Candlewood Lake

Candlewood Lake, 5,064 acres spread across Danbury and four neighboring towns, is one of Connecticut's largest lakes and one of the best-known bass lakes in the Northeast. It was made by flooding a valley, so the bottom is full of hard structure (old stone walls, a sunken bridge and stumps), and alewives give the bass plenty to chase. Smallmouth get most of the attention, but largemouth live on the same rocks.

When to fish

• April: On The Water's eastern Connecticut writer calls it the best month for big pre-spawn largemouth and smallmouth, and names Candlewood the smallmouth mecca of the state.
• Open-water season: bass chase the lake's alewives, which sets up reaction bites.
• Mid-May through June: DEEP's peak time for holdover trout in its Trout Management Lakes, including Candlewood.
• Late fall and winter: the power company that runs the lake draws it down each year (in 2026, starting after November 1), so check the launch notices before you go.

Where to fish

• Rocky points, ledges and submerged boulders: smallmouth and largemouth hold on the same structure, so expect mixed catches.
• The old valley floor: a local angler told On The Water that a sonar tour shows stone walls, a sunken bridge and stumps everywhere; his advice is to fish anything that looks promising.
• Weedy flats, coves and docks: more bass structure around the lake's 60-plus miles of shoreline.

How to fish it

Jigs are the local favorite: crayfish are a main forage, so natural colors like green pumpkin and black, hopped slowly through rocks, draw big bites from both species. A bladed jig early in the morning and reaction baits around alewife schools also work. For spring smallmouth, On The Water suggests small hair jigs and suspending jerkbaits. For trout, DEEP suggests slow trolling early in the season and lead-core line or downriggers once the fish go deep in summer.

Getting there

The state has two year-round trailer launches: Lattins Cove in Danbury (off Forty Acres Mountain Road) and Squantz Cove in New Fairfield (off Route 39 by the state park entrance). Slow-no-wake zones cover the south end of Lattins Cove and part of Squantz Cove, and the lake has separate day and night speed limits. Candlewood is a Trout Management Lake with special early-season trout rules; see the Connecticut Freshwater Fishing Guide.