Category: News

Your support for Nutmeg TU can be multiplied during Fairfield County Giving Day on Thursday, Feb. 27.

“The Nutmeg chapter of Trout Unlimited serves the communities from Milford to Westport (including Stratford, Fairfield and Bridgeport) along the shore, and north to Trumbull, Shelton and Weston,” Nutmeg TU President Rich Rosen said. “As an organization our focus is to enhance the quality of local rivers to improve fish habitat and maintain quality fishing in our area.Monies raised will be used to support river conservation and Trout in the Classroom (a program enabling students to learn about the life cycle of trout, from eggs to released fish, with 11 schools participating at this time).We are a community organization welcoming new and experienced fishermen, and women, to learn to improve their skills and knowledge to catch more fish and enjoy the company of like-minded conservationists that happen to like to fish”

Click here to make a donation to Nutmeg Trout Unlimited.

Powered by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, Giving Day is our region’s biggest philanthropic event of the year. Now in its seventh year, it is a 24-hour online giving marathon designed to amplify the work of nonprofit community, boost staff and volunteer skills that can be used beyond Giving Day, and encourage important giving to your missions.

Giving — and the chance to earn additional donations, begins at 12 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 27.

Visit fcgives.org for more information on Fairfield County Giving Day.

Screening supports local TU work

The Fly Fishing Film Tour will take you — vicariously — to the best destinations around the world while raising money for local Trout Unlimited projects on Friday, Feb. 28, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Edmond Town Hall, 45 Main St., Newtown.

The annual screening by the Nutmeg, Mianus and Candlewood Valley chapters of Trout Unlimited offers a perfect way to spend a cold winter night dreaming about the fishing season ahead!

Click here to buy tickets, which are $25 in advance. The price of tickets increases to $30 at the door.

You’ll be joined by hundreds of avid anglers and conservationists who enjoy a fun night and help support our important work. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., and the event features a cash bar serving cold beer donated by SweetWater Brewing, and wine donated by Brescome Barton Distributors. The raffle includes more than $2,000 worth of great prizes!

If you’ve never been to an “F3T” showing, you’re in for a treat. You will watch dozens of incredibly shot, exciting fishing and conservation films while enjoying a few cold drinks and fun raffles and door prizes. The best part is that this great night supports the conservation and education programs of the Mianus, Candlewood and Nutmeg chapters of Trout Unlimited here in Fairfield County!

While tickets may be available at the door the night of the screening, we can’t guarantee a space as we’ve sold out in past years!

Fellow TU members,

Connecticut’s National Leadership Council representative Sal DeCarli, has drafted CTTU’s official response to the proposed changes to the DEEP Stormwater Permit. The stormwater permit is currently out for public comment, and DEEP is accepting comments on the entire permit (including new regulations for solar projects). Sal has drafted some fantastic language that specifically protects coldwater fisheries and watershed throughout Connecticut. Coldwater ecosystems are not given any special protections in the State, but this new language will go a long way in getting these habitats recognition and protection, if we can get the CTDEEP to include our new language stormwater permit. 

We need as many letters of support for our proposed language as we can get! Please share the attached letter with your members, and have them submit the sample letter to  DEEP, signed by them by Feb. 18.

You can submit a copy of the letter signed by you electronically and read more at https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?A=2586&Q=610706 Letters can also be sent by USPS mail. It is crucial to sign and send on your own so as many letters as possible reach DEEP. Click here for a copy to print and mail.

The text is also pasted below.

Thank you for your time.

John Kovach

———

Christopher Stone, P.E.

Water Permitting and Enforcement Division

Bureau of Materials Management and Compliance Assurance

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection

79 Elm Street 

Hartford, CT 06106 5127

Mr. Stone,

I am writing to you in support of Trout Unlimited’s (TU) proposed changes to the General Permit for the Discharge of Stormwater and Dewatering Wastewaters from Construction Activities. TU’s proposed changes will help protect sensitive coldwater ecosystems, including the wild brook trout and wild brown trout that rely on clean cold water for their survival. The addition the amendments that TU and I are in support of are:

Section 2. Definitions

“Coldwater Fish Resource (CFR)” means a waterbody (stream, river, or tributary thereto) with documented populations of wild brown trout (Salmo trutta) or wild brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) as documented by CT DEEP in the last ten (10) years. 

Section 5. Conditions of This General Permit

(a)General Conditions

(4) Impacts to Coldwater Fish Resources (CFRs)

A one-hundred (100) foot buffer shall be maintained between any project and a CFR. The buffer shall consist of undisturbed soil and existing vegetation. Fisheries data is available online through the University of Connecticut (UCONN) Connecticut Environmental Conditions Online (CTECO) or by contacting CT DEEP Inland Fisheries.

(b) Stormwater Pollution Control Plan

(2) Stormwater Control Measures

(D) Other Controls

The one-hundred (100) foot buffer adjacent to any CFR must be maintained post-construction and supplemented with additional plantings as necessary to maintain the canopy/stream cove 

CFRs are particularly sensitive to landscape modifications in riparian corridors. These include decreases in canopy cover and modifications to coldwater seeps and springs that maintain the coldwater CFR species require. 

The one-hundred (100) foot buffer proposed in Appendix I is a commendable step forward in reducing the impacts of solar projects on wetland, watercourses, and vernal pools. However, the impacts of clearing and development are not limited to solar projects. All development has the potential to impact wetlands, watercourses, and vernal pools. CFRs are particularly sensitive to landscape modifications along riparian corridors and a single development site has the potential to irreversibly change a watercourse. These impacts to CFRs cannot not be mitigated/replicated elsewhere like a wetland or vernal pool. Once the thermal properties of a watercourse are changed (and the species extirpated), it cannot not be reversed. 

