Tag Archive for fly fishing

Get outside in CT…Walk, fish, bird, and fly!

Walk, fish, bird, or fly? Connecticut has it all. The weather is warming, we’ve been cooped up by social distancing, and Governor Ned Lamont has opened inland trout fishing season early to ease the crowding typical on normal opening day.

As stated on Connecticut’s DEEP website, “Governor Lamont is urging all Connecticut residents to ‘Stay Safe, Stay Home’ to help minimize community spread of COVID-19. The trails and grounds of Connecticut State Parks and Forests are open for solitary outdoor enjoyment. If you plan on visiting a park, it should be for solitary recreation, not group activities. Please plan ahead as many amenities and indoor facilities are closed, and visitors are encouraged to follow these guidelines to enhance social distancing.”

Read about steps to enhance “social distancing” when enjoying the outdoors here.

Wesleyan University Press has a few books to help guide you in your outdoor adventures. Wesleyan published the 20th edition of Connecticut Forest and Park Association’s Connecticut Walk BookWe also offer Birding in Connecticut, your definitive guide on where and when to find your favorite birds. And, if you’ve been meaning to pick up that fly fishing rod, now is your chance. Let Kevin Murphy guide you through Fly Fishing in Connecticut

We are offering a 40% discount when you order through our distributor, Hopkins Fulfillment Services (HFS). Enter code QAWP20 when you check out at their site. Our warehouse is open and books are shipping. The code is also good for eBook purchases of Wesleyan titles through HFS.

 

Lace up your boots and experience some of the best hiking in New England! The 20th edition of the Connecticut Walk Book is a comprehensive guide to over 825 miles of Blue-Blazed Trails in Connecticut, maintained by the Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA).  It includes detailed, full color maps, mileage/destination tables, and a lay flat design for ease of use. The Connecticut Walk Book also offers descriptions of the hikes with maps and trip-planning essentials.

The Connecticut Walk Book is the one essential guide for hikers. Great maps and concise, clear, accurate text give you everything you need to explore the state’s wonderful network of major trails… It is truly a must-have.”
Steven Grant, Hartford Courant nature columnist

“Whether you aim to hike, walk, amble, jog, meander, scamper or scramble, the Connecticut Walk Book will help you set your feet on the right path…”
Judy Benson, Staff writer and health-environment reporter at The Day (New London, CT)

 

 

Birding in Connecticut is the definitive guide to where, when, and how to find birds in the state. It’s packed with information valuable to birders of all skill levels, including species accounts and a first-of-a kind list of rare bird sightings. With a host of tips and tricks to finding and identifying birds, it is the first such guide to offer QR code links to continually updated online information on the occurrence and abundance of birds at each location. Beautifully illustrated with color photographs and maps, Birding in Connecticut is the perfect companion for experts and novices alike.

 “This book is absolutely packed with useful details about all of Connecticut’s best birding locations, as well as the most complete and up-to-date info on the status of Connecticut’s birds, and will be an essential reference for any birder in the state.”
David Sibley, author of The David Sibley Guide to Birds

“Frank Gallo’s book brims with insight and overflows with Gallo’s trademark exuberance for his favorite subject. No northeastern birder’s library is complete without this comprehensive guide.”
Pete Dunne, NJ Audubon’s Ambassador for Birding

 

 

In Fly Fishing in Connecticut, long-time Connecticut resident and devoted fly fisherman, Kevin Murphy, teaches novice anglers about the state’s trout hatcheries and stocking programs, the differences between brook, brown, and rainbow trout, and offers easy-to-follow instructions on the basics of fly fishing. In this concise text, the reader finds the essentials in fly fishing gear, stream tactics, casting, and a host of related topics. In addition, would-be anglers gain a useful glimpse into the history of fishing in the state, plus important tips on stream conservation, fly fishing etiquette, regulations, and safety. Most importantly, anglers will find a veritable road map to Connecticut’s best trout streams and rivers. The book even offers excellent suggestions for comfortable lodging in prime fly fishing locations and—once the day’s fishing is done—a few mouth-watering recipes for cooking one’s catch. Whether you’re in the market for that first pair of waders, thinking of tuning up your casting technique, or just want to know where the fish are biting, this is the book to read.

“Anyone fly fishing in Connecticut will profit by reading this book. It lists, in incredible detail, known and little known fishing places. Better still, there is a schedule of when to fish or avoid fishing certain streams and lakes. Murphy gives practical information about tackle and tactics. It’s a complete job.”
Lefty Kreh, fly fishing guide, author, and America’s best-loved casting instructor

“I’ve often waded into the ancient streams of Connecticut on a pristine summer or autumn day and thought, ‘This is trout heaven with a New England accent.’ Fly Fishing in Connecticut is the next best thing to landing a tiny mayfly on a promising riffle on one of the many promising streams of the Nutmeg State.”
Tom Brokaw, journalist

Spring has sprung: What are you doing for fun?

The sun is shining ever so radiantly, the morning breeze is just right, and if you are just as over the snow as I am, you are looking for any and every excuse to be outdoors. We have four insightful books that will cater to your favorite hobbies this Spring season. 

Fly Fishing 

In this beginner friendly guide to Fly Fishing in Connecticut , Kevin Murphy teaches novice anglers about the state’s trout hatcheries and stocking programs, the differences between brook, brown, and rainbow trout, and offers easy-to-follow instructions on the basics of fly fishing. In this concise text, the reader finds the essentials in fly fishing gear, stream tactics, casting, and a host of related topics. Whether you’re in the market for that first pair of waders, thinking of tuning up your casting technique, or just want to know where the fish are biting, this is the book to read.

