Mark McBeth
Support for the proposed legislation to improve ...
Support for the proposed legislation to improve the Upper Farmington River Flow
Mark McBeth
President's Message
President's Message
Mark McBeth
CVTU Rod Building Class
CVTU Rod Building Class
Mark McBeth
Volunteer Anglers Needed
Volunteer Anglers Needed
Mark McBeth
Changes to Inland Sportfish Regulations – ...
Changes to Inland Sportfish Regulations – effective 12/27/2022

Trout In the Classroom (TIC) & EverWonder Children’s Museum

CVTU partnered with Newtown, CT based EverWonder Children’s museum in 2020 to provide a TIC experience for the children, parents and grandparents visiting the museum.  CVTU chapter provided the equipment and supplies, set-up expertise, constructed a mobile tank stand with detachable insulation, and hand painted trout mobiles for this exhibit. A grant from Aquarion Water Company deferred some of the start-up and operational costs. Visit EverWonder’s website here

TIC Tanks with “Babies”

EverWonder’s first TIC attempt was cut short in 2020 due to COVID-19 as uncertainty around proper virus cleaning protocols and treatments meant the museum had to close in March, which was only a few weeks after the eggs hatched.  The fish were released between the dams on the Pootatuck River in Sandy Hook.

Happily, 2021 appears to be set for a great experience at the Museum with almost all CVTU’s TIC tanks now idle due to schools doing only remote learning. On January 7ththe CT State DEEP Hatchery provided EverWonder 388 fertilized eggs which have produced 359 babies as the Museum’s Executive Director Merredith Christos likes to think of them.  With so many young trout we expect there will be several release events to thin the tank population as they grow.  Check out our video of the EverWonder TIC Tank at YouTube here

Eggs in the process of hatching…

Randy Walker - CVTU TIC Coordinator

One unique opportunity of the EverWonder is that they are not limited to the school year and can keep a portion of the fish in the tank until next year’s eggs are delivered, meaning larger fish being released. EverWonder is also sharing via YouTube updates on its babies each Tuesday and Thursday. If you have young children or grandchildren and want to visit EverWonder, go to their website everwondermuseum.org. for reservations, times and admission information. Tell them CVTU sent you.

CVTU Happenings - Winter 2021

Even though we haven’t been able to meet in person, CVTU and our sister chapter Mianus TU have been active with member engagements. We began the new year with a fresh outlook and a drive to prepare for an active winter, spring and summer. Virtual fly tying sessions every Tuesday, and some great virtual chapter meetings already in the books and on the calendar.

“Tie One On Tuesdays” has been a great session with some really talented tyers demonstrating their favorite patterns. Members and friends from CVTU and Mianus have gathered every Tuesday via Zoom since the New Year, and there are more coming up on the calendar. Gerald Berrafati of Mianus TU will present this Tuesday, February 9th at 8:00 pm. He’s tying his version of the “Pat’s Rubber Legs” stonefly. I can personally attest to the effectiveness of this nymph, as I watched Gerald land several nice Browns and Rainbows on the Delaware.

Click link below to register for Gerald’s session: Pat's Rubber Legs paired with Lawson's Sip of Sunshine

All sessions have been recorded and can found at the following links on the Mianus TU YouTube channel..

Gustavo Castano - Marabou Leech: https://youtu.be/3jrCo5fUIBs

Dave Surowiecki - Pheasant Tails 57 Ways: https://youtu.be/3-9dUEBs69w

Rich Thibodeau - Zebra Midge: https://youtu.be/LCs3P9n_DNM

Mark McBeth - Klinkhammer: https://youtu.be/gy1vkFJMcYE

Jeff Yates - Killer Caddis: https://youtu.be/AYWwx72QLPs

John Hildenbrand - Galloup’s Cripple Spinner: https://youtu.be/FweGx0LeMhE   

Brown trout.jpg

This winter’s virtual chapter meetings will feature some outstanding presentations from well known Fly Fishing guides, bloggers and YouTubers. February’s meeting on Wednesday the 10th will feature Tim Camissa. Tim’s YouTube channel is loaded with excellent fly tying tutorials. He is a well know guide and blogger, and you can find a ton of great content on his website TroutAndFeather.com.

abbie_schuster.jpg

For our March meeting we have secured Abbie Schuster, owner of Kismet Outfitters on Martha’s Vineyard. Abbie is an accomplished Captain and Fly Fishing guide with experience in both salt and fresh waters. She’s even a Yoga Instructor. She’ll present on fly fishing Martha’s Vineyard. To learn more about Abbie and Kismet Outfitters, visit their website at KismetOutfitters.com.

tim_flagler.JPG

April’s chapter meeting on Wednesday the 14th, will feature Tim Flagler of Tightline Productions, L.L.C. Tim is a well-known fly tying instructor. His YouTube videos are some of the best in the business and his YouTube channel, practicalpatterns.com currently has over 80,000 subscribers and 24 million views. For our meeting he will be presenting on Fly Fishing at Night.