I am in full support of the CT Council of Trout Unlimited’s proposed amendments which they have submitted to you and the Department. CFRs, and the species they support, are increasingly threatened by warming trends and precipitation fluctuations in the Connecticut climate, and require special protections. Thank you for your time.  

Sincerely, 

(Signature)

(Type Name)

Ron Merly will share more secrets about fishing area waters when he speaks on Tuesday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at Port 5, 69 Brewster St., in the Black Rock section of Bridgeport.

The talk, open to all, is hosted by the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited. It is open to fly and spin fishermen. TU membership is not required to attend.

The talk will be preceded at 6 p.m. by a fly tying demonstration by Eric Peterson of South Benson Outfitters in Fairfield.

The owner of Ron Merly’s Fishing Guide Service has more than 45 years of experience fishing the trout streams of Connecticut. He has been fly fishing since age 5, possesses excellent teaching skills and is an award winning outdoor writer whose credits include On The Water, Eastern Fly fishing, Trout and American Angler magazines.

He is the author of The Fly Fisher’s Guide to Connecticut, which gives tips on how to find water to fish.

Pizza is served, and beverages can be purchased from Port 5.

A few days ago the @EPA announced that it is yanking protections away from millions of miles of streams and millions of acres of wetlands. This is a historic rollback of Clean Water Act protections. The new rule is NOT based in science and is NOT consistent with the goals of the Clean Water Act. The new rollback will undermine long-standing protections for wetlands and small streams and it will harm hunting and fishing in America.
Unfortunately, in addition to this new rule, the EPA also proposes vastly undercutting state and tribal authority to protect coldwater resources. In issuing this proposal, the EPA rejects decades of administrative practice and directly defies numerous judicial interpretations, including at least two Supreme Court rulings.

TU’s website states: “it is no overstatement to say that we are facing one of the greatest threats to the Clean Water Act in its long and effective history.”

Take action at https://standup.tu.org/stand-up-for-clean-water/ and read more about it at https://www.tu.org/press-releases/epa-final-rule-unravels-clean-water-act-protections/

One lucky attendee at the Nutmeg TU Holiday Party will take home his or her choice of a new rod and reel.

The party, originally scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 17, has been postponed to Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Please click here for more information on the party, including the potluck.

The door prize will be the choice of a fly outfit or spinning outfit.

Fly rod outfit

The 4 piece, 9’ 9 weight Axiom II-X is Temple Fork Outfitter’s latest fast action, high modulus carbon fiber fly rod that delivers both the energy necessary for long casts and the incredible tracking and recovery which results in accuracy at distance. In a beautiful satin sky blue finish it features a premium cork handle, RECOIL guides and ultra-lightweight snake guides and comes with a rod sock and tube.  Paired with TFO’s no-fault lifetime warranty and top-end BVK sealed drag super large arbor reel, this outfit, which retails for $600, is the perfect tool for chasing Long Island Sound Stripers or Housatonic River Northern Pike.

Spinning outfit

The TFO 7’6” medium heavy, 1 piece Inshore series spinning rod was designed for the conventional tackle angler fishing anywhere along the roughly 43,000 miles of coastline from Casco Bay to South Padre.  It features a soft, fast tip and a deep, powerful progressive taper to deliver better balance and crisper action while offering substantial weight reduction.  Handsomely finished in non-glare sky blue, the rod retails for over $200 and is fitted with a premium cork grip, TFO’s exclusive skeletal reel seat and topped with Fuji Fazlite Corrosion Control guides.  Matched with a spinning reel, this outfit will become your new favorite tool for Stripers, Bluefish, Albies or anything that swims in the Sound.

In an effort to give you a voice the direction of Nutmeg TU, the chapter Board of Directors has compiled a survey.

Your replies will be anonymous (unless you provide an email address to contact you), and will help us plan activities and events.

Click this link to take the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/8279Z7M

A tree has fallen and is partially covering a favorite pool in the William “Doc” Skerlick Fly Fishing Only section of the Saugatuck River Trout Management Area in Westport.

What to do?!?

Actually, this is a blessing in disguise!

Why are large woody debris important?

Wood helps stabilize shorelines and provides vital habitat for trout and other creatures. Preserving and even increasing the amounts of large woody debris along shorelines is important for keeping our aquatic areas healthy and improving the survival of native trout and other animals.

Some key benefits of large woody debris to fish and other aquatic creatures:

• It provides refuge for juvenile and adult fish at a wide range of river flows, such as flood events.
• It creates pools for juvenile fish and hydraulic complexity and roughness along the river bank
• It provides food sources and habitat for aquatic insects and wildlife along shorelines.
• It helps stabilize shorelines and reduce excessive erosion.

(Source: https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/shorelines/about/shoreline-ecology/large-woody-debris.aspx)

Trout just feel safer where there is large woody debris, and their numbers are higher there and in surrounding areas. That is why Nutmeg TU is installing revetments and adding large woody debris to the Mill River – currently focusing on the Congress Street section! As TU members like to say, ” If you take care of the fish, the fishing will take care of itself”.

If you’re interested in reading more, check out:

• Wood is Good for Brook Trout: https://vtfishandwildlife.com/sites/fishandwildlife/files/documents/Fish/Fish-Biologist-Reports/Wood-Good-for-BKT-2018.pdf
• CT DEEP Large Woody Debris Fact Sheet: https://www.ct.gov/deep/lib/deep/fishing/restoration/largewoodydebrisfactsheet.pdf