Connecticut: Striper

My family and I loved Mystic so much that we went back for another visit in June 2023. Luckily for me, this meant another morning of fishing with Seth, whose trophy fish consistency never fails to amaze me. We left Groton at 5:00 and within 3 minutes of getting to the first spot, I had my first striper. Ten minutes later, I had my first trophy of the day, a 45-inch, 34-pound striper. I caught a few more stripers before Seth said that we would switch spots so I would get a chance at a trophy bluefish.

Once again, Seth's spot produced right away, with a 31.5" bluefish that just missed Connecticut's 32-inch bluefish minimum. The hot bite continued with a nice mixed bag of healthy stripers to 40 inches (coincidentally, the trophy minimum in neighboring New York and Massachusetts) and, you guessed it, a trophy bluefish that weighed 12 pounds, 14 ounces at the dock. My second biggest of the seven bluefish I caught went 11 pounds, 11 ounces, five ounces shy of another trophy. Truly unbelievable.

Captain Seth's trophy prowess meant that Connecticut joined fellow New England states Massachusetts and Vermont, as well as Maryland, Virginia, and Wyoming as the only states in which I have caught trophies in at least two species. And the fact that Captain Seth got it done on just a four-hour trip is even more impressive.