Join Nutmeg TU to fish for Fall run Stripers and Blues at the mouth of the Housatonic River at Short Beach in Stratford Saturday, Oct. 24, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

There is no cost for the outing, membership is not required, and both fly and spin anglers are welcome.

This is a great spot for fly or spin fishers and a terrific opportunity to learn about the lower Housy (which is also a Spring run hotspot).

We will meet in the parking area by the tennis courts and walk out to the river channel which is accessible from Stratford only around low tide (~12:35 PM on Oct. 24).  We will fish up to the first hour or so of the incoming tide. Much later and the walk back to shore can be problematic as the rising water can create deep channels to cross.

For fly fishing we recommend an 8-10 weight rod.  Most common is an intermediate or sink-tip line but if you tuned into our September Zoom meeting, guide Steve Culton described techniques that make floating lines very effective as well.  Standard Clousers, Deceivers and other baitfish patterns are ideal.

Spin fishers can use a variety of swimming plugs or soft plastics.  You will need full waders.  Ed Grzeda will lead the outing.

Directions to Short Beach can be found here (parking is free after Labor Day).

Email Ed at ctfishcrow@gmail.com or contact at (224) 234-3381 with any questions.

Orvis is partnering with Trout Unlimited to support the Embrace A Stream Program.

During the Great Giveback Days throughout the month of September, Orvis will reward a $10 donation toward EAS with a $10 Orvis savings card.

Donations may be made at a local store on at the Orvis website.

Embrace A Stream (EAS) is a matching grant program administered by TU that awards funds to TU chapters and councils for coldwater fisheries conservation. Since its inception in 1975, EAS has funded more than 1,100 individual projects with more than $4.75 million in direct cash grants.

Local TU chapters and councils contributed an additional $14 million in cash and in-kind services to EAS funded projects, for a total investment of nearly $19 million.  For current updates on EAS projects, visit the EAS Facebook page and follow #embraceastream on Instagram and Facebook.

In 2019, a total of $100,000 was awarded to 29 chapters and councils, helping restore stream habitat, improving fish passage, and protecting water quality in 19 different states from coast to coast.

Embrace A Stream grants have helped Nutmeg TU with cleanup of the Mill River along Congress Street, and will help with the next step, further restoring trout habitat there.

The Nutmeg TU website has been down for a bit, and we appreciate your patience.

Now we are back up and running, but are in the process of redesigning the site.

What would you like to see at nutmegtrout.org? We plan to add more photos, video, and to freshen the look of the site, but what do you, our members, want to see.

Share your ideas at admin@nutmegtrout.org.

Hi Nutmeg Trout Members & Friends,

It’s been a while since we’ve been together.  Hopefully, you and your families are all safe and the emotional and financial impact of Covid 19 have been manageable. Certainly, the boredom and isolation factors are hitting us all.

The Nutmeg Trout Board has not remained idle during these unprecedented times.  While we had to postpone in-person conservation plans, meetings and outings your Board has been actively planning for our new normal age while it lasts so that we can continue to bring our members more of what they want.

To start with, keep an eye out for a newly renovated Nutmeg Trout Website.  Thanks to the efforts of our Website Renovation Committee a fresher and more interactive website is in store for members this Fall.  This is thanks to the volunteer efforts of the Committee Chair, Jerry Goldstein, and members, being John Kovach, Gian Morressi, and myself.  The Committee is looking for a Nutmeg TU member to help with the renovation who is familiar with website development and is willing to volunteer their time in implementing the needed changes to bring into fruition our new website.

Our chapter continues to err on the side of caution and plans no in-person meetings, outings or conservation work planned. Once it is safe to emerge, we will have a lot to catch up on.  In the meantime plans are in place for a great Fall speaker Program brought to you thanks to our Program Chair, John Kovach.  Thanks to Covid-19 we successfully migrated our meetings to Zoom.  This Fall we are planning exciting programs like stream entomology, a DEEP assessment of our rivers, exotic locations to fish and how to best fish there, rod building, and of course, more fly tying lessons.  That’s just a taste of our Fall Meeting plans.

On the Conservation front Nutmeg Trout continues to remain active supporting protection of our waterways through TU’s legislative support endeavors and our local work monitoring our local waters with temperature loggers and direct interaction with local conservation group support.  Thanks to the efforts of Mike Piquette we now have three water temperature loggers in the Mill River and two loggers in the Pequonnock River. This combined with the Redds information previously collected will go a long way to promote our conservation work. Thanks to the efforts of Gian Morresi, our Conservation chair, we submitted an Embrace a Stream Grant to TU for funds to develop a plan to bring the Mill River back close to the condition it might have been before the Merritt Parkway was built in 1938.

Our stockpile of collected Christmas trees await safer times when we can secure the trees to the banks of the Mill River along Congress Street.  Once allowed we will reconvene our river side trash cleanups,  and continue to remove invasive tree and plant species, while we plant needed trees to protect and expand fish habitats.

The Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program for 2021 is in flux. We must see how the new school year unfolds and whether teachers are receptive to bringing in and managing the tanks in their classrooms.

The TU Regional meeting is going to be rescheduled for the fall of 2021 in Connecticut. This will be a great opportunity to get involved and show off our waters to fellow TU anglers from throughout the Northeast.  I attended the quarterly TU Connecticut Council meeting.  Keep an eye out on the horizon for their ongoing plans.

We need to reelect officers. Currently the President and Secretary is Rich Rosen and the Vice President and Treasurer is Jerry Goldstein. If anyone is interested in nominating someone else for any of these positions, please let us know and we can add those names to the ballot. We will try to conduct a vote virtually in September.

There will be plenty of volunteer opportunities for one-off projects (i.e. delivering trout eggs to schools, picking up trash, anchoring trees, give a fly tying demo etc.) or you can take on a more active role on our board. We could use help with Treasury, Secretary, Communications, TIC, community outreach, Veterans, women, families, fundraising, and much more. Lead an area or be part of a subcommittee. Just send me an email if you are interested in discussing.  Through our volunteers we grow.

Stay safe and stay connected,

Rich Rosen

rhrosen@aol.com

P.S.: If you are receiving spam that looks like it is from me asking for gift cards, please ignore it. It is not from me.