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FISHING CALENDAR · CONNECTICUT
Connecticut Fishing Calendar
Connecticut fishes Long Island Sound for striped bass, bluefish, fluke, porgies, sea bass and blackfish, plus trout, bass, pike and walleye inland. Seasons are from CT DEEP's 2026 rules; saltwater timing comes from New York Sea Grant, which covers the same Long Island Sound waters.
Government fish & wildlife updates
- CT DEEP stocking report — Trout and salmon stocking updates
- CT DEEP saltwater regulations — Current marine limits
- Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission — Coastwide rules
Month by month
| Fish | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freshwater | |||||||||||||
| Trout (brook, brown, rainbow, tiger) | Open all year, 9 in min (new for 2026); 5/day from the second Saturday of April to the end of February; catch-and-release only March 1 to the April opener. CT DEEP fall 2026: 'It's October and the fishing conditions are prime.'[2][3] | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic salmon (stocked broodstock) | Taking allowed only in the Naugatuck, Shetucket and Housatonic rivers and DEEP-stocked lakes/ponds. 2,000+ stocked fall 2026.[2][3] | ||||||||||||
| Largemouth & smallmouth bass | Open all year; 12 in min and 6/day in lakes, ponds and the Connecticut River. No official best months found.[2] | ||||||||||||
| Northern pike | Open all year, 26 in, 2/day. No official best months found.[2] | ||||||||||||
| Walleye | Open all year, 18 in, 2/day. No official best months found.[2] | ||||||||||||
| Inshore saltwater | |||||||||||||
| Striped bass | Open all year, 28 to <31 in, 1/day; inline circle hooks with bait. Timing from NY Sea Grant (Long Island Sound).[1][4] | ||||||||||||
| Bluefish | Open all year, 5/day (7 party/charter). NY Sea Grant: best August-September.[1][5] | ||||||||||||
| Summer flounder (fluke) | May 4 - Aug 1 (19 in) and Aug 2 - Oct 15 (19.5 in), 3/day. NY Sea Grant: peak August.[1][6] | ||||||||||||
| Black sea bass | New for 2026: 15.5 in, 4/day, May 16 - Nov 25. No official best months found.[1] | ||||||||||||
| Scup (porgy) | May 1 - Dec 31, 30/day; 11 in boat, 9.5 in shore. NY Sea Grant: June is the best month.[1][7] | ||||||||||||
| Tautog (blackfish) | 16 in. Open April 1-30 (2/day), July 1 - Aug 31 (2/day), Oct 10 - Nov 28 (3/day). NY Sea Grant: best in the fall run.[1][8] | ||||||||||||
| Weakfish | Open all year, 16 in, 1/day. NY Sea Grant: best May-July.[1][9] | ||||||||||||
| Winter flounder | Open April 1 - Dec 31, 12 in, 2/day. NY Sea Grant: spring run and good catches October-December.[1][10] | ||||||||||||
| Blue crab | Open May 1 - Nov 30; 5 in hard shell; no egg-bearing females.[1] | ||||||||||||
| Offshore | |||||||||||||
| Atlantic bluefin tuna (federal) | HMS permit required. Southern New England trophy (73 in+) closed July 3 - Dec 31, 2026. No official best months found.[11][12] | ||||||||||||
Never keep: Never keep: alewife and blueback herring (all CT waters); American shad outside the Connecticut River system.[1]
Bait & rig for each fish
Trout (brook, brown, rainbow, tiger)
Bait: Worms and minnows where legal.
Lures: Streamers, nymphs, dry flies, spinners, spoons and stickbaits.
Leader: 3X–5X tippet (4–8 lb), 7½–9 ft.
Atlantic salmon (stocked broodstock)
Bait: Not allowed: salmon rivers are fly fishing only.
Lures: Classic wet flies and hair-wing flies (Green Highlander, Blue Charm, Cascade), bombers and riffling hitches on the surface.
Leader: 10–15 lb tippet, 9–12 ft.
