CTFishTalk.com: Looking for help: New to CT river & boat - Connecticut River Fishing ( CT River Fishing ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

Asterus · Joined: 13 Jul 2016 Posts: 3

Hey everyone, I'm new to the CT river and just bought a pontoon boat which I keep in Portland. I have traditionally been a river fisherman for trout. Do you have any recommendations on where to go on the CT river near my marina to find fish, and what kind of bait & tackle to use this time of year?

I also have a new fisherwoman who is getting frustrated with the sport because we have gone out fishing about 10 times and she hasn't caught anything at all.

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

Congrats on the new boat.

You need to put that fisherwoman on some fish! The Portland area can be tough. Pecausett Pond (aka Wright's Cove) or the area around and in the mouth of the Mattabesset River are fairly reliable locations to find some fish. How big is the boat, anyway? Show her how to drop shot a Roboworm or 2-1/2 to three inch Gulp! Minnow, or wacky rig a five inch Senko, and she'll start catching fish.
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Asterus · Joined: 13 Jul 2016 Posts: 3

Thanks for the info. I have always been weary of going near the Matabassett River mouth because it gets real shallow really quick on that side of the island.

The boat is a 21' Bennington kept at Portland Riverside Marina. I'm between the Malibu ski boat and another pontoon.

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

That sounds like a big boat. Is it a tri-toon with a 250 on it? Fishing along the river tends to be better in coves and other sheltered areas. In the main river, you have to look for grass flats and other green weedy areas that hold fish.

The channel on the Route 9 side of Wilcox Island isn't THAT shallow, unless the river is running really low, although there IS a shallow wing dam at the north end of it that often appears at low tide. You just have to remember to keep your distance from the downriver sides of islands (don't cut across them!) and approach coves or inflowing rivers from the downriver side (sandbars form on the upriver sides of their mouths).

If you travel downriver to Haddam, you could definitely get a pontoon into the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant canal. But, like I said, approach it from well downriver; there's a very shallow sandbar that runs across its mouth.
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Redneckangler · Joined: 05 May 2012 Posts: 851 Location: Meriden, CT

You can fish the dropoffs along some of the steep cliff sections around Haddam for bass (texas rigs, jigs, senkos), or anchor up for some catfishing above any deep holes, bends, etc.(fish finder rigs with chunk bait). Both of those will avoid the shallows. Wethersfield cove is dredged, but most are really shallow. Also cast big lures, spinners, spoons, etc. into the shallows at stream mouths for pike, especially spring and fall.
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Asterus · Joined: 13 Jul 2016 Posts: 3

Thanks for the info guys.

I have a dual pontoon with a 115 on it. It's in a slip right next to my friends Malibu Ski boat.

I checked out Wright's Cove that was suggested and It looks like the it is pretty much land locked with just a small shallow entry at high tide. Nothing my boat can make it through.

On Saturday I went over to go to the mouth of the Matabassett river with my boat but soon after I got past the railroad bridge on the rt9 side and started working up to the mouth of the river I got a reading of only 1-2 feet of water on my depth finder, and this was at high tide. I backed out of there pretty quickly and tried fishing the channel under the Arrigoni bridge but it was way too hot to not go swimming instead. I used a 1/2oz dropshot with a 6" roboworm and the current was dragging it upstream.

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

That's a BIG boat for fishing on the river. A trolling motor is pretty handy when you're trying to fish in flowing water.

If you're drifting with the current along the riverbank, try throwing a topwater frog toward the shore over the weeds or a spinnerbait if the weeds are below the surface. The outgoing tide is my favorite for that, especially as it gets close to slack low.

At slack low, go get something to eat. The Blue Oar in Haddam is good. It has free docking and BYOB. I hear that Shad Row up in Rocky Hill is decent, too. If you're way downriver in Essex, Marley's Restaurant is really good.
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DaronKettler · Joined: 12 Jul 2018 Posts: 5

congrats on the new boat i suggest you buy a fish locator or scanner. good luck