Private club – Limestone Trout Club

LTC celebrates the Annual Shareholder meeting and Luncheon

The 2026 Shareholder Meeting and Luncheon will be held on club grounds, under the pole barn on Saturday, October 3rd. The event will start at 10 a.m. and should end approximately at 1 p.m. The invitations were sent via email last week. Coming soon will be the proxy statement where members will vote for Board of Directors positions and any other matter brought forth by the BoD or membership.

Please VOTE for the Board of Directors positions here. It is important to the club that a quorum is reached, meaning a simple majority of shareholders vote.

The meeting will start with club President John Kamovitch and other club officers/committee chairs presenting information on the state of the club. If you have not voted in advance on the proxy statement, you will be given an opportunity to vote in person. NOTE: We need a quorum to validate the proxy offerings so please vote!

After the business portion of the meeting a festive and hardy meal will be offered. Tickets for the event are $50/adult and $10/children.

Limestone Trout Club will offer a sweepstakes drawing where members can purchase chances to win a fully paid 2027 membership to LTC. All entries will be tallied and the winner will be drawn at the meeting. Members need NOT be present to win. Emails regarding the sweepstakes have been sent to members. Each single entry in the sweepstakes is $50 and there are NO LIMITS on how many entries a member can purchase. Note that all members must be in “good standing” to participate in the sweepstakes – that means dues are current.

Five Things that Kill Released Trout

This video link is to YouTube and created by Fly Fish Food Channel and released on May 23rd, 2026. Lots of real scientific studies to back up the information.

When it comes to catch-and-release trout fishing, there’s a lot of advice floating around — but what actually harms released fish? Is it really dry hands… or are there bigger mistakes anglers make without realizing it?

In this video, we break down 5 things that actually kill released trout and separate myth from fact. From fight time and water temperature to handling mistakes that matter way more than wet hands, we’re diving into the science and practical tips that help trout survive after release.

If you care about healthy fisheries and want to become a better angler, this is a must-watch.

🎣 Learn how to handle trout the right way, avoid common mistakes, and keep fish thriving for the next cast.

LTC Celebrates 69 years with Annual Spring Banquet

The 2026 Spring Banquet was a huge success with 59 members, spouses and guests attending the May 30th event. A special thank you to event organizer, member and Grounds Committee Chairman, Laury Gay, who put it all together for our club and its community. Laury’s team of helpers put in a lot of hard work to make sure every detail was handled. Noteworthy were Tina and Frank Yerry taking on sign in/raffle tickets, Kneeland Munson and Remington Wandall with parking and Gregge Shelton as Assistant Event Coordinator. The event was catered by local East Canaan establishment, Freud’s Farm Market and Bakery.

There were many winners for the charitable donations and raffle prizes that were presented at the banquet. Noteworthy were:

Andy Sabetta won the 4-night stay at member Steve Ellis’s Pittsburg NH cabin in the heart of the Connecticut Lakes region.

Doug Davenport won the Orvis Recon fly rod along with the one of kind LTC entrance gate painting created by local artist and LTC Staff Gregge Shelton.

Laury Gay’s family, Tina and Frank, won tickets to a 2026 NY Yankee game at Yankee Stadium.

Thank you to all that donated their gifts and time to make this a very successful banquet.

NOTE: LTC has an ACTIVE Membership drive underway, so help the club move forward with new members by talking with those you know in your fly fishing community.

Spring One Fly 2026

The Annual LTC “One Fly” Challenge is back. It is your chance to claim bragging rights as the One Fly winner and have your name entered on the plaque displayed in the clubhouse.

Date: Saturday, April 18th

Entry Fee: $25/angler.

Registration for all members, family and guest anglers is 8:00- 8:45 A.M.

During registration, you will declare a single fly that you will fish with for the entire contest. NOTE: The single fly you pick must be used during the entire time that the challenge is active. If you loose your fly, it must be replaced by an identical fly – both size and pattern – so make sure you have at least one in reserve.

Fishing will start at the sound of the air horn at 8:45 and will end with the second air horn signal at 11:45 A.M. If you are playing a fish and the horn sounds, you may continue to land the fish and it will count towards your single fish entry.

