• Mild Winter Allows Lobstermen To Continue Fishing

“Many New England lobstermen are still fishing deep into December this year because of unseasonably warm weather and an abundance of the critters, and Maine's beloved scallops are a little harder to come by as a result.

“The extra fishing hasn't done much to change the price of….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: HartfordCourant

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Salmon Spawning In Farmington River Area

“State wildlife experts have now documented wild Atlantic salmon laying eggs in nests in their traditional Farmington River valley spawning grounds, possibly for the first time in centuries.

"It's the first time since probably the Revolutionary War…

“The three wild salmon nests, or ‘redds,’ were discovered in November upstream of the Rainbow Dam fishway in Windsor, somewhere "within the Farmington River watershed….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: HartfordCourant l

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• A Bridge Too...to Long Island

“More than eight million people live along the Long Island Sound, the notch of sea in that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the East River separating Manhattan from Queens and Brooklyn. Two boroughs of New York City, big chunks of Westchester County in New York, and the entirety of coastal Connecticut rest on the Sound.

“And yet traveling from one shore to the other is, at times, impossible, especially for farmers ….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: ModernFarmer

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Fish the Housy This Winter

“There is absolutely no excuse for sitting around the house this winter, just wishin’ you were fishin’.

“For a quality coldweather fishing experience, look no farther than the Housatonic River’s tidal estuary, where you can enjoy a thriving striped bass and Atlantic salmon fishery all winter long.…”

Please visit this link to read the full article: OnTheWater

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• The Year 2015 for Long Island Sound Anglers

“First local bass reports told of schoolies showing up in the Norwalk Islands and area shoreline spots the first week in May. Flounder were biting in the Saugatuck and Norwalk Rivers.

“A week later, tidal rivers up and down the Connecticut shore of Long Island Sound were reporting schoolie striper action and lots of white perch in many of those rivers as well….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: NorwalkHour

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Merry Christmas!

The Lord bless you, and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

---

• If You Can Spin-Fish, You Can Fly-Fish

“I am often surprised at how seasoned anglers that effectively employ spinning outfits are hesitant to add fly-fishing tackle to their arsenal..

“Though sometimes a conditional tackle, there are times when flies will out-fish hardware, and no fisherman should ever assume that fly fishing takes more patience, or is more complicated, than any other style of fishing….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: OnTheWater

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• “What Happens When A Fisherman Tosses A Fish Back Overboard?

“It's not a frivolous question. The government bases catch quotas and other rules in part on the mortality of tossed fish, and there isn't always accurate data available about how many fish survive the fling.

“Now, a group of New England scientists says it's finding that a surprisingly high percentage of the lucky fish might live to swim another day….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: CTPost

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Fishing Illegally? Blow Up Their Boats!

“A penchant for dynamiting illegal fishing vessels has made flamboyant Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti Indonesia's most popular, and restored tens of thousands of jobs to small-scale fishing along the way.

“When she was appointed to President Joko Widodo's cabinet 14 months ago, commentators thought Ms Pudjiastuti and her illegal fishing crackdown would not last.….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: ABC.net.au

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• “The More Humanely A Fish Is Killed, The Better It Tastes”

“If you’re an eco-conscious eater, you’ve probably asked how your fish journeyed from ocean to aisle. But have you ever asked how the fish died?

“Researchers have shown that meat from stressfully slaughtered fish may have a shorter shelf life—and a worse taste—than fillets from quickly killed fish.….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: LinkToArticle

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Rods and Motors Don’t Get Along Well

“As I angrily buzzed away from the dock, line suddenly raced out of my rodtip. Before I could react, the line tightened at the reel and about 6 feet of high modulus graphite followed the remainder into the prop of the trolling motor.

“I’d seen my share of flyrods hacked by ceiling fans, car doors, crab claws (long story) and other moving edges, but the results of this interaction were astonishing. The rod disintegrated….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: FloridaSportsman

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Something To Do This Winter

“The 19th annual Northeast Fishing & Hunting Show will take place on Friday, February 12 through Sunday, February 14, 2016 at the Connecticut Convention Center at 100 Columbus Blvd. in Hartford, Conn.

