Kevin Murphy - Fly Fishing in Connecticut: A Guide for Beginners

About the Author

Kevin Murphy is an independent historian and writer who lives in Rocky Hill, Connecticut. He is the author of Water for Hartford and Crowbar Governor.

Acknowledgements

A s usual, I must recognize the great debt that I owe my parents, Bob and Mary Murphy for giving me life, a solid education and a million incidentals along the way.

I'd also like to extend a warm thank you to the Director of the Inland Fisheries Division of Connecticut, Peter Aarrestad, for his many and varied contributions. In the same vein, I am indebted to Inland Fisheries Division Biologists Neal Hagstrom and Anthony Petrillo, whose help was continuous and much needed.

On the publishing side, I will always owe a huge debt to Director and Editor-in-chief of Wesleyan University Press, Suzanna Tamminen, who ceaselessly extends herself to hapless writers like me; to Leslie Starr the Assistant Director and Marketing Manager, who continues to be a good friend and sounding board; Parker Smathers, whose patience and courtesy continue to confound me; and to Stephanie Elliott, the unsung but hard working publicist of the outfit. Victoria Stahl, one of the finest editor I know, also deserves singular praise.

The staff at the Connecticut Historical Society was helpful and cheerful as usualKate Steinberg, Diana McCain, Barbara Austen, Nancy Finlay, Sierra Dixon, Karen DePauw and Richard C. Malley.

At the Connecticut State Library, a word of appreciation goes to Carolyn Picciano, Jeannie Sherman, Mel Smith, Carol Ganz, Bonnie Linck, Steve Rice, Kristi Finnan, Kevin Johnson and Mark Jones for all their help.

An added bit of thanks goes to Duane Raver for allowing me to use his beautiful paintings of trout on the cover of this book, and for his thoughtfulness and help throughout the process.

I'd also like to extend praise and thanks to fellow author and fly fisherman Jay Ford Thurston of Wisconsin for his valuable insight into water temperatures and habitat in trout fishing.

Lastly, a hearty word of appreciation goes to Nancy Burstein and Nick Flynn of Williamstown, Massachusetts, for working so hard to find a photograph of ichthyologist and fly rod maker Reggie Galvin.

This, I'm afraid, is only a representative collection of the people who contributed to Fly Fishing in Connecticut. For those I may have inadvertently failed to mention by name, this book is yours too. Many thanks.

Fly Fishing Canon

Bergman, Ray. TROUT. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962.

Dick, Lenox. The Art & Science of Fly fishing. New York: Winchester Press, 1972.

Evanoff, Vlad (editor). Fishing Secrets of the Experts. Garden City, New York: Doubleday & Company, 1962.

Evanoff, Vlad. Another 1001 Fishing Tips and Tricks. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

Farmington River Anglers Association. A Guide to Fishing the Farmington River, 1992.

Fuller, Tom. Trout Streams of Southern New England: An Anglers Guide to the Watersheds of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island.Woodstock, VT: Backcountry Guides, 1999.

Gingrich, Arnold. The Fishing in Print. New York: Winchester Press, 1974.

Goodwin, Mike. Trout Streams of Eastern Connecticut: A Guide to the Streams East of the Connecticut River. Trout UnlimitedThames Valley Chapter, 2004.

Gordon, Theodore. American Trout Fishing. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1966.

Karas, Nick. Brook Trout. Guilford, CT: The Lyons Press, 1997, 2002.

Kreh, Lefty. 101 Fly-fishing Tips: Practical Advise from a Master Angler New York: Lyons Press, 2000.

. Lefty Kreh's Ultimate Guide to Fly Fishing: Everything Anglers Need to Know by the World's Foremost Fly-fishing Expert. New York: Lyons Press, 2003.

Leonard, J. Edson. Flies. New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1950.

Maclean, Norman. A River Runs Through It. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1976.

McClane, A. J. The Compleat McClane: A Treasury of A. J. McClane's Classic Angling Adventures. New York: Truman Talley Books, 1988.

Meade, Tom. Essential Fly Fishing. New York: Lyons & Burford, 1994.

Meyer, Jerry. How to Catch Trout Between the Hatches. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1982.

Norris, Thaddeus. American Angler's Book. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, 1864.

Ovington, Ray. The Trout and the Fly. New York: Hawthorne Books, 1977.

Sampson, Bob. Best Fishing Trips in Connecticut from Ponds to Pounding Surf. Wilton, CT: Perry Heights Press, 2004.

Trench, Charles Chenevix. A History of Angling. Chicago: Follett Publishing Co., 1974.

Wright, Leonard M., Jr. Fly-Fishing Heresies. New York: Winchester Press, 1975.

Wulff, Lee. Fishing with Lee Wulff. New York: Alfred Knopf, 1972.

. Trout on a Fly. New York: Nick Lyons Books, 1986.

Garnet Books

Food for the Dead:

On the Trail of New England's Vampires

by Michael E. Bell

Early Connecticut Silver, 17001840

by Peter Bohan and Philip Hammerslough

Introduction and Notes by Erin Eisenbarth

The Connecticut River:

A Photographic Journey through the Heart of New England

by Al Braden

Connecticut's Fife & Drum Tradition

by James Clark

Sunken Garden Poetry: 19922011

Edited by Brad Davis

The Old Leather Man:

Historical Accounts of a Connecticut and New York Legend

by Daniel DeLuca

Post Roads & Iron Horses:

Transportation in Connecticut from Colonial Times to the Age of Steam

by Richard DeLuca

Dr. Mel's Connecticut Climate Book

by Dr. Mel Goldstein

Hidden in Plain Sight:

A Deep Traveler Explores Connecticut

by David K. Leff

Westover School:

Giving Girls a Place of Their Own

by Laurie Lisle

Crowbar Governor:

The Life and Times of Morgan Gardner Bulkeley

by Kevin Murphy

Fly Fishing in Connecticut:

A Guide for Beginners

by Kevin Murphy

Water for Hartford:

The Story of the Hartford Water Works and the Metropolitan District Commission

by Kevin Murphy

Henry Austin:

In Every Variety of Architectural Style

by James F. O'Gorman

Making Freedom:

The Extraordinary Life of Venture Smith

by Chandler B. Saint and George Krimsky

Welcome to Wesleyan:

Campus Buildings

by Leslie Starr

Gervase Wheeler:

A British Architect in America, 18471860

by Rene Tribert and James F. O'Gorman

Connecticut in the American Civil War: Slavery, Sacrifice, and Survival

by Matthew Warshauer

Stories in Stone:

How Geology Influenced Connecticut History and Culture

by Jelle Zeilinga de Boer

O n May 4, 1873, two Hartford men went fishing on the Farmington River in Granby and returned with 341 trout. Around this time, the Hartford Courant ran an article lamenting the fact that American shad in the Connecticut River were rapidly diminishing in numberand size. Indeed, Barton Douglas, a longtime fisherman, operator of the Windsor canal, and owner of a ferry business, told the fisheries commission at the state legislature shad fishing was nearly used up. Atlantic salmon in the rivers and streams of the state were virtually gone. The fisheries commission reported to the legislature that the restoration of the salmon is the hardest task before the commission. At present they are nearly exterminated. In sum, by the late-1870s, Connecticut was almost fished out. Not surprisingly, the biggest culprits were over-fishing and market hunting. Other factors include the denuding of the foreststhe natural canopy ensured cool water temperatures in the streamsand to a lesser extent, the construction of dams during America's great waterpower manufacturing boom of the nineteenth century.