Fishing

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• Bluegill

  Bluegills often inhabit shallow areas and are very easy to catch on a variety of small lures or baits (especially worms).

• Bluntnose Minnow

  It is unclear how or when bluntnose minnows arrived in Connecticut.

• Bowfin

  Often confused with the snakehead, the bowfin is an introduced fish that has grown rapidly in abundance since 2003.

• Bowfins

  This primitive family has a diverse fossil record, but only one species still exists.

• Bridle Shiner

  This easily overlooked minnow, the bridle shiner, is apparently declining throughout much of its range.

• Brook Trout

  Brook trout prefer small, cold streams with gravel or cobble bottoms and adequate cover.

• Brown Bullhead

  The brown bullhead is Connecticut’s most widely distributed and only native catfish species. They are good to eat, but are typically underutilized by anglers.

• Brown Trout

  Brown trout can grow to large sizes and are generally harder to catch than brook or rainbow trout.

• Burbot

  The burbot is the only completely freshwater member of the cod family. Little is known of its life history in Connecticut.

• Catfishes and Bullheads

  Catfish and bullheads have eight barbels around the mouth: two off the snout, two off the corners of the mouth, and four under the chin. These long barbels give the impression of whiskers, hence the name “catfishes.”

• Central Mudminnow

  Although central mudminnows look superficially like minnows or killifish, they are actually more closely related to pickerel and pike.

• Chain Pickerel

  The chain pickerel is Connecticut’s largest native freshwater predatory fish. Before the introduction of bass, it was the top predator in the state’s lakes and ponds.

• Channel Catfish

  The channel catfish is the state’s largest catfish species.

• Codfishes

  Codfishes are characterized by having a single barbel on the middle of the chin.

• Creek Chub

  Closely related to fallfish, creek chubs build long ridges of gravel for nests.