Submitted by ianstar on Tue, 2025-02-25 04:46 Central Massachusetts - 148 Vote Up Down 0 + Central MA Chapter of Trout Unlimited - March Newsletter Hello Cold Water Fisheries Advocates, We continue to provide opportunities to fill some of those holes in the fly box made by donations at the stream. The February meeting will be held at the Auburn Sportsman’s Club. Date: Monday, Feb 3rd Start Time: 6:00PM How is your fly box looking? Are you ready for warmer weather and getting out on the stream? To help, Dave Fox will lead us with some excellent instruction on the vice. Bring your own equipment, but we also have some vises and tools if this is your first time. FYI - There will be surplus flies available from prior events that will be available at our April meeting. Also, we are very interested in local event opportunities for the Chapter. We would love to hear any your ideas on events that are either fishing or community service/Cold Water related. Please send your thought and ideas to: centralmatu@gmail.com The weather is warming up. I've been using this time to prepare my reels for the upcoming season. It is interesting how just a few minutes of cleaning and lubrication can make for a much better entry back into the stream. Nothing like a new leader and a fresh spool of tippet material to avoid delays when getting to the stream for the first adventure. Project #1 - The Quinie Dam IS Removed! There may be some much larger fish in the Quinie next time you head there for a little fishing! With the dam gone, there is open water from the reservoir up through to the Quinie Reservoir. Great time for a some large Rainbows and Browns to go for an adventure in this new water. So, be ready for something a little bigger than those stocked rainbows or the smaller (but spunky) native brook trout. Our April meeting (4/7) will be dedicated to this Dam removal project and the path forward. We will have Sasha Dyer from the MA Fisheries and Wildlife Board Member, Central Wildlife Representative. You do not want to miss this one. Sasha will provide us with much information and please, bring your questions. Event #1 - The Caddis Weekend on the Deerfield - Estimate is the first weekend in June (6 - 8) This is prime Caddis Time and a whole lot of fun. The TU Council puts this on and there is good attendance from all the chapters in MA. There are cabins that make the event very easy and planned activities throughout the weekend, but the big focus is dry fly eating Browns. We will be looking for those interested at the April meeting and then make reservations as required. This is a very interesting stream and conservation success story. TU worked with the state to secure the upper stretches of this stream for Native Trout. Due to the nature of the stream, the abundance of food and endless supply of cold (bottom release water), the native fish are well established. The state no longer stocks the upper stretch and the fish you catch there are natives - and those natives get big! Event #2 - A weekend on the Farmington River in CT - Friday, Sept 19 thru Sunday, Sept 29 - Two Weekends! There were not many dates for the cabins on the Farmington. However, we found a September opportunity and have a cabin for a stretch in September that includes 2 weekends. The weather should be perfect for fishing and the Farmington is always producing something that we can copy with some feathers and thread. We will be looking to get names on the calendar at the April meeting. Priority will be going to those with more meeting attendance. We hope to see you at the March meeting and as always - Pizza Will be served! Tight Lines, Peter Sterndale President, Central MA Chapter of Trout Unlimited © 2025 Trout Unlimited | CMTU #148 | http://centralmasstu.org