Five Lakes to Ice Fish in Southeastern Connecticut

Although it is one of the last places in Connecticut to have safe ice, the southeastern portion of the state has many lakes and ponds that allow ice fishing. Ice fishing southeastern Connecticut once you are sure of the thickness of the ice can be very exciting, as a wonderful variety of game species are found in these waters. Ice fishing in southeastern Connecticut can net you bass, trout, pickerel, crappie, and even walleye, as two of the lakes found in this area are stocked with these large and edible members of the perch family.

The northernmost of these lakes is Beach Pond, about halfway up the eastern border and straddling the Connecticut-Rhode Island line. Beach Pond is over 300 acres in area and is very deep in spots, just the way trout and walleye like it. It is a designated walleye lake, meaning the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection maintains a population of this tasty fish in its waters. Beach Pond also has broodstock Atlantic salmon as of autumn 2007, and a Rhode Island or Connecticut fishing license is good no matter what side of the lake you are on. Beach Pond can be located by driving east on Connecticut Route 138 after getting off of Interstate 395 at Exit 85 and taking a sharp left before you hit the Rhode Island state line in Voluntown, following the signs. Beach Pond's ice fishing season ends on the last day of February.

Below Beach Pond is Billings Lake in North Stonington, a 97 acre fishery off of Route 201. Billings Lake has many springs in it, making the ice conditions very variable, so please be sure to check the ice depth before you walk around on it. Billings Lake is a bass management lake, with specific creel and slot limits on this species. Like Beach Pond, the ice fishing on Billings Lake is done when March comes around so it can be stocked with trout. Bass management lakes in Connecticut such as Billings usually have the rules and regulations that need to be followed posted on a signboard at the lake's boat launch for fishermen to read and then adhere to.

Not far at all to the west of Billings Lake is Amos Lake, a trophy trout and bass management lake of 113 acres in Preston. Amos Lake's ice fishing season ends the final day of March, so if the weather is constantly cold enough to keep ice, the lake is a destination for that area's ice fisherman late into the season. Amos Lake is on Route 164, a mile and a half south of the junction with Route 165, but the bumpy road to the boat launch is no picnic. However, tying into a trophy trout on Amos Lake through the ice is worth it.

Yet another bass management lake is Wyassup Lake, found with much difficulty off of Route 2 on Wyassup Road. This southeastern Connecticut ice fishing spot is a hair under 100 acres in area, with several small islands in it. Wyassup has largemouth bass and smallmouth as well, with plenty of pickerel and perch thrown in. February 29th marks the end of ice fishing on Wyassup.

The last of these 5 southeastern Connecticut ice fishing lakes is Gardner Lake, the biggest of the handful, with 529 acres sprawling through the towns of Salem, Montville, and Bozrah. Gardner Lake is a walleye and bass management lake, the premier walleye waterway in the region. It is found off of Route 82, among other roads, and the ice fishing stops there when February is over. As one might imagine on a lake of this size, there are several species that can be taken while ice fishing, but the locals target the walleye, so much so that the population there may be under duress.

Source:
http://www.ct.gov/dep/site/default.asp