Sunday, April 26, 2009

Fishing for Stripers in the Thames

Marc Folco writes a story about fishing for stripers on the Thames River in SouthCoastToday.com: Going fishing, Connecticut style

The Thames River is known for it's year-round stripers and I always plan on fishing there - one day - but after reading this article - that one day may be sooner rather than later. The fish can be found along the edges of the submerged rock walls found in the river downstream from Norwich Harbor toward the Mohegan Sun.

The water was 12 feet deep with four feet of fish stacked up over the bottom. But the water was still cool and the fish weren't turned on. After finding a shallow cove where the water was a few degrees warmer and the fish (schoolie stripers) were hitting with a vengeance.

A leadhead jig with a paddle-tailed shad body in the pearl color usually produces the most fish. The lure can be customized by cutting the head off the body so it fits flush against the jig head and then slicing the rounded belly off to make the lure thinner with a more streamlined appearance. This makes it look and feel more natural. Trolling small tube and worm rigs is also a deadly technique especially when trolled along the edges of the rock walls and through schools of suspended fish.

A change in weather from cold & winding to sunny & warm changed the fishing success. "It was sunny and warm in the lee of the cove, compared to the raw, biting wind that whipped down the open river. Because the water was warming up quickly in the cove, the fish were turning on and fighting over our lures on some casts.".

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