Good action with stripers

Written by Leon Sylvester Jr.
Friday, 11 May 2012 14:23

Mikey Weick, 12, of Shelton caught an impressive 34-inch striped bass on sandworms while fishing the Housatonic River.Go Fish!Striped bass fishing continued to improve this week with good action scattered throughout all the local rivers and harbors.

Fresh chunked bunker and mackerel, sandworms and various bunker- and herring-imitating lures all brought fish to the boat this week, with fish being landed from the Derby/Shelton Dam on the Housatonic River to mid-Sound in the vicinity of Middleground Light House. 

Ten-year-old Jake Roberts of Shelton landed a 29-inch striper and 11-year-old Ryan Wilson, also of Shelton, landed a 31-inch striper on Sunday while fishing on the Housatonic River with Robert Darby of Shelton. 

Twelve-year-old Mikey Weick of Shelton caught an impressive 34-inch striped bass on sandworms while fishing the Housatonic River with his stepfather and grandfather.

Waiting for the big stripers to arrive

Written by Leon Sylvester, Jr.
Thursday, 03 May 2012 12:18

Captain Jim Sinclair of Oxford took home first place with a beautiful 11-pound Blackfish, which was caught from his new boat, Angler Management.The Blackfishing spring season came to a close on Monday but not before area anglers pulled some quality fish from the rocks of the Stratford, Bridgeport and New Haven breakwalls. 

Tautog up to 11 pounds were reported this week with many other fish in the 5-8 pound class. Asian Crabs were still the hottest bait this week although, green crabs and sand worms did produce a few quality fish. 

Harborview Bait and Tackle in Stratford held a winner-take- all Blackfish Tournament on Sunday and Captain Jim Sinclair of Oxford took home first place with a beautiful 11-pound Blackfish, which was caught from his new boat, Angler Management.

The winning fish was an egg-bearing female so Sinclair and his crew successfully transported the live fish to the weigh in before returning it to the Sound were it was released to spawn. 

Striped Bass anglers are waiting for the spring run to explode any day now. The first schools of bait are arriving in our area and have Striper chasers optimistic that the migratory fish will soon be here to gorge on various herrings and bunker. 

Where to find them

Written by Leon Sylvester, Jr.
Monday, 23 April 2012 13:24

Ryan Woods of Shelton with a good-sized Housatonic Schoolie Striper. The spring season for Blackfish is off to a promising start. Anglers are finding keeper-size Tautog ready and willing to hit, and Asian and Green crabs are at all the usual hot spots. An underwater structure in 10-plus feet of water should be used to hold fish since the water temperature continues to rise into the mid to upper 50s.

  Blackfish live among the rocks and in other natural and man- made structures, so make sure you are in an area where there are plenty of places for Blackfish to hide. The New Haven Harbor breakwall, the Housatonic breakwall and Penfield Reef are all popular spots and will hold their fair share of fish, but don't discount smaller structures, wrecks, rocky shorelines and oyster and clam beds. 

  Since Blackfish travel short distances during their lifespan, finding a good underwater structure that no one fishes could result in trophy-size Tautog. Remember to keep your line tight as Blackfish hits are quick, and if you were not ready, you could easily miss your chance to strike and set the hook.

  Bob Hannon of Stratford and Captain Jim Sinclair of Oxford reached their limits on Blackfish up to seven pounds while fishing Asian crabs at the Stratford Breakwall, while Luke Tucciarome of Norwalk and Joe Eltman of Ayer's Landing in Shelton landed their limits of fish up to 8 pounds at the New Haven Wall.

  Striped Bass fishing has slowed in the Housatonic River, but fishing has improved along the local beaches as the wintering fish head into Long Island Sound. Fishing should improve as Herring continue to return to local rivers for the spring spawn, and Stripers are usually hot on their tails. Sandworms and various Herring-imitating lures were the most productive bass baits last week. 

  Ryan Woods of Shelton landed several school-size Stripers while fishing with soft-plastic baits on one-half-ounce jig heads in the lower Housatonic last weekend.

Blackfishing season is over, bass season begins

Written by Leon Sylvester Jr.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011 00:00

With Blackfishing season now officially closed, and safe, fishible ice still quite some time away, fresh and saltwater anglers are turning toward targeting our local tributaries wintering Striped Bass populations.

These fish move into the tidal lower sections of our area rivers during the months of November and December to feed on schools of herring, shad, shiners and other small forage fish. Anglers will find large numbers of fish ranging from 14 to 22 inches which are hitting a variety of soft plastics and flies ranging from 3 to 7 inches in length.

Fishing red hot as water temperatures cool down

Written by Leon Sylvester Jr.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011 23:00

The blackfishing bite continues to be red hot and should only improve as water temperatures continue to drop. Keeper tautog are hitting Asian, green, hermit and fiddler crabs at all the usual hot spots.

Any underwater structure in 10-plus feet of water should be holding fish as the water temperature drops into the 50s. Probe the bottom with your offering, looking for drops, rock piles, caves and anywhere else where blackfish might be hiding.

Keep your line tight — blackfish hits are very quick, and if you are not ready you will easily miss your opportunity to strike and set the hook.

Fishing is heating up as waters cool down

Written by Leon Sylvester Jr.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011 23:00

Autumn in Long Island Sound is not only about trophy size catches. It is also a time when anglers often catch rare and exotic species which have lost their way during the numerous maritime storms or the gulf stream’s warm northern flow during the summer months.

Some of these species, including burbots, northern kingfish, oyster toadfish, northern pufferfish, red hake and triggerfish have all been showing up in catches throughout Long Island Sound. Though these catches are rare, they are not uncommon for this time of year.

Both John Valentino and Johnathan Schmedlin of Stratford landed burbots last weekend, while Bob Hannon of Stratford came up short in his pursuit of the elusive oyster toadfish, but did witness several caught near him.

Anglers finding a mixed bag of keeper-size fish

Written by Leon Sylvester Jr.
Wednesday, 05 October 2011 08:34

Blackfishing season is now open, and anglers are finding a mixed bag of keeper size and smaller fish at the New Haven Breakwall, Penfield Reef and various rock piles off Middleground Lighthouse. Green and Asian crabs are working best, but sandworms and clams will also put tautog in the boat.

Joe Eltman Sr. of Waterbury landed several nice togs while fishing near Middleground Light on Saturday. This was Joe’s first attempt at blackfishing, and he was able to limit out with his largest fish of the day, weighing in at nearly 7 pounds.

Porgy fishing continues to be fantastic with large 1- to 3-pound porgies being caught just about everywhere. Porgies will strike sandworms, clams, squid and crabs, and can be found anywhere there is some sub-surface structure for them to congregate around. Because of the great abundance of porgy this year, the season has been extended to Dec. 1.