2022 Fishing Licenses are Available Online
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Fishing Fuels Conservation!
100% of your investment funds fish and fishing
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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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Trout fishing is really good! In case you have not heard the CT General Assembly passed Public Act 21-12, which removed the closed season for trout. So....trout fishing is open year-round. Please follow our stocking report on our webpage, on Facebook, and using our interactive map.
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Can I Keep Trout Now? The answer is YES - EXCEPT when fishing in:
When in doubt refer to our online fishing guide for specific regulations in the waterbody you are fishing.
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Learn the basics of fishing at your pace: The CARE program (CT Aquatic Resources Education) has a complete web-based introduction to fishing course in English and Spanish. Take the course and then come join us at one of our dozens of fishing events this spring and summer.
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May 7, 2022 is our annual FREE FISHING DAY! Anyone can fish without needing a fishing license. All other rules and regulations remain in effect. |
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2022 Recreational Marine Regulations |
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Changes from 2021 are indicated in Red Font. Please check out our digital marine fishing guide for more information.
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Come Stock Trout with DEEP |
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Saturday, April 9, the Fisheries Division will be celebrating "Spring Fishing Day" by stocking the following and are looking for kids to help us get the trout into the water. |
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Note- all stocking times are approximate
8:00 am
Day Pond (Colchester)
Mohegan Park Pond (Norwich)
Southford Falls State Park (Oxford)
Stratton Brook State Park (Simsbury)
Valley Falls Pond (Vernon)
Kent Falls State Park (Kent) 8:30 am
10:00 AM
Black Rock State Park (Watertown)
Chatfield Hollow State Park (Killingworth)
Wharton Brook State Park (Wallingford)
10:15 AM
Wolfe Park – Great Hollow Pond (Monroe)
TBD
McGovern Pond (West Hartford)
Pasture Pond (Plainfield)
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The 2022 Mobile Fishing Tour (MFT) registration is now open for April and May fishing events! The MFT consists of Fishing Events open to the public that will be held from April through October at waters around the state. The CARE program supplies all bait, tackle, and instruction. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged at the DEEP Hunting and Fishing Education registration system (Filter by Event Type “FISHING FIELD TRIP”).
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Digital Versions of Guide Books for 2022 |
Being a responsible user of the Connecticut outdoors means staying informed of, and complying with, the current laws and regulations.
Connecticut DEEP's outdoor field guides make it easy to find and follow the laws and regulations that apply to you. And now, Connecticut's Fishing and Hunting Guides are online in an easy-to-use eBook version.
Coming in 2022, NEW digital formats will allow you to quickly check a regulation, confirm legal methods, look up best practices and more – from anywhere at anytime. Stay tuned! Printed hunting and fishing guides will be scaled back and available in limited quantities.
View the Digital Freshwater Fishing Guide Here
View the Digital Saltwater Fishing Guide Here
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Fishing Challenge - For YOUth |
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The Youth Fishing Passport Fishing Challenge is a year long fishing scavenger hunt. To have your catch count, simply snap a photo of your fish (from our scorecard) and use our online submission form. 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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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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Enter your catches online
Please use our online form to enter your youth fishing challenge catches
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Join Derek Handberry as he offers up his "go to" advice for trout fishing in CT's rivers and streams this spring. |
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This Month's Mystery Fish |
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Lost Fishing Line Still Fishes |
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We have all seen it, a small pile of fishing line along the shoreline. Unfortunately, discarded line can have unintended bycatch. Birds love to use fishing line to weave into their nests in place of natural fibers. This can lead to entanglement in the plastic line, which the birds can not escape. Fishing line can also end up in trees due to an errant cast and snag. There is not much that can be done to retrieve 100% of the line, but please make every attempt to get as much of it out of the tree as possible.
Angling groups, watershed associations, and birding groups have all worked hard and installed these PVC fishing line recycling containers all around the state. If you see some fishing line, please pick it up and dispose of properly. Check out our list of some receptacle locations.
Fishing line can be recycled. The Fisheries Division's CARE (CT Aquatic Resources Education) Program collected and shipped 10 pounds of fishing line back to Berkley who was able to re-purpose the old line into plastic furniture. If you would like to drop off any old fishing line, please visit our CARE folks at one of our Mobile Fishing Trailer Events this spring and summer.
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Last month's mystery fish was a Tessellated Darter (Etheostoma olmstedi). Tessellated Darters are distributed widely across Connecticut. The fish is a bottom-dweller preferring slower-moving areas of streams and rivers with sand and cobble substrate. Tessellated darters are also known to occur in shallow shoal areas of some lakes. The tessellated darter is very similar to and was once considered to be the same species as the Johnny Darter (Etheostoma nigrum), which has a more Midwestern distribution. Tessellated Darters are entertaining to watch as they prop themselves up on their pectoral fins and appear to be scanning their surroundings. As the name suggests, they often “dart” using quick pulses. Sometimes they bury themselves in the sand with only eyes and tail tips exposed.
The Tessellated Darter is described as being a small, slender fish with a small mouth (reaching only to front of eye). Compared to the swamp darter it has a longer more normal looking snout. The lateral line is complete and relatively straight. It has 9 to 11 dark blotches that often look like Xs or Ws and are typically dark brown above, fading on sides, and have a cream-colored belly.
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How to get your License Online |
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Información disponible en español
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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.
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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
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