The Year-round Angler

In this week’s podcast I talk about the screwy New England weather, fish caught during Opening Day of trout season, a lucky catch I made fishing with my son Jared on Opening Day, limited options out there for saltwater fishing, the outlook for stripers, an upcoming tournament on the Thames River and what’s become the annual fluke regulations mess.

The weather is following the pattern we saw last year with a mild winter followed by a cold spring. It did help grow trout in the hatcheries bigger, but has temps dropping backwards at times. While trout like it, other fish may move back out of the shallows to deeper water and bass can be scared off their nests.
Opening Day had a big turnout (an estimated 150,000 anglers) and surprising catches. The Salmon River’s covered bridge is a picturesque and productive spot where I saw ten or twelve caught during the half hour I spent schmoozing with anglers.
I heard about fish 11-1/2, 10, 9, 8 and 7 pounds caught in the Shetucket, Yantic and Salmon Rivers. Brood stock salmon left over from releases at low water levels last year made for big catches in Beach Pond where two 18-pound and 11-pound salmon were caught.

I caught my biggest bass ever (above) this Opening Day. I’ve taken my kids out Opening Days since they could wobble along Mohegan Park in Norwich. This year, my son Jared and I went to a shallow, stump-filled pond to go bass fishing. Jared had caught 5 or 6 (to my none) on spinner bait before we got to the deeper part and I hit a fish that ran line. I could tell it was a good-sized fish and struggled so much to get it up I thought it might be a channel catfish someone dumped in. When it came around and popped up I grabbed it, a female full of eggs, weighing a full 7-1/2 pounds and 22-1/2 to 23-inches long.
On an outing with Jason Vokoun, (below left) Fisheries Professor at UCONN, we tried to catch a 10-inch bluegill from one of my favorite car top ponds, a place where my friends and I have caught a half dozen between 10 and 10.5 inches. Jason and I couldn’t match that, but Jason got this 9.5-incher, the last fish of a day that produced ten over 9 inches.

2008 wild Turkey season in CT opens May 7 (above right) and has become a tradition since the first lottery was held in the state’s northeast corner in 1981. Turkey restoration in the northeast has been a great success story. It started in Vermont in the 60s when the state got some wild trapped birds from New York. Other states followed and by the late 80s there were birds throughout CT. In the 90s there were enough turkeys to allow spring and fall seasons in CT and the opportunities are out there. This late spring may delay the best hunting a week or ten days before the period for gobbling and to a big old long beard.
With the ratcheting down of marine regs there isn’t that much to go for in the ocean right now. You can’t go out with high expectations of catching winter flounder unless you’re really good at it and have a secret spot, blackfish season closed April 30th, fluke fishing won’t open until late May, and porgies aren’t open yet–so there’s really nothing to fish for other than stripers. There are a lot of schoolies around with bigger fish starting to show up–hot on the heels of some menhaden that are around.
Among things I find irritating about fluke management is that states aren’t together on it and some are setting large limits. High limits kill more fish and are foolish and wasteful. There aren’t enough studies that factor in hook mortality. We as fisherman need to practice techniques to minimize waste with these crazy limits some states are allowing.

Spring is here and in this podcast I talk about the outlook for trout fishing in Connecticut, Opening Day of trout season, spring tune-ups for gear, choosing fishing line and some amazing photos of a 57-inch pike eating a 37-incher. iTunes users can click here to grab the podcast off iTunes.
Connecticut stocks its lakes and streams with about 800,000 fish each year and the 2001 trout management plan has seen to it that there are now more opportunities for anglers to catch bigger fish. I’ll tell you about what you want to know about where trout are stocked when you go out on Opening Day and this season.
You can listen to tips for getting your gear ready and how to choose fishing line. Last, but not least, my take on the photos going around the web showing one monster pike chasing another.

I’m not sure what to believe about these pics, but the fact is that these things happen. I had something similar happen on a muskie fishing trip in Ontario when I had a 32-inch pike on the line and a 57-inch muskie swam up to follow it. The monster muskie could have slurped up the pike like a chow mein noodle.

Yellow perch action (above left) is past its spring time peak, at least in the Connecticut River, but these fish will be available to catch for the remainder of the season. Look for them to feed in smaller schools from here on out. This photo was taken on the Connecticut River and this was one of over 220 yellow perch that Rick Rinaldi and I culled through for about 25 keepers to take home for some fillet material.
Bruce Guyot a long time fishing buddy holds up a small schoolie (above right) we caught from the Connecticut River about this time last season. A recent trip to the Thames was a disappoingment. Water temperature in the shallows was 55.7 which is enough to get the bass revved up and feeding heavily. For some reason we could not find any concentrations of fish, so we had a slow pick, which is unusual for this time of year. In about an hour on the water we only caught a couple small bass, most years under these conditions I’d expect to catch 102 schoolies. They will be hitting well any time now, I’d like to know where they were hiding last Saturday.

