Printer Friendly Version - Winter Wetlands Hold Many Hidden Surprises

Accomplished destination quality fisher, Jack Kinne of Clinton, fishes Long Island Sound for multiple species, as well as heading to the warm country to fish for amberjacks to sailfish. Photo courtesy of Captain Morgan

Winter wetlands at first glance may seem quiet and dormant, but in reality, they are full of life, but only at a somewhat adjusted pace. Photo courtesy of Captain Morgan

An ongoing enforcement effort continues by CT EnCon police to protect and curb illegal harvesting of holdover striped bass in winter tidal rivers, like the Housatonic, where these 43 illegal fish were harvested by five cited individuals. (Photo credit: CT EnCon police)

Looking out over the wetlands in winter is much different than rubbing elbows with them during the summer months. Void of most color and quite drab looking in the quiet season, they are, nonetheless, prone to be full of life. In winter, life’s pace slows almost to a trickle until temperatures rise. Then, the pause is extended but reacts to changes - whether they are daily or at intervals. These adaptive reactions persist throughout the cold season, but are unlike the changes that might be prevalent in the warm months, such as a drought or hurricane.

When it is cold, species that inhabit the wetlands during winter may burrow in the mud, lying dormant as their heart rate and breathing slows. Insects that are around in the summer are still there taking their metamorphic pauses. Two and four-legged animal life still come to the water and its banks to forage, while plant water content within the wetlands proper decreases.

One of Mother Nature’s seasonal gifts is a good soaking that comes from a thick blanket of snow - like recent Winter Storm Lorraine. It is good for the plants, and certainly energizes the tidal rivers. As an excellent stimulator of life, the effect will even be felt throughout the summer, when mummichogs and banded killifish have kept the mosquito population in check by singularly preying on their larvae - up to 2,000 per day.

Wetlands within the estuarial habitat may look calm, quiet, and at rest in the winter, but there is a lot taking place. Just spend a few tides observing, or, on a calm day, take a paddle through one and observe first-hand what nature has to offer. But initially, dress and pack for conditions (including for cold water), as well as arranging for easy access to safety gear.

In certain tidal rivers, there will be baitfish and holdover striped bass picking away at the schools. One may bump into a deer, coyote, bobcat, or a fisher cat, and contrary to their name, this carnivore seldom eats fish. Keen-eyed birds of prey, like snowy owls, red tail hawks, and eagles, can be circling or perched on a high branch ready to dive-bomb a small mammal, sea bird, or fish. One never knows what will appear - even a beaver.

Deepening low pressure near the Mid-Atlantic coast passed south of our waters and then well out to sea, but not before Winter Storm Lorraine hit Connecticut with a meaningful snowfall. High pressure built in from the west, before an Alberta Clipper low pressure system arrived. It was followed by a series of weak lows that passed across the region, creating a dip in the trough and a drop in temperatures to freezing. Meanwhile, Long Island Sound experienced 20-25 knot winds, with gusts to 30 knots, 3-5 foot seas moderating to around a foot, and water temperatures ranging from 38-40 degrees.

Being attracted to the obvious - storm waves hitting a sea wall, the aftermath of a hurricane, a breath-taking sunset, a fish of a lifetime - will always garner attention. Searching out the less obvious and delving into Mother Nature’s cast of characters is less so, but every bit as impressive. This is the time of year that perks up the curious and unravels mysteries. For example, how is it that native brook trout can survive by favoring innocuous rivers and streams in such extreme weather conditions?

To begin to understand, an angler needs to get out and fish for brookies in those cold streams and in those conditions. Only then will it become obvious that to survive, life must go on but only at a slower pace. Actually, that would apply to all trout, as well as a slew of other species. Fishing slower while either retrieving a swimming or inline spinning lure, stripping a streamer or drifting a nymph, will be in keeping with a fish’s reduced metabolic rate and activity in order to conserve energy. Keep that in mind when heading out to do some lake, pond, and/or river fishing. Recently, fish have been taking live baits (shiners, worms), scented ones as well artificials, and they will be interested in whatever you have to offer.

If fishing is your incentive to get out into the back country, then do it! The way this winter has been sizing up, it has offered more above average daily temperatures than below. Windows of opportunity have been many and, for the most part, days of fishing ice-free waters has been above average. Farther north though, west and east state-wide waters have seen 4-5” thick ice.

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