April is one of my favorite months because it is the first month where you can begin to sniff spring. And I mean that literally. Forsythia, snowdrops, and dandelions make their appearances, and for some superstitious anglers, the first dandelions mean that fishing season in the Northeast is officially underway. I’m not much for superstition, but I am done with this frigid winter we had, so I’ll take any hope I can get, even if it’s in the form of a nuisance lawn weed.
I consider April my official start of fishing season. That is, despite fishing since January, this month marks the time when I begin to hold it against myself if I skunk. From December through March in the northeast, I consider fishing to be 90% fishing, about maybe 10% catching on a good day. One makes the day. It’s something you can hang your hat on as you sit by the wood-burning stove and watch cotton-colored snow drift down. But April!? Now we’re talking about some legitimate warm days, migrations in full swing, open water lakes and ponds, and genuine chances to catch your first active fish of the year, rather than trying to pry a winter fish out of its frozen lethargy. It’s not the best month for fishing for pretty much any species in our waters, but I do genuinely love April. So, let’s talk about it…
Freshwater Bass
In April, it’s time to fully say goodbye to the awesome ice-fishing season we had in the winter of 2024-2025. From January through the end of February, there was fishable ice in our neck of the woods, even down to the shoreline where temps are usually a bit warmer in winter due to the influence of the Sound. A local shoreline lake nearby offered me up to 9” of good ice in mid-February, an impressive thickness for coastal Southern New England. Further north, there was up to and over a foot of strong ice for anglers to confidently step out on. It was a refreshing change of pace from the previous couple of winters, which had been incredibly warm and offered practically no ice at all unless you took a road trip to Vermont, New Hampshire, or Maine. But now, it’s time to say goodbye for 2025 and look towards open water season, which for almost all anglers is the favorite way to fish.
A continued focus on early season weed growth areas will be smart as a starting point when targeting largemouth bass this time of year. They’ll potentially be more active later in the day when the sun has had a chance to warm up the water for a few hours. That said, if you’ve got the morning to fish – go fishing!
Transitional areas are also a great place to spend time in these early “warm” months. Bass will often cover a lot of ground this time of year, moving shallow for warm sun, but then deep again if the evenings get colder. That’s what makes the deep-diving jerkbait such a killer this time of year. It can get down to 10-20’ deep, where those bass are likely transitioning into or out of shallow water. During April, it’s still cold, so offering a meal right in the bass’s face is always smart, as they likely won’t quite want to work too hard to chase anything around.
If you know your target location, it makes sense to use electronics to try and mark some fish and then tie on something which will meet them wherever they are. Marking fish is easier said than done if they’re mixed into weeds, but if they’re staging on hardbottom structure like rocks or sand, that makes life a bit easier. Take a nice long cast, reel until your bait is at its maximum depth, and then follow a cadence of twitch, twitch, pause. Using a rod with a nice soft tip is smart, as it will help impart that action on the jerkbait and allow you to feel those still-timid winter bites.
Other good baits this time of year are chatterbaits, ned rigs, and jigs. I find chatterbaits work well around logs and trees, as they bump into that structure often without snagging. For ned rigs or similar soft plastics, try hopping it across the target area with intermittent pauses, and maintain contact with the rod tip so you can feel any hits. Football jigs are a great option this time of year and can cover a lot of ground. I prefer them on points where I can cover a variety of depths by casting them from deep to shallow and working the jig back out.
Freshwater Trout
Trout fishing in April can be incredible in the right conditions. Cool spring rains can be heavy and wash muddy water into the still-warming rivers and creeks. Depending on who you ask, this might turn the bite off due to the cold, or on due to waterside bugs getting pushed into the flow and ripe for the chomping. Generally, April trout fishing is a ton of fun, with active fish who are willing to hit a variety of offerings and who are very likely out of their winter mode.
I prefer using inline spinners for trout because of how well they cast. Rooster Tails and Panther Martins are always popular spinners, and for color, it can be a bit of a toss-up. I enjoy yellows and blacks but also do well on greens and pinks from time to time. Small Rapala hard baits are also a no-brainer for trout and can excel in small creeks when reaching a certain depth is required in a particular location. I tend to bring both baits and use whatever the mood calls for.
In terms of location, I often find trout staged in transitional coves hanging out above new growth vegetation. A casted or trolled spinner is tough for them to resist, and light rods and line make for a fun fight.
Holdover Striped Bass
April can be a great month for local holdover stripers. By the end of the month, it’s not uncommon to see schools of small stripers blitzing on the surface and willing to hit a topwater plug on a warm day. Backwaters will warm up faster than the open Sound, so don’t hesitate to take a pre-work trip to the shorefront for a few casts.
My favorite holdover striper baits for this time of year are the Tsunami Tidal Pro series twitch bait or topwater bait, Lunker City 5.75” Fin-S Fish, Yo-Zure Mag Darters, and Daiwa SP Minnows. Other great ones are Gravity Tackle 4” paddletails and Z-Man 4” SwimmerZ. For soft plastics, I’m either going weightless or throwing a light 3/8- or 1/4-ounce jighead. Anything that lets me do a nice, slow retrieve.
April Tog Fishing
The month of April means tog season in Connecticut is open. As much as I’d like to say you can hop out there on April 1st and catch some blackfish, it’s just typically not true. The water is still very warm, the fish are either not inshore yet or are very lethargic, and often my early tog trips end in defeat. That said, spring tog seem to appear very quickly once they do arrive, which I often find is around the 15th or 20th of the month. Unfortunately, this means you’ve got limited time in Connecticut to target them. But fear not, Rhode Island gets to fish for tog during May as well!
The best spring tog bait is often argued about. I have had success with green crabs much like fall, but I know many often go for smaller, softer Asian crabs or even sandworms and clams on a high-low bottom rig. Regardless, it is possible to get your first tog of the year in April, so if the conditions allow – go for it!
And that’s April! A true transitional month for us, and one that offers hope in the form of more species to target and more active feeds. It’s a lot of fun to get out on the water without the risk of frozen fingers, something we haven’t been able to do since the fall. Choose your target species, get out there, and have some fun!CT-RI Fishing Forecast