Friday, March 30, 2007

Winter Flounder Season Starting

The big news for saltwater anglers this week is the opening of the winter flounder season Sunday. The sad thing is, it's almost too late to take advantage of the best, shallow water inshore action of the year.

Winter flounder spawn under the ice or just around ice-out time in the upper reaches of coastal coves and estuaries. For years, anglers would begin taking some nice flatfish -- as most New Englanders call them -- from places such as Poquonnock Cove, at Bluff Point in Groton beginning early in March.

However, due to the fact populations of this species are in poor shape after some poor breeding combined with heavy overharvest in the 1980s, the open season for this species was set late and closes at the end of May to give these fish a break from angling pressure during the summer months.

Every spring, Eric Covino, Rick Rinaldi and I take our annual winter flounder abuse trip. When we could get out in March, we caught a few fish each year, but haven't done so well since the season was moved to April Fools Day -- with the joke usually on us.

Last year I ended up traveling to Boston Harbor with fellow outdoor writer Ron Powers when he invited me to fish with him after reading one of my sob stories about the dismal winter flounder fishing in this part of the world.

However, winter flounder numbers have been improving slightly over the past two years. Niantic Bay, Jordan Cove, and a few spots along the coast from the lower Thames to the mouth of the Connecticut River have been giving up limits of fish to a few expert flatfish anglers for the last few seasons.

My friend John Hillyer, of Hillyer's Tackle in Waterford, was the only person I know of who has been catching 10-fish limits of winter flounder in the waters he's fished as a kid around Niantic River and Niantic Bay. Don't be afraid to explore the lower Mystic River, Lower Thames River, Bluff Point, Mumford Cove, Jordan Cove or any other dent in the coast between Rhode Island and the mouth of the Connecticut River.

Fishermen who are interested in trying to catch a few of these fish will find sandworms and chum at the Fish Connection, Boondocks and Hillyer's for the season opener this Sunday. (Bob Sampson Jr. Norwich Bulletin)

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