Recent Posts ctfisherman.com en-us Tue, 26 May 2026 09:06:35 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm 5 connecticutfisherman@gmail.com Bass Fishing Reports Bass Fishing Reports https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/images/general/default/rss_icon.gif https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm Smallie Fishing https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859894#Post1859894 MikeV
on: Yesterday at 07:30 AM

Pete,

I used to fish the CT River North of Hartford. I have not fished it in several years but it was a beautiful place that more often than not would provide good to excellent small-mouth fishing. There is a wide variety of fishing habitat consisting of shallow sandy bottom, rocky bottom, densely weeded flats, and slower sections with a lot of dead falls. Figure out which of these are preferred on a given day and you will do nicely. In addition to small-mouth you will frequently see and occasionally catch large mouth, schoolie stripers, Northern Pike, large catfish and carp the size of 1/4 beer kegs. Check the river details before making the trip. You want "middle of the road" conditions. Too slow & low, fish will be lethargic, you will have limited or no access (the river has a very shallow corridor in which you can travel safely)to many of the prime northern spots. Too much water & current and your drift speed will be better suited to catching tuna and you will have to contend with a lot of large & dangerous floating trees and limbs. It is a tricky place to fish which makes keeps the traffic down and the fishing worth the effort. I generally would launch from Barber Street (large launch, West side of river, just south of R291 Bridge) or Verbert Street (East side a little further north) and run up the main river to or fairly close to the R91 bridge. Depending on water conditions it takes about 15 minutes. You should be super careful once you get past the first island and continue staying on the left side of the main river close to the second island. You need a tin boat with a 10HP or better and a trolling motor to effectively fish this area. It might be doable with Kayaks if you fish with a buddy and two vehicles drop off someplace near the 91 bridge and have the second car/truck waiting at Verbert street or Barber Street.

I liked to throw large (6-8") silver & black or gold & black jointed Rapalas or soft plastics to and along side the dead falls. It is a tough place to fish solo. You will really benefit from a having 2 guys so one can maneuver the boat while one is hooked up.

PM me if you have any questions.

MikeV]]> Mon, 25 May 2026 07:30:28 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859894#Post1859894 Zoar Sat. McDonough Sun. https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859863#Post1859863 Tall 1
on: 05/21/26 03:07 PM

Congratulations!]]> Thu, 21 May 2026 15:07:06 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859863#Post1859863 TBF tourny Sun. 5-3 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859812#Post1859812 tommy
on: 05/15/26 12:36 PM

Originally Posted By: mattmann7
Much admiration that you get to fish with your son and grandson. Living large.


I fished an open on Candlewood about 4 years back with another Grandson, we should have won but a dead fish penalty dropped us to 3rd.,he is my partners son, this Grandson is my older boys son.
These guys aren't kids, my partners son Nick is 26 and he'd rather play Golf, my other Grandson Josh is 25 and he's into cars. I have 5 Grandsons but only Josh is getting more serious about fishing.]]> Fri, 15 May 2026 12:36:17 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859812#Post1859812 Spring shoreline bassin' https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859759#Post1859759 mattmann7
on: 05/09/26 08:38 PM

Originally Posted By: tommy
I miss shore fishing, no muss no fuss just grab a rod and a few lures and have some fun. You're lucky to have a place with so many different fish.



Back in the early 80s when I worked out of Glastonbury for a big commercial paint contractor, the guys that used to sub hanging wallpaper opened a sporting goods store on New London turnpike. I had just about gotten back into fishing when I started making visits often to the store. The owner would hook me up with spots in town where you could fish from shore.

The best spot was where roaring brook would run into Ct river. You had to get permission to walk through a farm field to get to the mouth of the creek. The secret was to go when the Ct. River was just coming off spring high water. What occurred was the anadromous/catadromous run. When you picked the right day it was incredible seeing all the species entering the creek from the river.

