The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fish biting at early opening
Lamont OKs fishing season early to avoid Opening Day crowds
STAMFORD — Sitting on the bank of the pastoral Mianus River on the border between Stamford and Greenwich is like being a million miles away from the pandemic.
Instead of plastic gloves, medical masks and tense looks as strangers come close to a now-guarded personal space, peacefullooking fishermen wearing waders and waterproof gloves smile at each other from a discreet distance while flicking their fly rods into the undulating, frigid, clear water as they catch and release a variety of trout.
On Tuesday, a little over two weeks early, Gov. Ned Lamont opened the fishing season at many lakes, ponds, rivers and streams statewide.
The goal? Slow the spread of COVID-19.
The early opening, which was supposed to take place on April 11, was done to eliminate the large crowds that often accompany the traditional Opening Day, according to a statement from the Fisheries Division of the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
About 500 yards above the Merriebrook Bridge in the Mianus River Park on Thursday morning, Dennis Carr, 67, said he didn’t even realize that the fishing season had been opened up. Carr, who is a catch-andrelease fisherman, has been fishing the river for the past couple of months because the river stays open through the fall and winter for catchand release-fishing. During the normal season, fisherman can keep up to two fish per day.
On Thursday he arrived at about 7 a.m. Besides the man fishing opposite him, Carr said had seen only a couple other fishermen that morning.
“I’m surprised. I didn’t hear (about the early opening),” said Carr, who hails from Malvern, New York. “Where are all the people?”
Carr said he appreciated Lamont making an effort to avoid a crush of fishermen on river banks, and, if he were Lamont, “I would be thinking we have to get these people out of their homes and we have parks and why not let them go out and enjoy.”
Another man out enjoying the cold waters was Mark McBeth, 65, of Danbury, who set up across the river from Carr.
“We now call this social distancing, not fly fishing,” said McBeth, who retired from the hospitality industry. He said being stomach deep in the river was a relief from being “cooped up” indoors.
Like McBeth, Carr is also retired. Carr said fishing is a far cry from his work as a math and science teacher.
“This is very relaxing,” said Carr, who had already caught about five fish before the clock ticked over to 9 a.m. “It’s very different from the classroom. I’m trying to make up for all those years of screaming kids — But I loved teaching.”
Schools, like many other institutions, are shuttered at the moment.
Unfortunately for Ryan King, his bait-and-tackle shop is not considered an “essential” business and so not exempt from the governor’s directive for nonessential businesses to close their doors to the public — another attempt at slowing the spread of the new coronavirus.
King, who is a part owner of Black Rock Bait and Tackle on Fairfield Avenue in Bridgeport, said he was closed and is working on trying to get an exemption to become an “essential” business in order to open the shop’s doors to the public. On Thursday, he spent a lot of time on the phone trying to answer people’s questions.
King said Lamont’s thinking made a lot of sense as a way to try to alleviate a crush of Opening Day fishermen on the banks of rivers and lakes around the state.
“I think it is a good thing. Spring is here. You might as well open it up. It makes a lot of sense,” he said.
And the number, to him, seemed lower than a traditional Opening day.
“I think people are still being pretty cautions and rightfully so,” King said. “There is a lot up in the air with what is going on. It makes sense to open up the service businesses that helps allow people to begin fishing.”
jnickerson@stamford advocate.com