Burgers & Bass

Saturday August 3, 2024

THANK YOU.  

We had a wonderful outing, great attendance, full of new experiences and delicious food.  Special thank you to our special guests, Jerry and Peter, for their incredible Spey casting demonstration and lessons.  These masters covered two handed, single handed, OPST, and breaking the norm with what's possible with Spey.  

Congratulations to our raffle winners!!  We had a $5 and $1 raffle going, featuring a gorgeous hand made net from Thad Stewart, our chapter president and professional woodworker, as well as a great Roscoe trip, fly boxes, two pairs of waders, $50 gift card from Black Hall Outfitters, and other fun small items.  The next one is not to be missed!

Thank you all that brought and donated delicious side dishes to go with our classic cookout fare, and the fly tyers that donated fly boxes.

See you next time!

-Andy

Program Director

Come join us for Burgers & Bass on the Housatonic River Trout Management Area, located 1/16th of a mile north of CT-4 (Sharon-Goshen Tpke) on US-7 in Cornwall Bridge, CT.

The state stocks both Rainbow and Brown Trout in the Housatonic River, and it has its own wild populations of Smallmouth Bass as well as other baitfish and gamefish. The park is located in the Fly-Fishing Only area of the river. If you don’t know how to fly fish and would like to learn, click below:

For those planning to fish, a 4wt or 5wt rod will work great, floating line or nymphing rod, and wading gear. You’ll also need a State of Connecticut Freshwater Fishing License and Trout Stamp.

When you come into the park, bear right past the first parking lot you see and take the road into the wooded area. At the end of the wooded area is another parking lot, we’ll be the folks with the Trout Unlimited sign. Fishing starts whenever you arrive. We should have coffee ready by 10 AM and lunch (free to NWCTU Members) by noon

In addition to trout, due to the warm weather, we will be fishing for dace, smallmouth bass, common carp, and Northern Pike. While Smallmouth Bass will take just about anything a trout will eat, bass will take almost anything on the surface like terrestrial and small mammal imitations. Northern pike will strike anything that looks like an injured fish or mammal that they can possibly get in their mouth, especially tied with red, yellow, or white material. If you can make a topwater fly look like a struggling fish, all the better. Carp eat lots of crayfish and stoneflies, so have plenty available.

If you’re coming from Torrington, take CT-4 west, past Goshen, and follow it into Cornwall Bridge. Take a right onto US-7 and the park is on your right, 1/16th of a mile up. From New Milford, Gaylordsville or Kent, take US-7 North to CT-4 and go west toward Sharon. Turn right onto US-7 and the park entrance is on your right. From North Canaan, take US-7 south to the park, which is located just north of CT-4. Turn left into the Park Entrance.

If you’re coming up Route 8 from the Naugatuck area, take Route 8 north to Torrington then follow the directions from Torrington, or use navigation for a shortcut through backroads too long to type.