Fly Fishing in Connecticut. Kevin Murphy
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Raising 800,000 trout a year would be of little value without tank trucks and the manpower to equitably release fish over the lakes, rivers, and streams of Connecticut. The Inland Fisheries Division has used basically the same model aerated tanker trucks to relocate trout since the late 1930s. It's a long process. Weather permitting, the first round begins in early March and lasts until the end of May. In 2009, for example, 55 to 60 percent of the full year's supply of trout was stocked by opening day—the third Saturday in April (6 a.m.). The remaining 231,000 trout are distributed in different ways on a variety of streams during the remainder of the season. In some places, there is only a single follow-up stocking, while in others, where the heaviest fishing pressures the fish population, trout are stocked until Labor Day.
All of the trout-stocking numbers can be found in the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection's Connecticut Fish Distribution Report, but let's dissect a few number from the state's 2009 account just for the fun of it. Firstly, the number of trout stocked annually on the east and west sides of the Connecticut River are almost identical (West side–346,461; East side–356,287). Secondly, by watershed, trout are stocked as follows: Connecticut River watershed–211,245 (30% of the total); Thames watershed–195,056 (27.7% of the total); and Housatonic watershed–172,245 (24.5% of the total). Thirdly, the five towns (or town combinations) in Connecticut that received the most fish in 2009 were: Cornwall–18,000; Salisbury–14,316; Danbury-Milford–13,550; Eastford-Chaplin–12,824; and Thompson-Norwich–12,098. Lastly, if you add up all the trout stocked in the Housatonic River and the West Branch–Farmington River, it comes to about 22 percent of all the fish stocked in 2009 on the west side of the state.
The senior biologists at the Inland Fisheries Division say that in the areas where the creel limit is two fish, 90 percent of the stocked fish are gone in seven to ten days; in the places where the creel limit is five, 90 percent are gone in four days! Connecticut's trout fisher folks are short on patience. They follow the stocking trucks and leave when the fish aren't biting.
“Riparian” is derived from the Latin, riparius “of a natural riverbank,” so a “riparian agreement” refers to a deal made regarding the fishing rights on the shores of a given waterway.
Muddying the waters a bit, in eastern Connecticut, the levels of the Quinebaug, Salmon, and Natchaug Rivers get low in late summer. The rivers whose water levels must be maintained by old riparian agreements—like the Farmington River (courtesy of the Metropolitan District Commission)—will by definition offer more consistent trout fishing throughout the season than rivers whose water levels are allowed to rise and fall with the seasons.
The streams of Connecticut's East and West sides vary in another way. In northwestern Connecticut, the trout waters flow easterly toward the Connecticut River. Thanks in large part to the Bolton Range—as high as 800 feet— the rivers and streams in the eastern part of the state flow toward Long Island Sound.
The best trout fishing in eastern Connecticut is spread out along miles of meandering streams that sometimes run almost the length of the state. The best-stocked bodies of water in eastern Connecticut are the Quinebaug River, Blackwell's Brook (and Kitts Brook) in Canterbury, and Five Mile River, running through Thompson, Putnam, and Killingly. The Little River, in Hampton and Canterbury, also benefits from considerable stocking. Owing to eastern Connecticut's wide-ranging diversity of rivers and streams, many of the finest fishing holes in that part of the state remain a secret to the very people who live there. (See Chapter 2 for some of Sam Tippet's favorite pools in eastern Connecticut.)
Here's a little known fact. The Inland Fisheries Division stocks the following urban ponds with about 10,000 trout annually — Beardsley Park Pond in Bridgeport, Keney Park Pond in Hartford, Lake Wintergreen in Hamden, Upper Fulton Park Pond in Waterbury, and Mohegan Park Pond in Norwich.
Since there is little fly fishing on lakes, ponds, bays, and sounds, a book on fly fishing in Connecticut must necessarily be about the state's many rivers and streams. Way back in 1880, Dr. William Hudson of Hartford claimed “Connecticut has some of the finest trout brooks in the world.” Though he was obviously biased, an inventory of the state's many trout streams and rivers bolsters Dr. Hudson's stance.
For the beginner especially, knowledge of the state's new Trout Parks and its Trout Management Areas (TMAs) is imperative. In these areas, there are plenty of fish and the beginner is far less likely to get skunked.Be sure to read the Connecticut Angler's Guide, Inland and Marine Fishing, available as a PDF or paperback booklet from the DEP and sporting-goods stores, where you'll find rules, regulations, tips, dates, photos, and a treasure chest of angling information.
Every once in a while, someone asks me about saltwater fly fishing in Connecticut. It's a completely different sport than fly fishing for trout on streams and rivers.On Long Island Sound, an angler would use a #9 weight rod, reel and line with a leader that tapers down to 15 lbs. Striped bass can be taken on streamers (fished wet), and in the fall, Bonita and False Albacore. This type of fishing gained popularity in the late 1980s, but is on the wane now. Even when there is interest, saltwater fishing—of any kind—requires a different conversation than ours about trout fishing on inland streams.
“Skunked” comes from the Algonquin word squunck, and used as a verb it means, “to defeat.” An angler who gets skunked tells us that the trout won the fishing competition and didn't get caught!
In the western part of the state, an angler can be assured of good trout fishing on the Housatonic River and the West Branch–Farmington. However, trout fishing in eastern Connecticut is more problematic. It is mainly a springtime activity, although excellent fall and winter fishing exists in a few streams.
Eastern Connecticut presents an ever-changing equation that bears study. In fact, the trout-fishing conditions east of the Connecticut River are so varied that whole books have been written about the rivers and streams crisscrossing this area. The Trout Parks and Trout Management Areas will get you started, but if you intend to spend your fishing career in the eastern part of the state, a book devoted solely to the trout streams of eastern Connecticut is highly recommended.
In eastern Connecticut, I like the Salmon River from North Winchester to the Connecticut River—except in late summer when the water gets low. The Shetucket—for a few miles north of the Baltic Bridge—is good too. My last two favorite spots are the Natchaug in the Phoenixville–South Chaplin area and Merrick Brook near Scotland. There are some big browns inthere!
The Quinebaug River runs from Massachusetts to Norwich, Connecticut and has the potential to be a great trout stream—perhaps even of the caliber of the Housatonic or the West Branch–Farmington in the western part of the state—but hydroelectric dams vitiate the potential of this river. The Quinebaug has a number of large and small public-and privately–owned hydroelectric facilities contributing to the regional power grid—Putnam Hydropower, Greeneville Dam (Norwich Utilities), Dayville Pond at Danielson (Summit Hydro Power), Tunnel hydroelectric dam (First Light Power), and the “L-shaped” Taft Tunnel Dam (Norwich Utilities) are the principal culprits. This is a river to watch though, as the Inland Fisheries Division would love to see it blossom into a first-class trout stream.
Comstock Bridge over the Salmon River