July 26th, 2010

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!