Friday, April 25, 2025

Friday 4/25/25 Farmington River Report: Hendrickson hatch update

Store Hours:

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.

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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