Grinding it out on the Blackberry

NORTH CANAAN — The Blackberry River is well-stocked and fished hard.

It also has Beckley Furnace, which is Connecticut’s only industrial monument and as such has a couple of picnic tables.

On a pleasant day it’s a nice spot to grab a sandwich and relax.

Saturday, April 16, was not a pleasant day. The temperature struggled to get much above 50, and there was a nice bone-chilling breeze. It wanted to rain.

None of that bothered the members of the Northwest Connecticut Trout Unlimited chapter. Chapter President Ken Ludwig provided doughnuts and coffee for the early going, and grinders at lunchtime.

Beckley is always a popular fishing spot, especially in the early part of what used to be the trout season.

The state of Connecticut got rid of a closed season for trout, and the new regulations took effect this year.

Sort of.

Prior to 2022, there were rivers that had year-round fishing (such as the Trout Management Areas on the Housatonic and Farmington rivers).

But the state still required a new license at the start of the calendar year, and for those of us who bought one (plus the so-called trout stamp, which extracts an extra five bucks from the angler and doesn’t include any sort of stamp), we could then fish those year-round areas plus any other open water (not otherwise regulated) until the last Saturday in February.

Then we had to wait for the third Saturday in April for “Opening Day.”

This was changed a couple years back to the second Saturday in April.

It’s worth noting that April 16 would have been “Opening Day” not so long ago.

None of this mattered to the TU members either. They were too busy shivering and telling each other stories about past angling triumphs.

Also on the agenda:

1. Is a $1,000 fly rod worth it?

2. What the heck is this fish this guy has?

3. Is Scott asking for trouble by getting up on that boulder?

As spin-casters circulated in and out of the Beckley Furnace area, most of them hauling off a fish or five, the TU membership stayed out of the water, with the exception of treasurer Scott Ritchie, who suited up and established himself just upstream of the bridge.

For the technically inclined, Ritchie was nymphing with a tight line and extra weight added, with sighter material rather than a strike indicator.

For the less fussy, Ritchie was flipping a little weighted thing into the current, and occasionally catching something.

About one out of 20 times, that something was a fish, not a rock or piece of submerged log.

Most serious anglers prefer solitude for the practice of the craft.

Very few enjoy having a gallery of hecklers watching.

But that’s what Ritchie got from his fellow TU members, who shouted out helpful things like “Don’t slip!” and “Trophy fish!”

At noon or so lunch arrived and the membership continued to talk about gear and adventures with their mouths full of grinder.

The answers to the agenda questions above:

1. No. For $1,000 you can buy expensive waders that will leak just as fast as cheap ones, and a mid-range rod to go with them.

2. That is a rather sickly looking brown trout straight from the hatchery, where it was bullied.

3. Yes. It is always easier to go up than to get down.