Stream Action:

Norwalk River: The Cannondale Dam bypass project went over budget, above the $10,000 reimbursement expected from the grant. The extra costs were a result of the extra day and a half of work it took to complete the dam, mostly due to the rainy weather. The project is expected to be $6,000 over budget, but we should be able to lower that amount. The excess soil still at the site would be removed by an outside contractor who is taking the soil free of charge.

We need to put the billing together to get Todd Bobowick all the information he needs so the chapter can be reimbursed for the Cannondale Dam work and the conifer revetment project at Schenck’s Island.

The only project remaining that has current funding in place is the Old Mill Road site where Todd had wanted to build a constructed log jam. There is not a significant amount of money in that budget, and Todd has agreed it could be modified to log and boulder placement rather than a full log jam if needed. Jeff said he would work with Todd and Dick to find new areas to start planning for projects on the Norwalk River.

Mianus River: The lower Mianus River is low, a result of lower water releases from the filter plant. The main section of the river, near Mianus River Park, looks in good shape, but is also low for this time of year. The large tree that fell into the river below the Merriebrook Road bridge is still there and is causing some slight erosion at this time.

Walt said the deer fencing put in by the Mianus River work parties is still up and doing a good job of keeping people and deer out of the enclosed area. Plantings of vegetation and saplings have been placed inside the fenced in area and should recover nicely to help prevent further erosion, he said.

The chapter may want to consider a section of the river in the park where an old weir is no longer working to protect the river bank. The water is now mostly flowing around the weir and hitting the bank at a bend in the river.

As opening day draws near, the state has been busy stocking many local rivers with trout. On March 6th the DEP put close to 3,000 fish in the three nearby Trout Management Areas (open year-round for catch and release). Included in the stocking on the sixth were 1,510 trout at Mianus River Park, 750 trout in the Saugatuck River at the Ford Road TMA, and 640 trout in the Mill River TMA in Fairfield. Anglers have been reporting luck both on the surface with black caddis and stonefly patterns and with deep nymphs such as a black Hare's Ear nymph. As always streamers such as Woolly Buggers continue to produce.

On March 10th the state  stocked the Norwalk River in preparation for opening day. Typically they put in roughly 4,500 trout from Ridgefield south into Wilton, with the majority of the fish being Brown Trout and some Rainbows, Brookies and even 300-500 Tiger Trout.

One major concern this year with the upcoming stocking is the extreme low level of water in almost all the local rivers. The Northeast is in a significant period of drought this spring and with little to no snow this winter the rivers remain dangerously low. Last year high water in March helped spread the fish out once they had been stocked, but this year there may be a significant amount of large pods of fish remaining in the pools adjacent to the bridges and overpasses they were dumped from. Hopefully this won't lead to large numbers of fish being taken out of the rivers in the opening hours of opening day.

The Website, as always, can use some good pictures of the early catches and the big fish being caught. If you have any photos you want to put online to share, e-mail them to Jeff Yates at jeffyates31@aol.com.