BASIC BASSIN’

by

Dick Alley

                                      

Striped bass fishing can be as simple or as sophisticated as the individual angler wants it to be. The simple fact is that striped bass are the biggest and the best when it comes to fishing the waters of Long Island Sound. The current World Record striper came from the Branford area of Long Island Sound. Past State record stripers were recorded in waters off Norwalk and New Haven. The month of May is prime-time when it comes to catching the undisputed king of the Long Island Sound recreational fishing scene.

          Striped bass are a frisky species that run in size from foot-long schoolies that must by law be returned to the water unharmed, to trophy-sized giants that go to 50, 60 and more pounds. The World Record striped bass weighing in at 81.88-POUNDS  was caught in the Branford area of the Sound a few years ago by Captain Greg Meyerson  in August of 2011.
                                                                     
                                         

Greg Meyerson  displays his World Record 81.88-pound  striped bass

                                                   

          The biggest bass I ever caught weighed in the mid-30 pound range. That one came from the Norwalk islands as do many other bigger and smaller bass every season.   I’ve enjoyed scrapping with the little schoolies caught from Compo Beach along with the bunker-bait and sandworm eating fish that weighed in the teens and twenties taken  from boat and beach, at many shoreline spots from Greenwich to New Haven over the last half-century.

Bass can be caught in the Norwalk River, from the fishing pier, at Sherwood Island, Frost Point, Weed Beach and from one end of the Norwalk Island chain to the other at dozens of excellent fishing spots.

Catching stripers requires good but not necessarily expensive equipment, a basic knowledge of feeding and migration habits and a willingness to sacrifice sleep at times as well as discomfort on occasion, simply because those happenings coincide with the best times for striped bass fishing.

THE SPRING MIGRATION: Stripers from the Chesapeake Bay are currently cavorting in the waters off southern New Jersey. They will soon cruise on past Montauk a few making the turn and entering into eastern Long Island Sound. Even more stripers are migrating down the Hudson River into western Long Island Sound to make up the major segment of our summer striper population. In addition, winter-over stripers are spreading from the Housatonic, Thames and Connecticut Rivers from smaller winter-over populations that are now joining with the bigger schools.

This 74-pound monster held the State record prior to Meyerson's catch.
It was caught in New Haven Harbor.

Following the spring (and fall) migrations can result in outstanding fishing. For example. One of the earlier coastal spots is the West Haven sand bar. A week or two later, the fish are banging lures at spots like Penfield Reef or Sherwood Island State Park.. If they show at Frost Point on a given day and then disappear, chances are, the reefs off Cockenoe, then Goose or Copp’s or Sheffield Island, will be yielding some good catches within a couple of days.

Warm water spots that highlight power plant outflows, river mouths and other areas where water temperatures fluctuate can be factors in migratory patterns.

MANY METHODS: Striped bass are suckers for many varied fishing methods that include casting lures, trolling, and utilizing a wide variety of live and natural baits that include sandworms, bloodworms, clams, squid, herring, bunker and more.

When I started bass fishing, the guys in the boats mostly trolled from small skiffs in and around the Norwalk Islands and surrounding coastline. Del Knapp one of Norwalk’s most famous anglers, was a fly-fishing expert in fresh water, but loved trolling around Fish Island and other islands. He strictly fished daytime hours, trolled bloodworms as a favorite and caught hundreds of fish every summer, but most were small and probably wouldn’t even be legal under today’s laws.

Bait fishing on the bottom from the beaches was also popular in the old days. Heavy surf outfits tossed weighted baits of worms or squid and waited for a bite. Hank Barrille fished the night tides of Sherwood island on a regular basis and often caught large stripers on squid baits fished from shore.

  Worm drifting with oversized sandworms became popular in the 60’s. It’s a great fishing method from boats, utilizing light spinning outfits, small hooks, big worms and catches big fish. We’ll go into more detail when the time is right.

  Live eels are a favorite bait for big stripers and they are best fished during the dark hours.

Todd Alley with a couple of keepers

Spin fishing with Artificial lures and/or fly fishing is the most fun when it comes to striped bass.                     Every fish is an adventure simply because every bass is an individual. Sometimes a 10-pound bass will fight like twice its weight. Bass fight hard so catching even 12 to 16-inch throwbacks on fresh water tackle can be a blast. Fly fishing for stripers started in the days of Joe Brooks and A.J. MacLane on American Sportsman and peaked around the turn of the century. Many Fairfield County bass followers became addicted to fly-fishing for stripers. Guys like Lou Tabory, Pete Kriewald, Nick Curcione and Johnny Posh  became recognized experts in the game. Lou and Nick authored many books on salt water fly-rodding.

Choosing and finding the right lure for a night or day of bass fishing can be as much fun as catching the fish. These fish hit lures bounced off the bottom and smash poppers splashing along the surface. They are attracted to a variety of swimming lures with names like Atom, Rapala, Bomber, Rebel, and many soft plastic lures----

all produce. Best bet to finding the right lure comes with a visit to your tackle dealer, who will be happy to share what’s hot and what’s not.

Big bait - Big Fish: The same rules apply whether the bait is natural or artificial. Tossing big lures made of wood or plastic can pay off in a hurry when the bigger fish move in. Toss a smaller lure into a school of feeding stripers and you should see some action. Bucktails, small soft plastic minnow imitations, Rebels, Bombers, Atom plugs all work well. Increase the size of the lure and your chance of catching a bigger fish will improve.

All that’s needed to get started striper fishing is a medium weight spinning rod, a decent spinning reel and a few lures. Almost forgot! You’ll also need a salt-water license, courtesy of the politicians in Hartford. Calf Pasture Beach, the fishing pier, spots along the river and Veterans Park are good early-season spots to begin. Likewise for the Saugatuck River or the cove in Darien any place where public access can be found. Some of the restricted beaches of summer, don’t post guards in the early season.   Check with area tackle shops for  news in a particular area.

                                                             DWA