crazyhorse

Pennfield reef is a great place to fish for stripers and blues for spin rodders and fly fishermen but the spin guys do have the advantage of long casts when the fish are a ways off the reef until they chase the bait near enough to throw a fly.Stripers and blues can also be caught on the beach.Parking is not a problem until the beach sticker season starts. After Labor day the parking is back to normal and the fishing can be outstanding. I would check the weather for wind conditions and contact the local bait shops for fishing reports. If you never fished Pennfield reef before I suggest you do what I do and that is fish with a buddy or two,fish the outgoing tide, do not wade off the reef,start heading back before the tide starts to rise and carry a compass incase a fog starts to roll in behind you. Sad to say but people who have fished the reef for years have lost their lives by making mistakes. the reef extends well out from shore and is very wide at low tide but don't be fooled. Ask questions of the guys who fish it often and read up on fishing the reef.

Anyone who wants to get into some early season striper fishing whether fly fishing or spin rodding should checkout the bird sanctuary at Milford point. it's run by the Audubon Society and there are rules to follow when fishing the property. If you become a member of the Audubon Society about $40.00 a year you will be given a key to the property gate allowing you access to go fishing at any time. It is a bit of a hike out to the point and at times windy so checking the weather as well as the tide will keep you from making a wasted trip. This place can really get hot in the early season with keeper bass in the mix of nearly keeper size schoolies. There are times when the action is none stop but do make sure you read the rules or you may get locked in for the night. If you have a boat you can put in at the Devon state ramp. You'll start picking up fish from the ramp all the way out to the point.

Fly fishing for large and smallmouth bass using poppers,terrestrials and sub surface flies is a real challenge on Lake Lillinonah.This lake has 35 miles of shoreline of which only 3 miles is open shore and the other 32 miles is treelined right to the banks. Lilly is a flooded gorge with steep banks and very deep. The overhanging branches,rocks and logs that line the banks makes for some accurate placement of a popper or fly in search of a fish. The water does change in color and clarity so what worked well fishing one day may not be the ticket your next time out. I start with poppers but find that a small immature crayfish about 1" long and weighted works well. I make sure I have plenty of these in my arsenal of flies. Lillinonah can be heaven during the week and often had just about the entire lake to myself but during the boating season weekends can and do get crowded and not fun for fishermen.

My friends and I spent years spring fly fishing the Vineyard from shore and boat. We would target by boat the back side of Menemsha pond,a huge saltwater inlet,that held stripers from 30" to cows stacked up like cord wood in the shallows warming themselves. These bass will hold in the pond for weeks until the shoreline warms and then we fish the beaches around the Island. You can still take good fish and hit some great blitzes but my friends and I agree that the fishing has been harder than years ago when the fish were more predictable as to where and when to fish. If you are a fly fisherman you would love sight fishing Menemsha pond from late May to early June for those big stripers. Contact guides with boats or better yet call COOP'S BAIT AND TACKLE for a good guide.