The local reefs and cooler waters attract big bass. Try Ram Island Reef, the Sluiceway, Cornfield Point, Southwest Reef and the rips off Duck Island. Super-sized stripers may be caught by live-lining eels, bunker or hickory shad, or by slow trolling tube and worm combinations.

For more fishing information, visit www.ct.gov/dep, or telephone (860) 424-3000.

MAINE
The Pine Tree State's cooler temperatures afford striper anglers extended opportunities, especially in the cold-running tidal rivers.

"Stripers can be found in the St. Croix River beginning in late July or early August," said Bruce Joule, Maine's Recreational Marine Fisheries coordinator.

"And the St. Croix doesn't receive a lot of fishing pressure."

Stripers will swim up Maine's rivers "until they bump their heads on a dam," Joule said. Access to the St. Croix may be had at the steamboat landing in Calais or at a state-owned launch in Robbinston.

"There are also stripers in the Penobscot River," Joule noted. He also recommended the Damariscotta, St. George and Androscoggin rivers.

"The Kennebec will be in full swing. Saco is in full swing by July, when most fish likely will have moved onto the beach areas around Old Orchard Beach, Biddeford Pool, Pine Point, Higgins Point and the Camp Ellis Jetty.

Depending on water temperatures, anglers will see smaller stripers in the rivers, while the larger ones move into cooler, deeper waters.

Fishing inland on Maine's tidal rivers requires a different approach.

"The farther upriver you go, the fresher the water," Joule noted, "so anglers will have a tough time trolling live mackerel."

Bloodworms work well for smaller fish, while chunk baits attract the larger stripers. How far inland you should fish depends on where the natural baits are.

"Watch for bird activity that indicates the birds are working schools of bait," he advised.

Competition from locals may not be an issue -- until someone blabs that the striper run has arrived.

"It's all word of mouth," Joule said. "If it gets out that the fish are around and biting, people will start to fish for them. If not, they won't. Free time is at a premium these days. But when the fish show up, all of a sudden anglers are everywhere!"

Stripers swim the Penobscot River from Penobscot Bay to the Bangor area. Access for trailered boats may be had in Verona, Bangor, Orrington, Hampden, Frankfort, and Brooksville.

The Kennebec River is a popular striper destination from Popham Beach to Augusta. Launch facilities may be found in Chelsea, Phippsburg, Augusta, Bath, Gardiner, Hallowell and Richmond.

For big cow stripers, Casco Bay access is available in Portland and from Peaks Island. Surf-casters quietly reel in some large stripers while night-fishing off Old Orchard Beach.

In Camp Ellis, anglers may fish the Saco River or cast into the Atlantic from a half-mile long jetty.