Connecticut fishes bigger than its map: Candlewood's nationally ranked smallmouth, trout parks and wild-brown streams within commuter range, and a Long Island Sound shoreline of stripers and blackfish. Our coverage opens with the flagship: Candlewood Lake.
Reports current for Friday, October 23
Every one of the 14 Connecticut waters we cover has a live read this morning. None reaches 4 out of 5 and 13 are slow. Water runs 47 F to 74 F. Pressure is rising on most of them, which costs a point in our model when the sky is clear.
Best right now: Saugatuck Reservoir 3/5, Bantam Lake 2/5, Candlewood Lake 2/5
Live verdicts from this morning's reports.
Connecticut's big water: a 1920s engineered lake where two-story fishing means smallmouth on the rockpiles and browns in the cold band.
New England's broad-shouldered trout river: the Housatonic's TMA pools swing browns and smallmouth beneath covered-bridge Connecticut.
New England's year-round tailwater: cold Riverton releases, wild-and-holdover browns past 20 inches, and hatches that never take a month off.
Connecticut's largest natural lake: 947 acres in Litchfield and Morris, managed by DEEP as a northern pike lake with bass, perch and panfish.
Lake Waramaug: a 656-acre natural lake in Kent, Warren and Washington, Connecticut, with carry-in access at the state park and a town launch in Washington.
Mansfield Hollow Lake: a Corps flood-control lake where the Natchaug, Fenton and Mount Hope rivers meet, managed by CT DEEP as a bass and northern pike lake.
Fairfield County’s hidden water: Saugatuck Reservoir holds trout and bass under strict watershed rules.
Gardner Lake: a 529-acre lake in Salem, Montville and Bozrah under Connecticut's 16-inch bass rule.
Highland Lake: a 445-acre Winchester lake that DEEP manages as both a Trout Management Lake and a Bass Management Lake.
Naugatuck River: a Connecticut river with a year-round catch-and-release trout area and two Atlantic salmon management sections.
The Thames River: Connecticut's tidal river from Norwich to New London Harbor, fished for striped bass, bluefish and flounder from Fort Trumbull's pier and two public launches.
Lake Lillinonah: a 1,547-acre Housatonic River impoundment between the Bleachery and Shepaug dams, with bass, pike and tiger muskie on DEEP's species list.
Lake Zoar: a 909-acre Housatonic River impoundment between Shepaug and Stevenson dams where DEEP stocks walleye.
Coventry Lake (Wangumbaug Lake): a 373-acre Bass Management Lake in Coventry, Connecticut, with a DEEP launch on Cross Street.
Species activity across the state's covered waters. Peak of the year: April.
1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.
Seasonal surface curve for this state's dominant water type (estimated).
| Water | Type | County | Live gauge | Peak month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candlewood Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Fairfield | modeled | May |
| Housatonic River fishing report | River | Litchfield | USGS | Apr |
| Farmington River fishing report | River | Hartford | USGS | Apr |
| Bantam Lake fishing report | Lake | Litchfield | modeled | May |
| Lake Waramaug fishing report | Lake | Litchfield | modeled | May |
| Mansfield Hollow Lake fishing report | Reservoir | Tolland | USGS | Mar |
| Saugatuck Reservoir fishing report | Reservoir | Fairfield | USGS | Mar |
| Gardner Lake fishing report | Lake | New London | modeled | Apr |
| Highland Lake fishing report | Lake | Litchfield | modeled | May |
| Naugatuck River fishing report | River | Litchfield | USGS | Jul |
| Thames River fishing report | Coastal | New London | modeled | Apr |
| Lake Lillinonah fishing report | Lake | Fairfield | modeled | May |
| Lake Zoar fishing report | Lake | Fairfield | modeled | Apr |
| Coventry Lake fishing report | Lake | Tolland | modeled | May |
Inland Connecticut runs a surprising two-story program: Candlewood and the big lakes pair bass with stocked trout in the same water, while the Farmington River's year-round trout tailwater ranks with famous New England names. The coast is the other state: Sound stripers on every reef May-November, blackfish (tautog) culture as deep as anywhere in America, and squid-run nights on the piers.
April: trout openers and the Farmington's hatches, tog season inshore. May-June: Candlewood bass waking, Sound bass arriving on the reefs. Summer: dawn topwater, deep trout trolling, fluke drifts off the beaches. Fall: the Sound's false albacore weeks, lake turnover bass, salmon-river runs of the stocked broodstock program. Winter: ice in the hills when cold years allow, holdover stripers in the tidal rivers.
Candlewood Lake's smallmouth by reputation and numbers: alewife-fed 4-pounders over endless rock. The Farmington River's wild-and-stocked trout tailwater is the moving-water answer.
Connecticut sells inland and marine licenses (and a combo): the Sound requires the marine registry. Check CT DEEP's current structure: the combo covers travelers best.