8am-5pm Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on
Saturday & Sunday. These will be the store hours through April.
Pictured up top is customer & trout slayer Alexis C.
with a beautiful wild brown this week.
We have tons of
books at the moment- we received a bunch of used books
as well as a big order of new books that arrived
recently. Also, a bunch more used rods &
reels came in, we have a BIG inventory of used stuff. Also
received big orders from Scientific Anglers
(fly lines) & Fulling Mill
(flies, boxes, beads, hooks).
We are once again carrying
the very popular Frabill Landing Nets.
They are reasonably priced, lightweight, and capable of netting very
large trout.
Diamondback
Generation IV Euro nymphing rods are here! I know many of
you have been eagerly anticipating them, and now we have the full
line-up, minus the 10' 7" #4 (not available yet, probably in the
early fall). The models we have include 10' and 10' 7" lengths
in #1, #2, #3, and 10' 7" in #6 & #7. These rods are very
nice!
Friday morning
4/25/25
River Report:
The total flow on the river
below the Still River and in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release
(C&R) is 235cfs
and slowly dropping, the historical median flow for today is 496cfs-
today’s flow is a medium-low water level. Riverton is 157cfs
between the dam and the Rt. 20 bridge/Riverton Self Storage
(historical median flow for today is 262cfs). The Still River is
adding in 78cfs and dropping a little below that.
Riverton water temp is 44 degrees this morning, it reached 49 degrees
yesterday afternoon. Downstream water temps are higher, running high
40’s to upper 50’s of late. Peak water temps are normally mid to
late afternoon, with warm sunny days seeing the biggest temp
increases. Unionville USGS gauge is reading 375cfs, historical median
flow for today is 843cfs.
As
I mentioned in the last report, the Hendrickson has started up last
week. As of Wednesday 4/23, it was as far up as Church Pool, albeit a
light hatch. It’s moving upstream a bit every day. New Hartford &
downstream has seen better bug numbers. Hatch overall has been light
to moderate most days, on a scale of 1-10 ranging from about a 2 to a
6. Be prepared with nymphs, wets, dries, emergers, and spinners- see
paragraph below for detailed info on the hatch and how to fish it.
When they aren’t rising, which is normally most of the day, be
prepared to fish subsurface with nymphs, streamers, and wet
flies/soft hackles.
Hendricksons
are a #12-14 mayfly that hatches in the afternoons, and can bring
some large trout to the surface. They have gray upright wings, 3
tails, the females have a tannish body, and the males are more of a
rusty brown. It begins in the lower river (Farmington, Unionville,
Collinsville) first, and then works it’s way upstream. Hendricksons
are typically a mid/late afternoon hatch, with somewhere between
1-2pm and 4-5pm being the normal time frame. Make sure to have both
dun & emerger patterns for the afternoon hatch, often better fish
will key on emergers. Spinner falls (egg-laying) are an evening
affair according to the books, but on the Farmington River I’ve
seen them anywhere from mid to late mornings, concurrent with the
afternoon hatch, and also in the traditional evening/dusk time frame.
Spinners falls require dry weather, mild temps, and minimal wind.
Cold or windy eves often lead to mid/late morning spinner falls the
following morning, well before the “hatch” anglers are even on
the river. Spinners are all rusty brown, and the females have a
bright yellow egg sack at the end of the abdomen. Look for them in
the air over riffles, flying up & down as they slowly work their
way down to the water. Nymphs resembling the Hendricksons can be
effective, especially in the 2-3 hours preceding the hatch. Hatches
don’t always mean rising fish, so be prepared with nymphs. Think
patterns in a medium to dark brown, #12-14- the nymphs darken as they
get near hatching time. You can use a specific imitation, or
something more generic like a Pheasant Tail or Frenchy. They are
bulkier than some other nymphs, so if you tie them don’t make the
abdomens too skinny, and make a robust thorax. FYI Hendricksons are
close cousins to Sulfurs. Wet flies & soft-hackles can have their
moments during this hatch.
Don’t be afraid to explore
and fish new water to get away from the crowds, there are literally
fish EVERYWHERE. The further you go downstream, in general the less
anglers you will see- especially if you walk 5-10 minutes away from
the easy access points. FYI, many anglers don’t start until noon or
1pm, and then they leave at 4-5pm when the afternoon hatch is done.
We are on the tail end of the Blue Winged Olive/Baetis hatch. A
smaller gray/brown Caddis has been hatching in the afternoons, but
for the most part trout don’t seem to surface feed on it. Other
than the afternoon hatches, it’s been mostly subsurface with nymphs
& streamers.
