By Frank McKane

Anglers in southern New England often find themselves stuck indoors through most of the holiday season. Office parties, family functions and shopping sprees cut into much of our December fishing time.

Even so, anglers willing and able to take some time away from the Yuletide hustle will find a variety of fishing options.

If there's any problem at all, it's that December temperatures can range from zero to 60. Last year, for example, southern New Englanders found their lakes covered with 3 to 5 inches of ice soon after Thanksgiving. Three years ago, safe ice did not occur until mid-January. This climatic fluctuation can leave many fishers in a quandary about where to go. However, a review of long-term trends revealed a dozen fishing options for anglers this December.

Candlewood is known as one of New England's finest bass fishing waters. Along with its generous supply of largemouth and smallmouth bass, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection stocks about 28,000 trout into the lake each year. While most of the trout are released in the spring, the department routinely stocks trout into the lake each fall for ice-fishermen. However, in December, the center of the lake is usually not frozen and won't provide safe ice-fishing access for anglers.

A large lake in an urban setting, Candlewood Lake is highly developed. Ice-fishing allows anglers to get to areas that are otherwise off-limits during the rest of the year because of boat traffic and speed restrictions.

Early-season ice-anglers will have their best yellow perch action in the northern half of the lake. Fishermen should concentrate on the coves, including Squantz Cove and Sherman Cove. Both coves are weedy in depths to 8 feet or so.

The best access is from the Squantz Cove boat launch at the northwestern end of the lake. This ramp is on Route 39 near Squantz Pond State Park. Take Exit 6 off Interstate Route 84 in Danbury. Follow Route 37 to Route 39. Continue north on Route 39 for a few miles until you reach the ramp.

Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Because this lake is in the extreme northwest corner of the state, it tends to freeze over early in the year, giving December anglers full access to its 562 acres. The maximum depth of East Twin Lake is 70 feet and the average depth is around 32 feet. Aquatic vegetation is extremely abundant and weeds may be found as deep as 25 feet.

For December trout, look for deep ledges out in 50 to 60 feet of water. These fishing ledges are easy to find on bottom contour maps available locally. Yellow perch and largemouth bass can be caught inshore along the weedbeds.

Access to the lake is provided through O'Hare's Marina and Landing, which is a private landing. From Route 8 in Winsted, take Route 44 to Salisbury. Just over the town line, turn right onto Twin Lakes Road near the white farm barns. Follow the lake signs for about two miles.

This lake has one of the most diverse fisheries of any New England waterway. Ice-anglers routinely report catching largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, crappies, trout, sunfish, yellow perch, white perch and white catfish.

When fishing the coves, look for the warmwater species in the back ends of the coves. Trout, smallmouth bass and white perch tend to hang near the outer edges of the coves in deeper water.

The two best ice-fishing coves are Frenches Cove and Kettletown Cove. Frenches Cove is on the southern end of the lake near the dam. Take Exit 15 off Route 8 to Route 34. Travel north on Route 34 for about eight miles. Just before you cross over the Stevenson Dam, turn right. Take the first left to the cove.

Kettletown Cove is within Kettletown State Park. Take Exit 15 off I-84 and follow the signs to the state park. Once in the park, follow the signs to the beach, which is in the back end of the cove.

This pond has a good natural population of largemouth bass, yellow perch and chain pickerel. Like Candlewood Lake, the DEP stocks trout in Tyler Pond every fall to make ice-fishing interesting. Anglers unfamiliar with the pond should note that there is an extensive shoal around the lake's perimeter. Perch and pickerel can be caught on the top portion of the shoal, while bass and trout are in the deeper water near the dropoff edges.

The DEP owns a small boat ramp on the pond. Parking can be tight at times because this is a popular ice-fishing lake. Be considerate and park in close formation to allow room for others.

To get there, take Exit 44 off Route 8 in Torrington. Travel west on Route 4. Continue through the Route 63 rotary. About three miles after the rotary on Route 4, you will see the boat ramp sign on the right. Follow the signs to the ramp.

Along with trout, Highland Lake has superb largemouth bass, yellow perch, crappies and chain pickerel fisheries. For this reason, the lake is also popular with clubs hosting ice-fishing derbies.

Highland Lake covers 444 acres to a maximum depth of 62 feet. The average depth is around 20 feet. This lake is divided into three distinct bowls. Each bowl has a nice mixture of rocky points and weedy shoals, but the best ice-fishing seems to be in the north and center bowls.

The DEP maintains a launch ramp with a large, plowed parking lot. Take Route 44 west out of Winsted to Route 263. Continue on Route 263 for about one-half mile. The road bears to the right, but turn left onto Lake Street. At the top of the hill, take a right to the boat launch.

For tourism information, write to the Connecticut Tourism Division, 14 Rumford St., West Hartford, CT 06107; or call (800) 282-6863.