8am-5pm Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on Saturday & Sunday. These will be our hours through March.
Pictured up top is customer & friend John Antolini with a stud holdover brown from yesterday. The Juliana’s Anglers Sporting Club from NYC had an epic trip with CT Fly Guides (Zach, Derrick, and Dave Machowski) on Saturday, landing multiple browns from the upper teens up to 22”! Pictured second is Laura Grose from the Juliana’s with a BIG holdover brown trout.
As of 9/1, the entire upper 21 miles of river from the dam in Riverton to the Rt 20 bridge in Unionville is catch & release until next spring.
We just got in some inexpensive used older Orvis rods/reels in immaculate condition, Silver Label Rods& Madison Reels, check ‘em out in the store. They are true classics.
Looks like some “Indian Summer” straight through Wednesday, highs 76-81 but with nice cool nights. Combined with the beautiful foliage, it’s a very pleasant time to be outside, and quite a few big browns were landed over the past several days. We starting to see a few redds, so some trout are beginning to spawn (it’s not full blown yet). Please don’t fish to spawning trout, let them do their thing, and don’t walk on the redds. Fish downstream of the redds where trout are feeding on the loose eggs. As you can imagine, “matching the hatch” will often involve egg flies now. Joey tied up some lighter weighted eggs to match the low flows we have right now, and we have plenty of unweighted egg patterns. Peak spawn is historically late October/early November, even going into December. I’ve seen a few browns spawning as late as mid January. Rainbows normally try to spawn in February & March. Main hatch remains Tan/Brown Caddis #16-20, and there are Isonychia #12-14, and Blue Winged Olives #18-26.
Low but fishable at 94cfs total flow in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release as I write this Monday morning- the Riverton gauge shows 83cfs from the dam down to the Rt 20 bridge, with the Still River adding in 11cfs downstream. Riverton water temp is 57.5 degrees at 8am, yesterday afternoon it peaked there at 63.
Brown trout are aggressive on streamers due to the spawn. You will often see the males chasing each other around as they stake out their territory. Keep an eye out for redds (the oval shaped lighter areas in shallow pea gravel riffles where the trout deposit their eggs) and please LEAVE SPAWNING TROUT ALONE, it’s unsporting to target them and only adds to spawning stress, let them do their thing unmolested. What you want to do is target the often unseen fish downstream from them that are eating loose eggs in the drift, usually in the first darker/deeper water below the redd. Don't walk through the redds, or the first 15 feet or so of water below them as many of the eggs the trout deposit drift 5-15 feet. If you walk on the eggs you are killing future generations of wild trout.
Egg flies, particularly in small sizes, will work well for the remainder of the Fall/Winter. A 4mm size single egg fished at the end of the leader will often be effective. While all egg patterns work, the Otter Egg is particularly effective as it features a realistic rubber egg at its center with a milky veil over the top.
Cold nights and days will see some morning hatches push more in to the late mornings and afternoons. Streamer fishing is picking up. They are a good choice now that the brown trout are more aggressive. Best time to streamer fish is in the morning, the earlier the better, and again at the end of the day when the sun gets off the water. Make sure to play with streamer colors, size, pattern type, and retrieves to see what is working better at any given moment.
Flows remain low and highly fishable as long as you are stealthy in your approach and match your rigging & flies to the conditions. The minimal water release is due to a lack of rainfall since August, and a low Colebrook River Lake. The upside of low water is easy wading & access, easier to figure out where the trout are because you can eliminate a lot of the water, and less water encourages the trout to feed on the surface when there is a hatch.
Antoine Bissieux (the “French Flyfisher”) is bringing world champion French flyfisher Bertrand Jacquemin to do 9 clinics focusing on Sight Fishing & Dry/Dropper. Bertrand is literally one of the best trout fisherman in the world, and he retired with 11 medals in competitive fly fishing (4 of them gold). The French team is the best in the world at fly fishing for trout, and this is a unique opportunity to spend a day learning from one of the world’s best, without having to spend $5,000 dollars to visit him in France. Europeans use some deadly flies, rigging & techniques that vary from what Americans see and use. Clinics range from $300 to $450 dollars, and the dates are 10/19 to 10/26. Contact Antoine directly at 860-759-4464 to sign up, clinics are filling up fast.
Local guide Mark Swenson is doing a Beginner Fly Tying class on November 17th, contact him directly at 203-586-8007 to sign up. Cost is $150 person, with a maximum class size of 6 people. I would expect this class to fill up quickly.
