[junkie]

2014 is almost over. How would you rate 2014 on the Connecticut saltwater fishing scene. By season or species it's always good to hear fishermen have to say.
Gamefish: For myself I would rate this as a C , Bass fishing was ok at best for me but I didn't put all the effort into it. But even for those that put in the time it seemed that striped bass fishing took a dip this past year. As for the once popular bluefish I'm noticing a huge decline of blues in the sound, hopefully it would get better. And what was crazy about it there was so much bunker this year from April to November that you could walk on them so bait wasn't the problem. Other species like weak fish were ok and if you got into them albies they were on fire for a few weeks in the fall.
Bottom fishing: Fluke fishing was good mostly all season. A lot of quality fish caught as well as a lot of shorts but I would say it was a good year
Porgies: another banner year for them.
Seabass: replacing the bluefish as the mainstay in the long island sound. Twice this year I limited out with Seabass fishing from a kayak! And party boats on the sound were strictly targeting Seabass as their bread n butter fish. Unheard off a couple years back.
Blackfish: spring fishing was not possible for me due to the short season and cold temperatures. Once the season re opened I caught a few but once it reopened again in October like always I slammed them from my kayak right up to November.
Over all not a bad year, seems it was an off year for bass and especially bluefish and a great year for the bottom dwellers, at least from my observations. How would you rate 2014?

[Michael]

Spring into the early summer was a great time for me. The bite eventually shut down in August when we started getting those hot sunny days. The fall run wasn't too good due to all the cold, rainy, windy weather.

Starting in April is when the residential stripers at the boat ramp got active and I was hitting them good with the Skitter Pop, X-Rap Walk, and Flat Rap. I had many good days with over 10 fish.

May, June, and July is when the striper topwater bite at the honey hole got even hotter and I'd have amazing action with the SP-9 and XRW-13.

Bluefish was similar to last year, giving it a C. Biggest blue was 8 pounds on one of the last productive topwater days in July.

As I concentrated with mostly topwater and throwing lures that the blues kept hitting, I didn't run into much trouble with summer sea robins.

This year marks the first year I didn't catch a single fluke. Fluke fishing hasn't been good for the past 2 to 3 years.

I was amazed at all the bunker but was very disappointed at the action later in the year with all the bunker that was still around. Ospreys were having a field day everyday.

One thing about this season I enjoyed was using a new rod. The 1 piece 7 foot Star Rods Aerial Jetty Surf rod is amazing for the price with excellent backbone and power in every which way. I love how it's very light and stiff with just a touch of flexibility at the very tip. The rod would easily set the hook on its own and get a 2 ounce wooden popper way out there.

Once again, many people were offering me $$$$ for the Skitter Pops. Now people are starting to offer me $$$$ for the Flat Raps, X-Rap Walks, and the 7 footer.

I can't wait for late March and early April.