No images? Click here
100% of your investment in fishing license fees come to the DEEP Bureau of Natural Resources to support your passion for the outdoors- Thank You! 👍👍
July 2025
Please reach out to mike.beauchene@ct.gov with any suggestions, comments, or questions related to CT's Fisheries.
Get Your 2025 Fishing License
Don't miss anymore days of fishing - renew or get your fishing license today!
State Record Breaking Common Carp - Again!
Congratulations to Norbert Samok who landed this 58.05 pound/44.8 inch Common Carp on June 21 from Lake Zoar. This beast smashed the previous record set by Rafal Wlazlo set way back on this past Memorial Day weekend. Check out our other inland state records and the history of our trophy freshwater fish (harvest or catch and release) on our webpage.
Summer "Tog"
Tautog (Blackfish) summer season opens July 1st through August 31st, 2 fish per day and minimum size is 16 inches.
The tautog is highly coveted for their fighting ability and table fare. In the summer months, you will find them in shallow water (2 feet to 30 feet) along any jetty, rock pile, mussel bed, pier, or reef. Tautog are a structure orientated fish, so you need to keep your baits tight to the bottom and/or structure you are fishing. Best bait options are green crabs, Asian shore crabs, and sandworms. Blackfish flesh is white, firm and arguably the best eating fish Long Island Sound has to offer… fry, bake, grill, sauté blackfish fillets or turn them into a ceviche or chowder – you can’t go wrong with this delicious local fish paired with fresh garden vegetables!
Short Closure for Black Sea Bass
Closed June 24 - July 7
Black Sea Bass -- Regulation Changes for 2025 in bold
Minimum length:16 inches**
Daily creel limit: 5 fish per angler
Open Season: May 17 - June 23; July 8 - November 25; season closed June 24 - July 7
**Excluding tail fin filament (tendril)
Party/Charter Vessels:
Open Season: May 17 - December 31
Bag Limit (for paying passengers only): 5 fish per angler from May 17 - August 31; 7 fish per angler from September 1 - December 31.
Daily logbook reporting required by Party/Charter Vessel operator for trips taking Black Sea Bass
Some American Shad Die After Spawning
The Connecticut State Fish is the American Shad (Alosa sapidissima). American shad spend their adult lives at sea and usually return to the river of their origin to spawn in early spring. Shad will swim farther upstream than any other herring. In the Connecticut River, shad have migrated as far north as Bellows Falls, Vermont (272 miles from Long Island Sound), navigating three dams along the way via fishways. Some adult shad migrate back out to sea after spawning, but spawning stress is great and dead shad are a common sight during late spring.
The DEEP has received multiple calls reporting dead fish floating in the Connecticut River. We are pleased to report there is no water quality issue, just nature taking its course as American shad succumb to natural stress induced spawning mortality.
Juvenile American shad spend the summer and fall in the rivers and migrate to the ocean in the late fall. Although shad cease feeding during their spawning runs (they feed on zooplankton when at sea), they will strike small jigs and spinners during this time.
The American shad is the largest of Connecticut’s herring species. In 2003, the American shad was designated Connecticut’s “State Fish.” Until the mid-1700s, eating shad was considered “disreputable,” but the fish gained favor during the Revolutionary War as salmon numbers dwindled. Commercial fisheries developed in a few of the state’s rivers, but only the Connecticut River fishery survived after others collapsed due to the construction of dams. Although the Connecticut River run is at a fraction of its historical levels, it has recovered considerably during the past 50 years and is currently one of the largest runs on the East Coast. On calm, late summer evenings on the Connecticut River, thousands of small, silvery juvenile shad can be observed “popping” out of the water in pursuit of minute insects.
Dock Road Fishing Access
The Dock Road Boat Launch, in Waterford, is a popular location to access Jordan Cove and cast a line. Like much of Connecticut's shoreline, the state land on Dock Road is ringed by privately property. If you plan to fish from the access on Dock Road, please look for these signs to ensure you are fishing from state property. As always, be respectful of abutting property, carry out what you carry in, and leave no trace.
Video of the Month
Fishing from CT's coastal shoreline can be a challenge due to limited public access. A few locations we recommend with either a fishing pier or ample shoreline access to CT's most sought after marine fish include: Fort Trumbull State Park (New London), Fort Nathan Hale (New Haven), Baldwin Bridge (Old Saybrook), and the shoreline or jetty at Harkness Memorial State Park (Waterford). Check out the video below for some tips on fishing from a pier. For a complete list of coastal access points, check out our saltwater fishing map.
