Fishing in CT

Opening Day of Fishing in CT will be Saturday, April 11 this year (moved one week earlier, from the third Saturday in April to the second Saturday in April)!

Kids and Teens under 16 years of age, get your FREE YOUth Fishing Passport now! It gives you access to a wide variety of fun events. On-line signup available. (Get parental/guardian permission before you register.) Read the instructions!

For more information on the opening day of trout season contact the Inland Fisheries Division at 860-424-FISH or email at deep.inland.fisheries@ct.gov

Here’s a DEEP summary of the regulation changes of most interest to anglers (an updated set of the complete regulations can be found online at www.ct.gov/deep/laws-regs (go to the Final Regulations):

Fishing seasons ~ Batterson Park Pond (Farmington), Mansfield Hollow Reservoir (Mansfield), and the Yantic River below the falls at Indian Leap (Norwich) will now be open year-round, the fishing season will now close at Scoville Reservoir (Wolcott) on the last day of February and the season at East Twin Lake is extended through the end of March.
Methods ~ Anglers will now be able to use up to three lines (instead of two) at one time when fishing, except in specially designated trout areas (Trout Management Areas, Wild Trout Management Areas, Trout Parks, Sea-run Trout Streams and Trophy Trout Streams) where the limit will remain two lines at one time.
Wild Trout Management Areas (WTMA) ~ The portions of the Tankerhoosen River in Vernon located in the Tankerhoosen Wildlife Management Area becomes a class I WTMA (open year-round, catch-and-release fishing only) and will be combined with the Belding WTMA to become the Belding-Tankerhoosen Wild Trout Management Area.
Creel & length limits – Inland ~ The creel limit for Kokanee Salmon is reduced from 8 to 5 fish per day, the special limits at East Twin Lake for Brown Trout are removed, and for American Eel the creel limit is reduced to 25 fish per day and the minimum length is increased to 9 inches.
Creel & length limits – Marine ~ The creel limit for striped bass is reduced to 1 fish at 28 inches. The creel limit for scup (porgy) increased to 30 fish per day and the minimum length is reduced to 10 inches. The minimum length for black sea bass increased to 14 inches. The creel limit from June 1 – August 31 is 3 fish per day; creel limit from September 1 – December 31 is 5 fish per day.

Don’t forget to celebrate Earth Day with us on April 22!

Then mark your calendars for FREE Fishing Day on May 9 (take mom?!) from 12:00am – 11:59pm throughout the State of Connecticut. Anyone can fish without having to possess a fishing license. Text your friends and family- Let’s go fishing! Learn more from Inland Fisheries Division and find events on the DEEP site.