The State of Connecticut has two primary fresh water fisheries that are amongst the best in the US; the Housatonic River and the Farmington River.

The Farmington River runs from the Berkshire Region of Massachusetts to the Connecticut River in the area of Windsor. There are two main Trout Management Areas that provide the best year-round angling on the River:

• The Upper Trout Management Area begins at the DEP field headquarters on West River Road in the Pleasant Valley section of Barkhamsted and continues downstream to the Route 219 bridge in New Hartford.
• The Lower Trout Management Area begins at the dam on Main Street in Collinsville and continues downstream to the Route 4 bridge in Unionville.
• Also it is important to note that the CT Department of Environmental Protection has designated the entire stretch of the from the Goodwin Dam in Hartland to the Rte. 177 Bridge in Unionville as a "Trophy Trout Stream". This means that even outside the Trout Management Areas listed above there are still strict limits on the taking of fish. This increases the overall holdover population as well as the size of the fish throughout the Farmington River
  
  

The Housatonic River begins in the Berkshires Region of Massachusetts as two branches. The Southwest branch begins near the town of Pittsfield while the East Branch begins near the town of Hinsdale. In CT there is a fantastic Trout Management Area that begins in West Cornwall near Route 112 and Route 7, and runs downstream to Route 7 and Route 4.