CT Hunting & Fishing Appreciation Day

This email just came through my inbox. For anyone looking for something fun to do tomorrow...

"Just a reminder that we’re celebrating Hunting & Fishing Appreciation Day tomorrow rain or shine. I just checked the weather report and it is supposed to clear up tomorrow morning anyway. This FREE event starts at 10:00 am and runs until 4:00 pm. So, stop by with your family and friends.

     Activities for all ages are planned, along with interesting programs and workshops about hunting and fishing, hunting dog demonstrations, .22 rifle and archery ranges, 3-D archery, and a casting pool.  Attendees also will have the opportunity to speak firsthand with biologists about wildlife and fisheries topics, as well as with representatives from a variety of conservation, hunting, and fishing organizations.  Kids can participate in several fun activities and crafts, such as track making, face painting, a scavenger hunt, and a chance to see various live turtles.  There will also be a silent auction to benefit the non-profit Friends of Sessions Woods.

     Handicapped and limited public parking will be available on site at Sessions Woods. Overflow shuttle parking will be available at Lewis S. Mills High School, 26 Lyons Road, off of Route 4 in Burlington.  The Friends of Sessions Woods will be selling food and drinks during the event, or you can bring your own picnic lunch.

    For more detailed information on Connecticut Hunting and Fishing Appreciation Day and Sessions Woods WMA, go to www.ct.gov/dep/HuntFishDay. Sessions Woods is located on Route 69 (341 Milford Street) in Burlington."

www.ct.gov/dep/HuntFishDay

State of Connecticut

Department of Energy & Environmental Protection

Bureau of Natural Resources

09.18.2011 Mill River Fishing Trip

Well I think the first official fishing trip of the year went off pretty well!

While we didn't manage to make it up the Farmington like we had hoped, we did hit a local hot spot on the Mill River in Hamden. A small group of us heading up to Sleeping Giant State Park to hunt for some lunker brown trout that may have held over from the hot summer. Things started off slowly but sure enough after a little time we began hooking into some nice fish. Pablo even managed to catch his first trout ever!

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and we hope everyone at least got outside to enjoy it, even if they didn't get to come fishing with us. I've heard a few other people thinking of putting together trips maybe as early as next weekend, so make sure to keep an ear to the ground for upcoming trips.

Tight Lines!

Local Rivers Stocked!

Not as big as the spring stockings, but a few hundred trout have been added to many of CT's local streams and rivers. Check out TU's email for more information:

"In the fall, the state focuses much of its stocking efforts on our local Trout Management Areas, which offer catch-and-release fishing from Sept. 1 through Opening Day.

The trout stocked in the fall are typically much bigger than the fish released in the spring, and this fall the state plans to stock 30,000 adult trout - including more than 14,000 brown trout over 12 inches.

This week, the following rivers were stocked with brown trout 12 inches and bigger:

Mianus River TMA - 300 trout

Saugatuck River TMA - 250 trout

Mill River TMA - 200 trout

Norwalk River - 325 trout

You can click on a specific river name above, or go to Area Fishingon our website to find fishing maps, streamflow information and other advice to help you enjoy the fall fishing on our local waters.

In the coming days and weeks the state also plans to stock the Farmington River, Housatonic River and other streams in Connecticut in cas you'reinterested in an outing a little farther from home.

Have a great weekend, enjoy the fishing, and I'll see you at one of our Coming Events soon."

Bluefish and Striped Bass Chartered Boat Trip

Anglers,

A friend of mine that lives around Yale Myers is trying to get a group of people together to do some blue/bass fishing on the sound on October 15th, 1:00pm.  The trip is out of Waterford, CT on the MiJoy boat (http://www.mijoyboat.com/).  The cost should be about $80.  Let me know if you are interested.

