For fishermen, weather not cooperating
By Tim Coleman
Will someone please e-mail the weatherman to let him or her know we have enough rain, thank you? How about a little sun and light winds? In between raindrops and fog, we do have fishing news to report.
Red at Bob's Rod & Tackle said there are bunkers in the Thames River as far up as Dow Chemical along with plenty of school bass, caught both from small boats and shore, the latter using Zoom Super Flukes or worms on the bottom. No squid are in our area as yet but were caught from the Causeway and other locations last week in Newport.
Allen Fee was minding the store at Shaffers Marina. He said two college students from Orlando, Fla., are renting a house close to the Masons Island Bridge and using it as a base of operations to catch numerous school bass to 20 inches from the bridge on small lures. Some of the older fishermen are dunking worms from shore and also catching small bass up on the west side of the river by River Road under the I-95 overpass.
Bunkers are as far up the Mystic River as downtown Mystic. Allen took a little time off from getting his marina ready to catch only a couple small stripers, thinking his new dog that goes on all his trips may be the problem: He barks a lot.
Capt. Howard Beers at Hillyers Tackle said the Rhode Island fluke regs are in for 2009. You will be allowed to keep six fluke per day at a 21-inch minimum, the season running from June 17 to Dec. 31. A few flounder and some school bass can be caught up in the Niantic River. One keeper striper was weighed in this week, that one landed on a lead head dressed with piece of sand worm in the Millstone outflow.
”Silent” George was on duty at King Cove when I called for info. He reported lots of small bass in the rivers and somewhat bigger ones around some of the train bridges. Biggest of the week was an 11.4-pounder, part of a four-fish catch made in the ocean off Weekapaug by a fellow everyone knows as “Rock-Hopping” Mike. He closed by saying it's liable to be another two weeks before we see some large bass on the Watch Hill reefs.
There's a little going on said Roger at J&B, just back from what was a windy winter trying to fish in the middle Florida Keys. Kayakers caught small bass in the Mystic River along with a few flounder in the Niantic River from above the Route 1 bridge past Camp Rell. One of the locals made a run over to Watch Hill on Wednesday, casting into the rips, getting nary a hit. You might get some bass in the lower Connecticut, launching by the Baldwin Bridge, fishing there to the river mouth or trolling the tube and worm along various spots in the Thames River.
Down at River's End, I heard about some off-and-on catches of school bass from small boats in the lower Connecticut River. One day there are fair numbers of fish, the next day it's very, very slow. There are rumors of a small number of winter flounder caught by the breakwater at the river mouth and other reports of people catching small to medium stripers at the mouth of the Housatonic River or at one of the Rhode Island beaches or salt ponds. Gill Bell of Charlestown landed a 15-pound bass at East Beach early in the week on a Captain Mike's swimmer and another local caught a 5-pound blue in Charlestown Pond while trying for stripers.
Retired Pfizer employee Del Barber of Westerly has been catching school bass on his homemade poppers in Cemetery Cove on the Pawcatuck River, fishing off and on during the day when tides are at their highest. Schools of varying numbers of bunker were sighted flipping on top from Watch Hill harbor all the way up past the Viking Marina.
TIM COLEMAN IS THE DAY'S SALTWATER FISHING COLUMNIST.
By Tim Coleman
Will someone please e-mail the weatherman to let him or her know we have enough rain, thank you? How about a little sun and light winds? In between raindrops and fog, we do have fishing news to report.
Red at Bob's Rod & Tackle said there are bunkers in the Thames River as far up as Dow Chemical along with plenty of school bass, caught both from small boats and shore, the latter using Zoom Super Flukes or worms on the bottom. No squid are in our area as yet but were caught from the Causeway and other locations last week in Newport.
Allen Fee was minding the store at Shaffers Marina. He said two college students from Orlando, Fla., are renting a house close to the Masons Island Bridge and using it as a base of operations to catch numerous school bass to 20 inches from the bridge on small lures. Some of the older fishermen are dunking worms from shore and also catching small bass up on the west side of the river by River Road under the I-95 overpass.
Bunkers are as far up the Mystic River as downtown Mystic. Allen took a little time off from getting his marina ready to catch only a couple small stripers, thinking his new dog that goes on all his trips may be the problem: He barks a lot.
Capt. Howard Beers at Hillyers Tackle said the Rhode Island fluke regs are in for 2009. You will be allowed to keep six fluke per day at a 21-inch minimum, the season running from June 17 to Dec. 31. A few flounder and some school bass can be caught up in the Niantic River. One keeper striper was weighed in this week, that one landed on a lead head dressed with piece of sand worm in the Millstone outflow.
”Silent” George was on duty at King Cove when I called for info. He reported lots of small bass in the rivers and somewhat bigger ones around some of the train bridges. Biggest of the week was an 11.4-pounder, part of a four-fish catch made in the ocean off Weekapaug by a fellow everyone knows as “Rock-Hopping” Mike. He closed by saying it's liable to be another two weeks before we see some large bass on the Watch Hill reefs.
There's a little going on said Roger at J&B, just back from what was a windy winter trying to fish in the middle Florida Keys. Kayakers caught small bass in the Mystic River along with a few flounder in the Niantic River from above the Route 1 bridge past Camp Rell. One of the locals made a run over to Watch Hill on Wednesday, casting into the rips, getting nary a hit. You might get some bass in the lower Connecticut, launching by the Baldwin Bridge, fishing there to the river mouth or trolling the tube and worm along various spots in the Thames River.
Down at River's End, I heard about some off-and-on catches of school bass from small boats in the lower Connecticut River. One day there are fair numbers of fish, the next day it's very, very slow. There are rumors of a small number of winter flounder caught by the breakwater at the river mouth and other reports of people catching small to medium stripers at the mouth of the Housatonic River or at one of the Rhode Island beaches or salt ponds. Gill Bell of Charlestown landed a 15-pound bass at East Beach early in the week on a Captain Mike's swimmer and another local caught a 5-pound blue in Charlestown Pond while trying for stripers.
Retired Pfizer employee Del Barber of Westerly has been catching school bass on his homemade poppers in Cemetery Cove on the Pawcatuck River, fishing off and on during the day when tides are at their highest. Schools of varying numbers of bunker were sighted flipping on top from Watch Hill harbor all the way up past the Viking Marina.
TIM COLEMAN IS THE DAY'S SALTWATER FISHING COLUMNIST.