Connecticut is quickly becoming well-known for its carp. With countless ponds and lakes across the state harboring healthy populations, and two the state’s largest rivers, the Housatonic and the Connecticut, both holding huge populations of this challenging species that grows to immense sizes.
The Connecticut River has seen some global recognition among carp enthusiasts as the CT Carp Open held on the Connecticut River and put on Fishin’ Factory 3 in Middletown, CT draws anglers from all over the country and even Europe, “The tournament sells out in a matter of hours,” said Fishin’ Factory 3 owner Andrew Nichols, “Kyle Jeffrey runs it and, sort of, uses my shop as the headquarters, it’s an awesome event and they give away some big money prizes!”
Clearly, Connecticut is the carp epicenter of the Northeast and fishing for these interesting fish only gets more and more popular by the year. We’ve seen the catch and release weight record change hands a few times over the past handful of years and, back in June we saw that record fall once again. This fish was caught in Lake Lillinonah, a sprawling reservoir formed by the Shepaug Dam on the Housatonic River. The angler was Brian Santos of Poughquag, NY, a border town not too far from Lillinonah. The 45-pound, 5-ounce common carp toppled Robert Jagiello’s record by 4 ounces, which was caught from the same body of water in 2023. Which begs the question… was it the same fish?
