Printer Friendly Version - Fuel Prices Hurt Wallets, but Not Necessarily Fishing

A pair of nice rainbow trout on four-pound test line came out of Chatfield Hollow as Dan Carter of Guilford reaped the benefits of early stocking and beat the fuel prices by fishing locally from shore. Photo courtesy of Captain Morgan

As fuel prices continue to rise, breaking all previous records including the rate of climb and all-time highs, fishers are relating the cost of a fill-up with their wallets. They’re taking into account locations they normally fish, numbers of trips, fuel consumption, and typical vessel maintenance, along with other factors like the cost of transient slips, bait, and tackle.

Many anticipate fuel prices to continue climbing and plan on keeping travel to a minimum while maximizing their local activities. Except for traveling to and from the shellfish beds, clamming is one example of an outdoor shoreline activity that generates healthy exercise for the entire family and provides fresh food in the process.

Casting from shore is another one of those localized activities that won’t put much of a dent in a fisher’s wallet. Assuming that you have the necessary gear, bait and tackle will pretty much fill most needs. Of course, you could go a little haywire, but when the cost of a fill-up is taken into consideration, that might not be as bad as it seems.

Where the impact will be most felt are the extent of the trips that people take on the water and the way that they fish. With careful planning, opting for a half- or full-day for-hire trip on the briny with an experienced captain will save the expense of running a private vessel. In season, striped bass, bluefish, summer flounder (fluke), porgy (scup), black sea bass, blackfish (tautog), sea trout (weakfish), false albacore, and bonito are all available to be caught—and then some.

These are the offshore trips that will most likely take a hit. However, fishing within Long Island Sound won’t be that hard on the pocketbook. Reef fishing scup or sea bass generally requires anchoring and consequently limits the use of fuel. Drifting for fluke or striped bass also limits fuel consumption. Trolling for bluefish, for example, will use more fuel, but fishing in the Sound won’t be anywhere near as expensive as running offshore. Although the cost of filling the tank might be hard to take, it won’t be as bad as cruising around or running full out.

If you’re looking to save a few bucks, back off on the RPMs or consider using only one motor in gear. Trolling for stripers, the vessel should be around 1.5- to 2 knots over ground (slightly more when fish are active and less if not so) and 2.5- to 4 knots for bluefish. Most of the fish that frequent Long Island Sound are structure-oriented, thereby giving the vessel fisher a built-in opportunity to save fuel. When fishing inland waters, conserving fuel is even easier and, when fishing both, you can’t go wrong with paddle boats, even though you’re limited by distance out on the Sound.

Mid-week high pressure brought sun before heading offshore, leaving a vacuum for low pressure that dropped some March snow. High pressure then built again before a strong frontal system moved in for the weekend, along with a wave of low pressure that brought mixed precipitation and wind. The associated cold front moved east of the area as high pressure returned. Meanwhile, water temperatures remained in the high 30s as seas churned from 35- to 45-knot winds under small craft advisories. Air temperatures rose to the high 50s and then flopped into the high 30s before flipping back to near 60 degrees, reminding us just how precarious March can be.

It will take about a week or so for the average person’s body to acclimate to Daylight Saving Time now that we are into that time frame. As water and air temperatures rise, fish adjust to the changes accordingly. Along with the moon and tides, when and where they feed, as well as how often, is dependent upon conditions of their habitat.

Around this time of year, striped bass activity increases in key tidal rivers as linesiders make their way down to the Sound. They take advantage of any herring and shad runs and begin staging by structure and creeks that carry baitfish from the coves. Many smaller holdover fish begin spreading out along the shoreline, where stone jetties and beaches begin to gather forage. The way our flippant weather has been behaving, timing related to catches will vary. Look for soft plastics, small bucktail jigs, and some swimmers, plugs, and sinking flies to be productive. Just to put things in perspective, spring ‘tog season opens on Friday, April 1.

It is said that 10 percent of the anglers catch 90 percent of the fish. Most of those 10 percent have already been wetting a line, especially those fishing the inland waters. The trout bite has been good. They have been actively pursued both in the Trout Management Areas and waters that have been traditionally closed until the last day of February. Due to Public Act 21-12, those trout waters had their prohibitions lifted and have been open to fishing (unless otherwise stated), keeping the catch and release, minimum size, and daily creel limit existing regulations in place.

Scented and live baits, inline spinners, spoons, swimmers, and flies are productive choices when fishing rivers and streams. Adjustments in sizes and weights should be made when fishing lakes and ponds. When breaks in the weather have occurred, there has been variable bass activity, a decent yellow perch bite, some pickerel, a black crappie awakening, variable pike, and catfish action. Now might be the time to get a jump on some white perch using worms or small dressed jigs, as well as sea run trout and broodstock salmon.

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 the latest gear, swing by the shop (203-245-8665) open seven days located at 21 Boston Post Road, Madison. Masks required inside. Until next time from your Connecticut shoreline’s full-service fishing outfitter, where we don’t make the fisherman, we make the fisherman better.

Tom Megargee of Madison, a fisherman’s friend and certified volunteer instructor for CT Aquatic Resources Education, recently passed away. May you forever rest in peace. Photo illustration courtesy of Captain Morgan