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Written by NutmegTrout21709May, 2016

Calendar of Events for June 2016

Stream Cleanup and Planting of new plants Meetup Saturday, June 4,2016, 8 AM on the Mill River, Congress St area.

Join the Nutmeg Chapter of Trout Unlimited on Saturday, June 4 at 8 AM for the next phase in our Mill River restoration efforts. Thanks to grants from Orvis and Patagonia, Nutmeg TU has the funds to proceed with the planting of indigenous plant species along the Congress Street section of the Mill River in Fairfield. This is a culmination of 3 years of invasive species removal to prepare the site.

Those who attend should dress appropriately — long sleeves, long pants, boots, work gloves, hats, insect repellent, etc. There is poison ivy, biting insects, and ticks on the site. To ensure there enough tools, volunteers are also asked to bring their own shovels, mattocks, etc. if possible. (no axes or hatchets please). The chapter will also provide some tools.

We plan to serve a basic grill lunch – hot dogs, water, etc.

Everyone welcome – TU members, potential members, kids, scouts or anyone interested in helping restore one of our lower Fairfield County treasures – the Mill River.

Planning to attend? RSVP on Meetup.com. Use this link: Meetup.com RSVP. Contact Ed Grzeda at eegrzeda@gmail.com for questions or info. Parking is along Congress St. just west of Exit 46 on the Merritt Pkwy (Route 59 – Easton Tpke/Sport Hill Rd). A map can be found here.

Cleanup & Planting 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM. Stay as long or as little as you can. Late arrivals are welcome.

Please be careful while parking and walking on Congress Street.

Fishing outing is planned for Saturday, June 11, 2016, on the Farmington River. Kris Mancini will be our contact. You may reach him for questions or RSVP at oldglorylandscpng@sbcglobal.net

Fly Tying at Chuck’s, Tues evening, June 14, 2016, 7 PM Trumbull. Contact Chuck MacMath at cmacmath59@yahoo.com . The fly tying group will meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month from 7-9 pm. The cost is $2.00 per session to cover the cost of materials. Email Chuck with questions or additional information. All are welcome, beginners are encouraged to attend. Vises, tools and materials are available if needed.

Fly Tying at Chuck’s, Tues evening, June 28, 2016, 7 PM Trumbull. Contact Chuck MacMath at cmacmath59@yahoo.com . The fly tying group will meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month from 7-9 pm. The cost is $2.00 per session to cover the cost of materials. Email Chuck with questions or additional information. All are welcome, beginners are encouraged to attend. Vises, tools and materials are available if needed.

Written by NutmegTrout21713Nov, 2015

Fishing the Housatonic River with Rob Nicholas

November 12, 2015. Nutmeg TU will hold its meeting at 7 PM on Tues, Nov 15, at Port 5.

Since 1993, Rob Nicholas (owner / head guide) has been guiding and teaching the sport of fly fishing to all skill levels from beginner to expert on both the Housatonic and Farmington rivers, as well as some lesser known, smaller streams. Rob is a full time guide on the Housatonic and has over 30 years of fly fishing knowledge and experience here in the Northeast, western states, New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina. Rob became a Federation of Fly Fishers certified casting instructor in 1993. While usually the dry fly enthusiast, Rob is also well versed in nymphing and streamer techniques during non-hatch periods. He has tied some of his own flies specifically designed for the fishing the Housatonic and Farmington Rivers.

Rob is going to share some of his knowledge about fishing the Housatonic at our general meeting at 7 PM on Tues, November 15, at Port Five, 69 Brewster St, Bridgeport, CT.

Written by NutmegTrout21718Oct, 2015

From Ron Merly’s desk, October

19 inch wild Housatonic Brown Trout

The fishing in both the fresh and salt water has been consistently in consistent. With the constant high pressure, no rain and not much barometric fluctuation, the fish and the fishing has been a bit unpredictable. Out in the salt, anglers are having great days with the false albies and the stripers…. other days, nothing in sight. Blackfishing has been a bit better. Very little consistency out there.

In the streams, the Housy, Farmington and Mill Rivers are really the only fishable streams as everything else is dried up. We are currently suffering more than a 6 inch deficit in our rainfall for the year and the Housatonic is dropping quickly. The Naugatuck River has been stocked with salmon but with no water, it’s not much of a challenge.

Hopefully, we’ll soon get the much needed rain.

Ron M.

Written by NutmegTrout21713Sep, 2015

From Ron Merly’s Desk, September

The saltwater action was spotty this season but when it was good, it was really good. Some very large stripers were caught in our area earlier in the season including a 65 pounder caught off of Bridgeport. Sea bass continue to be caught but mostly at night. Overall, right now the fishing in southwestern Long Island Sound is slow.

On the freshwater end of the spectrum, we are in a drought. The Housatonic River is lower than it has been in a few years which will affect the survival rates of the trout. The rest of the streams in the state remain low as we presently have a deficit of more than 1 1/2 inches of rain. We are so very fortunate to have the Farmington River in our backyard. The river has been running well and fishing well. Hatches are early in the morning through mid-day and the action has been dropping off in the evenings for the past month. The fish were keyed in on Needhami flies for the past few weeks but seem to prefer the tricos now. Terrestrials are also working well as I landed a 24.5″ brown trout on an ant. I also caught a beautiful wild brookie on an Adams at the head of Ovation Pool so sometimes it pays to think outside of the box a little bit and move away from what the fish are constantly seeing. Good luck and tight lines.

Ron Merly

Written by NutmegTrout21707May, 2015

Chapter meeting, Tues, May 19, 2015, 7 PM, at Port 5, Bridgeport

Bill Closs will discuss his recent trip to Patagonia, Argentina, for our May meeting.

