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Some news from our colleagues at the ASGA ...

Will Connecticut Senate Conserve Striped Bass?

The Connecticut Senate has a bipartisan piece of legislation ready to go. Raised Bill 5333 is sitting on the Senate calendar. The bill has already passed the House and awaits a Senate hearing before the regular session ends tomorrow, May 6th.

This bill delivers three straight-up, common-sense protections for striped bass:

1. It creates real penalties for anyone who breaks striped bass rules and empowers local law enforcement.

2. It sets a full catch and release only season for striped bass from December 1 through March 31. Statewide. Every river. Every tributary in Connecticut. This no-harvest season would give the stock some breathing room it desperately needs while low recruitment continues to hammer the coastwide population.

3. The bill adds a targeted bait fishing ban in the Housatonic River downstream of Derby Dam during that same winter window. That stretch is a key staging area. Protecting it from gear types that are highly effective and display a higher rate of release mortality is common sense.

If you fish Connecticut waters or care about striped bass anywhere on the coast, now is the time to act. Call or email your senator today. Tell them to bring Raised Bill 5333 to the floor and pass the striped bass protections without delay. This is one of those moments where a single state can lead the way.

Learn more here:

https://www.saltwaterguidesassociation.com/will-connecticut-senate-conserve-striped-bass/



Photo: Nick Jones Photography

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