spring 09'

havent gone yet...but learned some insight(from psac and others)...sizeable stripers in the lower 1 /3 of the river....
shad are coming in...should be in enfield by end of the month.
other smaller baitfish are starting to come into the river from the sound.......this means those stripeys are a coming!big lures=bigger fish
good days will be cloudy, with the water nice and warm...


keep your hooks sharp, and your senses sharper...you would be surprised what you would learn by paying attention a little more....great fisherman notice "trends"
and these trends tend to pay off. imitate the natural as best you can.

going this sunday with the boat, and keith danger...anybody welcome to join if you gots the vessel

I'm in. Gonna see if Naptha wants in.

well.we had fun...and lessons learned...1)don't let keith danger park your car right near the water.2)fishfinders are a wonderful investment...thank god rna brought his!3)a 9 in perch is better than nothing.4)2way radios dont really sound great with the motor going ramming speed5)braided line makes wonderful noise when trolling...6)sidewinder planer boards are the freakin' bomb!pleasantly surprised how easy they are to use.7)dont tell keith danger there is beer in the other boat.8)hanging out with old friends and fishing alongside a new one was fuckiin awesome...wouldn't have traded it for a good day at the track.

Well said! Things should only get better with the temp rising through the weekend up to 80s. Water temp should hit that 55+.

absolutely ...i really want to go sat nite, but i havent got the time...i thought about sneaking out to haddam with smelt for two hours..i don't know...the river should be on fire sunday...water temps will be up, and it will be partly cloudy...

I might try to go out tomorrow morning. Reports are picking up - see Rivers End Tackle.

Didn't make it out today, but am going to try and go next Saturday am until about 1:00pm. Stripers are definately moving up as the water warms. Will send out an update later in teh week to see if anyone wants to go.

meatloaf wrote:absolutely ...i really want to go sat nite, but i havent got the time...i thought about sneaking out to haddam with smelt for two hours..i don't know...the river should be on fire sunday...water temps will be up, and it will be partly cloudy...

the river wasnt on fire like i thought it would be...the 25 incher reported by a driver last week was actually a over wintering striped bass in windsor...i went out sat night at the baldwin and got two channel cats,,,schoolies were there, but apparently the water temp has to be above 55 for a bit before they go nuts...wish i had sandworms..i used smelts...i had about 6 bites with 2 fish.couple next to me got 4 cats, 3 stripers, 1 eel, and one perch...i stayed out too late and got yelled at....oh and stay away from salmon riv launch at night...crakheads are around(seriously)

Your report sounds like what I've heard from several sources. River's End Tackle usually posts good reports. Stripers aren't lighting it up yet, though w/ a bit more warm weather, all that could change. Didn't go out this weekend. Maybe next Saturday afternoon if the forcast and water temp look good. Want to put in down at Baldwin bridge. Anyone interested, lmk. Always nice to have a second boat out.

i wish i could...going to ny and mothers day is the day after..i would bring someone with ya, as boat traffic should be more...that way somebody could grab a paddle if you had to move quick..try more near the mouth...there is a huge snag in front of the fishing pier at the baldy..probably a huge log..psac says things should be heating up as the water gets warmer...it's all a matter of temp and baitfish....

No fishing this weekend. Went out to dinner last night and am home with the kids while Sam shops today on Mother's Day. This means I hope to fish next weekend as the striper reports are now good. I ref a lax game in Guilford at 12:30. Should be done by 2:30, and am thinking about taking the boat to put in at Baldwin Bridge or somewhere down there. If anyone else might be interested, LMK.

i am going at night havent decided to fish the baldy or the psych ward....i wish i could go with you during the day...should be shitty and grey this weekend...perfect for striper fishing.....i may do they psych ward just to have another shot a catching a cat over 10lbs...i aint screwing around this time...baitfeeders on almost every pole and mono!and i may be jaunty and use eels........fuk it....

so i went..not only am i going to report last nite, but i am unloading pics off my camera as well...
i talked to psac many times and he advised me to fish cwell instead of the baldwin...he says that the big ones are either way down or past the baldwin...don't get me wrong..it's a good spot...but if you are looking for bigger fish...the baldwin isnt the spot for surfcasting....it is well lit, but can get crowded at certain times....
so after talking with psac, he told me about the best bait this time of year...shad...he actually arranged for WENZER to get me one, and came through..perfectly..i would say that the shad was 4 lbs.....so i brought sandworms, shad, hot dogs...my father brought brats/shrimp...we were looking for stripies and big cats...and weather or no weather, we were determined to catch something of some size...i also brought my mother in law.....she got many little bites on sandworms for the 1st 2 hrs...we think that this was a small white perch...my father and i hadn't has a real bite most of the nite, as the wind was strong, and thunderstorms were coming..
but my father got a huge hit on bratwurst/shrimp combo..he let both baits sit on his deck all afternoon....this is the cat he got... 5.5 lbs

i got one about .5 hrs later...maybe 230 am....6.5 lbs...good fight...caught on shad...props to psac and wenzer.....i noticed that my reel sounded like the drag was slipping again(this was the reel i lost a monster on last fall at the hark)....this fish was brownish green, as many hulkish look cats are in the muddy waters of wethersfield, cwell, middletown, etc....



those were the only two fish caught...no stripes...but fun nonetheless!it was 15 mph gusted winds and rainy for about 20 mins....we met a local angler with a super chill bull mastiff....he showed me pictures of monster cats...12-15 lbs, and big pike as well, you could tell he really was a super fishing addict...nice guy...i gave him the rest of my sandworms and shad....pay it forward and you shall be on the receiving end...the 1 rule of the fishing code.......dear god...sunbeam just called me...will post that as well...
ok here are some pics from other trips with rna, keith danger, naptha
this is a tributary of the riv..note the mirror effect...




this is the trip where we launched from goodspeed...the only fish caught was a lonely perch...this was pretty early in the season...



same trip and a beached boat...the dep said that someone left in the water, and pulled out the trailer...very common as the economy was bad...we were allowed to raid the boat!




here are pics from the baldo bridge a couple weeks ago...
note the smaller size cats...good fighters, though...
met some good people...a friendly couple and some early 20's anglers who i shared my knot/rigging knowledge with...