By Ray Huntzicker

Anglers all over Connecticut are more than ready for Saturday, the official opening of trout fishing season.

Western Connecticut is loaded with great trout fishing opportunities. Now, anglers have been allowed to fish in Trout Management Areas, virtually year round, but only with single, barbless hooks on lures of flies (and all fish must be immediately released, unharmed) and these TMAs, maintained by Trout Unlimited, are also some of the most beautiful areas to fish.

The Deep Brook TMA on the Pootatuck River (half-mile upstream and half-mile downstream from the confluence with Deep Brook), managed by the Candlewood Valley Chapter of TU, is an incredible fishery with stocked Brook Trout, wild Brown Trout and native Brook Trout (wild fish are not native, but are stocked and then able to maintain a breeding population). The local TMA is a Class One trout stream, meaning that it has a sustained breeding population of native and wild trout.

Recently, Stephen Zakur of Candlewood Valley Chapter gave a small group of fly fisherman a tour of the TMA and provided a few tips on helping to match flies with the bugs that were out ... bugs that the trout were actively feeding on.

Mr Zakur gave me a fly he had tied himself – a black streamer that looked like a Southern Crappie (Calico Bass) jig. Stephen told me where to cast and how to fish the fly. On my first cast, I caught my first ever native Brook Trout ... a beautiful little 10-inch fish.

My fly fishing experience up until then had been popping bugs in the south for Bass and Bream. I’ve been teaching myself to fly fish on the local TMA. And I’ve stumbled upon a couple of flies the trout like and caught some nice Brown Trout and one stocked Brook Trout.

Zakur opened my eyes to many more techniques and fly patterns.

To get on the trout, and for limits and regulations on the different bodies of water, the best place to start is the 2007 Connecticut Angler’s Guide, published by the DEQ. It tells you where places are to fish and what species are in each body of water. The state stocks trout in different places. Some places are moderately stocked while other places are heavily stocked. And still other areas are stocked with larger trophy fish.

One place to start, especially for novice anglers or children, are at one of the many local state parks. These ponds and streams are stocked opening morning and they are built for easier access. Locations and regulations are in the guide.

To go out and have some fun Saturday, consult the Guide and either go by Newtown Bait and Tackle (The Angler’s Guide is available there, as well, and they have all the tackle, artificial lures and live bait you could need or want) for some flies or to get some trout worms. Jan or Richard are wealth of information on local hotspots, both trout and other species, and are always glad to help out the wayward fishermen.

A great local lake to hit is Warner Pond. The Angler’s Guide lists the species of fish in Warner as Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch and Sunfish but the lake also has a large population of Chain Pickerel that are more than willing to hit a little Rapala or Rooster Tail. Pickerel are aggressive and easy to catch, making them a perfect fish for some catch and release fun or as a fish to use to introduce youngsters to the sport. Pickerel are also a pretty fish, but they are slimy, so take pliers along to unhook the fish ... and you might want the pliers so the fish’s sharp teeth and gill plate don’t take a chunk of your skin.

For the Yellow Perch in Warner, try a small minnow about two feet below a  bobber; when the Perch are turned on, you can clean up on them. For the bass, live minnows or standard bass lures work just fine. The smaller fish are working the surface right now when the weather is nice. The larger bass are still holding deep, but the occasional good fish shows up. As the weather warms, the lunkers will move shallow for a while. The bream and sunfish are relatively easy to catch; just pop on a small bobber with a small worm on the hook.

The best way to find a “honey-hole” on Warner is to walk the entire lake or explore it with a canoe. By exploring the lake, it’s easy to see where the different fish congregate. It is a gorgeous lake, well worth the walk, even if you’re not fishing. And you will see ducks, geese, deer, turkey and beavers.

This great state is loaded with places like Warner Pond and the TMA’s. As well as using The Angler’s Guide, another great tool is A Guide To Fishing Connecticut and Rhode Island by Bob Sampson, a book that should be standard gear for anyone learning to fish the state.

Two great websites to visit and learn about flyfishing are www.cvtu.org and www.flyaddict.com. The Candlewood TU chapter maintains the www.cvtu.org site while flyaddict.com is a site put up by flyfishermen in Western Connecticut.

Good luck and have a safe, fun time as the trout fishing season opens!