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. 

The Housatonic River still has a good amount of winter holdover fish hanging around the lower flats and mouth. Stripers will hit various bait-imitating lures as well as sandworms and chunked live bait fished on the bottom. Most of these fish are below the 28-inch keeper requirement, but still a lot of fun on lighter gear and a great way to hold yourself over till the bigger fish arrive in a few weeks.

Jim Micinilio of Stratford with his 31-inch Striped Bass, a keeper.Jim Micinilio of Stratford was rewarded on Saturday for a hard day of work at The Housatonic River Clean Up. After Jim used his boat to help the 300-plus volunteers clean the banks of the river, he returned to do some fishing later in the day and landed a fat and healthy 31-inch Striper while trolling a suspended swimmer.

Trout fishing throughout the state continues to improve with the recent much-needed rain. Additional stockings and increased river flow have fish active and feeding. Meal worms, nightcrawlers, and small spinners have all been working well for Rainbows, Browns and Brookies. 

Christopher Papp of Shelton caught nine Rainbow Trout while fishing the Naugatuck River on opening day, while William Ortiz of Stratford limited out on Rainbows and Browns fishing Devil’s Den in Easton.

William Ortiz of Stratford at Devil's Den on opening day.That’s going to do it for this week. Send your reports and pictures of your catches to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

GO FISH is now available online at hersamacorn.com and twitter. (fishingreporter).

Until next time.. Tight lines!