Enfield Fishing Spot Among Those Stocked With Catfish

ENFIELD, CT - A favorite local fishing hole has been stocked with what the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection is calling "one of the most sought after freshwater game fish species in the country - the channel catfish."

Enfield's Freshwater Pond has been stocked with 350 adult fish, according to the DEEP.

Center Springs Park in Manchester has been stocked with 225 adult catfish, according to the DEEP.

Keeney Park Pond in Hartford has been stocked with 225 adult fish.

The catfish have been stocked into 24 bodies of water across Connecticut.

It is the 10th consecutive year DEEP has been able to stock Channel Catfish purchased with Federal Sport Fish Restoration Funds. This year approximately 15,800 fish were stocked.

The catsfish stocked last week include adult fish averaging 12-to-18 inches in length and weighing just less than 2 pounds and juvenile fish, averaging 9-to-12 inches and about a half-pound in weight.

Stocking the larger fish provides an immediate summer fishery for a great tasting-high quality fish, while stocking the smaller fish provides a cost-effective investment for great catfish fishing into the future, according to DEEP officials.

"This DEEP program establishes channel catfish in lakes where we know there is sufficient habitat to support a population of large gamefish," said Bill Hyatt, chief of DEEP’s Bureau of Natural Resources. "Anglers have reported taking 5-to-7-pound fish from several of the lakes. DEEP believes that the combination of a popular gamefish stocked into waters that are selected based on scientific data is a winning combination. We’ve had great success in using this approach to develop exciting fisheries for northern pike and walleye and now we’re seeing similar results with catfish."

There is currently no minimum size for harvest nor any daily catch limit for catfish in Connecticut, but the DEEP os is encouraging anglers to take only those fish intend to be eaten.