fishing report for the week of August 2nd, 2010.

Rivers and Streams:

Smallie (SMB) fishing has been good to excellent in the Connecticut and Housatonic recently, despite the water temps.  Spider Jigs, Ozmos,  and small Husky Jerks have been reported as good go-to baits.  Fish are holding near structure and deep.   Trout fishing is still good when anglers visit their favorite deep holding holes. The Farmington River, sections of the Roaring Brook in Glastonbury, and the Salmon River still hold excellent opportunities.  Following is a report from an angler on the Farmington fishing just below the dam in Riverton on Thursday 7-27:  “17 fish day; All but two fish were caught in fast moving water below the larger holes. Size 4’s and 6’s hooks, meal worms & night crawlers with split shot to get it deep. All fish were corner hooked and released.”  Trout fishing is alive and well even in July when you know where to go.  Just ask any of the friendly staff at CTO!

Lakes and ponds:

Lake Besek in Middlefield had a huge hatch of Mayflies last week with many fish and birds feasting on the surface.  LMBass were found in and around the cove, water temp was 72.  Good numbers of baitfish in the water too.  Silver lake reports have that spot very weedy, but still a good place to go; just fish stronger line, like “Braided” lines  that can cut the weeds, and help hang on to fish in tough weeds.

Mill Pond in Newington, a “kid-only” fishery managed by the D.E.P., has some surprisingly large LMB hanging around the overflow and under the brushy overhangs.

Marine:

Scotland, CT resident Mike Nowosielski took two keeper fluke in just 30 feet of water from his kayak this week just off “Two Trees” at Pleasure Beach on Chartreuse Bucktails baited with whole Spearing.  This is very encouraging because not so many anglers having keeper success in the lesser depths like 30 ft. Fluking closes on August 25^th in CT, so get out there before it’s over.

 Squid, squid strips, and Sandworms have all been the popular baits for marine anglers targeting Scup, Blackfish and Seabass.  Blackfishing has been slow to moderate, but that may be to a small number of anglers targeting them in this early season.  Some record-worthy Seabass have been taken in CT waters of Long Island Sound already this season.

Bluefish are still everywhere and frustrating Striper Hunters by chopping up baits before the stripers get a chance.  Blue Crab reports are very strong this week with lots and lots of huge crabs already!

There’s still four weeks of traditional summer left, so get the rods, get some bait, and take a kid fishing.

GET OUT!

Severe weather patterns blanketed Connecticut for much of the week, providing challenges to small crafts and anglers alike.  Lightning strikes, high winds, torrential downpours, and Flash floods were all a part of being outdoors in the northeast!

Rivers and Streams:

Warm water temperatures and low stream flows appear to have had a negative impact on the state’s Northern Pike fishery.  We received many reports of substantial numbers of dead 30-40 inch Pike floating belly up in the Connecticut River and its tributaries.  We suspect the culprit in these deaths to be low oxygenation or simply very high water temps in the waterway.  We will see how this plays out for the fall which is usually a very good time to hunt for the “Water Wolf”.  Hickory shad continue to make themselves seen and heard in the early afternoon around the Hartford area.  These fish are actively feeding on juvenile baits like alewife and herring, whose populations seem to have had a terrific year.  Maybe the conservation of these anadromous bait fish (moratorium on taking) may actually be working(?) Trout fishing “will always be good on the Farmington River” says Grady Allen. The Farmington is considered by many to be in the “Top Ten” managed trout fisheries in the contiguous United States, receiving the bulk of its cold waters from the deep bottom of Colebrook reservoir.  

A four foot sturgeon was caught and released in East Hartford this week.  The sturgeon hit on a night crawler.   And there were two calls from separate anglers who reported catching Bowfin in Hartford area coves.

