Connecticut Fishing Report
With the 2025 season in the rearview, many anglers will use the winter months to review how their fishing season unfolded. That might mean skimming through your surf fishing log to look for striper patterns, or reminiscing on hot bites (and missed bites) during the albie season; but the only good that comes from looking back is how you’ll use that information to your advantage moving forward. The 2026 fishing season doesn’t start in April, it starts now. For some, the season begins with having reels serviced, replacing rusted terminal tackle, and surveying the ever-growing arsenal of striper plugs to plan for replacement purchases at winter fishing shows. But, try as we might, many of us can’t just hang up our gear until the spring tautog season opens in Long Island Sound. Thankfully, winter fishing opportunities abound in Connecticut, even if angler participation is at its lowest point during the calendar year.
Saltwater fishing opportunities are slim to none right now, as many late-season party boat operations like the Black Hawk in Niantic have ended their seasons now that sea bass and porgy fishing is closed. The only salty options left are holdover striped bass and maybe a few sea herring kicking around in your local harbor. The former tends to attract a cohort of die-hard, all-weather fishermen who fight off cabin fever from the banks of Connecticut’s rivers and salt ponds.
Resident stripers have piled into the Connecticut and Housatonic rivers and anglers have wasted no time staking out their favorite holdover spots. Compared to recent years, the winter striper bite has been good, not great. The general consensus among those who have flocked to the rivers since the stripers left their home waters is that the fish are picky, which is likely due to excessive fishing pressure.
It’s no secret that these major tributaries of the Long Island Sound are home to striped bass year-round, but there are certain areas that produce better numbers and quality, and they’re kept secretive for a reason. Consider sharing your techniques and productive baits, not your hard-earned spots, with fellow holdover enthusiasts to mitigate some of that fishing pressure. The fish are already lethargic in cold water, and they’ll only get pickier as the winter wears on. However, despite the wary and finicky nature of winter stripers, some anglers, like photographer and videographer Shane McLellan, were able to end the year on a high note. Shane caught and released a beautiful holdover this week (pictured below) on a Slug-go after putting in many hours on foot instead of in his kayak.
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Soft plastics like Slug-gos, rigged on lightweight jigheads around 3/4-ounce, are proven to tempt holdover stripers throughout the winter months. Their productivity is less about matching any present forage and more about reaching the strike zone to present an appetizing profile. Minnow plugs like SP Minnows and Mag Darters are also excellent winter baits, and they can be customized with Storm SuspenStrips to neutralize their buoyancy, which leads to a similar presentation to a suspending jerkbait. Load up a tackle tray with an array of 4- to 6-inch soft plastics and jigheads, and a handful of minnow-style plugs in the same size range, and you’ll be well on your way to striper fishing in the rivers. Look for areas like bottlenecks and points where there are pockets of deep, moving water, to boost your chances. If the river is loaded with chunks of floating ice or the banks are lined with hard, stagnant ice, consider moving. You can even head way downstream, closer to salt water, where white perch fishing is also an option.
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Like stripers, white perch school heavily and can be difficult to locate, but they populate the brackish rivers, marshes, and salt ponds throughout the winter. Plus, they taste great, they’re strong fighters on an ultralight spinning setup or 5-weight fly rod, and the season is open year-round. Regulations allow a maximum of 30 fish per angler per day at a minimum size of 7 inches. White perch can be caught using micro soft plastics like paddletails and curly-tail grubs, as well as underspins, hair jigs, spoons, and grass shrimp (if you can get your hands on some) on a high-low rig.
Anglers can also explore the recently-stocked rivers, like the Naugatuck and Shetucket, in search of trout and salmon on the fly, and, depending on which stream/river, with inline spinners, small hair jigs, and lightweight spoons. Remember to check the river and stream regulations before you go, as some TMAs require single barbless hooks for flies and artificial lures.
After a few more days of overnight temperatures in the 20s and teens, coastal Connecticut should begin to see safe ice on lakes and ponds. Right now, most water bodies are covered by skim ice. Meanwhile, anglers in northern Connecticut have already started ice fishing, and western Massachusetts is several weeks into their ice fishing season. Prep your tip-ups and jigging rods now, and reach out to your local tackle shop in advance of your outing to secure bait. Many shops are on holiday or winter hours, and there’s nothing worse than scrambling for shiners, nightcrawlers, or waxworms on the day of an ice fishing trip.
Connecticut Fishing Forecast
For the time being, holdover stripers and trout are the best chances for a bent rod. Start off the new year on a high note and get out on the rivers or one of the many stocked trout streams for some fun. Moving water is a Northeast angler’s best friend until ice fishing season is in full swing.
We’ll be running monthly fishing reports and brief, weekly updates for Connecticut until the first week of April. If you have a catch or a fishing report you’d like to share in the meantime, tag us on Instagram @onthewatermagazine or send pics and reports to our Assistant Editor, Matt Haeffner, via Instagram @matthaeffner.
Fingers crossed for some safe ice this week! Be safe, stay warm, and have a Happy New Year!