Bill Closs is a lifelong fly fisherman, with many fly fishing adventures and trips to all of the New England States, as well as, New York, Penn., Montana, Georgia, Florida, Alaska, Michigan, Quebec, Canada, Kamchatka, Russia, and Patagonia, Argentina, and Belize. Trips to the Amazon and Mongolia are scheduled for 2016. Many of these trips have been made by private plane that he flies for business and pleasure. Yes, he has even joined our Nutmeg TU group on our past outings to the Catskills.

He owns property 10 minutes from the Farmington River near Riverton, CT, and in Rangeley, Maine where he fly fishes extensively in both places.

The presentation on Patagonia is approx. 50 pictures of rafting, camping, and fishing the Alumine and Le Mas Rivers in Patagonia, Argentina. The base camp lodge for the fishing group is also a working cattle ranch.

Bill Closs is a fellow angler and his presentation will consist of a brief review of pictures and commentary, and then he will be open to questions and discussion.

Bring your questions! If you have ever wanted to fish outside of the US, this is an excellent opportunity to find out how you might accomplish this type of travel!

Written by NutmegTrout21713Oct, 2014

Catching the big ones Oct. 21 topic

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.

Written by NutmegTrout21726Jun, 2013

UConn replies to Farmington River petition

The University of Connecticut has responded to a petition opposed to its plan to draw water from the Farmington River, which Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups opposed.

Moveon.org shared the reply Wednesday, June 26.

Dear Voice of the Farmington River,

Judging from the email updates we have received on the number of petition signers, it’s clear to us at UConn that the interest in our proposed alternatives for a new source of water supply is still very strong. Thank you for your continued interest, and I would like to provide you with an update on our work, especially for those who have signed the petition since my previous posting.

As you know, our Environmental Impact Evaluation concluded that each of three possible interconnections with existing water supply systems, those of MDC, Connecticut Water, and Windham Water, were considered viable in terms of their feasibility and the ways by which their respective environmental impacts could be mitigated.

With respect to the petition’s expressed concern for the possible transfer of water from the reservoirs along the Farmington River, we received numerous similar public comments on the EIE. Many of the commenters questioned the EIE’s thoroughness in addressing social and economic considerations for this as well as the other alternatives. To that end, we have formally reached out to each of the potential water suppliers for additional information that will help us address those questions. I’m pleased to report that these efforts have been useful in furthering our assessment. There’s more on the timing of our response to the EIE comments below.

We also received several comments during the EIE public comment period suggesting that UConn locate the UConn Technology Park away from the Storrs Campus. The proximity of the Technology Park to the Main campus – where graduate and undergraduate students study and reside and faculty teach, research and advise – offers a location best suited to support both our academic mission and economic development. The UConn Technology Park, supported by the enactment of legislation in 2011, advances the University’s role as a top-tier academic and research institution and its pursuit of the fulfillment of its Academic Plan. By offering proximity and access to advanced technology, specialized equipment, faculty expertise, and graduate students, research and technology parks are typically located adjacent to universities’ core science, technology, engineering and math facilities in order to support the creation of partnerships with industry. For these reasons, the Tech Park has been sited
at UConn’s main campus in Storrs. In addition, the North Campus area has been the subject of several previous environmental impact reports, similar to that undertaken for potential sources of water supply, which envisioned this type of use. You can find these reports on the UConn Office of Environmental Policy’s website at http://www.envpolicy.uconn.edu/eie.html (scroll down the website below the water EIE information).

Our work continues on preparing the EIE’s corresponding Record of Decision, the official document that will formally address the issues identified in the comments. This document will require our UConn Board of Trustees endorsement prior to its formal submission to the CT Office of Policy and Management for their review and approval. At this point, we expect the Record of Decision to be presented to the Board of Trustees at their scheduled August 7th meeting. Please check the UConn Office of Environmental Policy’s website (http://www.envpolicy.uconn.edu/eie.html) for updates on the EIE and Record of Decision.

And, as mentioned in my last posting, your patience is very much appreciated.

Jason Coite
UCONN Environmental Compliance Professional
jason.coite@uconn.edu

Written by NutmegTrout21730May, 2013

Call, sign petition to protect Farmington

The University of Connecticut is seeking an additional water supply for a potential technology park in Storrs and increased development in the town of Mansfield, and has solicited a number of proposals. The plan submitted by MDC would draw water from a reservoir in the Farmington River watershed, west of Hartford, and pipe it to Storrs.

The Connecticut Fund for the Environment, Save the Sound, Trout Unlimited and other conservation groups are concerned that this would violate the state’s Plan of Conservation and Development by encouraging sprawl in rural areas, that it moves water from one watershed to another, and that it doesn’t conform to a regional water plan. Following these plans is one of the most important ways to make sure our waters stay healthy and adequate to support our communities and wildlife. (Read more in the groups’ blog post.)

Please join in asking UConn to find a more sustainable way to meet its water needs, and in calling for statewide planning that will protect our critical water resources.

Step 1: Call UConn

Call the office of UConn President Susan Herbst at 860-486-2337 .

Sample script:

“Hi, my name is ___, from ___. I’m calling to ask President Herbst to find a solution to UConn’s water needs that doesn’t pull water from the Farmington River Watershed. Water planning is an issue that affects all Connecticut residents. Please make UConn a leader by choosing a solution that supplies only as much water as is needed, protects the integrity of the Farmington and Thames watersheds, and conforms to the state’s Plan of Conservation and Development. Could you pass my message along? Thank you!”

Step 2: Sign the Petition

Voices for the Farmington River has created a petition asking for a smarter water solution for UConn. Please join the over 1,000 Connecticut residents who have already spoken up for sustainable water planning. Then please share it with your friends. Let’s see how many signatures we can get before June 7, when the petition will be ended and delivered to Governor Malloy and President Herbst.