CT River Smallmouth & Salmon Fishing

• A fish tale by Wallingford bass pro Bill George: According to Bill, he and fellow bass fisherman, Dave Papoosha (who also runs the Fedco Truck Cap outlet on Quinnipiac Street in Wallingford) took a day to hit the Connecticut River for some smallmouth bass fishing. If you are a regular reader of Woods ‘N’ Water then you know that I think that the Connecticut River is one of the finest bodies of water for fishing diversity in Connecticut.
• George said, “The Connecticut River has a few smallmouth bass holes that have the ability to light up your fishing day from time to time. Of course you have to understand how to use the river’s tidal system to your advantage. Dave and I were both fishing with normal baits (lures) for smallmouth (Lhur Jensen crankbaits in crawfish patterns, and spinner baits). The action was slow so I changed to a four-inch tube bait on 8-pound test Ande line with a 1/8 ounce head on it.”
• George continued, “It wasn’t long before I started to get some hits on the lure but I could not hook the fish that was hitting the lure. The fish was hitting the lure short, so I sort of swam the bait on the next cast and was able to get a hookup. I knew it was a good one, but did not realize just how good it was. I asked Dave to take over the trolling motor, because I knew I was going to have one heck of a tussle on my hands. I was using a St. Croix ultra light rod spooled with the 8-pound test Ande line, so I knew that this was not going to be easy, even though we had not even seen the fish yet.
• “The bruiser made a couple of runs around the boat before we got a look at him and when we finally did see it, my heart went into overdrive. It was a striped bass, and when we finally landed it, it stretched the tape at 35 inches long! We used a net to land it and when it was on board, Dave and I simply looked at it and said, ‘wow!’ I love to fish the Connecticut River because you never know what you might land. I also caught two other nice fish in the Middletown area on a white spinner bait that I make myself over the winter months. However, they weren’t even close to that huge striped bass I caught. That one was a fishing memory that will last a lifetime.”

Connecticut Atlantic salmon: DEP Inland Fisheries tells us that with fishable flows and more salmon in the water, anglers are beginning to report catches (especially from the Naugatuck River). While no really big salmon have been caught yet, the DEP says they have stocked both the Naugatuck and Shetucket Rivers twice during the beginning of November. The DEP stocked it again about Nov. 8 with 280 salmon going into the Naugatuck and 283 going into the Shetucket. This brings the total number of Atlantic salmon broodstock put into the two rivers to 1,650 fish. While many of the salmon weigh between three and 20 pounds, one of the released salmon is reported to weigh 25.77 pounds. Salmon caught up to Nov. 30 had to be returned to the water unharmed. However as of Dec. 1, 2005 right through March 31, 2006, anglers may keep one Atlantic salmon per day. Fishing for Atlantic salmon is limited to use of a single fly or lure with a single, free-swinging hook only. The DEP also expects to stock some additional salmon in December. [from Record Journal, written by Mike Roberts]