I checked our computer records, there have only been 6 arrests/warnings for fishing on the Housatonic River since January 1st.

ALL of them were for fishing without a license and a few had additional charges besides the no license. If you buddy was one of them then no license means that whatever he was doing was illegal.

Alabama rigs/umbrella rigs are not illegal in inland waters provided that it does not have more than 3 baited hooks.

Suggest that you double check with your buddy and find out what he got arrested for.

See if this clears it up...... (this is the inland regulation)

26-112-43. Definitions and restrictions
(a) "Angling" means fishing with hook and line which shall be personally attended, but shall not include ice fishing or snagging or snatching. Not more than two lines, with or without rods, may be used at one time. Each line may have any combination of hooks, flies or lures, among which not more than three hooks may be baited.

(b) "Bait" means any animal, bait species as defined in Section 26-112-45(d) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, fish eggs, insect or vegetable, or parts thereof, living or dead, except for certain nuisance aquatic invertebrates as provided for in section 26-55-5 of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, used with a hook for the purpose of attracting and catching fish. Any fish legally acquired, except black bass (largemouth and smallmouth), chain pickerel, northern pike, trout, charr, salmon, carp and goldfish may be used as bait, except as provided in section 26-112-48(b) of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies.

The umbrella rig that you showed may have 5 or more hooks on the lures, but it does not have any bait. A rubber tube lure is not bait (see (b) above). If you were to put a strip of squid, worm, frog, grasshopper, salmon egg, powerbait nugget or any other item which qualifies as bait under the definition, then you have to abide by the no more than 3 hooks baited. You can have an umbrella rig with multiple hooks and lures.

When you get into ice fishing then the rules change a bit.

(u) "Ice fishing" means fishing through the ice with tip-ups, bobbers or floats, similar devices or hand-held jigs. The following restrictions shall apply to ice fishing:
(1) An individual may use, at one time, tip-ups, bobbers or floats, similar devices or hand-held jigs in any combination thereof, not exceeding six in the aggregate.
(2) Each line shall be restricted to not more than three baited hooks, with or without attractors, or three ice flies or three artificial lures or any combination thereof, not exceeding three in the aggregate.