Farmington River Flow Plan Submitted
Pursuant to Public Act 24-13, the DEEP has submitted a report to the Legislative Environment Committee establishing a framework to manage flow in the Farmington River. The plan establishes monthly target flows, which may be adjusted depending upon several key factors. Visit the Farmington Flow Plan webpage to view the plan and current flow status.
Angler Survey Underway
The Fisheries Division is seeking information from select waterbodies using trail cameras and soliciting your input.
Want to learn to fish? Brush up on your techniques? Catch a nutritious and locally sourced meal?
The Fisheries Division's FISH with CARE program has announced our schedule of fishing events for 2025. Visit our web page to learn more about the FISH with CARE program!
Ferry Landing Fishing Pier CLOSED
Amtrak’s Connecticut River Bridge Project is now underway to replace the existing 118-year-old bridge with a modern moveable bridge that will improve the customer experience by eliminating delays, providing faster journeys, and modernizing another critical infrastructure asset that benefits the entire Northeast Corridor. With construction of the new bridge underway, the Ferry Landing Pier/Boardwalk located at the DEEP Marine District Head Quarters in Old Lyme is now closed.
Once the new Connecticut River Bridge is in service and the old bridge has been demolished in 2029, Amtrak will build a new and improved, fully accessible 1,000+ foot long observation deck and stairway at Ferry Landing State Park that would open in 2030/2031. The new Ferry Landing Pier/Boardwalk will upgrade the overall experience for everyone, featuring a 50% wider walkway with improved accessibility, a location slightly west of the existing site that will provide anglers better access to deep water, and stronger, more durable concrete piles for more support compared to the wooden piles used for the original structure.
Aquatic Invasive Species Stamp Info
New for 2025- The Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Stamp must be purchased separately from your vessel registration. Any person operating a vessel on Connecticut inland waters that is required to be registered, in CT or another state, must have a CT AIS Stamp.
There are two AIS Stamp options:
- $7 individual operator
or
- $25 AIS decal to cover all operators on a vessel
Visit AIS Stamp FAQs for more information. You can purchase your 2025 AIS Stamp now through the Online Sportsmen Licensing system. This is required for CT registered and out of state registered vessels.
Fishing Challenge DIY Videos
To help budding anglers fill their youth fishing passport fishing challenge score card the Fish With CARE program has made a special playlist on the DEEP Video YouTube channel.
The fishing challenge is free for all age 15 and younger. The challenge is a year-long fishing scavenger hunt to try and catch all 33 species on the score card. Catches are submitted online and results displayed on the dashboard. For more info please reach out to mike.beauchene@ct.gov
This Month's Mystery Fish
Think you know this species 👀? Send your guess to mike.beauchene@ct.gov
Mystery Fish Revealed
Last month's mystery fish was the Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus). A member of the sunfish family (Centrachidae), the warmouth is an introduced species (although unknown when). Warmouth were first reported in Connecticut by an angler in 2007. Mottled markings reminiscent of those found on some hybrid sunfish. However, it can be distinguished from other sunfish species by feeling for the raspy patch of teeth on the tongue. Will readily hybridize with other sunfishes in the Lepomis genus. Warmouths are not known to overpopulate waters where they are introduced and are thus not thought to be a threat to native fishes.
Need to find a place to fish? Check out our "Where to Fish For..." interactive map with video tutorial below.
DIY Videos- our complete library can be found on the DEEP YouTube Channel
How to get your fishing license online
How to get the youth fishing passport online
Have a Tip or Photo You Would Like to See in CT Fishin' Tips?
Have a Tip or Photo You Would Like to See in CT Fishin' Tips? Email your tip to DEEP.Inland.Fisheries@ct.gov
E-Tackle Box
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer that is committed to complying with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are seeking a communication aid or service, have limited proficiency in English, wish to file an ADA or Title VI discrimination complaint, or require some other accommodation, including equipment to facilitate virtual participation, please contact the DEEP Office of Diversity and Equity at 860-418-5910 or by email at deep.accommodations@ct.gov. Any person needing an accommodation for hearing impairment may call the State of Connecticut relay number - 711. In order to facilitate efforts to provide an accommodation, please request all accommodations as soon as possible following notice of any agency hearing, meeting, program or event.
This program receives Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the U.S. Department of the Interior prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, sex, or disability.
If you believe that you have been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility, or if you need more information, please write to:
Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Civil Rights
U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
Report a Fishing or Hunting Violation
Call DEEP's Environmental Conservation Police 24/7
860-424-3333
 |