Fishing

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• Codfishes

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

• Redfin Pickerel

  Connecticut’s smallest pike species. They are typically mistaken for small chain pickerel by anglers.

• Pike and Pickerel

  Two native and one introduced pike species exist in Connecticut. All members of the family are predacious, primarily feeding on fish.

• White Catfish

  Prefer backwaters and slow-moving areas of larger rivers and streams as well as lakes and ponds. They appear to be more tolerant of brackish water than channel catfish.

• Striped Bass

  Striped bass grow large and are arguably the most important inshore predator and sport fish in the state.

• Bluegill

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

• Temperate Basses

  All North American members of the family are important gamefish, and some support significant commercial fisheries.

• Slimy Sculpin

  Sculpins are sensitive to environmental degradation, requiring good-quality, coldwater streams to survive.

• Sculpins

  Sculpins have a flattened head, large frog-like mouth and eyes, a scaleless body, and large fan-shaped pectoral fins.

• Threespine Stickleback

  Freshwater populations exist as far south as Massachusetts, but none are known in Connecticut.

• Sticklebacks

  Four native stickleback species are found predominantly in marine and sometimes fresh waters of Connecticut. The males build and guard nests made out of aquatic vegetation, and they become darker and/or more brightly colored during the spawning season.

• Blackspotted Stickleback

  Rarity and difficulty with identification cause the blackspotted stickleback’s whereabouts in Connecticut to be unclear.

• American Soles

  A small family limited to marine waters of the Western Hemisphere.

• American Eel

  The American eel is commonly used for bait and food, but is declining throughout much of its range.

• Hogchoker

  Apparently during Colonial times, “hogchokers” fed to pigs proved difficult to swallow.