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Warm temperatures on a low-key opening day

LAKEVILLE — The weather was warm but rainy on  Saturday, April 13, the first day of general regulation fishing in Connecticut. Turnout was somewhat less enthusiastic than normal at area fishing meccas, even less enthusiastic than it is in years when there is still snow on the ground and a sharp bite in the air. 

Stacey Dodge at Lakeville’s Lake Wonoscopomuc, which draws fishers from all over the state for the first day of the season, said attendance was notably light this year, with only 14 total by 8:30 a.m. (when the temperature had already reached 59 degrees) and only three at the 5:30 a.m. opening of the lake. Often the line of vehicles and boats waiting to get into the water stretches all the way down the road that is known as the Grove Highway. 

Fishing Derby Coordinator Lisa Reel said 45 children competed this year, but only 10 fish were snagged. 

“But we had two big ones,” she said. Tanner Reid caught the largest fish, at 3.96 pounds and 20.5 inches. D.J. Duntz caught the second largest, at 3.88 pounds and 20 inches. Also notable: Jonathan Minacci caught three fish, weighing in at 1.27, 1.23 and 1.23 pounds.

After the derby, Ed Machowski of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) pulled up with a pickup truck that had several large containers full of young trout. Children were given fish in buckets and sent to release them into Factory Pond.

Machowski said he’d left the hatchery that morning with 350 fish. He and other DEEP agents were out distributing fish around the state. 

“I figured I’d skip the places where there are only adults and look for places with lots of kids,” he said. “I feel like Santa Claus.”

 

Lakeville Journal

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