The spring bass run is over. Due to abnormal cool and cloudy weather we got two extra weeks. Though not consistent, the Connecticut River produced good bass fishing in early July. Many anglers had given up on the river thus reducing the annoying boat traffic to a minimum. Quiet waters are very important for successful bass fishing in shallow waters of 3 to 6 feet - typical Connecticut River conditions.

The rest of July and August will be spent looking for blues around eastern Long Island sound. The gut has had some good days for surface blues, particularly during the week when the boat traffic in the gut is way down. The rocky shores of eastern Long Island sound are producing blues and some bass. This is exciting fishing. Casting surface plugs into shallow water dotted with rocks is great fun. The splash attack on the surface lure is an instant rush. The challenge of keeping the fish from breaking off against the many rocks tests the fish fighting skills of all anglers. Contact me and set up a trip to test your fishing skills.

The cloudy overcast spring weather has not helped the sales of Big Eye sunglasses, but it did make for good spring bass fishing. Lots of cloudy days with light winds resulted in a number of "happy days". During the height of the squid run off of Watch Hill, we landed thirty one bass - all on flies. Two thirds were keepers. Many were between 13 and 16 pounds. The mouth of the Connecticut River produced some good trips as well, though it was not consistent. The biggest bass caught in the river was 30 pounds, 46". It hit a small "smack-it" popper. A good friend of mine was the lucky angler. He caught it in the evening, during daylight on an outgoing tide.

What makes catching bass in the Connecticut River so exciting is the shallow water. Most casts are made in water 3 - 7 feet deep. After a big fish hits, it has only one way to go - away from you. The runs are very exciting as the fish can at times be seen swirling water fifty yards or more away from the boat. Though Watch Hill will often produce more and bigger fish,the water is 15 to 50 feet deep. Big bass when given the opportunity are going to dive to deep water. Don't misunderstand me - I enjoy catching any size bass in any water, but given the choice I prefer the mouth of the Connecticut River where bass fishing is more like bone fishing.

We are now in transition. The squid run is coming to an end and the warm water of the River is driving the bass to deeper water. We have not yet given up on the river but we are now spending more time on the waters of Long Island Sound looking for blues and fishing the rocky shore lines for bass and blues.

The summer months are always a great time to be on the water. If the blues show up in good numbers we can have lots of fun throwing poppers to blitzing schools of blues. The gear busting, rod bending, combative and tireless bluefish have given anglers thrills for generations. Let's go fishing!!