Fishing options
The Thames, Connecticut and other large coastal rivers and their coves are open to fishing year-round, which provides options for early season striper and white perch anglers.
Trout Management Areas on some rivers are open year-round for catch-and-release fishing, so hard-core trout fishermen can fish year-round.
In freshwater lakes not stocked with trout, bass, panfish, pickerel, pike and bullheads also can be caught throughout the year.
Anglers older than 16 must have a 2012 fishing license in their possession.
Eric Covino had a good day for school stripers on the lower Thames recently. Bass are feeding on silver sides and up in the streams where there are alewives, a major forage fish for the larger stripers.
Thames River
Stripers are active in the Thames, with larger fish chasing herring around areas where these fish migrate to spawn. Bear in mind that it is illegal to catch or possess herring, even for bait, so anglers are relegated to casting soft plastics and plugs that look like these 10-to-12-inch, silvery forage fish.
The best fishing for larger fish will be at the base of Uncas Leap and below the Greenville Dam. But stripers up into the mid-30-inch range are being caught in and around the major coves and flats on both sides of the river from Norwich to the Interstate 95 bridge.
Horton Cove, Trading Cove and Poquetanuck Cove all hold some bass this time of year, with the best fishing generally taking place around the top of the incoming and high tide.
These coves may also harbor schools of white perch that can be fun to catch and are good on the table. White perch are close relatives to striped bass, though they do not grow nearly as large.
Most white perch are a pound or less lighter than stripers, which often grow to 40 pounds or more if given enough time.
It takes at least 18 to 20 years to grow a large striped bass. I aged a 70-pound fish by reading its scales years ago and it was at least 28 years old, give or take a year or two.
Long-lived species need protection throughout their lives in order for the population to mature and reach its full potential, which is one reason for not killing every minimum-sized 28-inch keeper striper. Throw some back so you may catch them again when they are 48 inches long.
Fishing options
The Thames, Connecticut and other large coastal rivers and their coves are open to fishing year-round, which provides options for early season striper and white perch anglers.
Trout Management Areas on some rivers are open year-round for catch-and-release fishing, so hard-core trout fishermen can fish year-round.
In freshwater lakes not stocked with trout, bass, panfish, pickerel, pike and bullheads also can be caught throughout the year.
Anglers older than 16 must have a 2012 fishing license in their possession.
Eric Covino had a good day for school stripers on the lower Thames recently. Bass are feeding on silver sides and up in the streams where there are alewives, a major forage fish for the larger stripers.
Thames River
Stripers are active in the Thames, with larger fish chasing herring around areas where these fish migrate to spawn. Bear in mind that it is illegal to catch or possess herring, even for bait, so anglers are relegated to casting soft plastics and plugs that look like these 10-to-12-inch, silvery forage fish.
The best fishing for larger fish will be at the base of Uncas Leap and below the Greenville Dam. But stripers up into the mid-30-inch range are being caught in and around the major coves and flats on both sides of the river from Norwich to the Interstate 95 bridge.
Horton Cove, Trading Cove and Poquetanuck Cove all hold some bass this time of year, with the best fishing generally taking place around the top of the incoming and high tide.
These coves may also harbor schools of white perch that can be fun to catch and are good on the table. White perch are close relatives to striped bass, though they do not grow nearly as large.
Most white perch are a pound or less lighter than stripers, which often grow to 40 pounds or more if given enough time.
It takes at least 18 to 20 years to grow a large striped bass. I aged a 70-pound fish by reading its scales years ago and it was at least 28 years old, give or take a year or two.
Long-lived species need protection throughout their lives in order for the population to mature and reach its full potential, which is one reason for not killing every minimum-sized 28-inch keeper striper. Throw some back so you may catch them again when they are 48 inches long.
Don’t overlook small, shallow ponds
Fishing will improve rapidly as water temperatures warm, especially in some of the region’s shallow, bog-type ponds such as Bog Meadows in Norwich, Babcock Pond outside of Colchester on Route 16 or the Beaver Dam Management area in Chaplin.
Shallow, hard-to-reach and often stump-and-weed-filled lakes are challenging to fish, but most hold large populations of bass, perch, pickerel, calicos and sunfish that are willing and eager to do battle this time of year.
Bring a variety of lures and artificials. My favorite for the small stuff I like to bring home for supper is a tiny chartreuse jig head baited with an inch-long piece of night crawler, with or without some sort of plastic teaser as a tail. It’s a panfish killer that often hooks bass, trout and other larger game species.
