Category: News

Written by NutmegTrout21713Oct, 2014

Meeting Oct. 14 on Exide cleanup

Dredging more than 20,000 cubic yards of lead-contaminated soil from the Mill River is about to get underway now that a processing plant to clean the sediment has been installed on Exide’s 6.25 acres on the Post Road, according to the Fairfield Citizen.

TRC Environmental Corp. of Madison, Wisc., is doing the work for Exide, which is under orders from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, to clean up the river that was polluted by waste from Exide’s now-closed battery factory over the years.

A public information meeting on the cleanup will be held Oct. 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Board of Education conference room, 501 Kings Highway East.

Click here to read more

Written by NutmegTrout21713Oct, 2014

Catching the big ones Oct. 21 topic

Plona-trout

Frank Plona returns to share his wisdom about fishing the Farmington River with Nutmeg TU Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Port 5 Naval Veterans, 69 Brewster St., Bridgeport.

A fellow member of TU, Frank will speak on “How to Catch Big Survivor Trout on the Farmington and Other Places.”

Frank knows the Farmington like the back of his hand. He has technique honed years of experience and he has a storyteller’s way of engaging us. He is a friend and a “fun to have” speaker.

He will outline sets of conditions where you can hook up with bigger, more wary survivor trout in the Farmington River along with an explanation of situations with techniques for handling them and where they will not work. Expect that you will also learn of sections of the Farmington that you may not know of that produce! Frank knows ‘em all.

He just spoke at the recent meeting of his home chapter, Farmington Valley TU, and he filled the house!

Pizza will be served.

Ron Merly with an 18 and one-half inch palomino trout recently caught and released in one of Connecticut's beautiful streams. Perfect Autumn colors!!
Written by NutmegTrout21712Oct, 2014

Merly: Now is the time to go fishing

Ron Merly with an 18 and one-half inch palomino trout recently caught and released in one of Connecticut's beautiful streams. Perfect Autumn colors!!

Now is the time to get out and fish for everything!!; Atlantic salmon have been stocked into the Naugatuck and Shetucket Rivers. The Saugatuck Fly only TMA and Cascades TMA on the Mill have just been stocked with trout as well as the Housatonic TMA’s in Kent and in Cornwall. Water levels are down but the fishing is good despite the lower water. The Farmington continues to fish very well.

Blackfishing has been very good lately. There is a lot of bait out in the sound. I saw a pic of a 60+ lb. striper which was recently caught in the Connecticut River and the bonito and false albacore are giving anglers a thrill out east. So whatever your quarry, get out there before the weather turns too cold.

I spoke with state biologist Mike Humphreys recently and he has submitted a proposal for regulation change on the Mill River. The proposal will be to change the currently fragmented area of the stream which is a WTMA from the Easton Reservoir down to Rte. 59 where it becomes put and take fishing along Congress St. and then changes to a seasonal TMA from the Congress St. Bridge down to Lake Mohegan.

The changes will be to make the entire stream from the reservoir down to Lake Mohegan catch and release fishing only with possible supplemental stockings of rainbows throughout the Cascades area which they do not feel will compete with the wild trout. (???) Anyway, it will all be catch and release.

The electro-shocking survey conducted by the state on the Mill this year yielded some excellent results. The largest numbers of 6- 10″ brown trout that they have recorded to date were electro-shocked this year. There were browns over 20 inches, wild rainbows (which the state believes are the progeny of the spring spawn rainbows that were stocked by what was formerly the 25 Sportsmens Club which was a private club that ran from the bridge near Buck Hill Rd. up to the reservoir) and wild tigers. However, the best news is that the brook trout population is finally expanding all the way down to Congress St. This makes the Mill one of the most unique wild trout streams in the entire northeast. It is a tailwater release wild trout stream that runs down into a 60 ft. deep thermal refuge (Lake Mohegan) in less than 3 miles and Nutmeg should be proud to be the keeper of this excellent self-sustaining fishery. I pointed this out to the state in a letter that I wrote to them which was the final letter that I wrote as President of the chapter which is largely what led to these changes.

