2021 Fishing Licenses are Available Online |
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Fishing Fuels Conservation!
100% of your investment funds fish and fishing
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SOCIAL DISTANCE WHILE FISHING
Fishing is a great way to spend time outdoors, reduce stress, and possibly catch a tasty meal. The Fisheries Division along with the CDC, State of CT DPH, and the DEEP strongly encourage social distancing and not fishing with anyone other than people living in the same space.
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Latest Updates from the Fisheries Division
To advance the conservation, enhancement, restoration, use, and appreciation of Connecticut’s fish, fisheries and fish habitats.
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Save the Date "Free Fishing License Day - August 14, 2021": Everyone can get a one day fishing license for FREE. The FREE one day fishing license will be available three weeks prior to the date. Lots of great places to fish - check out the interactive Trout Stocking Map, CT is Fishy or the Saltwater Resource Map for ideas on places to go.
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Circle Hooks Required for Striped Bass. Effective December 1, 2020 it is mandatory to use inline circle hooks whenever fishing with bait (live, dead, or cut) for Striped Bass. Please view our web page for the latest information and details.
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July 4th Trout Stocking. The West Branch Farmington River has been stocked with approximately 2,000 Brown Trout (Avg. over 12"). Unlike almost all other rivers in CT, which are too warm for trout in July, the West Branch Farmington remains cold due to the bottom release of cold, oxygen-rich water from the West Branch Reservoir (acting like central air conditioning). Enjoy this unique trout fishing opportunity in July!
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Summer Blackfish Season Opens July 1 |
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The summer season for Blackfish (AKA Tautog) opened on July 1. While a bit harder to catch than during the fall season, load up on green crabs or Asian shore crabs and head out to your favorite reef or rocky outcrop. Regulations during the summer season, which ends on August 31, 2021 is 2 fish per person per day, 16 inch minimum length. |
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NEW - Learn to Fish Anytime, Online |
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Hot off of the press! Our brand new "Learn to Fish" interactive online class. This class follows our popular "Learn to Fish Workbook" giving you information on all of the important aspects of fishing. Take the class at your pace and when completed you will get a custom certificate.
Once done with the class, feel free to join us at one of our July fishing trips to test your new found skill.
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The CT DEEP Fisheries Division is offering you the opportunity to learn to fish for FREE!
Register for a ZOOM Introduction to Fishing course, offered weekly, to learn all the basics of fishing from the comfort of your couch. Then put your knew skills to the test, while enjoying some time spent out of doors!
Join us at a FREE upcoming Fishing Field Trip! We provide all the rods, bait, tackle, and instruction. You just need a fishing license if 16 years and older and be ready to have some fun! You can view a schedule of fishing field trips for now through June below, and register HERE by searching "Fishing Field Trip" in the filter by event box. The fishing has been AWESOME over the past month of events, with hundreds of 1st catches consisting of many species of fish.
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Video of the Month - Pier Fishing |
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The Long Island Sound is home to many species of fish which are popular to catch and eat. Several include, Fluke, Black Sea Bass, Porgy, Sea Robin, Bluefish, Blackfish, Striped Bass, and Weakfish. For the latest rules and regulations check out our Marine Regulations Page within the new online Saltwater Fishing Guide.
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Non-Native Mitten Crab Gaining Ground |
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Unfortunately, since March, we’ve had 5 more specimens turn up, and we got a picture of another one this week that was collected in Hamden below Lake Whitney on the Mill River.
The good news is that our public messaging to-date (lots of signage, social media posts, and some segments on local TV news broadcasts) has apparently been effective at getting the word out – some of the specimens collected this year were caught by anglers/crabbers who knew enough to keep the crabs and contact us.
The bad news is that we’ve got mounting evidence these animals are becoming established in multiple areas.
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Circle Hooks Now Mandatory - Striped Bass |
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"We're trying to help conserve a stock of fish that is in an overfished condition and needs help. By using inline circle hooks, people are pitching in to that effort."- Justin Davis, Assistant Director, Marine Fisheries Program
This regulation was mandated by Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission and is being adopted by all Atlantic coast states. View the regulation change.
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Learn to Fish Videos on YouTube |
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Let's Go Fishing YouTube playlist: To enhance our very popular "Let's Go Fishing" workbook, we have created a short series of instructional fishing videos on DEEP's YouTube channel. These videos are a DIY way to get the instruction delivered during our Introduction to Fishing classes, which have been suspended indefinitely due to the Corona Virus Pandemic.
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This Month's Mystery Fish |
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Fishing Challenge - For YOUth |
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Fishing is the perfect family activity during this time of "distance learning" and being "socially distant". CT's FREE Youth Fishing Passport is your child's ticket to all of the amazing outdoor discoveries fishing has to offer. Fishing involves knowing about habitat, environmental quality, food webs, life history of species, and so much more. You can get a Youth Fishing Passport, for those 15 or younger, using our online licensing system. Register your child as a new user. If you have questions please contact us.
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Fishing Challenge Scorecard |
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The Youth Fishing Passport Fishing Challenge is a year long fishing scavenger hunt. To have your catch count, simple snap a photo of your fish (from our scorecard) and email it to us. The top four anglers (who catch the most different types on our list) receive a prize pack full of fishing swag.
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Fishing Guide - Access Online Anytime |
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The 2021 Fishing Guide is available in English and Spanish. |
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Last month's mystery fish was the Summer Flounder (AKA Fluke)! This "flat" fish is a favorite quarry to many saltwater anglers, prized for it's great fighting ability and their white flesh that is considered one of the best eating fish on the planet.
Fluke have a mouth full of teeth and when holding the fish with it's head facing away from you, both eyes are on the left side of it's body while their relative the winter flounder (another frequent Long Island Sound visitor) has no teeth and both eyes are the right side of body. When hatched, fluke are born with eyes on both sides of body but as they develop into juveniles the eye on the right moves across the head to it's left side!
Fluke have to be 19 inches long to keep and you are allowed 4 fluke per person (see regulations for all marine fish here). If you are fishing at a designated Enhanced Opportunity Shore Fishing Site the minimum size is reduced to 17 inches at these locations!
Fluke are ambush predators that live on the bottom of the ocean floor where they camouflage themselves and wait for a meal to swim by and then attack, so to catch these fish you need to bounce your bait along the bottom. A bucktail jig tipped with a strip of squid casted out and bounced along the bottom is irresistible to fluke!
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Información disponible en español
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