Gardner Lake fishing: Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Brook Trout

Target species: Rainbow Trout, Walleye, Brook Trout, Brown Trout
Boat: 1 ramp or launch on file for this water.
Start here: Launch at Gardner Lake Boat Launch.

The lake

Gardner Lake covers 538 acres in Connecticut, across Southeastern Connecticut County. It is a lake: 90.3% of it is 24 feet deep or less; the deepest point measured is at least 36 feet (11 m). Our records hold 4 species for this water.

Stocking: 7,015 fish in 2025

Connecticut DEEP Fisheries Division records list 7,015 fish released into this water in 2025.

  • Walleye: 3,390 in 2025
  • Rainbow Trout: 2,450 in 2025
  • Brown Trout: 900 in 2025
  • Brook Trout: 275 in 2025

Depth and bottom

Deepest measured point: at least 36 ft (11 m). That is the deepest contour line: the bottom goes deeper. 90.3% of the water is 24 feet or shallower. We hold 34 depth contour lines for this water.

  • 0–2 ft: 16.6% of the water
  • 2–4 ft: 8.9% of the water
  • 4–6 ft: 8.2% of the water
  • 6–8 ft: 8.1% of the water
  • 8–10 ft: 6.5% of the water
  • 10–12 ft: 5.5% of the water
  • 12–14 ft: 4.4% of the water
  • 14–16 ft: 4% of the water
  • 16–18 ft: 4.1% of the water
  • 18–20 ft: 4.6% of the water
  • 20–22 ft: 6.1% of the water
  • 22–24 ft: 13.3% of the water
  • 24–26 ft: 8.4% of the water
  • 26–28 ft: 0.6% of the water
  • 28–30 ft: 0.5% of the water
  • 30–32 ft: 0.4% of the water

4 target fish, led by Rainbow Trout

  • Rainbow Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Walleye — Feeding water: 50–75°F.
  • Brook Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.
  • Brown Trout — Feeding water: 50–65°F.

Water and conditions

Our water temperature readings average 66°F; they do not cover the whole year, so this is not a yearly average. pH averages 7.2. These readings span 2018–2023.

1 ramp or launch on this water

On this water we hold 1 boat ramp.

  • Gardner Lake Boat Launch — Salem, Gardner Lake Water Access. 147 Old Colchester Road, Salem · website portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Boating/Boat-Launches/Gardner-Lake-Boat-Launch

The place listed has no fee or opening hours on file: a blank means we hold no such field, not that it is free or always open, and this list may not be complete.

What is hard here

Only 1 public ramp is on file, so the launch decides where you fish.

Where this data comes from

  • Connecticut DEEP — Connecticut DEEP: depth contours: class A, a survey of the bottom.
  • Webster, K.E., McCullough, I.M., Soranno, P.A. LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0, EDI, doi:10.6073/pasta/64ddc4d04661d9aef4bd702dc5d8984f (CC BY 4.0); Cheruvelil et al. LAGOS-US LOCUS v1.0 (EDI) — LAGOS-US DEPTH v1.0: Lake depth for 17,675 lakes in the conterminous U.S.: class B, a depth figure measured and published by an agency, without a bottom map.