The budget proposed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy would eliminate the Council for Environmental Quality, close the Kensington Hatchery and end the state’s pheasant stocking program.
The spending plan must still be approved by the state legislature.
Click here to read more.
Fairfield First Selectman Mike Tetreau announced that the Town of Fairfield will host a public informational meeting regarding the Mill River Cleanup Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m., in the APR/Cafeteria at Mill Hill School, 635 Mill Hill Terrace. The snow date is March 2, at 7:30, at Mill Hill School. Any member of the public is encouraged to attend this meeting to hear an update on the cleanup efforts and to ask questions.
Click here to read more.
The future of the prayer center parcel on South Park Avenue in Easton, near the Mill River, will be the subject of multiple meetings this week.
Easton bought the former Running Brook Farm, a 29-acre property on South Park Avenue, in 2008 for $6.1 million.property after approval at referendum to protect it against dense housing development. It is zoned for three-acre single-family homes.
Click here to read more.
The Nutmeg TU fly tying group has moved its meetings to the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month from 7-9 p.m. at Chuck MacMath’s home in Trumbull.
Upcoming gatherings are Feb. 10, Feb. 24 and March 10.
Contact Chuck at cmacmath59@yahoo.com for additional information.
The cost is $2 per session to cover the cost of materials.
All are welcome, beginners are encouraged to attend. Vises, tools and materials are available if needed.
The group resumed in January on the first and third Thursdays, but opted to move to second and fourth Tuesdays.
Mianus TU and Candlewood Valley TU have partnered to present the Fly Fishing Film Tour on Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. in at Bow Tie Cinema, 21 River Road,Wilton.
Get out of the house, meet anglers, and have a beer. See some of the best fly fishing films available and have a chance to win fabulous prizes.
Click here to view trailers of the featured films.
The event runs from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. and includes a raffle featuring a TFO fly rod, Patagonia gear, a guided fishing trip, fishing gear and more, as well as a cash bar. Everyone who attends the event will also receive a free ticket in the national drawing for a trip to Belize or Montana’s Missouri River.
Tickets are $20 if purchased by clicking here before the event, $25 at the door.
Salmon fishing expert Ben Bilello will open our eyes to tube flies at the next Nutmeg TU meeting Tuesday, Feb. 17, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Port 5, 69 Brewster St, Bridgeport.
European anglers have used tube flies for decades. Despite their advantages, tubes are much less frequently used in North America. As time goes on, tube flies are becoming more popular in our fresh and saltwater fisheries. This presentation will outline when, where and how to use tube flies.
Topics include:
When he’s not behind a set of drums in a concert hall, jazz club, or recording studio, Ben Bilello can be found either on the water or behind the vise. While he’s an avid trout fisherman and fly tyer, Ben’s true fly fishing and tying passion is the Atlantic salmon. Ben has pursued wild Atlantic salmon in New Brunswick, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Russia; landlocked salmon in New York and Vermont, and broodstock Atlantic salmon in Connecticut.
A collection of Ben’s classic and artistic salmon flies are featured in Michael Radencich’s book “Classic Salmon Fly Patterns: Over 1700 Patterns From the Golden Age of Tying,” the largest illustrated compendium of Atlantic salmon flies published to date.
Ben’s work can be seen at his website www.benbilello.com/salmonflies and on his salmon fly blog www.theleaper.blogspot.com.
Not much to report this time around. Ice is the game as there is not a whole lot of open water in the state right now. Shelf ice is prevalent along the banks of many streams if they are not frozen over. The Housy is running around 700 but the water is very cold and the fish are in their dormant cycle. The Farmington is slushy unless you are up in Riverton. Much of the Naugatuck River is frozen over or slushy making Altlantic salmon fishing very difficult. If you are fishing along the ice shelves, be careful! It is difficult to land fish unless you are right near the edge and this is where the ice is thinnest.
Connecticut is blessed with many fishing opportunities as well as excellent fisheries management. Pending as of this writing are a new state record for walleye, which was hauled through the ice with the fish weighing more than 15 pounds, as well a pending world ice fishing record for carp, which was pulled through a hole on the lower Housatonic River.
The state record for brown trout may have been broken this year as well. If it was, it was broken by a hatchery raised breeder. The state released a lot of large breeder seeforellen brown trout up to 25 pounds into some of our lakes this past fall which has caused much controversy. The issue being that the current state record, although a seeforellen, was stocked into the Saugatuck Reservoir at 8-12 inches long and learned to survive and grew to the more than 18 pounds that it was when Tony Urbanawiecz pulled it out of the res. The current fish was a hatchery raised fish which was used to being fed in a tank; Big difference. Anyway, Tight light lines for those who get out there. Looking forward to some warmer days myself.
– Ron Merly
Residents of the Daniels Farm area in Trumbull are concerned about the possible effects of a proposed subdivision on the Pequonnock River.
Click here to read The Trumbull Times story.
The Fly Fishing Show will make stops in Massachusetts and New Jersey during January.
The first event is at the Royal Plaza in Marlborough, Mass., Jan. 16-18. Click here for information and hours.
One week later, Jan. 23-25, The Fly Fishing Show will take over the Garden State Convention Center in Somerset, NJ. Click here for show hours and information about the New Jersey stop.
Ben Furimsky, organizer of The Fly Fishing Show, recently appeared on Yankee Fisherman on hanradio.com, hosted by Nutmeg TU member John Kovach. Click here to hear that interview.
Nutmeg TU’s speaker Tuesday, Jan 20, is Antoine Bissieux, “The French Flyfisherman.” Antoine is going to talk to us about the “Farmington River as He Sees It.”
The meeting will be held at Port 5 Naval Vetertans, 69 Brewster St., Bridgeport, from 7 to 9 p.m. Pizza will be sold and there will be a raffle.
A 2012 Orvis-endorsed guide, Bissieux leads fly fishing trips on the Farmington River in Connecticut, the Battenkill River in Vermont, and other places where you can cast at a fish.
After teaching thousands of beginner anglers and guiding at the Orvis fly fishing flagship school in Manchester, Vt., he now focuses on the Farmington, offering guided trips, classes, instruction, all catered to each fisherman’s expectations. All levels and abilities are welcome.
The French Fisherman can also be heard on National Public Radio.
More information can be found a bissieux.com.