Trout casts: Waterways stocked for fishing season

Wearing hip waders, Bob Orciari studied the Norwalk River, swollen from Thursday's rains and rapidly coursing the circuitous, craggy banks at Merwin Meadows. In a short while, Orciari and his staff - with the help of Wilton High School students - would drop more than 250 trout measuring 10 to 12 inches into the river yesterday.

As two mallards paddled fruitlessly upstream, it seemed even the toughest trout would be flushed into Long Island Sound. "They'll quickly stop behind a rock and settle to the bottom," he said, noting that there the fish would feast on larvae and worms.

The 1 p.m. drop at Merwin Meadows was the last stop of the day for Orciari and his crew. Since early morning, they had stocked miles of the Norwalk River with more than 3,500 rainbow, brown and brook trout that had been transported in two tank trucks from the state hatchery in Burlington.

Statewide, the DEP plans to stock about 400,000 trout. Yesterday's stocking gives the hatchery-raised fish a week's worth of river smarts before anglers try their luck next Saturday - the fishing season's opening day. This week's rains would be a boon to opening day, said Jeff Yates, secretary for the Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited. The chapter has completed several river restoration projects in Wilton.

"I love to see rain before they stock, and I love to see rain before opening day because it spreads them out," he said, noting that it would give all anglers a fair chance. For the best fishing results through mid-May, Orciari recommended garden worms, not tied flies, "because right now the water is cold, and the flies aren't emerging." (by By James Lomuscio)