RECREATION

The opening of fishing season is a special day on Lake Wononscopomuc. As many as 50 boat trailers line up to use the Town Grove boat launch as the first gray light of dawn approaches. Some of these anglers arrive as early as 8:00 the night before to have the honor of being first on the lake this April.

Parents arrive soon after with children who try their luck in factory pond from the shore with rod and reel. In fact most fishing in the lake itself was done from the shore until the middle of the last century.

Wononscopomuc is one of Connecticut's premier fishing lakes. The record for lake trout still stands. Dr. Thompson brought one in at 29 pounds 13 ounces in 1918. Trophy fish are still recorded at the Town Grove office each year.

The lake is known for trout, large mouth bass,chain pickerel, yellow perch and sunfish. The Connecticut Bureau of Fisheries stocks the lake each year. It is a bass management lake.

Licenses are available at the grove office.

Grove Office Hours:  7:00AM to 8:00PM Daily From the 3rd                                 Saturday in April to Labor Day

                                7:00AM - 8:00PM  Monday to Friday

                                 7:00AM - Noon Saturday and Sunday

                                  From Labor Day to October 31st.

Launch fee includes vehicle parking: $10 for non-residents

                                                       $5 for senior citizens (65 +)

                                                        $125  all season launch

Motors are restricted to 10 HP or less. No towing of skis or other floatation devices is allowed.

Boat rentals are available by the hour ($7) by the half day ($16) and full day ($25) Boat moorings, dock space and canoe racks are available.

SEASON STICKERS:

Residents of Salisbury $50 per car

    $25 senior citizens

Non-Residents  $300 per car

Individual Admission: $10 per person

(For use of beach, playground, picnic         areas and dressing rooms)

The Lake Wononscopomuuc Association pays for the maintenance and installation of barrier mats in the swimming area to prevent milfoil from growing there.

The Town Grove also boasts an imaginative playground, a jetty for fishing, a picnic area, paddle ball court and a meeting hall for community events and services.

The grove has been a popular spot for relaxation and entertainment for more than a century and a half. A steamboat launch started lake excursions in 1878. Dances and concerts were held there on a regular basis. Project Troubadour continues the tradition now.

Originally owned by the Holley Manufacturing Company the grove was acquired by the Town of Salisbury in 1951 to be maintained as a public park.

Management of the park is supervised by the volunteer Town Grove Committee