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Best landlocked salmon lakes in Connecticut

7 Connecticut waters hold landlocked salmon, 5 mapped with real state-agency depth surveys. Ranked below by size and depth-data quality — open any water to see exactly where to fish it: depth contours, scored spots with plain-English reasons, seasonal windows and bait picks. Lake-dwelling Atlantic salmon that lives and dies by the smelt run. Ice-out surface fishing at its finest.

1. Rainbow Reservoir — 35 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Crappie, Bluegill
2. Silver Lake — 16 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Crappie, Bluegill, Channel Catfish
3. Crystal Lake — 42 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Bluegill, Rainbow Trout
4. Mount Tom Pond — 45 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Walleye, Crappie
5. Bigelow Pond — 15 ft max · survey depth data · Largemouth Bass, Walleye, Crappie, Bluegill
6. Naugatuck River — 6 ft max · Smallmouth Bass, Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Landlocked Salmon
7. Salmon River — 6 ft max · Rainbow Trout, Brown Trout, Landlocked Salmon

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When to fish landlocked salmon in Connecticut

• Spring 1–15 ft — The legendary ice-out bite: salmon follow spawning smelt to tributary mouths and windblown shorelines, right on the surface.
• Summer 25–60 ft — Salmon hold just above the thermocline with the smelt schools — depth control decides the day.
• Fall 5–30 ft — Turnover scatters bait and salmon shallow; spawners stage off tributary mouths, hot-tempered and territorial.
• Winter 10–40 ft — Where winter seasons allow, salmon cruise for smelt under the ice — sewn bait near a drop is the classic set.

Also in Connecticut: best largemouth bass lakes · best smallmouth bass lakes · best walleye lakes · best northern pike lakes · best crappie lakes · best bluegill lakes · best channel catfish lakes · best rainbow trout lakes · best yellow perch lakes · best common carp lakes · best brown trout lakes · best brook trout lakes · best chain pickerel lakes · best rock bass lakes · best white perch lakes · best pumpkinseed lakes · best brown bullhead lakes

Landlocked Salmon elsewhere: Ontario · Québec · New Hampshire · New York · Maine