CTFishTalk.com: Housatonic River - Shelton 01/13 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

I was finally able to get out and fish open water for the first time in 2014 with NWDarkcloud (aka Bob). I don't have time to write a long report, so here are the details. Sunrise was at 7:17 am, sunset at 4:46 pm, high tide at 9:56 am and low tide at 4:57 pm. The air temperature stayed in the mid to upper 40s and what little wind there was blew out of the south at less than 10 miles per hour. The water temperature hovered around 32 degrees all day. We fished from just before 7:30 am to just before 5:00 pm in my boat, The Other Woman, Too. We were the first trailered boat to launch from the Sunnyside Boat Launch Facility in Shelton. We didn't mark many fish with the fish finder as we headed up to the cove on the downriver side of Two Mile Island. It was frozen over with a sheet of ice so thick that I didn't dare to try any icebreaking:

We headed to the upriver side of Two Mile Island, where we saw a couple of other boats. Although there was some ice, it wasn't nearly as thick as it was in the cove and was slowly breaking up in the flowing water. At 7:40 am, I boated the first schoolie striped bass with a Bubblegum Zoom Super Fluke on a 1/2 ounce Kalin's Ultimate (i.e., bullet) jighead:

Bob followed it up with one of his own only 10 minutes later, but he used a White Pearl/Chartreuse Zoom Salty Super Fluke on a 1/2 ounce round jighead:

Although we got off to a quick start, the fish were pretty finicky all morning and sometimes hard to track. But they were there:

The bite was so slow that we decided to "do some 'splorin', Lucy". At 10:45 am, we bundled up and made the run down to the cove at Pine Rock Park after catching only 12 fish. Unfortunately, it was completely iced over with a sheet of ice so substantial that the wake from the boat didn't even move it:

We decided to head back up to the upriver side of Two Mile Island, hoping that the warming air had melted off most of the ice. It had, but the fish were even finickier than they had been in the morning. I think we had only 16 fish in the boat until 1:30 pm, when I finally got a hit from a 30 inch keeper:

Whoo Hoo!

After that, we figured out that they wanted a Bubblegum Zoom Fluke on a 1/2 ounce jighead either slowly retrieved over the bottom, preferably upriver, or quickly retrieved off of the bottom with a few cranks of the reel, followed by a pause. I don't know whether it was the outgoing tide that got the fish to start biting, but once they did, they didn't stop. We ended up boating 105, including three that were 23 inches long, a really fat one that was 25, one that was 28 and the 30 incher. And those numbers don't include the 12 that we inadvertently snagged up. I beat Bob eight to four at that. Cool

I won't be able to fish for a while, so it was great to get the first trip of the year under my belt. I can't wait to get back out there.
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

I forgot to mention that I also caught the dinker for the day, which was only 13 inches long:

And here's a photo of the first of four or five doubles that Bob and I had during the afternoon:

Oh, and the 30 incher spit up a four inch long alewife, so that's what they're eating.
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Don't forget to wear sunscreen and don't litter!

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

Awesome job Bob and Phil!

Congrats on the keepers Phil! How many Housy keepers is this now?

Sea Duck · Joined: 18 Nov 2012 Posts: 89 Location: Above grade

Nice...
Some days you get 200, other days only 100....you take the bad with the good.
Smile

BTW, I don't think the 13" fish wins a dinker prize....has to be under 6" and then you are required to name it before throwing back.
Cheers
SD
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Herring?

Redneckangler · Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT

Great trip guys! Nice winter keeper!
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

cpepice · Joined: 25 Sep 2013 Posts: 8

I was fishing from shore next to you yesterday thanks for the heads up on fish location.

PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

Mase2020 · Joined: 15 Jun 2012 Posts: 228

Congrats Phil and Bob great report as usual can't wait to go out in the yak with you this spring.

cpepice · Joined: 25 Sep 2013 Posts: 8

We did good. He ended up catching one about 33 inches just at dark.

DirtyDawg10 · Joined: 27 May 2009 Posts: 2238 Location: Granby, CT

Nice job guys!

madkey · Joined: 13 Jun 2011 Posts: 75 Location: Torrington,CT

Nice job!!
landed a boatload on our last trip down there, but has been a few weeks for me.
Rich
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PECo · Joined: 06 Oct 2009 Posts: 5203 Location: Avon, CT

fishfinder · Joined: 19 Jun 2011 Posts: 1672 Location: Naugatuck, Ct.

Its too bad I wasnt sure that was you Phil cause it would have been nice to finally meet you. Pm me the next time your going down there if your going to stay past about 4;15 on a weekday so that I can flag you down as you go by. I always wear waders and am always in the water unlike most of the guys there so Im not to hard to pick out of the crowd.
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Sea Duck · Joined: 18 Nov 2012 Posts: 89 Location: Above grade

Fishfinder will be the guy catching.....
or shouting obscenities, but don't be deterred, that's just how he summons the fish.
Oddly, it seems to work. Thanks Wade.
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Herring?