Connecticut River Fishing Spot

• County: Coos County,Grafton County,Sullivan County,Chesire County
• Public Fishing: Yes
• Elevation: 2228'
• Shoreline: 407'
• Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connecticut_River
• Last Modified By: carpmaster on 05/14/12 11:13 PM
• Ask about Connecticut River in our Fishing Forums

The Connecticut River is the largest river in New England, flowing south from the Connecticut Lakes in northern New Hampshire, along the border between New Hampshire and Vermont, through Western Massachusetts and central Connecticut into Long Island Sound at Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It has a total length of 407 miles (655 km), and a drainage basin extending over 11,250 square miles (29,100 km). The mean freshwater discharge into Long Island Sound is 19,600 cubic feet (560 m) per second. The river is tidal up to Windsor Locks, approximately 60 miles (97 km) from the mouth. The source of the Connecticut River is the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. Some tributaries include the Ashuelot, West, Miller's, Mill, Deerfield, White, and Chicopee rivers. (The Swift River, a tributary of the Chicopee, has been largely replaced by the Quabbin Reservoir which provides water to Boston.)

The river carries a heavy amount of silt, especially during the spring snow melt, from as far north as Quebec. The heavy silt concentration of the river forms a large sandbar near its mouth on Long Island Sound and has historically provided a formidable obstacle to navigation. The difficulty of navigation on the river is the primary reason that it is one of the few large rivers in the region without a major city near its mouth. The Connecticut River estuary and tidal wetlands complex is listed as one of the 1,759 wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Connecticut River is a habitat to several species of anadromous fish, including the American shad, American eel, striped bass and the sea lamprey. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service is undertaking an effort to repopulate the river with another species of migratory fish, the Atlantic salmon. For more than 200 years, Atlantic salmon have been extinct from the river due to damming. Several fish ladders and fish elevators have been built to allow fish to resume their natural migration upriver each spring.Angling the Connecticut

The headwaters of the Connecticut River are at the northern tip of New Hampshire, near the Canadian border. Much of the beginning of the river's course in the town of Pittsburg is occupied by the Connecticut Lakes, a chain of deep, cold water lakes that are home to lake trout and landlocked salmon.

The river itself holds native brook trout, rainbow trout, large brown trout, shad, small-mouth bass, striped bass, carp, catfish, American eel, and several other species of game fish. Landlocked salmon make their way into the river during spring spawning runs of bait fish and during their fall spawn. The river has fly-fishing-only regulations on 5 miles (8.0 km) of river. Most of the river from Lake Francis south is open to lure and bait as well. Two tail-water dams provide cold river water for miles downstream making summer fishing on the Connecticut River excellent.

The Connecticut River is the largest river in New England, flowing south from the Connecticut Lakes in northern New Hampshire, along the border between New Hampshire and Vermont, through Western Massachusetts and central Connecticut into Long Island Sound at Old Saybrook, Connecticut. It has a total length of 407 miles (655 km), and a drainage basin extending over 11,250 square miles (29,100 km2). The mean freshwater discharge into Long Island Sound is 19,600 cubic feet (560 m3) per second. The river is tidal up to Windsor Locks, approximately 60 miles (97 km) from the mouth. The source of the Connecticut River is the Fourth Connecticut Lake in New Hampshire. Some tributaries include the Ashuelot, West, Miller's, Mill, Deerfield, White, and Chicopee rivers. (The Swift River, a tributary of the Chicopee, has been largely replaced by the Quabbin Reservoir which provides water to Boston.)