Blackfish is the season Connecticut anglers actually search for, and it is not one season. It is three windows with a different bag limit in each, and the fish is closed for half the year.
The dates
Closed today by the rules below. The calendar shows when that changes.
Marine waters
Blackfish, and the answer people are actually looking for. Three windows: a month in spring at two fish, two months in high summer at two fish, and the autumn run from October 10 to November 28 at three. The rest of the year it is closed outright.
- Size
- 16 inches.
Read on 2026-09-14 from Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Legal dates were read on the agency’s own page on the date shown beside each entry. Seasons change: the agency link is always the last word.
Why Connecticut is different
April at two fish. July and August at two fish. Then the autumn run from October 10 to November 28 at three, which is the window everyone is waiting for — tautog feed hard before winter and the fishing is at its best exactly when the limit is most generous. Sixteen inches throughout. The rest of the year the season is shut outright: no March, no May, no June, no December.
What to actually do
Because the windows are short and the fish is structure-bound, blackfish trips are planned rather than improvised. The 2026 regulations changed black sea bass and bluefish and left tautog as it was, so the pattern above is stable year to year in a way that Florida grouper is not.
Where to fish it
We publish a daily report for 14 Connecticut waters, each with live flow or tide.
- Candlewood Lake — Fairfield County
- Housatonic River — Litchfield County
- Farmington River — Hartford County
- Bantam Lake — Litchfield County
- Lake Waramaug — Litchfield County
- Mansfield Hollow Lake — Tolland County
- Saugatuck Reservoir — Fairfield County
- Gardner Lake — New London County
An open season is not permission to fish: Connecticut requires a licence from age 16, from $28.00 for residents. What it costs and where to buy it →
Questions
When is blackfish season in Connecticut?
Three windows: April 1 to 30 and July 1 to August 31 at two fish a day, and October 10 to November 28 at three fish a day. The minimum is 16 inches throughout.
Is tautog the same as blackfish?
Yes. Tautog is the name in the regulations and blackfish is the name on the boat, which is why the season is easy to search for and hard to find.
Checked by Pablo Ruiz Quintero. Dates move: tell us if this one has and the correction goes in the verification log with the date.