Printer Friendly Version - A Cold Opening Day of Trout Season Creates Challenges

Winners from Captain Morgan’s annual Memorial Codi and Bubba Trout Contest in first-place finisher James Willis (center), runner-up Joshua Carter (bottom left), third-place finisher Roger Shorey with his brother Rob (upper right), and Chris Brockett (upper left).

A crisp 25-degree morning, tempered only by a hot cup of coffee, greeted anglers on this year’s opening day of trout season. Where certain rivers are typically elbow to elbow, the cold start, along with the season again starting a week earlier, seemed to have had a slight thinning-out effect. Still, the cloud cover, the pinkish-purple sunrise, and the color of the first rainbow caught did provide a loosely knitted blanket of warmth.

Thus was the official start of the 2016 trout season and lines in for the Captain’s annual Memorial Codi and Bubba Trout Contest. It didn’t take long for the chill to wear off, especially when trout began biting and tugging on a variety of baits, lures, and flies. It was hard to tell who beamed with pride more when a trout was finally brought to the net—the dads and moms or the sons and daughters.

As the sun broke through, air temperatures made their gradual climb into the 30s before topping off in the 40s. For the most part, weigh-ins in the early morning hours were sparse, with fish weighing from under a pound to more than seven. In addition to periods of heavy rain and generally unsettled weather conditions, fish had the opportunity to spread out after stocking and disperse from holes where they first congregated. That, as well as a deep dive in the jet stream, contributed to the lighter-than-usual early opening day bite.

When the day progressed into the afternoon, the trout bite turned on in the rivers. However, many of the fish caught were of the cookie-cutter variety in that they were similar in size and weight. That only makes sense since the vast majority of 372,000 fish stocked were in the 10- to 12-inch range (354,300, including 300 tigers), not counting the 17,000 rainbows between 12 and 14 inches or the mix of 1,535 breeders. (FYI: Tiger trout are a sterile hybrid between a female brown trout and a male brook trout.)

Weigh-ins increased as temperatures struggled to rise during intermittent showers. By the end of they day, when another annual trout contest wound down, our first-place winner was James Wills of Westbrook, who took the top spot with a 14-inch brown trout weighing in at 0.94 pounds. Second place went to Joshua Carter, age 6, of Guilford for his 12-inch rainbow trout weighing 0.66 pounds. Third place was claimed by Roger Shorey of Clinton for his 12.5-inch brown trout that also weighed 0.66 pounds. In fact, Chris Brockett of Clinton weighed in another 0.66-pounder (a brookie), in effect creating a three-way tie. To break that tie, winners were determined by weight and then time of the weigh-in. A shout-out goes to Carl Pember of Madison, who purchased a ticket to be given to a young fisher. That youngster turned out to be Carter, our very happy second-place finisher. Thanks to everyone who once again helped make this opening day memorial contest another success, while keeping the boys’ memory alive.

Long Island Sound was calmer early in the weekend after being pounded with gale watches and small craft warnings, but kicked up again. Water temperatures dipped and remained steady at 46 degrees, slightly affecting the overall bite. Regardless, many anglers who met the weekend head-on were undaunted.

Although much attention was focused on opening day of trout season, the Sound managed to cull its fair share of fishers in spite of the weather. There were some that were pushing the blackfish (tautog) season along, mustering up crabs from the shop and heading out to the local reefs, hoping to land their limit of two. Quite honestly, it was easier to pluck a limit of winter flounder with less effort. Not only were the bays and channels producing some fish, but several shore spots were, too. Some of those blackbacks caught pushed into the upper teens and were mostly interested in clams and worms.

Striped bass continued on their springtime bite hampered a bit by cold fronts and drops in barometric pressures. Menhaden, both peanuts and adults, still remained thick in the tidal rivers and along the shoreline, where the bass action has been best. Sea worms, rigged baits, plugs, and slugo-type baits are good early season choices. Alert: Bluefish are here!

On the sweet side, most rivers and streams were high and moving. There were probably more snooze alarms hit on opening day than in the past due to the cold start. Fish were biting as usual, although not as aggressively. The cold, fast flows and high water conditions created challenges, but also made hookups and fighting the fish more interesting. As air warmed and more rain fell, the bite improved. That also held true for largemouths, some smallies, pickerel, and carp. Look for an improvement in the bite with the upcoming warming trend.

Note: Email us pics of your catches to share with our USA and international fishing friends who keep up with the latest fishing news and frequent social media.

For all things fishy including fishing trips, swing by the shop (203-245-8665) open seven days located at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison. Until next time from your Connecticut shoreline’s full-service fishing outfitter, where we don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better...

Alex Cushing, Jr., holds his 7.16-pound, 23-inch brown trout alongside his son after a cold, but rewarding opening day of trout season.