• “Show hours: Friday, February 12 from 12 noon to 8 p.m.; Saturday, February 13 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, February 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

”The event is designed as a great outing for the entire family.….”

Please visit this link to read the news release: EINNews.com

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Wade Fishing: Go Light

“There’s something to be said about grabbing a handful of lures and hitting your favorite spot, just your two feet and your fishing rod.

“Covering a lot of ground may be out of the question, but with careful planning you can cover it thoroughly….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: FloridaSportsman

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Long Island Soundkeeper Dies

“Anyone who enjoys Long Island Sound owes a debt of gratitude to Terence E. "Terry" Backer. The longtime state representative died this week at 61.

“Before he entered the General Assembly, he was a lobster fisherman, seeing firsthand what a sad lack of environmental stewardship had done to his beloved....”

Please visit this link to read the full article: HartfordCourant

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Fishing Rhode Island: Cod Is Hot

“The cod bite is the best it has been in years.

“The cod fishing has been phenomenal at the East Fishing Grounds [3.5 miles east of Block Island]...the fishing is good at Cox’s Ledge, too, but anglers haven’t had to go that far."

”Anglers…caught nine keeper cod and 13 black sea bass in about three hours of fishing at the East Grounds. Weather and sea conditions were perfect….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: ProvidenceJournal

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Mercury Pollution in Northeast Estuaries

“Mercury, which is transformed into methylmercury in water, is a global pollutant that damages human health. Most people are exposed to mercury by eating fish, particularly from open ocean and coastal fisheries.

“All 50 states have had fish consumption advisories pertaining to mercury. Estuaries act as a repository for methylmercury, storing toxic particulates in both the sediment and water column….”

Click on chart to enlarge.

Please visit this link to read the full article: ScienceDaily

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Block Island: Codfish Ahoy!

“Atlantic cod’s popularity is largely due to its palatability and nutritional value. The dense flaky white meat is mildly flavored and high in Omega-3 fatty acids and Vitamins A, D, and E. It’s one of the most versatile fish to cook with and it’s seen on menus worldwide.

“Adding to its popularity is how much fun it is to fish for cod with rod and reel. Although it’s considered a fall/winter fishery, you can actually catch cod year-round; you just need to travel further in the summer….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: BlockIslandTimes

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• What Is the Most Important Forage Fish for Stripers?

“The Chesapeake Bay may be the best-studied estuary in the world, but a group of scientists attending a recent workshop were surprised about how little they knew about what predatory fish eat.

“After all, menhaden — dubbed by some as the “most important fish in the sea” would also be the “most important” fish in the Bay, right?

"Apparently not.….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: BayJournal

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Fish News: Stripers, Blues...

“There is some very good news about the long-term potential for better striper fishing ahead. Until late fall of this year, the only bright spot in the striped bass scenario had been that there was a pretty good group of four-year-old bass measuring 22 to 23 inches hitting our lures but very few any larger.

“These fish were from the ‘Class of 2011,’ which was the result of a great spawn measured by fish biologists that year, and those fish are starting to make their presence known and will soon be spawning themselves….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: ShelterIslandReporter

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Fly Fishing: Use A Reach Cast to Counter Current

“Cast as you normally would to a target along the bank. The instant you stop your rod on the forward stroke, extend your rod hand up-current on a plane parallel to the water. This lays your line on the water above your fly, and will not affect your accuracy because your fly always goes in the direction in which you stop your rodtip.

”This is easiest when you have close to the exact length of line outside your rodtip you need to reach the bank. However, you can definitely shoot additional line if needed, and the reach motion will not affect
the shoot….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: FloridaSportsman

To see a YouTube video of how the cast is done please go to YouTube

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Fishermen Have Enemies: Here, One of Them Speaks

“I agree with Lord Byron, who called “the art of angling, the cruelest, the coldest, and the stupidest of pretended sports.” As a taxpayer and an animal rights advocate, I applaud Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed budget cut that would close Connecticut’s fish hatcheries.