Northern pike
Bait: Whole dead herring, smelt or cisco under a float or on the bottom where bait is legal.
Lures: Red-and-white spoons, big inline spinners, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, swimbaits and topwater baits.
Leader: Wire or 60–80 lb fluorocarbon leader, 12–18 in — pike teeth cut regular line.
Walleye
Bait: Live minnows, leeches and nightcrawlers.
Lures: Jigs tipped with a minnow, spinner rigs ('crawler harnesses'), crankbaits and blade baits.
Leader: 6–10 lb fluorocarbon.
Striped bass
Bait: Live shad and shiners.
Lures: Bucktail jigs, swimbaits and topwater plugs.
Leader: Usually none; add a short fluorocarbon leader with braid.
Bluefish
Bait: Cut mullet and live finger mullet.
Lures: Metal spoons, Gotcha plugs and topwater poppers.
Leader: 30–40 lb fluorocarbon (add light wire for mackerel and bluefish).
Summer flounder (fluke)
Bait: Live minnows (killies), squid strips, fresh fluke-belly or sea-robin strips, and live spot or snapper blues for big fish.
Lures: White or pink bucktails tipped with a soft-plastic grub or squid strip, and a teaser hook above the bucktail.
Leader: 20–30 lb fluorocarbon, 2–3 ft.
Black sea bass
Bait: Squid, cut fish and shrimp.
Lures: Small vertical jigs and bucktails.
Leader: 50–80 lb fluorocarbon.
Scup (porgy)
Bait: Clam strips, squid strips and sandworms on small hooks.
Lures: Small jigs or a hi-lo rig with a strip of squid.
Leader: 30–50 lb fluorocarbon, short.
Tautog (blackfish)
Bait: Green crabs, Asian crabs, fiddler crabs and clams; cut crabs in half for big fish.
Lures: Tautog jigs (1–2 oz) tipped with a piece of crab.
Leader: 30–50 lb fluorocarbon, short.
Weakfish
Bait: Live shrimp, peeler crab and strip baits.
Lures: Bucktail jigs, soft plastics and small metal spoons.
Leader: 20–30 lb fluorocarbon, 2–3 ft.
Winter flounder
Bait: Sandworms, bloodworms, clams and mussels on small long-shank hooks, with a chum pot of crushed mussels on the bottom.
Lures: Not usually caught on lures.
Leader: 20–30 lb fluorocarbon, 2–3 ft.
Blue crab
Bait: Freshly dead fish is documented as blue-crab trap bait by Texas Parks & Wildlife.
Lures: Not applicable.
Rig: Crab traps are a documented blue-crab capture method. Use only locally legal gear.
Leader: Not applicable.
Atlantic bluefin tuna (federal)
Bait: Live or dead mackerel, herring and squid.
Lures: Large spreader bars and big topwater plugs.
Leader: 40–100 lb mono or fluorocarbon.
Local fishing reports — what’s biting now
- On The Water — Connecticut fishing report — Weekly report with tackle shop input
- The Fisherman — New England fishing forecast — Weekly CT/RI/MA forecast
Sources
- CT DEEP Saltwater Species Regulations (2026)
- CT DEEP Freshwater Species Regulations
- CT DEEP Fall 2026 Trout and Salmon Stocking Report
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Striped Bass
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Bluefish
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Summer Flounder
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Porgy (Scup)
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Blackfish (Tautog)
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Weakfish
- New York Sea Grant fish profile: Winter Flounder
- NOAA Fisheries / Federal Register 2026-10816: Bluefin tuna retention limits
- NOAA Fisheries / Federal Register 2026-13630: Southern New England trophy bluefin closure 2026
Checked October 2026. BigJoe does not invent facts: every month on this calendar comes from the sources above. Empty boxes mean no official source gives those months. Rules change — check the agency page before you keep a fish.
On the bay, in the mangroves or on the ocean, the everyday struggles get left at the dock — for those few hours it’s just you, the water and peace.