Town officials this week approved funds to dredge Mill Pond in the weeks following a popular annual event there that long has marked the start of spring for many New Canaanites: the fishing derby.
Mill Pond during a dredge in September 2014. Credit: Michael Dinan
Called the ‘George Cogswell Memorial Fishing Derby’ after a former New Canaan Police officer, this year’s event will be held 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 16 (registration starts at 8:30 a.m. on site).
Sponsored by the New Canaan Recreation Department with assistance from the Department of Public Works and local merchants, the derby sees Mill Pond stocked with hundreds of pounds of rainbow trout, drawing hordes of fishing rod-toting to the water’s edge. It’s open to children ages 15 and younger—ages 10 and younger must be accompanied by an adult—and the budding sportsmen compete for special prizes awarded in several categories such the first boy and first girl to catch a fish, and the largest fish caught.
Here’s a ca. 1950s postcard of Lake Wampanaw—known today as Mill Pond, where New Canaanites descend each spring for the Fishing Derby. Here’s the note on this postcard: “This is one of the many lovely spots where many a lovely hour is spent.” Credit: eBay
Town officials are eyeing a June date for the regular, biennial maintenance dredging of Mill Pond, according to Tiger Mann, assistant director of DPW.
The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday approved 3-0 a request to enter nearly $10,000 in contracts (excavating and hauling) for the dredge.
The dredged material will be hauled primarily to the highway department shed, Mann said (it no longer is taken to the “cornfields” at Waveny, following a change made last summer).
“It’s just a great thing that we do and we spent so many dollars cleaning out Mill and Mead and the fact is, we never used to do this type of maintenance on a yearly basis,” First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said. “It’s a credit to the thinking the town has in place the last six or seven years that we maintain these, so instead of spending millions of dollars every 10 or 15 years, we spend $9,000 or $10,000 every year achieving what we need to do.”