Kevin Barrett
Master of Forest Science Candidate 2012
Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies

Kevin.Barrett@yale.edu
(720)810-4270

Labor Day Weekend Fishing Report

Glad to see some Yalies made it out to go fishing this holiday weekend! I know I was out myself with Sarah and her younger sister Sophie in tow. We hit a small bass lake in Berwick Maine for some smallmouth bass fishing. All in all a good day on the water with a lot of action, even during the midday sun! Submerged frogs and baitfish proved most effective, even accounting for more landed fish than live worms! We each got a number of nice smallies and Sarah managed to wrangle in a few nice chain pickerel that were fooled by her "Trout Magnet."


Pablo and Kevin managed to make it out Yale Myers and hit up on some smallies themselves:

"Kevin and I went fishing at Yale Myers today. We fished the pond that is a 10 min walk from camp, on the right. We got lots of largemouth bass and several pickerel.
We are sorry we did not extend the invitation but we were uncertain about the boat situation. There is one canoe that sits 2 people, and a sit in kayak. There is a little john boat but apparently it leaks water and has seen better days. I encourage you to go fish that pond - lots of fish in it."


-Pablo


The Fall season is just starting up and things are going to really start going in the next few weeks. Make sure to stay tuned to the blog here, and watch out for emails going out to the group about upcoming trips and events.


Until then,


Tight Lines

Cabela's Fall Sale Almost Over!

Cabela's is having a pretty good deal right now on a lot of their inventory. Their sale ends on Sept. 15th so make sure you make the most of it while you still can.

First Fishing Trip of the Year

Hopefully everyone got the email that went out with the introductory information in it yesterday. We had a pretty big flux of new members the next day, so there is a good chance that it will be repeated very soon anyway. In the email I mentioned trying to setup the first fishing trip of the year and figured that would make as good a first post on the blog as any!

To the best of my knowledge last year was the first year Yale has really ever tried to put together a fishing group or club, thanks to Pablo Torres, who joined us again this year. It really just started as a Sageboy posting asking if anyone wanted to go fishing, and a group of four of us decided to try the Farmington River. So as a throw back to last year's magically trip, I figured it was as good a place to start as any.

As of this writing we're looking at the weekend of September 17th. I would suggest the Sunday but we can try to flush that out over the course of the next week or so. The water is always cold so there is no reason to get there super early in the morning, in fact the best bug activity is in the late evening just before dusk, which is when the trout are feeding most heavily. I recommend leaving just after lunch or around 2:00 pm and fishing until dark, or when people are ready to go home.

The Farmington is THE river in Connecticut. It is home to the largest number of stocked and wild trout in the state and is fishable all year round (at least in some sections which are protected under special regulations). I would strongly recommend bring waders along if you have them, although a swim suit works just as well this late in the summer. I won't lie to you, the water is cold, but it's also a beautiful place to just sit on a rock and warm up too.

Depending on where we hit the river we'll be fishing for different species. The northern sections hold the trout, whereas the water just upstream from the dams are the warmest. That's where you'll find the smallmouth if you're looking for them. I've also heard of pickerel in the larger pools, although I've never seen anyone catch one.

The map to the right has all the major holes on it. I would suggest starting, or at least meeting up at the Church Pool. It is the Times Square of the river, and from there we can determine how crowded it is and where people would like to fish. Greenwoods is another very popular and productive stretch as is Central Riffle and the Boneyard. Fish do populate the whole river though so we shouldn't have too hard a time finding something to hook into!

If you're at all interested in going on the trip please shoot me an email (again, zlehmann@gmail.com). The sooner we work out the logistics the better. Feel free to bring along anyone you know who may be interested, especially if they don't mind driving!

Tight lines

Yale Fishing Group Blog!

Welcome to the Yale Fishing Group Blog!

I've decided to set this up for a few reasons. Mainly to try to add some validity to the group which hopefully will solidify the members and also help recruiting new members. We'll use the blog to post upcoming trips, events, and post pictures from trips we went on to show what the slackers missed out on.

I think for the time being, I'll be the only one posting to the blog, but maybe in the future that will change. If you want to try to setup a trip, or are going to some kind of fishing related event, please email me (zlehmann@gmail.com) and I'll make sure to get your info up.

Tight lines!