Litchfield Resident Takes Top Prize in 76th Annual Riverton Fishing Derby

The Northwest Corner was the place to be Saturday, April 11, when the 2026 Riverton Fishing Derby took place for the 76th time — the country’s longest-running derby.

Oozing in tradition, many of the participants have been attending their entire lives. It is common to see second, third, and even fourth generations, lifelong friends, and family. The derby is almost festival-like, with people camping out, tailgating, everyone happy and telling fish tales. The star of the derby is the grand prize Hitchcock Rocking Chair, custom made for the occasion by Eric Swenson.

From 6 to 10 a.m. on derby morning, large trout are brought into the Riverton Firehouse to be weighed and measured, all vying for the grand prize — “the Chair,” as everyone calls it — with a slew of other prizes donated for both adult and kids divisions.

All the fish in contention are weighed, tagged, and kept in tubs of ice on display for everyone to see until the derby ends and winners are sorted. Frantic anglers making the dash to weigh in last-minute fish are a common site.

This year, the winner was Tony Fillie of Litchfield. With an 11-pound, 6-ounce rainbow trout, he is a two-time derby winner, also winning the 73rd derby.

Other top winners in the Adult category were Leo Kolonsky of Watertown in first with a 9-pound, 7-ounce brown trout, Michael Cust of Seymour in second with a 7-pound, 12-ounce brown trout, and Richard Courtright of Bethel in third with a 5-pound, 7-ounce rainbow trout.

In the Kids category, first went to Colton Johnson of Shelton with a 3-pound, 12-ounce rainbow, second was Parker Frick of Canton with a 3-pound, 11-ounce rainbow, and third to Oen Dalka of Avon with a 3-pound, 10-ounce rainbow.

With a list too long of donators and everyone involved with keeping the tradition going, there’s no better place than the Northwest Corner.