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.

 

How ’bout a Hike ? 

Lace up your boots and experience some of the best hiking in New England! The Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) maintains over 825 miles of Blue-Blazed Trails in Connecticut. The 20th edition of the Connecticut Walk Book  is a comprehensive guide to these trails, including detailed, full color maps, mileage/destination tables, and a lay flat design for ease of use. The Connecticut Walk Book also offers descriptions of the hikes with maps and trip-planning essentials.

THE CONNECTICUT FOREST AND PARK ASSOCIATION (CFPA) is the first private, nonprofit member-based organization established in Connecticut, and the founder and maintainer of over 825 miles of Blue-Blazed Hiking Trails.

 

Want to explore different neighborhoods in Connecticut and their histories?

Frog Hollow  is an ethnically diverse neighborhood just west of the Connecticut State Capitol in Hartford. Its row houses have been home to inventors, entrepreneurs and workers, and it was one of the first neighborhoods in the country to experiment with successful urban planning models, including public parks and free education. From European colonists to Irish and Haitian immigrants to Puerto Ricans, these stories of Frog Hollow show the multiple realities that make up a dynamic urban neighborhood. Features 40 illustrations.

SUSAN CAMPBELL is the author of the memoir Dating Jesus and Tempest-Tossed: The Spirit of Isabella Beecher Hooker.

 

Are you interested in experiencing rare bird sightings?  

Birding in Connecticut  ,by Frank Gallo, is the definitive guide to where, when and, how to find birds in the Constitution State. This guide provides synopsis of local weather and a host of tips to finding and identifying birds. It’s the first guide of its kind to offer QR code links to continually updated information on the occurrence and abundance of birds at each location. Includes color photos and maps.

FRANK GALLO is a tour leader for Sunrise Birding, LLC, an international birding tour company, is a member of the Connecticut Avian Rare Records Committee, and a federally licensed master bird bander.

Heading Outdoors in Connecticut Summer

The flowers are blossoming, grass growing greener by the day, and sunrise is before 5:30am; it’s summer in Connecticut and at Wesleyan University Press, we’re celebrating with some of our favorite outdoors books and field guides.

 

Why not kick of your summer with an excursion on foot—whether it be a leisurely stroll or vigorous hike? The newly redesigned 20th edition of The Connecticut Walk Book by Connecticut Forest and Park Association (CFPA) is now available to inspire and guide you through your summer jaunts.

Every summer, CFPA offers local hikes and other events. Most are free. Here are this season’s events:

June 2-3, 2018 (All Day): CT Trails Day – LARGEST National Trails Day in the nation; Celebration of 50th anniversary of the National Trail System, follow on Twitter with #CTTrailsDay FREE

June 3, 2018 (9:00am): 2017 Goodwin Forest Trail Run 10k/30k, $20-33 registration fee

June 12, 2018 (10:00am-12:30pm): June Senior Walk at CFPA, FREE

June 13 & 14, 2018 (10:00am-12:30pm & 12:00pm-2:30pm): Senior Walks at Hampton, FREE

July 10, 2018 (10:00am-12:00pm): July Senior Walk at CFPA, FREE

August 14, 2018 (10:00am-12:00pm): August Senior Walk at CFPA, FREE

September 11, 2018 (10:00am-12:00pm): September Senior Walk at CFPA, FREE

 

With its release coinciding with National Geographic’s #YearOfTheBird,  look to the skies for Birding in Connecticut, by Frank Gallo, will help those of you looking to the skies to capture

Some local birding and #YearoftheBird events to watch out for:

June 3, 2018 (9am-1pm): First Sunday Bird Walk at Greenwich Point Park (Every first Sunday) FREE

June 3, 2018 (10am-11:30am): Connecticut Bird Atlas – Training Workshop, Audubon Center, Southbury, CT, FREE

June 5, 2018 (7:30pm-9pm): “Saving Seabirds” at National Geographic Campus, Gilbert H. Grosvenor Auditorium, 1600 M St NW, Washington, D.C. 20036, $25 admission

June 9-10, 2018: Summer Bird Count; various locations (Hartford, New Haven, Greenwich); Every weekend of June, FREE

June 30, 2018 (11am-1pm): Audubon Greenwich – LGBT – Let’s Go Birding Together!, Pride Month birding event, $5 Audubon members, $8 non-members

August 25, 2018 (7:30pm-9pm): Creatures of the Night… Hike! at the New Canaan Nature Center, FREE

 

Following the flow of the river, and the trout, fishermen and would-be fishermen might consider picking up a copy of Fly Fishing in Connecticut: A Beginner’s Guide by Kevin Murphy.

Why not brush up on your fishing skills at one of these fun events?

May 26-June 15, 2018: 2018 CT Fishing Tournament/Derby; various locations

June 2, 2018 (5am-3:30pm): Bass-A-Palooza, Norwalk, CT (registration for fishers has passed)

June 16, 2018 (12pm-4:30pm): Hooks for Heroes Fishing Tournament, Stamford, CT, $35 admission (registration for fishers has passed)

July 15-24, 2018: Three Belles Outfitters Trifecta Challenge Kayak Tournament, Niantic, CT, $100 registration

August 4-5 & 11-12, 2018: The Federal Bass Federation of Connecticut (CT-TBF) 2-Day Events

 

 

After hiking the trails, fishing, or birdwatching, one can delve into Connecticut’s multitude of small towns and rural structures in Hidden In Plain Sight: A Deep Traveler Explores Connecticut by Hartford Courant essayist, David K. Leff and look to the night sky with Under the Dark Sky: Life int he Thames River Basin by Steven G. Smith.