My first time there I hit the jackpot. Brown Trout returning from a sea run, a big shad with a lamprey, half a dozen smallmouth to 2 pounds and a few others I can't recall.

Years before I had fished for trout at the farthest upstream reach of roaring brook behind a public town swimming pool above Cotton Hollow. Only time I ever fished for trout that far upstream in Glastonbury. There is a pond above the swimming pool that is dammed. Being the farthest run catching little natives was an easy task. The spillway from the dam had carved out a pool in the base of the creek rock. In that pool about the size of a bathtub fingerling eels by the hundreds congregated which drew the 7 to 8 inch native trout for feasting. My one trip there I recorded my only limit of trout ever. All released after being caught.

My only setup I owned at the time I fished the creek mouth I bought from a sporting goods store in Manchester. My youngest brother was with me and we were flirting with the girl running the register. I picked up the first combo I saw just to get to talk with her. A 5 ft rod with a pushbutton reel. We were heading to a pond nearby to drown nightcrawlers. Anyhow that was what I had my first day fishing the creek mouth. It was strung with what ended up being dry rotten 4 pound mono.

The river had literally just dropped in level days before I fished. The ground near the banks were silt washed from the farm at high water. You had to walk up to your knee in high grade black farm muck to get to the creeks edge. The mosquitos were so thick I wound up in tears after 6 hours trying my hardest to take advantage of the multiple species foraging.

There was no way to make cast to visible fish from the bank. To get to the best spots on the creek you had to crawl on laydowns stretched out over and across the creek to search for bass in and around branch snarls and against the undercut banks. I kept tabs on the 2 pound smallie where he set up his ambush. I hooked him a few times but the line kept snapping. I landed a couple largemouth about 14 inches and missed/spooked a bunch more.

That ended up being the only trip over a few years that I hit all the conditions perfectly. It was the defining life changing fishing trip that hooked me for life. I grew up reading Byron Dalrymple books and magazine articles that painted an imaginative adventure. That was my first endeavor rod and reel where the hunt was what thrilled the imagination that my minds eye had hoped to experience.

FYI this can be repeated at any creek that empties into the river.

I was married with a toddler and not in the habit of wandering for adventures. My wife called all my buddies wanting to know wtf happened to me. She was minutes from calling 911 when I came home.]]> Sat, 09 May 2026 20:38:43 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859759#Post1859759 Candlewood Sat. 4-25 26 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859621#Post1859621 tommy
on: 04/27/26 08:03 AM

Originally Posted By: JohnS
Great job on the win. Did you revisit any of the spots you tried in practice?


Yes, I caught 5 fish on the 2nd. to last spot where we had no bites the day before BUT they were all under 2 lbs.]]> Mon, 27 Apr 2026 08:03:08 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859621#Post1859621 Lilly Sat. 4-19 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859588#Post1859588 mattmann7
on: 04/22/26 07:32 AM

Congrats Tommy and Son


I was checking the state tournaments last night and wondered what the ffs was on the nebass scheduling.]]> Wed, 22 Apr 2026 07:32:44 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859588#Post1859588 Lilly Sat. 4-11 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859567#Post1859567 Tall 1
on: 04/19/26 03:14 PM

Congrats!]]> Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:14:32 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859567#Post1859567 Lillinonah Sat. 4-11 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859472#Post1859472 mattmann7
on: 04/08/26 12:48 PM

Great start to the year. Congrats]]> Wed, 08 Apr 2026 12:48:51 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859472#Post1859472 Lilly Sun. 3-29 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859429#Post1859429 air leak
on: 04/02/26 01:55 PM



Good luck on Saturday Rich.]]> Thu, 02 Apr 2026 13:55:37 EDT https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1859429#Post1859429 Candlewood Thurs. 12-18 https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1858608#Post1858608 Don D
on: 01/02/26 03:02 PM

Got one more trip in Tommy.]]> Fri, 02 Jan 2026 15:02:49 EST https://www.ctfisherman.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1858608#Post1858608