Our Rod Building sessions this winter will be virtual as well. For more information contact John Hildenbrand at jhildenb73@gmail.com


"Tie One On Tuesdays" is a big hit for Fly Tyers

The Mianus and CVTU chapters of Trout Unlimited have started the new year by holding Tuesday night Fly Tying sessions via Zoom. Some of the chapters best tiers have presented their favorite patterns through professionally choreographed presentations with high quality video. They’ve shared their secret materials and tying methods, while adding the “gotchas” and showing you how to avoid them. The result is a solid education in tying some very effective patterns for our local waters and elsewhere.

This past Tuesday January 26, Dave Surowiecki presented “57 variations of the Pheasant Tail”. While we didn’t see 57 flies, Dave gave us a close look at some of his favorite Pheasant Tail patterns. As Dave showed us, the Pheasant Tail can be tied in endless styles with different materials, and will always fish effectively. Hook size, bead size/color, tails, wire ribbing, dubbing collar and hot spots, are all important aspects of a good Pheasant Tail.

If you missed this week’s session live, we have uploaded it to CVTU’s YouTube channel and it can be viewed at the link below. Note that the video recording does start a few minutes into the presentation, but you won’t really miss a thing.

57 Variations of the Pheasant Tail - Dave Surowiecki

CVTU Rod Building, Winter 2021 - Please Complete the Survey

Tie One On Tuesdays @ 8:00 PM

Weekly Fly Tying Night on Zoom. Join to Tie, Watch, or just Drink!

Celebrate the cold days of winter with a warm fire, a tasty drink and the company of friends and fellow anglers in our weekly fly-tying night. 

Held every Tuesday from January through March, Tie One On Tuesdays will feature a different local fly tyer each week showcasing one of their favorite patterns and pairing it with their adult beverage of choice.

Whether you come with your equipment and tie along or just tune in to watch and join the conversation, you're sure to have a fun night.

New Regulations For Tiger Musky in CT

One of our board members, John Forlenzo, is also a board member of the Lake Lillinonah Authority. LLA’s board is backing an effort to propose changes in the sport fishing regulations regarding the Tiger Musky. A petition is being circulated and you can sign it online at the link below. The petition will be present to CT DEEP early in the new year.

The Tiger Musky is a hybrid fish, crossed between a northern pike and a muskellunge. The have been stocked in one of Connecticut’s public lakes. This petition strongly suggests a specific catch and release or large fish creel limit to be added to Connecticut’s fisheries fish keeping guidelines. Currently tiger musky are planned to be included in the northern pike and its hybrids regulation. These sport fish cannot reproduce so the keeping of them will reduce a population that does not sustain itself.

Sign the petition here

Neil Baldino with a nice Tiger Musky

Why is this important?

These fish help control populations of pan fish that are destroying other fish’s reproduction. Fish such as the white perch eat bass fry and deplete the population. Tiger musky are apex predators integral to keeping a balance in their waterways. These fish cohabitate with pike populations and bring anglers to the area as a very desired sport fish.

Ugly Sweater 2020 - Lots of Fisherman - Few Sweaters

We had a great turnout for our “Ugly Sweater” event this past Saturday, December 12th. We know that the 2nd weekend in December can be a crap shoot when it comes to the weather. Although 2020 has been a disaster on a lot of fronts, the typical December cold front managed to stay away for our day of fishing the Farmington. The mild weather brought out more than a dozen hearty fly fishermen from Mianus and Candlewood Valley chapters of TU.

What we lacked in sweaters we more than made up in ugly face coverings. The crew met at Upcountry Sportfishing at 10:00 am. After a few purchases in the store and the traditional picture, we broke up into several smaller groups and headed for the river.

Many of us who attended the CVTU chapter meeting with Derrick Kirkpatrick and Zach St. Amand presenting winter trout tactics, were able to put some of those tactics to good use. Many fish were caught. Definitely more than the last few years. Was it the weather, or was it the knowledge gained from the Wednesday meeting. I’m going with the latter personally. I targeted water that was deep and slow and manage to connect with three trout on a jig woolly bugger; 1 caught, 1 lost, 1 missed. Others connected on nymphs fished both tight line and indicator, and others nailed them on streamers fished low and slow.

