Lake Lillinonah is a reservoir in Connecticut, near Western Connecticut 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.
Lake Lillinonah covers 1,547 acres in the Western Connecticut region. The verified maximum depth at Lake Lillinonah is 110 feet.
Lake Lillinonah is a long Housatonic River impoundment with bass, northern pike, tiger muskellunge, crappie, perch and stocked brown trout. Its river character matters more than its lake name suggests.
The old Housatonic channel, tributary mouths, bluff banks and flooded flats create a repeated shallow-to-deep pattern. At 110 feet, the reservoir can also hold fish far below the visible shoreline cover, especially when current is weak.
Connecticut DEEP identifies Lillinonah as one of the Housatonic impoundments where northern pike and tiger muskellunge add a trophy-predator option. Hydrilla has also been documented in the lake, so vegetation patterns can change as the plant spreads or is controlled.
Fish reported from Lake Lillinonah include alewife, american eel, banded killifish, black crappie, bluegill, brook silverside, brown bullhead, chain pickerel, channel catfish, common carp, fallfish, golden shiner, goldfish, green sunfish, largemouth bass, longear sunfish, northern pike, redbreast sunfish, rock bass, smallmouth bass, spottail shiner, tessellated darter, tiger muskellunge, white catfish, white perch, white sucker, yellow bullhead, and yellow perch. Brown trout is listed separately as stocked in Lake Lillinonah. The stocking entry is a management record for Lake Lillinonah, not a promise that those fish will be present at every spot or on every trip.
When largemouth bass hold tight to cover on Lake Lillinonah, a compact jig or weedless worm is more useful than repeated open-water casts. Use a tube, Ned rig or small swimbait for Lake Lillinonah smallmouth where firm bottom meets deeper water.
Crappie at Lake Lillinonah respond to a small jig or live minnow beside brush and suspended cover. Use a tiny jig or natural bait under a float when fishing Lake Lillinonah for bluegill and related sunfish. A small minnow or worm on a light rig fits yellow perch fishing at Lake Lillinonah.
Pike fishing on Lake Lillinonah is best suited to weed edges, a wire leader and a moving lure that covers water. For Lake Lillinonah pickerel, cover weed edges with a flashy moving lure and use a short leader when bite-offs become common. A large swimbait or bucktail fits the wide search involved in tiger musky fishing on Lake Lillinonah.
For Lake Lillinonah channel cats, place cut bait or a nightcrawler along the creek channel and give the bait time to work. Bullheads at Lake Lillinonah will take worms and small pieces of cut bait presented close to soft bottom. Common carp in Lake Lillinonah can be targeted with corn or dough bait on a simple bottom rig.
For brown trout in Lake Lillinonah, 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 Lake Lillinonah.
Lake Lillinonah is deep enough for fish to separate by temperature and forage. At Lake Lillinonah in the Western Connecticut region, use sonar or contours to identify the working band instead of treating the deepest basin as the automatic target. At Lake Lillinonah in the Western Connecticut region, before moving, change lure depth once so depth and location are not abandoned together.
A sunny spring afternoon can pull Lake Lillinonah fish toward dark bottom, wood and new vegetation. Summer fish in Lake Lillinonah may feed shallow at dawn before settling beside cover or deeper structure. Cooling water can bring Lake Lillinonah fish back to points and banks where bait gathers.
Start at a tributary mouth and follow its channel toward the Housatonic route. A tube or jig fits smallmouth on rock, while largemouth and pike call for a spinnerbait or weedless swimbait around vegetation. Give tiger muskies stout tackle and careful handling.
A medium spinning rod with 8- to 10-pound line handles jigs, small crankbaits and live-bait rigs on Lake Lillinonah. Add stout tackle, leader material, long pliers and a large net for pike-family fish at Lake Lillinonah.
Incoming flow strengthens current seams, changes water color and concentrates forage along tributary and channel edges.
Northern pike and tiger muskellunge give Lillinonah a different top-end predator mix from nearby Zoar and Housatonic.
New patches may create bass and panfish edges, but dense growth can make formerly open coves harder to fish.
Explore nearby waters, including local Featured destinations. Check each page for access and fishing restrictions.
Distances are straight-line estimates between mapped water locations.
Source dates describe the evidence, not a live catch forecast. Check the managing authority before planning access or keeping fish.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.
The linked source supports this fish’s presence or stocking in this water.
Source checked:
This is not a record catch or a measure of how many fish are there today. The source may describe an earlier period.