CTFishTalk.com: Mill River (Hamden), 6/22 - Connecticut River Reports ( CT River Reports ) - A Community Built for Connecticut Fisherman.

Dan · Joined: 07 Jul 2012 Posts: 41 Location: Hamden

Myself and fellow CTFT member, Mattyk182 (Matt), decided to hit up the Mill River to do some trout fishing. We didn't have a ton of time, but met up around 11:15.

Our first stop was a pull-off on Whitney Avenue in Hamden near Wentworth's Ice Cream. The water was running a bit shallow, but we threw a few casts out there anyway. Neither of us had anything so much as a hit, so we decided to pack up from that location and head to another nearby spot.

We decided to go to Sleeping Giant State Park since it was right around the corner essentially and is a great Trout Management Area which both Matt and myself have had good luck in the past. We arrived at roughly noon.

The Mill River runs right along the purple trail going towards Cheshire and is a great spot to fish in the Hamden area. After arriving at the purple trail, it was just a short walk to the first spot which I saw had some potential.

We rigged up, both Matt and myself were throwing a basic trout setup (single split shot [sometimes removed], swivel (optional) and hook/snell with a giant mealworm attached). On Matt's first cast, he had an immediate hit, however, the fish ultimately never took the bait when Matt went to set.

A few minutes went by, I had a line out for about a minute while Matt was re-rigging and I started getting a hit which ultimately turned into the first fish of the day. A nice 9-10" brown trout which I immediately released after getting it off the hook.

After I released, I started to rig another mealworm while Matt took some casts, unfortunately, the area was relatively rocky and we both ended up needing to re-rig a few times (mostly losing hooks). After re-rigging, I threw out a few casts while Matt was too. Almost immediately after throwing one of my casts out, I saw a big splash in the water right where I casted, waited a couple seconds and set the hook. Got another nice brown trout -- about 10" and promptly released.

We continued fishing the spot, but things started to cool down and decided to move up further down the river; so after about 45 minutes, I had 2 brown trout (C&R).

We continued up to a spot where we have had luck in the past near the sandy area. While normally, this is a good spot, we immediately noticed several people allowing their dogs to splash around in the area opposite to us fishing. While the people doing it weren't doing it maliciously, its not allowed (nor is swimming at SGSP) and it is definitely both pet peeves of both Matt and myself as it scares the fish and shows a lack of respect for others using the area. We decided to go further up river.

We continued walking until we got to the area with the remnants of bridge that used to cross the river (it was destroyed earlier this year in a rain storm). Luckily, the remnants created a really nice spot to throw out and fish around.

It's about quarter after noon at this time, we had about an hour before Matt had to leave for work. At this point, everything started to turn around -- previously Matt was unable to catch anything, however, everything turned around -- Matt caught his first fish, a 11"-12" brown trout (pictured below -- only pic we took today)

We continued to fish and I started getting annoyed due to getting snagged and unfortunately lost a few Gamakatsu hooks (highly recommended). It seemed at this point, everything reversed -- I kept getting snagged and Matt was catching the fish (at the previous location, it was the opposite).

About 20 minutes later, while fishing the fast water after a drop, Matt pulled in the catch of the day, a roughly 12-13" brown trout which was the final catch of the day. We both threw for another 10 or so minutes, but decided to pack up and grab some lunch before Matt had to head to work.

All in all, a nice, albeit very short, day fishing. Ultimately, we pulled in 4 fish and tied with each other for total caught, but Matt had edged me in terms of overall slot. So, in about an hour and a quarter, we pulled in 4 browns, all caught and released.

Michael · Joined: 28 Jan 2012 Posts: 3823 Location: Bridgeport

Great report!

Trout anglers at the Mill River TMA in Fairfield have the same issues with pet owners you guys did, even though the Fairfield Cascades open land is 1 of 2 parks in the town people are allowed to let their dogs run. But I hate how they don't consider keeping an eye on their dogs and let them run into the water when there's fishermen. They see the dogs go in the water and call for them but the dog is enjoying the water while the owner doesn't bother coming to the dog to get it out.

Mikezilla89 · Joined: 07 Jul 2014 Posts: 3

Last Thursday (the 3rd) I decided to hit the mill river to see if any trout were still hanging around. I parked at the pull off before Tuttle ave and walked down the river until I got to the deeper portion of the water (axel shop pond). I threw my mealworm in and had my first hit within a few minutes, it was a 7-8" brown trout. I then hit two more a couple inches larger after 10-15 minutes in the same spot. I then moved closer to the destroyed bridge and cast for a bit with no luck. I went back to the spot I was in before and caught another brown trout about 10". Fished for another half hour with no luck, and just as I was about to give up for the day a larger fish hits my mealworm and puts up a good fight. Ended up being a 13" brown trout. Needless to say, I left happy.