Each pond will be staffed by a judge who will measure and weigh your catch. Scoring is 1 point for each inch or fractional points for fractions of inches, plus 1 point for each ounce of weight. The winner will be the largest combination of length and weight.

After the fishing, join with other anglers and guests for a picnic luncheon at the Pole Barn Pavilion starting at 12:15 P.M. There will be burgers/hot dogs/chips/salad and cookies served. Beverages are included.

NOTE: At 2 P.M., the annual Spring stocking will take place. You can help with this effort to keep our club well stocked for the remainder of the season. The hatchery truck dumps the trout into buckets which require delivery to the ponds. We need volunteers to form bucket lines to make this happen.

LTC Mourns George David Clee, Jr.

George David Clee, Jr., 96, passed away peacefully on August 10, 2025.

George, husband to Ingrid Clee and father to Christopher Wayne Clee and Jennifer Clee Engel, was an avid fisherman and hunter; he belonged to Limestone Trout Club, Kingdom Game Club and Suffield Sportsman’s Association. He loved the outdoors. George travelled the world as part of the US Government Foreign Service and was an avid reader. We will miss his fun nature, knowledge and larger than life presence.

Pole Barn Rehab 2021

The club Pole barn near Cedar and Home ponds was rehabbed over a few weekends in early September. After many years on our property there were several poles that had rotted away making the barn potentially unsafe and unstable. Thanks to the leadership and organization of Grounds Committee chairman Jeff Shippee and member Eric Hutchison, the hard work of stabilizing the structure was completed. Thanks to such dedicated members the repairs came in under budget.

Jeff got help from his friend Jason Lemon and his crew at Juniors Landscaping and Construction in Canaan. That included shoring and leveling work before the poles were cut and holes dug for the Sonotubes, bracing and concrete. The work took place over the first two weekends in September finishing up with a crew of LTC volunteers working on Sept 11th.

Members joining Jeff and Eric where Glen Ratcliff, Jim Oravetz, Steve van Fleet, William Keith, Scott Simko, Owen Mitchell, Niels Jensen and his son, Chris.

One Fly Day 2021

Limestone held the annual One Fly contest on Saturday, May 15th, after a year hiatus. The event was organized by members Bob Hoffman and Eric Hutchison. Eric also helped with the trout measuring and weighing along with Scott Simko and Fred Jeans.

The beautiful day unfolded with 21 contestants vying for the chance to claim the “title”. All contestants signed in at the clubhouse with their favorite fly selection before the 10 a.m. start. Rules required the contestants to use the same fly or an exact copy during the allocated two hours of fishing. The winning fish was based on both length and weight. Taking home the phantom crown was member Joe Czielowski with a 26 inch, 6 lb. brown from Cedar pond. Congratulations Joe!

After the event, a picnic lunch was prepared by members John Mitman and Richard Marone.

2026 LTC Calendar of Events

The LTC Member Handbook has a list of “Important Dates”. This page will duplicate that Handbook list and will be updated as the other To Be Determined(TBD) dates are known. The LTC often hosts events for outside clubs like Project Healing Waters and several TU chapters.

All Board of Directors meeting are held at the clubhouse, unless otherwise noted.

Club Activities:

Sat April 4th, 2026 – Opening Day at LTC

Sat April 18th – One Fly Challenge(a.m)/Spring Stocking of Ponds(p.m.)

Sat May 30th – Annual Spring Banquet @LTC Pole Barn

Sat Oct 3rd – Annual Stockholders meeting held at Limestone

Sat Nov 7st – BoD meeting. Preliminary Budget discussion

Sat Dec 5th – BoD meeting. Finalize Budget for 2027

Wed Dec 31st – Closing Day 2025

Key Outreach Activities:

TBD – Farmington Valley TU membership day

Sat May 16th – May Fly Project sponsored by Jim Berklas

Thu Sept 10th – Vets Healing on the Fly Visit

TBD – Casting for Recovery day

TBD – Bamboo “One Fly” Challenge

TBD -Connecticut River Salmon day