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Casting a Spell In a funk? Stressed out? Looking for inner peace? If conventional and alternative remedies have failed to lift the veil, don’t despair. There’s another path to take. Pick up a fly rod, knot a fly on the line—a Light Cahill, Green Caddis, or Blue Winged Olive might do—and wade into one of Litchfield County’s fish-rich rivers and streams. Best bet is the glorious Housatonic, one of America’s premier entry ports into the State of Nirvana. The fly-fishing cognoscenti at “Focus on enjoying the experience as opposed to how many fish you catch,”Rob Nicholas tells his new clients. Nicholas’s not a psychiatrist. He’s a guide who runs Housatonic Anglers in Cornwall. But his sage advice transcends its intended milieu and is perhaps even more valuable when applied to the frenzied, acquisition-oriented lives so many of us lead. Read it again and commit it to memory: “Focus on enjoying the experience as opposed to how many fish you catch.” Brilliant. Confucius couldn’t have said it better. Fly fishing as a metaphor for life? Yes. Veteran practitioners of the art have long understood that the psychological value of the experience definitely doesn’t end when you step out of the stream. Like a time-release capsule, it provides long-term therapeutic benefits, positively influencing the mental processes we use to combat and survive the daily assaults on our sanity from vituperative bosses, complaining spouses, demanding children, unpaid bills, and incessant questions about whether we prefer “paper or plastic”—those sorts of things. Jeff Addy, a 41-year-old fly-fishing enthusiast and nature photographer who knows the Housey intimately, has a poet’s sense of the sport and its spirituality. “I like the solitude of it, the beauty of where it happens, the personal challenge. Fly casting is elegant.” Blessed by nature’s gifts and bolstered by the State of Connecticut’s management and stocking programs, fresh-water fishing in Litchfield County is nationally renowned. Tim Barry, a Department of Environment biologist and avid angler, cites dozens of rivers and streams—about ten of them top tier—to choose from. Among his favorites are the Naugatuck River in East Litchfield, Macedonia Brook in Kent, West Hill Pond, East Twin Lake, and Lakeville Lake. “But the Housatonic is preeminent,” he says, “especially where it flows through Cornwall and Sharon.” It’s not an isolated opinion. Marty Ianonne, owner of the Housatonic Meadows Flyshop in Cornwall Bridge, apologizes for sounding chauvinistic when he praises the Housey. Ianonne’s tried his luck in many of America’s most revered fishing locales. “I’ll put the Housatonic up there in the top ten,” he says, “for the quality of the fishing and the beauty of the surroundings.” The river’s reputation is enhanced this year by the 15,000 brown trout delivered from state h As therapy, fly fishing is considerably less expensive than a long-term relationship with a shrink. A license costs twenty bucks if you’re a Connecticut resident, forty if not. Tourists can buy a three-day pass for $16. Kids and seniors fish for free. Nevertheless, Marty Iannone says, “It’s not a cheap sport.” Flycasters—the aristocrats and purists of fresh water fishing—are as fussy and prejudiced about their gear as any golfer or tennis nut, and are willing to pay for the privilege. State-of-the-art reels can cost more than $700. Featherlight rods made of space-age composites go for $750. It used to be a men’s sport. No longer. Aim your binocs up or down one of the county’s rivers and you’ll see proof that women are a fast-growing segment of the on the water population. One result is that the ancient and honorable designation fly fishermen, like the terms firemen or policemen, has been abandoned in favor of gender neutralization. Angler is the preference of Linda Hotchkiss, a corporate executive who recently fished the Housatonic with members of her NYC-based women’s fly-fishing club—Juliana’s Anglers. Woman or man, novice or veteran, expensive gear or not, your mindset is critical, insists Rob Nicholas. Again his preachments about fly casting reach beyond the sport and into the essence of a happy life. "High expectations," he says "have ruiined more fishing trips than anything else." Amen, brother. By Morton Dean |
test to the healing properties of their beloved Housey (rhymes with goosey). They guarantee that just feeling the Housatonic swirling around your legs will snap you out of your malaise. Just like that! If you happen to hook a feisty rainbow or brown trout or a small mouth bass so much the better. Catching a big one might give you bragging rights but it’s not absolutely essential to the healing process. Or the fun.
atcheries and two thousand rainbow trout provided by a private non-profit group headed by Harold McMillan of Housatonic River Outfitters. There are no “keepers” though. What you catch you must release. It’s the law! The intent is to prevent toxic PCBs, released into the river years ago, from ending up on your dinner plate. What makes anglers happy is that the toss-back rule allows more fish to mature, and that it increases opportunities to hook them when they are bigger and more challenging.