Illegal fishing charges filed against two men at lake

CORNWALL — Two men were arrested Aug. 10 on multiple charges after they were caught fishing illegally on Cream Hill Lake.

An arrest report was not available at press time this week, but Connecticut Environmental Conservation Police Officer Keith Williams confirmed the arrests and said he would provide details at a later date. The Hartford DEP office had not provided an arrest report at press time.

Fishing on Cream Hill Lake is not illegal in itself, but lakefront resident Richard Griggs said there is no public access. So unless someone is using the lake as a guest of a resident there, they are trespassing. That is one aspect of this case.

According to Conservtion Officer Tate Begley, the two men, who are from Shelton, used a driveway to a lakefront  cabin on property owned by Bill Hurlburt. The road was blocked by a locked chain, but the men cut off Hurlburt’s lock and replaced it with their own.

“They drove past several no trespassing signs and cut a lock and yet they claimed they did not realize they were not supposed to be there,� Begley told The Journal.

The  fishermen were also in violation of DEP regulations by using an outboard motor,  which is specific to Cream Hill Lake.

Begley said he received a complaint about two months ago.  Hurlburt said they had stopped going down to the lake because the strangers were appearing on a regular basis.

“We’ve been seeing them out there for about two years,� Griggs said. “Bianca (his wife) once saw them pull up on shore in our backyard to relieve themselves.�

So what attracts people from out-of-the-area to a secluded lake in a remote town?

Griggs said the good fishing there was promoted when the Scoville family rented out boats, for a dollar a day. The DEP stocked the lake on a regular basis. Once recreational fishing slacked off, the fish were left to reproduce and grow big.

Begley said at least one of the apprehended men knew about the lake from the days of the rental boats.

Another story, with more details on fishing (or not) on Cream Hill Lake, will be published in next week’s Lakeville Journal.