FISHING AND COVID 19

FISHING & COVID 19

by Dick Alley

             Compo Beach in Westport opened this past weekend. Burying Hill Beach remained closed and locked and restrictions remain in effect for those of us anglers, citizens and taxpayers at Old Mill Beach, where I was denied permission to enter and park. Not sure if it's temporary because of the pandemic or a giveaway to old Mill residents by the politicians. Time will tell, but for the present, surf fishing is pretty much restricted to Compo Beach. For Geezers like me, that presents a problem, but for everyone else, fishing stands out as one of the best games available.

            Social Distancing is not a problem as anglers need at least the minimum distance to cast and while fishing, don't do much talking anyhow. Anglers always enjoy the  fresh air and can choose whether to stand, sit or wade, be it a river, a lake, a pond or Long Island Sound. 

            The months of May and June are prime time for fishing in Fairfield County. Trout season is in full gear. Trout waters are fully stocked with the springtime season's trout allocations. Other offerings include largemouth and smallmouth bass, pickerel, perch, crappie, bluegills and more. Spots like Squantz Pond and the Saugatuck Reservoir have healthy walleye populations. Northern pike are available in several designated lakes across the State.

This little schoolie hit a bucktail at Compo Beach

            Long Island Sound is due to really bust loose in the weeks ahead. Schoolie stripers are everywhere and have already showed up off the coast of Maine. Bigger fish are now pouring out of the Hudson River with even more of the Chesapeake Bay strain entering Long Island Sound from the eastern end. The early blackfish season just closed and won't reopen until July 1. Winter flounder are available as are summer flounder (fluke). Porgy season is open year round and black sea bass season opened today, May 19th. Look for the occasional weakfish to pop up off Bridgeport or Stratford and of course bluefish are also due to show up off Wading River any day now. First spot they normally show in Connecticut waters is the West Haven sand bar.

           There are some changes in regulations for stripers and bluefish this year.  Striped bass are back under a slot limit. Keeper stripers must be between 28-inches and 35 inches in length, measured from the snout to the tip of the tail. Angler's are entitled to keep 1 fish per day. The bonus striped bass program of prior years has been discontinued.
         

A small northern pike on a fun day at Mansfield Hollow

         Bluefish now have a daily creel limit of 3 fish per day with no size restrictions. That's right folks - you can only keep 3 snappers per day. Doc Skerlick and Mary Eliason are probably rolling over in their graves.

            I can recall days when 200 people lined the Post Road Bridge in the center of town. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, having the time of their lives catching snappers to take home and cook for dinner. Doc Skerlick used to fill a bucket a day. He usually persuaded a friend to freeze his daily catch and would then host a big cook-out at seasons end for one of the many conservation organizations he belonged to. Mary just kept her cats healthy but enjoyed catching snappers in the creek at Burying Hill well into her 80's. Snappers are bait fish for many predators like fluke and stripers and the numbers caught by recreational anglers are insignificant in comparison to those eaten by predators. They are family fun fish, delicious on the dinner table and could be very valuable in this coronavirus-plagued season. A 3 fish limit on these fish is ridiculous. Bigger blues that are breeders should be limited but not snappers. Just an opinion, folks.

This big blue was caught off the Post Road Bridge

 
          And that brings us to fishing. Fishing is a low-cost game at today's prices. Basic tackle is not expensive. It can be done alone or as a family with plenty of time and space to social-distance. In an emergency, it can provide nourishment, but on an everyday basis, it offers challenges,  entertainment and rewards.

                                                                   dwa