Connecticut River (Hartford to Haddam)

Between Hartford and Haddam the Connecticut River is a big, fresh, tidal river with a working channel, wooded banks, and backwater coves. Each spring, striped bass follow the shad and herring runs up through this stretch, and the same bends and coves hold northern pike, largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, walleye and some very large carp.

When to fish

• Winter into early spring: crappie bite in the coves all winter when you can get a boat through the skim ice, and get better through March and April. Walleye gather in deep holes in winter. Wethersfield Cove is a popular ice-fishing spot in cold winters.
• March and April: big pre-spawn largemouth in the coves.
• Mid-May to early June: the spring striper run, with bass chasing shad and herring. As the river warms in June, the striper action moves downriver toward the mouth. Pike feed on the same herring and can be caught alongside the bass.
• Summer nights: catfish and carp at the mouth of Wethersfield Cove.
• December 1 to March 31: from winter 2026-27, any striper you catch must be released.

Where to fish

• The river bends: the sharp turns between Middletown and Hartford create current breaks and deep drop-offs where stripers wait to ambush herring. The channel averages about 20 feet but doesn't always run down the middle, so watch the markers and the barge traffic.
• The coves: largemouth, crappie and pike. DEEP lists the coves and tributaries like the Mattabesset and Salmon rivers as pike water.
• Wethersfield Cove: fish the channel out to the river, under the bridges, and around the I-91 bridge.

How to fish it

• Stripers: On The Water's 2014 guide used light spinning gear with lures that imitate a good-sized baitfish: soft plastics on light jigheads, deep-bodied and long minnow-style crankbaits, swimbaits, weightless soft-plastic stickbaits and walking topwaters or poppers. In water under 5 feet, drift quietly with the tide or use a trolling motor.
• Largemouth: a dark skirted jig with a crayfish-style trailer is On The Water's eastern Connecticut writer's go-to in spring.
• Crappie: a float-and-fly rig with a tiny jig, in bright colors when the river is stained.
• Pike: spinnerbaits, swimbaits and even striper topwaters.
• Walleye: blade baits in the deep winter holes.
• Catfish and carp: a simple bottom rig with chicken livers, nightcrawlers or cut bait; dough balls for carp.

Getting there

Public launches on this stretch include Bissell Bridge in Hartford and Haddam Meadows, with the Salmon River launch in East Haddam just below. Wethersfield Cove has parking and a launch at the end of Main Street in Old Wethersfield. Launches can flood in high water, and in spring On The Water suggests checking the Haddam Swing Bridge closure schedule. Possessing alewives or blueback herring is illegal. The river from Enfield to Old Lyme has its own bass, pike and carp rules (it's a Trophy Carp Water); see the Connecticut Freshwater Fishing Guide.