Unfortunately last week I witnessed two incidences of attempted poaching within the Farmington River Permanent TMA.
Use the TIP (Turn In Poachers) line if you witness poaching. Other than the actual creeling of fish, warning signs include: those toting large plastic buckets (and not for storing gear); dragging trout up on the bank and taking a lackadaisical approach to hook removal (all trout are to be returned to the river without avoidable harm); building stone weirs to keep the fish alive and penned in until they make their move. You betcha, I saw all of this behavior, as well as the attempt to walk off with trout.
TIP Line: 1-800-842-HELP (4357). Program it into your phone. Don’t be bashful about using it.
A poacher’s MO from a few years ago. I recovered this after he broke it off on the bottom. Barbless hooks only in the permanent TMA!
currentseams.com 
Can’t stand people who think they are above the law. We all need to patrol our protected waters and the fish that swim in them.Too much dedicated work went into creating this great fishery to ignore these poachers. Yes there are not enough C. O’s to patrol round the clock but if you see something say something. We can make a difference. Use the line as Steve mentions. Same thing happening on the Cole W Wilde TMA on the Willimantic River.
Gary
Roger that.
Thanks for sharing this, Steve. I now have TIP on speed dial.
They pay attention to call volume so use it if you see something.
I too will add the number. I would hope that with all the notoriety this resource has garnered that the State would have a pretty frequent presence on the river.
Not so much. It’s a matter of $. Use the line if you see something.
Bastards. They’re everywhere and not enough COs to cover territories properly. I warn people frequently that fish the surplus breeding stock salmon on the Shetucket River about the illegal gear they’re using. Some thank me, others ignore me and keep on fishing.
Phone them in. Call volume gets attention.