There is more promising news on the Mill. The Aspetuck Land Trust is trying to raise money to purchase the South Park Ave. property that runs along the Mill from the Town of Easton. The land trust was successful in obtaining Trout Brook Valley many years back with the help of Newman’s Own, The Nature Conservancy, the State of Connecticut and other private donors and conservation organizations. ALT needs that same support now as this would obviously be the best acquisition of that land and this is a great opportunity for Nutmeg as well as the community in general as it would make the Mill even that much more of an asset to the state.

Tight, light lines,

Ron Merly

Written by NutmegTrout21730Sep, 2014

Fish passage being built on Aspetuck

logo-nature-conservaWork is getting underway on a fish passage project in Westport that will provide access to more than a mile of the Aspetuck River and associated wetlands for migrating alewife, blueback herring and American eel.

A pool-and-weir fishway will be constructed to allow fish to bypass the dam, sometimes called the Newman dam. The fishway, which also will benefit non-migrating resident fish, will incorporate field stone and wooden weirs to create the pools.

The Aspetuck river dam is jointly owned by Joanne and Melissa Newman and Raphael Elkind.

Click here to read the full story in The Weston Forum.

The DEEP found healthy populations of trout and smallmouth during electrofishing surveys of the Housatonic and Farmington Rivers (DEEP Photo)
Written by NutmegTrout21717Sep, 2014

Electrofishing surveys on Farmington, Housatonic

The DEEP found healthy populations of trout and smallmouth during electrofishing surveys of the Housatonic and Farmington Rivers (DEEP Photo)

The DEEP Inland Fisheries Division recently completed annual electrofishing surveys on the Housatonic and Farmington Rivers.

The trout and smallmouth are doing well, with some very impressive fish sampled, according to the DEEP.

Electrofishing is a non-lethal method to efficiently collect fish from a waterbody. In large rivers like the Farmington and the Housatonic, the sampling crew walk slowly upstream with 2 probes powered by a generator towed behind in a canoe. The stunned fish are netted and quickly transferred into “live cars”, large wood and wire containment boxes, which are kept downstream of the electrical field so the fish can recover.

Click here to see some photos on the DEEP Facebook page.

Easton officials are discussing what to do with the Prayer Center, which abuts the Mill River. (Easton Courier Photo)
Written by NutmegTrout21717Sep, 2014

Easton deliberates future of Prayer Center site

Easton officials are discussing what to do with the Prayer Center, which abuts the Mill River. (Easton Courier Photo)
Easton could make creative use of the South Park property, abutting the Mill River, by leasing it to farmers, one of about 50 residents who attended an informational session members of the Board of Selectmen.

The property is in the news because the New England Prayer Center has until Oct. 8 to exercise an option to buy the property for $5.8 million. If the group does not buy the property, the town is looking for ideas on what to do with it.

The town bought the property to protect it against dense housing development. It is zoned for three-acre single family homes.

To read The Easton Courier story, click here.

Written by NutmegTrout21716Jun, 2014

Nutmeg barbeque canceled

The Nutmeg TU Barbeque scheduled for June 28 has been canceled.

The following letter is being emailed to members:

Hi TU Nutmeggers,

Because of low signup and because this was supposed to be our annual fund raiser, your Nutmeg board of directors, after giving this a lot of thought, has decided it’s best to cancel the barbecue. In scheduling this event, we tried to hit the sweet spot between end of school, youth athletic leagues, and summer vacations. Seems we missed, however, the board looks ahead to future ways for us all to share our common interests as Nutmeg Chapter members, and to raise funds in support of our monthly meetings, and our conservation and youth education missions.

The cancellation is disappointing to all of us, and at the same time your board of directors is already brainstorming possibilities for fun, free or inexpensive, local events to have, so we can connect with each other and celebrate what the Chapter’s accomplishing; for example what Nutmeg volunteers are doing with school kids in Trout in the Classroom, and our stream preservation efforts like our current work to rid the Mill River of invasive plants

And you’ll soon receive a very short survey asking for your opinions about our chapter’s local mission, and events, where we can come together, that you would like to see. — We need your good thinking!

So though our obligation to use Nutmeg Chapter funds prudently meant that canceling the barbecue was the right decision for now, it won’t slow us down! Look for that survey coming soon.

Thanks for now, and I hope to hear from you!
Best Regards,

Charles Petruccelli | President | Nutmeg Chapter Trout Unlimited