The Connecticut Fishing Season is officially underway.
Originally scheduled for April 11, the state is hoping that the early start will help limit the spread of coronavirus by eliminating large crowds that can accompany Opening Day. And it turns out, this winter's warm, dry weather is actually helping the early start to the season.
There have been years in which our local rivers and streams would still be frozen this late in March, but thanks to an unseasonably warm and abnormally dry winter, there’s no ice to be seen, and it’s a great time to cast a line.
“Right now the rivers are not too high, we haven’t had a lot rain we don’t have a lot of snow melt going off,” explains Supervising Fisheries Biologist Mike Beauchene. “So this time of the year for fishing is actually a lot better than it normally would.”
This past winter ended up being the 10th warmest winter on record for the Hartford area.
When it comes to fish farming, the warmer, the better, according to experts.
“The warmer temperatures have helped our fish to grow faster and grow bigger,” Beauchene said. “So yeah, people that are going out fishing should be pretty happy with the product that they catch from us because the growth rates have been faster.”
Local
There are currently 3 trout hatcheries throughout the state, growing anywhere from 500,000 to 550,000 fish that get distributed into Connecticut's local rivers, streams, lakes and ponds.
“Since everyone is home, stressing out and constantly being bombarded with coronavirus, going outside and being by a river, hearing that flowing water is a great way to relieve some stress.”
Something we all could use these days. But remember, you do need a fishing license to fish locally.
For information on how you can obtain a license, click here.