Cool temps are still putting a damper on freshwater fishing, but with temps finally breaking into the 50’s bass (above) and panfish are finally beginning to become more active in area lakes and ponds. This two pound plus largemough was heard earned last week after being abused by winter flounder all morning.

In this week’s podcast, I cover the latest in a long list of mythical sightings of mountain lions in Connecticut, news about fishing licensing and regs, fluke season and early spring freshwater fishing.

This photo made the rounds on the web a few weeks ago and was supposedly taken of a mountain lion as it peered through a door in Simsbury. It’s a mountain lion, but whether was actually in Connecticut and was a wild one and is impossible to prove. It almost looks like it is a reflection of a cat that’s inside, not outside of the mirror like porch door. Also note that it looks like there is something, a collar or lead, hanging off its neck.
During the early 90’s while making calls for a column on this subject a person I contacted admitted to having (illegally) purchased and released a pair of mountain lion cubs while on a hunting trip some where in the southwestern part of the country. Whether these cats or their offspring are the source of at least some of the reports, the DEP has not been able to verify any of them conclusively.
Talking to DEP wildlife biologist Paul Rego, he noted that during that same week he received reports and photos that people swore up and down were mountain lions. One was a bobcat, the other two were coyotes. Like bigfoot, the proof in the form of a body or irrefutable hard evidence verified by a DEP official simply lacking.

Online Licensing in Connecticut
In March, the CT DEP went online with its licensing system. So far there’s been nothing but favorable comments on the new system. You can go to the DEP site and follow links to online purchases. Connecticut licenses can also be purchased directly at the DEP Licensing unit in Hartford, at town clerks offices and many approved vendors throughout the state. All the other states in New England already have on line license purchases available.

2008 winter flounder season
Opened on a cold, rainy April Fools Day. Cold nights and chilling rains kept water temps in the 40’s F along the coast, though shallow ponds may have topped 50-degrees F on sunny days. The opener was a success for those who braved the weather, with many catching their 10-fish limit. By Saturday April 5, water temps reached 52-degrees by the afternoon at Bluff Point and fishing was slow. Larger adult post-spawn winter flounder become uncomfortable beyond 50 and move out to the cooler waters of the sound, where they’re difficult to locate with so few of them around. Three friends fished all day for three keepers and a couple of throw-backs.
Sunday, Eric Covino and I made our annual winter flounder abuse day under overcast skies with a cold 15 -20 mph wind blowing out of the northeast, creating difficult conditions. Normally I like it overcast and windy, but with the wind chill factor I was numb and had near frozen fingers.

Look for Niantic River, Jordan Cove, the lower Thames River, the Norwalk Islands, Greenwich Harbor, East River, Guilford, Clinton Harbor and other areas along the coast to begin producing.
At best winter flounder fishing is fair to horrible, due to historically low population levels.

Marine Regulation Changes set for 2008
The DEP web site has all the current regulations listed, with changes,which were made official as of April 5, printed in red so anglers can readily take note. Important changes are:
Blackfish: Changes Blackfish 4 fish 14 inches open through April 30, then reopened October. Reduced limit season from July 1-August 31 with 2 fish 14 inch minimum length. Scup 10 fish at 10.5 inches season is open May 24 - September 26. Party and charter boats have a June 12 - October 15 season with 10 fish per angler through August 31. From September 1 through October 15 party boat customers may take 45 scup per day.
Fluke minimum is 19.5 inches, 5 fish per day, season open from May 24-September.
To be in compliance with the federal fluke management plan that was reauthorized by the Magnesun Act in 2006, Connecticut had to cut its projected fluke catch by 30%. Rhode Island by 50% and New York, by 65%, so fluke fishing in the tri-state area not going to be pretty this summer.
The large minimum length limits I believe will waste more fluke than they will save in the recreational segment of this important fishery. Handling fewer fish means hurting fewer, hence my belief that large length limits are more harmful than beneficial to fluke conservation efforts.

Early Spring Freshwater Options
Yellow and white perch are the best early season option. Yellow perch are completing their spawning runs in lakes and rivers. A couple of weeks ago they were in huge spawning schools that provided non-stop action. Trips to a spot on the CT River produced between 350 and 370 perch, of which we kept around 30 to fillet. Average keeper perch on the river are 10 inches or larger. Two weeks ago yellow perch fishing action was peaking on the Connecticut River but it will taper off over the next few weeks, with the best option switching over to white perch, which just began hitting well in Hamburg Cove earlier this past week.
White perch action has been good in Norwich Harbor on the Thames River for a few weeks now. Look for Wethersfield Cove Keeney Cove and other back waters on the Connecticut River and other large rivers in the region to start producing white perch by the dozen over the next few weeks. Expect to catch some bass, pike, calico bass, sunfish and other fish as water temperatures reach that important 50-degree F milestone for the season.
Due to water temps being driven back to the 40’s over the weekend, that burst of bass and panfish action that normally takes place around the first weekend of April was put on hold. With sunny weather predicted, expect spring bass and panfish action by this weekend.