“The government should not be in the business of funding recreational cruelty to animals….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: HartfordCourant

Note: What I don’t understand is why people such as this aren’t out there doing something for a real cause, such as feeding poor children or helping the homeless. Perhaps they just don’t like to see sports-minded folk having fun? Certainly, they have no concept of what fishing is about, or its history and connection with the people of the United States and, indeed, the world.

For crying out loud, witch, go do something worthwhile.

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Lobster: Health and Nutritional Benefits

“Despite its desirable reputation today, lobster was not always known as a pricey indulgence. In the 17th century, colonists in Massachusetts considered lobster shells in a home to be a sign of poverty and only fed lobster to their servants.

“In the 1940s, you could buy a can of baked beans for 53 cents per pound and canned lobster for 11 cents per pound.

"Lobster is now seen as a delicacy, in part because of the discovery that cooking the lobster live made it more appetizing, as opposed to killing it first and cooking it later….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: MedicalNewsToday

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Global Warming and New England’s Native Brookies

“Co-author Ben Letcher, fisheries biologist at the U.S. Geological Survey and adjunct faculty in environmental conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, says, ‘It took years of sampling four streams and tracking more than 15,000 individual fish, but we feel we can account for about 90 percent of the yearly variation in abundance.

“’The bottom line is that high summer temperatures are bad. That is unfortunate because summer air temperature is expected to increase with climate change and extreme rain is also expected to increase, especially in the spring when vulnerable eggs are hatching and fry are emerging….’”

Please visit this link to read the full article: ScienceDaily

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Spotting Long Island Sound Plankton Blooms from Space

“But on September 24, 2012, “]’one of our colleagues had been out to sea, and she had seen this large bloom,” Dierssen recalls. “[She] collected some water for us and brought it back.’

“At the same time, Dierssen was looking through images of the ocean captured from space. A camera aboard the International Space Station had snapped pictures of the same area of Long Island Sound — on the same day….”

Please visit this link to read the full article and see the actual photo: StudentSocietyforScience

File photo.

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• Long Island Sound: It’s Slowing Down Out There

“The salt water side of recreational fishing is displaying a definite slowdown. Fishing on the main body of Long Island Sound has dropped off dramatically. Bottom fishing for blackfish, winter flounder, black sea bass and porgies has slowed significantly. Bluefish have moved south and west and fade by the day. Stripers too have moved more to the Long Island side and migrating westward towards the Hudson River winter grounds.

“Local rivers that host striped bass, headlined by the Housatonic, show signs of increased activity with bass moving up the river.….”

Please visit this link to read the full article: NorwalkHour

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• “Deciding the Fate of a Striped Bass That Took 15 Years to Catch”

“That hunt began on the Third Street jetty in Ocean City, N.J., on Dec. 8, 1999, when I was 15 years old. I had my hands tucked into my neoprene waders to guard against the early winter cold, watching my surf rod pulse in its sand spike, when it suddenly snapped straight, pointing right at the steely-gray sky for a second before bowing over. My heart was beating out of my chest.

"That striper only weighed 11 pounds, but it was my first, and the spark that lit my fire for the species.…”

Please visit this link to read the full article: FieldAndStream

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/

• 12 Things No Angler Should Ever Be Without

“There are certain indispensable items that every angler should always bring along, even when fishing on someone else’s boat. You can’t count on your buddies, or charter boat crews for that matter, to always have everything.

”So here’s a list of essentials that help make the most of your day on the water and easily stow in a backpack or tackle bag.…”

Please visit this link to read the full article: SaltWaterSportsman

Note: I would have added a pfd to that list.

© 2015 Shoo-Fly Charters, LLC

URL: http://connecticutsaltwaterfishing.com/