Various nymphs averaging #14-20 have
been working on stockers, holdovers & wilds. Try #12-18 Pheasant
Tails/Frenchies, #12-14 Hendrickson nymphs, #16-20 BWO nymphs, #14-18
olive Caddis larva/Walt’s Worms, Mops, and flies with pink beads
(Walt’s/PT’s/Hare’s Ears). Junk Flies (Eggs, Mops, Worms,
Weenies) can be particularly effective on the recently stocked fish
before they figure out what real food looks like, sometimes vastly
outproducing traditional nymphs. And some days the wild browns like
to eat the Junk too. They are very much a hot or cold fly, not much
in between. If one of your nymphs is a Junk Fly, pair it up with
something smaller, drabber & more natural (Pheasant Tail, Walt’s
Worm, Hare’s Ear, etc.). Streamers are also a good choice, a great
way to cover a lot of water in a hurry, and also be able to fish the
water that you cannot nymph. Make sure to cover lots of water, play
with streamer color/patterns, and vary your retrieves. Try tan,
olive, white, and black.
Fishing reports have varied
widely, depending on the angler, river section fished, time of day,
and methods/flies used. Overall we are getting a lot more good
reports recently. Dry fly anglers are just coming into their time
now. Nymphs & streamers have been producing most of the fish you
see in this report. Expect to work for the high quality bigger
holdover & wild fish. If you get into a pod of recently stocked
fish, you can do some big numbers with subsurface flies. It pays to
move around and cover water currently. It one section is not
producing, don’t beat it to death, move to a new area. The big wild
browns are the hardest to fool, you need to do everything correctly.
They’ve seen it all, and they spook easily. They are also very
tuned into real bugs & minnows.
The Farmington River
was stocked recently on the entire river, including the Permanent
TMA/C&R last week (on Thursday 4/17 and Monday 4/21). Most
sections have been stocked twice, with more to come in the very near
future. FYI, 20% of the trout they stock throughout the state are
over one foot, with some much larger. The Permanent TMA/C&R gets
1,000 fat Two Year Old Browns that average 14-18”, and some are
bigger than
that.
****************************************************************
Dries:
-Hendrickson
#12-14: mid/late afternoon hatch, starting up, as far upstream as
Church Pool as of 4/24, and working their way further upstream daily
-Blue
Winged Olives/Baetis #16-18: Mid afternoon hatch, near the
end
-Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24: hatch is typically early to
mid morning, all year long. Trout focus on the pupa first, and then
as the morning progresses they normally switch to the winged,
egg-laying adults.
-Midges #20-28: afternoons/eves, sunny/milder
days are best
Nymphs:
-Hendrickson
#12-14: medium to dark brown mayfly, can use specific imitations like
a BMAR pattern or generic stuff like a Pheasant Tail
-BMAR
Hendrickson Nymph #14
-Blue Winged (Baetis) Olive Nymphs #16-18:
active/hatching in the afternoons, good all year, a common item in
the drift
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #14-16: lots of these
in the river (most others too), imitates the common Hydrospyche, good
all year but especially in early spring
-Pheasant
Tails/Frenchies #14-20: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including
Blue Winged Olives, Hendricksons, small Stoneflies, and more
-Cased
Caddis #10-16: good this time of year, especially during & after
flow bumps
-Winter/Summer Caddis Larva #18 (yellow)- also
imitates Black Caddis larva & some Midge larva
-Junk Flies
(Mops/Micro Mops, Squirmy/San Juan Worms, Eggs, Green Weenie): eggs
are deadly in the fall/winter/early spring, and the others are good
change-up flies when the usual imitative flies aren’t producing,
during non-hatch times, cold water, on recently stocked trout, or
during higher/off-color water.
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20: such as
Sexy Waltz, Rainbow Warriors, Frenchies, Prince, Triple Threats, Pink
Bead Walt’s Worm/Pheasant Tails/Hare’s Ear, etc. Often work
better than drabber, more imitative flies.
-Midges #18-22
(black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge.
Streamers:
*We
have a lot of new streamer patterns from MT Fly Co in the bins.
***Don’t
neglect streamers! - top colors have been olive, tan, white, and
black. Black is good on recently stocked trout (of which there are
lots right now), during low light (first & last light), and
high/dirty water.
-Jigged Streamers #8-12: various
patterns/colors, deadly fished on a tight-line/Euro rig, often sorts
out bigger fish. Great to use as a clean-up fly after you nymph a
run.
-Ice Picks (tan, gray, white, yellow): tied by Rich
Strolis, a very nice single hook baitfish pattern
-Woolly Bugger
#4-12: assorted colors, try also Don's Peach Bugger
-Zonker
#4-6: a classic fish catcher! In white, natural
-BMAR Yellow
Matuka #6: deadly fall fly! Also standard Matuka in olive,
brown
-Zuddler #4-8: one of our favorites, in olive, white,
brown, black, yellow
-Complex & Mini Twist Bugger #2-6:
assorted colors, very effective