Atlantic Salmon Fishing with James December

My good Buddy, James with a quality Atlantic, that took many casts to obtain.

CT Atlantic Salmon used to be plentiful a few hundred years ago before the industrial revolution when many factories made their home on the coastal rivers of CT, like the Housatonic and Naugatuck river.  Pollution and dams were the demise of the atlantic salmon along with other species.  My grandmother would tell me that you could walk down to the Naugatuck river, and depending on the day it would be a different color depending on what chemicals were dumped into the river on that day.  Since the early 1900s there has been a huge effort to clean up the river and restore it to a much more bearable state.  

In my high school days, once I found out that atlantic salmon were stocked into the Naugatuck River, I made frequent trips to seek out these once native species with little to no results.  My early days of fishing for these salmon was when I learned everything NOT to do...

• Do not use surfcasting gear
• Do not throw Striper plugs
• Do not use treble hooks
• Do not fish areas that they are not stocked
• Do not use huge lures

Little by little as time went by, I read more books on fishing for atlantic salmon.  I talked to people who had been doing this longer than me, and I kept going.  I have been fishing for these fish for almost 20 years.  I may only make 4-5 trips a year for them, but each year that passed I got a little bit closer to cracking the code.  

Here is what you should do...

• Change lures and flies often
• Fish areas that you know are stocked
• Keep moving
• If you find a fish and you can sight cast to it, keep casting
• Use 10-15lb test flouro
• Use light saltwater/medium freshwater gear (3000 sized reels and 10-15lb main line)
• Braid is OK
• Use the same lures and flies (streamers) that you would use for trout, just with a beefier hook
• Be sure to have a net-catching these things is hard enough-once you have one on, you want to land it
• Be sure to have a camera/phone ready
• Dress warm

Be sure to check out this article I wrote for the Flies and Fins Website circa 2008...

Fliesandfinsarticle on Fishing for Atlantic salmon

One of my first Atlantics caught back around 2008

Small Atlantic caught around 2015

Caught this guy around 2015 with my Dad

1ST ATLANTIC SALMON EVER 2008

2019 YEAR END REVIEW

Spring Run

Spring Run was short lived.  There were sporadic schoolies in the islands and the big girls did not really show up around the islands close to shore as much as years past for me.  There were big fish to be had on bunker schools during June for a very short period of time, during a very particular feeding window.  Even then it was sporadic.  Bluefish were almost non existent.

Summer Doldrums

The usual sure fire bluefish bite was almost non existent except for a few days here and there when the action was hot, then back to non existent.  Catching porgies, small fluke and sea bass are always a good bet when drifting around the islands.

Fall Action

There was definitely a lot of action to be had with the reintroduction of a strong bonito bite in and around the islands.  Bluefish showed up mid sound which made long range albie trips barable.  The albie bite stayed on the long islands side for the most part.  Large seabass and blackfish were plentiful.