Trout Season Opener
The Connecticut trout season opens officially on the Third Saturday of the month, April 19 at 6 am on the button. Anglers who don’t want to wait may invest $35 plus $5.50 for an out of state Rhode Island License and trout stamp. Little Rhody releases larger trout than Connecticut. Check out the Wood River just over the border in Arcadia State Park, a great trout stream.

Next Week’s Podcast
will focus on Connecticut Trout Season Opener, places to go, gearing up or down with some comments on how to choose the best places to fish. We will also talk about early spring pan fishing, bass fishing, striped bass, more flounder abuse and the next go round for the marine fishing license issue here in the northeast.

I dedicate this week’s podcast to the controversy (and wrath) stirred up by my column, Tourney Fishing Hurts Numbers, in the Norwich Bulletin.

The column got a big response from local fisherman, many of whom posted responses on ctfisherman.com. I’m glad that the article stirred up a hornet’s nest, because it’s an important issue. It’s obvious there are lots of you out there who care about bass fishing and I think the discussion will only be good for lakes.

Here’s what I suggest. Listen to my podcast and tell me what you think. Leave comments by clicking above on the “comments” link (look just below the headline). If you want to send an audio response or video response, I’ll post those, too (but will delete any outside the bounds of reasonable discourse).

Give it to me straight. Bass fisherman and sportsmen are dedicated to conserving our waters and woodland resources and I’d love for this podcast become a place where we hash out the recreation and conservation issues affecting them. I’ll even have a few of you on if it helps do what’s right for our fisheries and hunting grounds.

Let me know what you want to talk about and we’ll do just that, right here. I know I can go on about this stuff, and from the comments I’ve read there are plenty of you out there who can as well. So, let me know what you think are the most important fisheries and game management issues and we can use this podcast as a forum to air it all out.

Here’s what I talk about in the podcast. The fact is that tournaments and all fishing for that matter, from ice fishing to bass tournaments, has an impact. The state did a study that found delayed mortality from tournament fishing to be up to 5%.

Comments I heard others make about dead fish floating in Pachaug Pond after and event last summer suggest it goes a lot higher when you factor in heat waves and other things that come into play when you’ve got a bunch of tournaments on a few lakes.

In Connecticut, fishing pressures can have greater impacts on our smaller-sized lakes than they do on larger lakes in other states. Last year, there were over 1,000 tournaments here, focused on fewer than 100 lakes. Of those, probably 40 or 50 are used all the time.

One guy, Mattman 7, suggested I go to www.outdooralabama.com and look at the figures about tournament activity posted there (advice I found more helpful than suggestions other made about where I could go).

Some interesting information, but it’s clear was that lakes there are much bigger and better able to handle fishing pressure. Alabama has 27 lakes over 500 acres, many as large as 7,000 to nearly 70,000 acres. Connecticut has 425 lakes and ponds that together total just 56,000 acres. So, you can’t really make a useful comparison.

In the podcast I talk about many factors that go into good fisheries management–and how catch rates or the size and weight of fish begin caught can be deceiving. Its the overall structure of populations of fish that is a much better indicator of pressures on fish stocks, but population structure isn’t always apparent from what’s on the end of a line.

The point is that the way we use them, our lakes are getting hammered. All fishing has an effect and I’ve seen a degradation of our fisheries over the past years. So, for anybody who wants to talk about management of our fisheries resources, I’m all ears.



In This week’s podcast, I talk about how ‘07 was an angling season that brought 40-60-pound striped bass and 14-18-pound blues. Factors made for a decent fishing year, the main disappointment being a slow season for False Albacore.

The 2007 striper season was a good one, with many 40-pound plus stripers being taken from both surf and boats along the coast. This monster 60-pound-plus striper (above) was caught with Captain Jim White of White Ghost Chartersfrom Narragansett Bay, which held and produced many huge bass this year because of the presence of adult menhaden in abundance.

Kind of a fun story on the podcast is Mountain Lions: fact & fiction. Truth is there are bobcat in Connecticut, more each year it seems, but no evidence of any wild Mountain Lions being here. People call the state to report all kinds of animals thought to be big cats, from squirrels, to coyotes, to deer, to bobcats, but foresters and biologists will tell you no actual evidence of any wild cats bigger than the native bobcat have ever been found.

In this week’s podcast I offer holiday gift ideas for those of you who have sportsmen to shop for, talk about how Norwich, CT harbor is a great winter fishery, one that gets hot when it’s cold and report on deer season and wildlife in Connecticut this holiday season.