Saltwater Fishing Guide

Where to Fish

Saltwater (Marine) Fishing

Saltwater Fishing Resource Maps | Enhanced Shoreline Opportunity Program | Fishing in State Parks

With over 100 species of fish found in Long Island Sound, anglers can enjoy some of the very best striped bass, bluefish, summer flounder, scup, hickory shad, black sea bass and tautog fishing along the entire coast. The State of Connecticut offers anglers many fishing opportunities with excellent boat launches along the coast and great shore fishing locations at coastal state and city parks, and convenient party and charter boat fishing. Fishing is Family Fun!

Shoreline Fishing and Property Rights: While much of the Connecticut shore is privately owned, the coastal tidelands actually belong to all the people — not just in terms of our environmental and cultural heritage, but in a specific legal sense as well. Under the common law public trust doctrine, a body of law dating back to Roman times, coastal states (as sovereigns) hold the submerged lands and waters waterward of the mean high water line in trust for the public. The general public may freely use these intertidal and subtidal lands and waters, whether they are beach, rocky shore, or open water, for traditional public trust uses such as fishing, shellfishing, boating, sunbathing, or simply walking along the beach.

Saltwater Fishing Resource Maps

Looking for a place to Fish, find a Party/Charter Vessel to go fishing on, Launch a Boat or Locate a Bait and Tackle shop? Use our interactive Saltwater Fishing Resource Maps to help plan your next trip!

Both maps have the same information but it is presented in different forms. The "all in one" map is better suited to desktop computers, while the "Story Map" is better suited to mobile devices - although either one should work on any device.

Connecticut Coastal Access Map: is designed to help you explore the Connecticut shore. Use the guide to identify sites open to the public for boating, swimming, fishing, hiking and other outdoor activities. Some sites are posted with brown and white public access signs. Use the signs and the map and detailed driving directions in the Coastal Access Guide to find your way to hundreds of coastal access sights.

While all the sites included on this guide are open to the public, DEEP does not manage all of them. Please review the Site Contact Information for each site to determine the appropriate party to contact with questions or concerns about a site.

Enhanced Opportunity Shore Fishing Program

This Marine Fisheries program is part of a broader Department effort to improve the fishing experience and quality of access to our Public Trust marine fisheries resources in CT, especially in urban areas. Shore-based fishing is the simplest and most affordable form of salt water fishing and a popular way to enjoy Connecticut’s coastline. At the same time, shore fishing is an opportunity to catch the evening’s meal. To that end, minimum size limits have been reduced for two abundant marine species at forty-one public fishing access areas listed in the DEEP Coastal Access Guide. These sites offer good shore based summer flounder and/or scup fishing opportunities in at least 18 different communities distributed from Stonington to Westport.

At these sites, summer flounder may be taken at 17 inches (compared to 19 inches otherwise) and scup may be taken at 8 inches (versus 9 inches), giving the shore angler at these sites a considerably better chance of taking home a meal or two. To aid law enforcement the sites chosen for this program are separate from any boat launches or marinas where boat caught fish may be present. It is important to the success and continuation of this program that anglers at these enhanced access sites take their catch directly home after fishing. Possession of these species under the standard minimum size at other locations is a violation and can result in significant fines.

fishing at fort trumbull

Enhanced Opportunity Shore Fishing Access Site Sign

Multi-Lingual Enhanced Marine Recreational Fishing Regulation Sign

Enhanced Shore Fishing Access Sites are locations where smaller summer flounder - fluke (17 inch minimum length) and scup (8 inch minimum length) may be taken.

Find an Enhanced Shore Fishing Access Site

County	City	Coastal Access Guide Link
Fairfield	Bridgeport	Pleasure Beach Family Fishing Pier
Fairfield	Bridgeport	Saint Mary's by the Sea
Fairfield	Bridgeport	Seaside Park
Fairfield	Fairfield	Ash Creek Open Space
Fairfield	Fairfield	Jennings Beach
Fairfield	Fairfield	Penfield Beach
Fairfield	Fairfield	Penfield Reef
Fairfield	Norwalk	Calf Pasture Beach
Fairfield	Norwalk	Maritime Aquarium Park
Fairfield	Stratford	Bond's Dock
Fairfield	Stratford	Long Beach
Fairfield	Stratford	Point-No-Point
Fairfield	Stratford	Russian Beach
Fairfield	Stratford	Short Beach Park
Fairfield	Westport	Sherwood Island State Park
Middlesex	Old Saybrook	South Cove Causeway
Middlesex	Old Saybrook	Saybrook Point
New Haven	Branford	Branford Point
New Haven	Guilford	Chaffinch Island Park
New Haven	Madison	Hammonasset Beach State Park
New Haven	Milford	Connecticut Audubon Coastal Center
New Haven	Milford	Gulf Beach
New Haven	Milford	Silver Sands State Park
New Haven	New Haven	Tomlinson Bridge Fishing Pier
New Haven	New Haven	Fort Nathan Hale Park
New Haven	New Haven	Criscuolo Park
New Haven	West Haven	Bradley Point Park
New Haven	West Haven	Sandy Point
New Haven	West Haven	Sandy Point Bird Sanctuary
New London	East Lyme	Cini Memorial Park
New London	East Lyme	Hole-in-the-Wall Beach
New London	East Lyme	McCook Park
New London	East Lyme	Rocky Neck State Park
New London	Groton	Bluff Point State Park and Reserve
New London	Groton	Eastern Point Beach
New London	Groton	UCONN-Avery Point
New London	New London	City Pier and Waterfront Park
New London	New London	Fort Trumbull State Park
New London	Old Lyme	DEEP Marine Headquarters-Ferry Landing Park
New London	Stonington	Mystic River Park
New London	Stonington	Stonington Point
New London	Stonington	Stonington Town Dock Fishing Pier
New London	Waterford	Harkness Memorial State Park
New London	Waterford	Mago Point Park
New London	Waterford	Waterford Beach Park

Fishing in State Parks

Locations to Fish

During regular hours, a vehicle parking fee is required for out-of-state vehicles to enter most of the state parks. There is no parking fee for Connecticut registered vehicles. Parking fees are collected from 8 a.m.–6:30 p.m. on weekends and holidays, and 8 a.m.–6:30 p.m. during the week, except at state parks marked with an asterisk. Late day fees (4 p.m.–6:30 p.m. any day) for Harkness, Hammonasset, Rocky Neck, and Sherwood Island are $7 for non-residents. For more information please see the coastal state parks website.

* Parking fees subject to change.

Night Fishing Rules

Anglers entering a park by vehicle must obtain a vehicle permit in order to park and fish. Between the hours of 6:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m., no vehicle will be allowed into the day-use area of the park. Individuals entering the park without a vehicle do not require a permit, but must possess fishing tackle (rod and reel, bait, light, etc.) and engage in fishing.