After a few hours of fishing we met back at the Peoples State Park Pavilion for lunch and a warm fire. Face coverings were worn and social distancing was practiced. Over all it was a great day and great way to ring in the Holidays, catch some fish, tell some stories, and just enjoy the good company of friends.

Happy Holidays and we’ll see you in the new year!

Mark McBeth

December Chapter Zoom Meeting Draws Full House

CVTU’s December Chapter Meeting saw an all-time high in attendance. The Zoom meeting room limit of 100 was reached shortly after the start of the meeting at 7:30 Wednesday night the 9th. Zack St. Amand and Derrick Kirkpatrick presented a very informative presentation on Winter Trout Fishing on the Farmington. Both Derrick and Zach were able to draw in several of their clients and followers from all around the state and region. There were plenty of CVTU’s regular members and many new faces as well.

Zack and Derrick covered 4 separate segments during the 1:50 minute presentation. They started with a very educational segment on “what to wear”. It is something that many of us have never really though that much about. You don’t just throw on a whole bunch of layers. There is a specific methodology to layering that will help keep you warm, even on the coldest days. They shared the benefits of wool vs. fleece, upsizing your boots, breathable vs. neoprene, wind protection, and even when to pee. All of it made sense and many attendees are sure to change their approach to layering.

 
Derrick Kirkpatrick

Derrick Kirkpatrick

Zach St. Amand

Zach St. Amand

They followed that segment with discussions on early, mid and late winter fishing, covering everything from tight-lining, indicator nymphing and dry fly fishing. They say there are 40 fish days out there in the winter and I for one, believe them. If I follow their lead from this presentation, maybe I’ll catch 4. That would be fine with me.

If you were unable to attend, you can find a replay of the meeting on the CVTU YouTube channel here.

Zach and Derrick can be found on the web at the following links. Their rates for guided trips are very reasonable and once you start following them on Instagram, you’ll be itching to get out on the river with either one.

Derrick Kirkpatrick - ctfishguides.com - Instagram - instagram.com/ctfishguides

Zach St. Amand - fishingwithzach.com - Instagram - instagram.com/fishingwithzach


"Black Friday" Stripers on the Housy

Black Friday is a great day to be on the water striper fishing and this year’s trip confirmed that yet again. The weather was perfect with low winds and warm temperatures. The warmer than usual water temperature held the main body of fish well down in the lower river all the way out into LI Sound.

The bait had been leaving the river all week while the stripers kept arriving in greater numbers. This intersection of gamefish and bait always results in good fishing. We all came across good numbers of fish and everyone was able to land at least a few striped bass. Largest fish of the day was Bill Bennet’s 33” striper taken on a soft plastic jig.

Bill Bennett with the fish of the day…

It was nice to share intel with other club members out there and the comradery between boats makes the day more enjoyable. The following club members shared the day together in 6 different boats:

Neil Baldino, Mike Fatse, Bob Mylnar, Joe Perrone, Ryan Knapp, Jon Forlenzo, Bill Bennet, Tony Ballato, John Hildenbrand, Evan Hildenbrand.

It was easy to social distance with 10 fisherman in 6 boats. Check out the pictures from the event on our gallery here.

AmazonSmile - Supporting CVTU is Easy

Have you heard about “Amazon Smile”? Well, it is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.

If you’re like me, and an Amazon Prime member, you’re probably ordering a lot of stuff off Amazon. Especially with the Holidays approaching and during this pandemic. What if you used AmazonSmile instead, and listed your charity as Candlewood Valley Trout Unlimited? I listed CVTU as my charity and have been using AmazonSmile exclusively since the summer of 2019. A few others in our chapter have jumped on board in the last 6 months. In the year and a half that our small group has been using AmazonSmile, we’ve generated $29.47 in donations. I know that doesn’t sound like much, but it didn’t cost us anything and if 50 of us were on board, we would generate at least 5 times as much. That could pay for an event like our summer BBQ or a nice auction item for our banquet.

AmazonSmile is easy to setup. Just click on this link, which will take you to AmazonSmile and automatically set up CVTU as your charity; https://smile.amazon.com/ch/06-1496855. Once your setup you can bookmark the site and add it to your favorites, so it’s easy to find when you’re ready to shop.

Please note that you don’t have to be a Prime member to use AmazonSmile, and of course you don’t have to list CVTU as your charity. Pick whoever you want as a charity or share the wealth with CVTU. You can change charities back and forth whenever you want.

If you want more information about AmazonSmile or need help getting set up, please email me at grt4dead@hotmail.com, or ask your questions in the “Comments” section below.

Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and tight lines!

Mark McBeth, CVTU Webmaster