Late Summer Fishing in Eastern Connecticut's Quinebaug River

Some of the best late summer/early fall fishing in eastern Connecticut can be found in the Quinebaug River, which flows from north to south through the state and into the Shetucket River near Norwich. The Quinebaug is home to more species of fish than you can count, and it is hard to go fishing in its waters and get skunked. The fish range from largemouth and smallmouth bass to white perch and carp, and fishing the Quinebaug this time of year is a great way to enjoy the scenery and perhaps tie into something big.

I usually fish the Quinebaug along the Plainfield and Canterbury town lines, where the river meanders through at a leisurely pace. The water this time of year is shallow enough to simply throw on a pair of old sneakers and shorts and wade right in, which one can do even until the calendar reads October. The water this time of year is often even warmer than the air in some places, and it is possible to park at the River Field in Canterbury and go into the Quinebaug in either direction.

Smallmouth bass are in abundance, but you will catch quite a few more small ones than big ones. I fish the Quinebaug almost exclusively with night crawlers behind a trio of sinkers, letting my line go downstream and waiting for whatever is in the mood to bite to do so. One never knows what will be on the other end of the line when you use worms, and that is part of the beauty of fishing with this bait. I have caught smallmouth, largemouth, suckers, eels, pumpkinseeds, perch, bullhead, trout, and carp in this manner, all at various times of the year.

Trout this late in the season are hard to come by in the Quinebaug, but all other species are readily available. I recently went with a friend and made my way up the river about four-hundred yards from the River Field to a spot that was a bit deeper than the rest of the stream. At no point though did I have to traverse through water higher than my waist, and after getting to the desired spot the action was well worth the jaunt. Two largemouths hit right away, one that went a bit over two pounds and another at about a pound and a half. I use a size four snelled Eagle Claw hook tied onto my line with the split shot weights about twenty inches up, and just cast downstream and wait before a slow retrieve. The bass will more often than not hit right away, as these two did, but sometimes they will gobble down the worm once it starts to move as you reel it in.

There were plenty of pumpkinseeds and white perch hitting, with an occasional smallmouth in the mix, but none of any size. Still, these acrobatic fighters are loads of fun once they are hooked, jumping and fighting with the vigor of a fish three times their size. Towards the end of our three hour stay at this junction of the Quinebaug River I had the thrill of a lifetime, as a carp took a shining to one of my night crawler offerings and sucked it up. It took me more than five minutes to finally tire out this heavy fellow, and with the help of my friend I was able to maneuver him into the shallows and up onto the bank, where he weighed in at a hefty nine pounds. All of the fish were returned to fight another day.

There are a few spots in eastern Connecticut from which you can put a canoe into the Quinebaug River. The Quinebaug flows through Putnam, and there is a park on Kennedy Drive off of exit 95 on Route 395 that you can put in. Farther downstream in Danielson and Wauregan there are place to park and get the canoe wet and the ballpark in Canterbury is perfect for such a venture. If you are one of the fishermen that do their best work from shore, then let me recommend Butts Bridge on Butts Bridge Road in Canterbury. Park near the bridge and stay on the northern side of the road. Go to the eastern end of the bridge where you will see a rocky outcropping off to the side. This is the site of the old bridge, long gone, but you can drop a line in here and have a chance to pull out some nice calico bass as well as bullhead late in the season. Speaking of bullhead, they and eels will hit after dark on those same night crawlers, so even if you cannot get out during the day, there is a chance once the sun goes down to catch fish.