Fly Fishing - Connecticut, Saltwater: Eastern CT. Shore

zipca

I'm new to fly fishing, practice in the yard, can anyone suggest a spot and time for practice on Eastern Ct shore from clinton to the RI line? I'm not looking for someones "spot" just a place to practice where I won't bother people and maybe have the chance to catch, also do we need a saltater license in CT? thanks Bill

ps any advise will be appreciated, using Sage 9' rod and ross reel 9 wt

jeremy · Location: Portland, Maine

Hey Bill - welcome to Flies And Fins

You are definately in the game with rod and reel. You are in a great spot for striped bass and bluefish, for sure. Definately, you will want to get off the grass and into the water. There are actually a lot of guys on here from the ct. and ri. area. I know that everyone appreciates you saying "not looking for someones spot" .. who knows, you may even get a private message from some of the connecticut guys willing to throw you a bone and give you a tip on a spot. But either way, here is what you want to do. Look at a map of the coastline starting in clinton. Notice all of the rivers (some big and some small) that dump into the ocean .. the mouths of those rivers or within the general vacinity of the mouths of those rivers tend to be great places to try ... looks like you have a significant body of water right there in clinton and a nice state park too right there on clinton bay. So, just scout out some of those spots on the map .. stop into some tackle shops (don't have to be fly shops .. sometimes I get some of my best information from tackle shops) also, look for guys fishing those bridges or around those bridges and ask them what they are catching .. you will be surprised how helpful some folks will be .. There are plenty of rivers and marshes (both big and small) from clinton to the RI boarder that will produce fish .. My recommendation would be to keep it simple while you are scouting out fish .. Get yourself some white deceivers, some chartreuse and white clouser minnows, some brown and white clouser minnows and perhaps some black clouser minnows. Fish a 9 foot leader and you should be good to go .. You may also want a stripping basket - but that is not totally necessary .. And one of the biggest factors will be TIDES, followed by wind .. Every spot is different but, in general the first 1/2 of the incoming tide and the first 1/2 of the outgoing tide tend to be fairly "fishy" times .. So make sure to get a tide chart and when guys at the tackle shops give you some spots where fish are being caught .. be sure to ask them the best tide to fish. Early morning and evening are also great times for striped bass and cloudy/foggy type days are good too. So what do you want to look for? BIRDS and FISH .. You don't always see the fish .. but many times you do especially if its calm winds and low light hours you could see a few fish swirling or literally hundreds of fish crashing bait on the surface .. BIRDS are a great indicator for fish and there is a saying that goes something like, "Seagulls lie but turns don't" .. Turns are the little birds that fly kinda fast and make a lot of noise .. usually, when you see a bunch of those birds squawking and flying around and touching down on the water it is an indication that something "fishy" is going on .. and if you look under those birds many times you will see fish. If that is the case get as close as you can and start fishing. Ideally you want to get your fly right under the birds and in the fish, but that is not always possible and not always necessary because fish will be around even if they are not as obvious as the fish under birds. Let's see .. what else might help you? Oh ya .. definately read the chapter of the book on Striped Bass by Ed Simpson .. tons of great information in there ... and, ironically enough, he is from Connecticut and very close to Clinton I believe. And, I know for a fact that there a lot of my friends who live and fish in connecticut are having some great luck with the striped bass - hopefully you will too. Hope this helps, good luck! Let us know how it pans out for you.

zipca · Posted: Thu 06/11/09 4:18 pm Post subject: CT shore fishing

Hey Jeremy,

thank you for the advice I'll let you know how things go

regards,

Bill