Lakes and ponds: 

Angus Park Pond, AKA Eastbury Pond, is still a good place to take the kids fishing.  Glastonbury resident Todd Friedenburg says his son hooked up with a 11” brown just around dawn one morning this week.  That fish came in for a mealy with split shot, and was released.  The bass in Moodus have been finicky but seem to be patterning towards crayfish imitator patterns on or near the bottom (jigs).  Live bait, like Arkansas Shiners on a bobber, will always provide a good chance when there are feeding LMB in the area.

Marine:

Striper fishing has been excellent again this week.  A Big Bang out goes to Roland St. Denis of Wethersfield (and Yakdawgs.com); who landed his PB Striper around Waterford this week.  This fish weighed in at the shop at 53 pounds and was caught on a live Scup from a Kayak.  Menhaden haven’t appeared in the numbers we were hoping for yet, so stay tuned.  Sandworms have been the popular bait for marine anglers targeting Scup.  This year, it seems anglers have to catch a lot of shorts to get a limit of legal length Scup.  Tube and worm trolling continues to produce action consistently.

Blackfishing has been slow to moderate, but that may be to a small number of anglers targeting them in this early season.

Bluefish are still everywhere, and the reports of “biggest Bluefish I ever saw” are quite common.  Snapper blues are appearing in the tidal inlets, so grab your snapper poppers and head for the bridge!  Fluke fishing reports are good from the deeper areas of Long Sand Shoals and off Black Point, and Pleasure Beach.

There’s still five weeks till the kiddies go back to school, so take some time, take a kid fishing, and GET OUT!

Connecticut Outfitter’s weekly fishing report for the week of July 18^th, 2010.

“The best Striper Season in three years” is what Captain Blaine is experiencing in Long Island Sound just outside of Niantic.  The weather continues to challenge anglers inland and inshore.  Thick fog, oppressive heat and some lower flows have the astute angler changing their fishing patterns to match the conditions.  Fresh water bass fishing has been excellent with many years of fisheries management paying off dividends of some fairly healthy catches.

Rivers and Streams:

Hickory shad have made an early appearance upriver this season with some huge fish in the 2-plus pound range being reported.  Marty Feery of Wethersfield has been hammering the Hickories this week inside a local cove. Willow leaf and drail combo’s plus small kastmasters and other weighted spoons are working well.  Keeper Stripers inland are few and far between at this time, but we can always count on schoolies for some fast action almost year-round.  Night time bite for CT river “Monsta” Catfish is good to better.

Trout fishing is still doing reasonably well given the high daily temperatures; and water temps; Stretches of the Salmon just below the Jeremy, the Farmington, and other small rivers are still producing decent fish. Fishing is best just before and into dusk with mealies and crawlers on a drift, find deeper holes.

Lakes and ponds: 

Batterson Park in Farmington/New Britain is giving up it’s share of Walleye, mostly caught on live bait at night in deeper water on slip floats.  There is still a very healthy population of LMB in Wethersfield’s 1860 reservoir despite this spring’s fish kill.  It seems the larger fish were less effected by whatever killed off a portion of the smaller fish population there.  Black pond in Meriden, with it’s easy shore access to deeper water, has produced a good number of fish this season and continues to do so.

Inshore and Offshore:

Striper fishing has been excellent just outside the mouth of the CT river with fish in the 40’s common for experienced anglers.  Bunker sightings are spotty, but building and we expect to see better numbers east of the CT in this coming week, so start practicing your cast-net techniques!  Hickories are available in the early morning if you are quiet you can find them by listening for the tell-tale splashing of their breaches.  Tube and worm trolling continues to produce action consistently.

Sand eels have also been a common forage for the big fish already this season, so small soft plastics on a jig head have been a “go-to” presentation from boat or from shore.

Blues are everywhere, what can we say?  Fluke fishing continues to frustrate given the 19.5 minimum length as fishermen are hammering 17 and 18” fish.  Keepers seem to be more consistent in 75-100 feet of water.

The Canyon is reportedly producing very strong numbers of Yellowfin.  Some big Eye, Marlin and Mako also being caught on trolled Ballyhoo.

Take a kid fishing and GET OUT!