Large Golden Stoneflies are still active and crawling out on the rocks to emerge in the mornings, they run from about a #4 down to a #12, and this should continue at least through the end of October, and likely into November. Big Stoneflies are on a 2-4 year life cycle, so they are always present and a possible food source (immature ones will be smaller though) 12 months a year. Imitate them with #8-12 nymphs in the fast water, big trout key in on them. They are active & emerging from June through mid fall. Look for their empty shucks on protruding rocks in fast water, you’ll also see a bunch on concrete bridge abutments. Fishing these big nymphs will net you some bigger fish, especially if you fish the fast water from first light until about 10am. You can beef your tippet up when fishing bigger bugs like this for bigger trout- 4x to 5x is not to heavy.
Many FRAA trophy rainbows are still around after the April stocking (120 went in). They run anywhere from 20-27”, and are all colored up now after being in the river for about 6 months. Also the FRAA put in 18 large Golden Rainbows, and some are still in the river. They are always a challenge to catch because they stick out like a sore thumb (they are a bright yellow/orange color) and everybody targets them, so they get educated quickly and never get a break from anglers.
Be prepared to go subsurface with smaller Caddis pupa, small Mayfly patterns, big Stoneflies, Isonychia nymphs #12-14 (can also use big Pheasant Tails & Prince Nymphs to imitate them), wet flies/soft hackles, and streamers. Also try BWO nymphs #18-22, #12-20 Pheasant Tails/Frenchies and other assorted nymphs. Small nymphs #18-22 are often the ticket this time of year, with the fly size being more important than the exact pattern. Mops (cream, chartreuse), Mini Mops & Squirmy Worms (pink, red) are always worth a try, especially as a clean up fly after you nymph a run, or if trout are not responding to your usual more imitative patterns. They can also be good during non-hatch periods. Don’t neglect attractor nymphs that have flash, fluorescent colors, UV, or gaudy colors- metallic pink beaded nymphs can be very effective sometimes.
The new Thomas & Thomas Avantt II fly rods arrived in March, and they have really impressed us. Slightly more flex in the tip, but still plenty of power in the mid & lower sections, with fantastic crisp recovery and a low swing weight.
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Hatches/Dries:
-Caddis #16-20 (tan, brown): main bug now, hatching mornings & afternoons, and come back in the eves to egg-lay
-Isonychia #12-14: typically a mid/late afternoon through dusk hatch in fast water. This bug brings some large trout to the surface in fast water later in the day. You can also blind fish it in likely looking water or use it in a Dry/Dropper rig.
-Blue Wing Olive #22-26: cloudy afternoons, evenings too. In the eves fish small rusty spinners #22-26.
-Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24: hatching in early to mid morning, all year long
Nymphs & Wet Flies/Soft Hackles:
-Small Nymphs #18-22: frequently size is more important than the exact pattern, especially this time of year when most of the bugs are smaller. Generic bugs like Pheasant Tails/Frenchies, Hare’s Ears, Walt’s Worms, etc. all are good choices.
-Caddis Pupa #16-18 (tan, brown)
-Egg Flies #12-18: Otter Eggs, Eggstasy, Glo-Bugs, Slush Eggs, etc. Fall is prime time for eggs! Shades of yellow, orange, pink, or a mix of those.
-Blue Winged Olive Nymphs #16-22, good all year, and especially in the fall, common item in the drift
-Isonychia Nymph #12-14: BMAR & others, fish in fast water, mid afternoon through dusk. Try dead-drifting, swinging, and even stripping them in.
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #12-20: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Isonychia, Blue Winged Olives, Sulfurs, small Stoneflies, and more
-Stonefly #8-12: excellent in the mornings when they crawl out in low light onto the rocks to emerge in fast water. They emerge from June through mid fall on the Farmington River, and can produce some big fish.
-Wet Flies & Soft Hackles #12-16: assorted colors/patterns, try to imitate the main hatches, but also use flashy attractor patterns
-Junk Flies (Mops, Squirmy Worms, Eggs, Green Weenie)
-Zebra Midge #18-22: black, olive, red
-Winter/Summer Caddis Larva #18 (yellow): can also imitate Midge larva
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #14-16: lots of these in the river
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20: such as Sexy Waltz, Rainbow Warriors, Frenchies, Prince, Triple Threats, Pink Bead Walt’s Worm, Pink Bead Pheasant Tails, etc. Often work better than drabber, more imitative flies.
Streamers:
Fall is PRIME TIME for streamers! - Especially colors like olive, white, yellow, brown, and yellow paired with other colors (brown/yellow, olive/yellow, etc.).
-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
-Wooly 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