May 31st

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.