CTF name: CWood Man Real name: Chris Partelow Age: 40 Current city: Brookfield, CT Hometown: Newtown, CT Family members: ife Suezy, Dogs- Zeus and Holly, Cat- Striper, Horse- Savanah Occupation: Porsche Sales Manager
1. You're always smiling in your reports and at the outings. What is your secret or advice to finding happiness in life? I honestly live my life to the fullest and day to day. Why be miserable in life? I feel smiling is contagious. I just like having a good time and like showing people a good time. I truly love fishing and I feel like when I am fishing it is my sanctuary. I really feel at home on the water and I see myself doing this for a living one day!
2. You've posted a variety of fishing reports, including ice-fishing, saltwater and freshwater. Do you have a favorite kind of fishing? I like all fishing but the salt is my favorite. That is the main reason I bought a new salt boat in September. People think I am nuts living on Candlewood Lake and driving an hour to the salt but until there are hybrid stripers in the lake, I am making the drive -- plus I love the taste of fluke!
3. You live near and fish Candlewood Lake. In your opinion, why do you think the trout catches are down? Is it a case of them moving to deeper water, dying off, or is it that catches are just going unreported? I have fished the lake for 30 years. There was a huge kill in the summer of 2005. To many weeds and warm temps depleted the oxygen levels. In Hollywyle Cove there were around 50 dead trout floating or on the bottom that summer. This past year the Valley Angler only weighed in 2 trout over 5 pounds. Usually he weighs in over 20. My late spring holes that ALWAYS produce big trout on the Maribou Jig were empty!
4. You burst onto the CTF scene with some great Candlewood Lake perch ice-fishing reports. What are your tips for finding and catching monster perch through the ice at Candlewood? Ah the Humpbacks! I love jigging for perch. My biggest was almost 2 1/2 pounds. I find them in 25-30 feet of water on big flats w/stumps. My favorite jig is an 1/8-ounce Blue Fox Rattle Jig tipped with Mousies. They are almost always glued to the bottom.
5. You're part of the committee for the annual Jig & Pig ice-fishing tournament on Candlewood Lake. How long have you been doing that? What are some of the most impressive catches you have seen weighed in? I've been doing the Jig N Pig for 11 years. It all started at Squantz with around 10 of us with burgers and dogs. Since then, we moved it to the Town Park in New Fairfield on Candlewood, where we have around 200 people. The best trout was 5-1/2 pounds. Largemouth 6 pounds and a 5-1/2 pound smallmouth. Never a 2-pound yellow weighed in -- good thing I was working it!!!!
6. What is your dream fishing trip or destination? My dream trip would be a fly in trip to Canada. This is a must on my list!
7. What makes your Porche/Audi dealership unique? Our dealership is unique because the owner really stresses a friendly atmosphere. This is his only venture so he is hands on and is really a nice guy. The niceness rolls down hill!
8. What is the most "Beyond Addicted. Just Plain Sick!" thing you have done in the pursuit of fish? My "sickest" trip was probably this past November on the new boat. It was 40 degrees, driving rain, 30 mph winds, and 4 to 6-foot waves. We were the only boat out there and still caught fish!
9. When did you get into fishing, and what is your most memorable fishing experience? I got into fishing real young. My mom and dad split up when I was 8 so my dad would have me on Sundays and we would always fish. If I wasn't fishing with him I would be with my uncle on lake Mahopac. He taught me night topwater on a very young age. My dad and I would always fish from shore and I would always out fish him! My most memorable trip as a kid was probably the day at Marjorie Res. In New Fairfield. We caught 11 bass all between 4-6 pounds on Rubber Worms. I was 10.
10. What is one of the most valuable fishing tips you have learned from fishing with a fellow CTF member? There has been a few and that is why this site rocks, plus meeting great friends. My two best were probably when Csimone turned me on to the Hair Jigs on Candlewood and showed me how to work them. What a lure and a great lesson. Another was when Andrew turned me onto the Spring run stripers up the CT River. I had no clue that run existed and he gave me the 9-inch Sluggos and Houdinis to use. Just awesome!
11. You've found a way to fit in lots of fishing time into your life. What advice do you have for guys looking to do the same? My advice would be to balance family and fishing as well as possible and just plan the trips a few days in advance with the wife. I firmly believe that a guy needs his hobbies and should be able to do them no matter what size family. I don't have kids so it is easier for me and I have more free time but I also work over 50 hours a week and every Saturday. I generally fish every Tuesday since that is my day off and then an occasional Sunday. My wife is very understanding, plus she has the horse as a hobby.
12. What are you most proud of in your life? The thing I am most proud of is where I am today in my life. I have a great job and a great wife! I really was a bad, bad kid. Drugs, alcohol and breaking the law at a real young age. I kind of rebelled from living in a small town in Newtown, then being forced to move to Danbury when my mom re-married. If you told me when I was 18 I would be managing a successful Porsche dealership I would say you're nuts! I started as a car washer to a mechanic, all the way to where I am today.
13. If you, AndrewFF3, DEN and Csimone were competing against each other in an all-day fishing contest on separate boats, who would be most likely to take it seriously? Who would be most likely to crack open a beer and take a nap? Describe the weigh-in at the end of the day. Without a doubt CSIMONE would take it the most seriously, Andrew would be cracking the 1st beer, Den would be taking awesome pictures and I would be somewhere in between, although I am very competitive! The weigh in would be CSIMONE with a 6 pound bass, Andrew with a 40 pound striper, Den snapping pictures away but also with some respectable fish and me with a 6 1/2 pound bass and 45 pound striper!!!! Rememvber I am the luckiest!
14. What is one of the best concerts you have ever attended? The Clash and Who concert at Shea Stadium!
15. You often try to keep the peace among CTF members on the site. Do you play that role in real life in your job, or with family and friends? I do keep the peace among my salesman at work and my family and friends. I do play peace keeper because life is to short to hold grudges and argue all the time. Maybe that is why I was voted friendliest in JR. High!
16. You're appointed head of the CT DEP. What three things do you do to start? 1. I would implement creel limits on all species 2. Really enforce the laws and have stricter policies on poachers 3. Uniform regs on saltwater species for surrounding states. As an example, have the same regs on Fluke in CT, NY and RI for recreational fishermen.
Personal best albie. 13-3/4 lbs.
17. What is your personal best striped bass? My PB striper was 48 inches snapping wire on a charter in RI, but I really don't count that. On my boat, it is 45 inches and my goal is a 50!
18. Do you have any fish-that-got-away stories that still haunt you? The one that got away! For some reason I haven't broken the 5-pound mark on trout. I have caught quite a few between 4-5 pounds. Five years ago, I was fishing with my friend Larry in the mouth of Holywhile cove with alewives. We were doing decent, when all of a sudden we see some nice big trout smashing bait on top. I cast a bait into them and hook a monster. After a 10-minute fight, the fish is next to the boat and it's at least an 8-pound brown. My line snapped and he was gone. It still stings!!!!!!!
Personal best, 10-1/2-pound tog.
19. If you had to choose just one kind of lure for a day of both fresh and saltwater fishing, what would it be? Best lure for fresh and salt would be a white Houdini Shad!
20. You've caught some really big pike at Lake Lillinonah. Just how big of a fish do you think is in there? I got two in one week that were awesome, and both on 8-pound test and no leader. They were both over 39" and just shy of 20 pounds. A pike guru I know, Greg Clark, has caught a ton of big pike on Lilli. I guarantee that there are a few over 50". Lilli is where the state record came from.
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