Highland Lake is a reservoir in Connecticut, near Northwest Hills County.
Stocking records show that the following fish or strains were stocked here. A historical stocking does not by itself prove that a self-sustaining population remains today.
Highland Lake covers 445 acres in the Northwest Hills region. The verified maximum depth at Highland Lake is 63 feet.
Highland Lake is a 445-acre, 63-foot coldwater lake with stocked brook, brown and rainbow trout plus bass, crappie, perch and pickerel. It supports both basin and shoreline fishing.
The lake’s depth lets trout follow cool water and alewife offshore. Bass and panfish use shallower shelves, rock and vegetation, creating a clear split between warmwater cover and suspended forage patterns.
Highland is one of Connecticut’s Trout Management Lakes. Alewife in the reported fish community give trout and larger bass a high-energy food source that can move well away from the bank.
Fish reported from Highland Lake include alewife, american eel, banded killifish, black crappie, bluegill, brown bullhead, chain pickerel, channel catfish, common carp, golden shiner, green sunfish, largemouth bass, longear sunfish, redbreast sunfish, rock bass, smallmouth bass, spottail shiner, tessellated darter, white catfish, white sucker, and yellow perch. Brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout are listed separately as stocked in Highland Lake. The stocking entry is a management record for Highland Lake, not a promise that those fish will be present at every spot or on every trip.
Begin the largemouth search on Highland Lake with a moving bait, then pick apart wood or weeds with a worm. Rocky points on Highland Lake suit a grub, tube or compact crankbait when smallmouth are the target.
A soft-plastic minnow or live minnow placed beside cover is a sound crappie approach on Highland Lake. For sunfish on Highland Lake, keep a cricket or tiny jig close to weed edges and shaded wood. For Highland Lake yellow perch, work a light jig slowly along the first firm-bottom break.
Chain pickerel in Highland Lake can be found with spoons, spinnerbaits and small swimbaits along vegetation.
Channel catfish in Highland Lake take cut bait, nightcrawlers and prepared bait on a slip-sinker rig. Brown bullheads in Highland Lake are best approached with a worm or small piece of cut bait on bottom. Common carp in Highland Lake can be targeted with corn or dough bait on a simple bottom rig.
For rainbow trout, brown trout, and brook trout in Highland Lake, use a small spoon, inline spinner, trout magnet or natural bait on light line. Stocked trout may begin near release areas before spreading toward cooler or deeper water in Highland Lake.
Highland Lake is deep enough for fish to separate by temperature and forage. At Highland Lake in the Northwest Hills region, use sonar or contours to identify the working band instead of treating the deepest basin as the automatic target. At Highland Lake in the Northwest Hills region, before moving, change lure depth once so depth and location are not abandoned together.
Early spring on Highland Lake calls for a slow presentation near the first break outside protected water. At midday in summer, Highland Lake anglers should slow down beside shade, weeds or a nearby depth change. Fall on Highland Lake is a good time for small crankbaits and swimbaits around moving forage.
For trout, locate the forage layer before trolling a spoon or jigging vertically. Smallmouth fit rock and clean breaks, while largemouth call for a worm or jig around vegetation. Crappie anglers should look for suspended cover instead of dragging bottom.
A medium spinning rod with 8- to 10-pound line handles jigs, small crankbaits and live-bait rigs on Highland Lake. A medium-heavy rod with 12- to 15-pound line covers bass jigs and bottom rigs at Highland Lake.
The 63-foot basin and roaming alewife give trout suitable temperature and food in open water.
Connecticut applies water-specific trout management there, so current fishing rules should be reviewed before keeping trout.
Use rock and firmer breaks for smallmouth, then move to vegetation and protected cover for largemouth.
Explore nearby waters, including local Featured destinations. Check each page for access and fishing restrictions.
Distances are straight-line estimates between mapped water locations.