Seasonal CT DEEP employee Brian is a frequent sight on the river (he's one of the guys who stocks the river, plus he fishes a helluva lot) is holding one beautiful, perfect high teens wild brown he caught Friday. Check out the iridescent gill plate with the blue dot, they don't get much prettier. I think he said he caught it outside of the TMA/C&R area. A lot of fly fishermen only fish in the TMA section, and they miss out on a lot of great fishing outside of it. Crowding is generally much less of an issue outside the TMA too. The 2 fish/12" limit they instituted years ago does a good job keeping more fish in the catch & keep sections. In a normal year, my largest trout comes from outside the TMA, and I'm talking holdover/wild trout, not stocked breeders.
Local guide Zak texted me Thursday night to say that "the tan Caddis were all over the riffles". I love Caddis hatches, they get the trout all fired up. The Farmington has excellent populations of a wide variety of Caddis, and imitations of the larva, pupa & adults are rarely a bad choice. For the past 2 weeks, the olive/green Caddis have been predominating, it's good to see the tan ones out in numbers. When you see Caddis try to grab one (easier said then done), because regardless of body color they all look tan in the air.
The Farmington is currently 282cfs and clear through the catch & release area (217cfs from dam in Riverton down to the Still River). This is an excellent level for fishing in all areas. Great reports of catches from anglers using Winter/Summer Caddis in the morning and Terrestrials including ants and beetles in the afternoon.
UpCountry has just received a huge closeout of Hardy Zenith and Hardy Proaxis X fly rods. As anyone who has been in earshot of me over the last few years knows, these are my absolutely favorite fly rods. These rods use Sintrix, a technology licensed from 3M which makes them stronger and nearly unbreakable under normal fishing conditions. You can find them in our flyshop or in our online store at a great discount. - Grady
Sulfurs #16-18 and Vitreus #16 have been on the water in the later afternoons and evening catching trout from Unionville through Peoples State Forest- hatch is working it's way further upstream every day. Blue Wing Olives #18-24 have also been out in good numbers, especially when it's cloudy. Caddis #14-18 in both olive/green body and Tan body colors have been strong. Winter/Summer Caddis #18-22 have been hatching well in early mornings in the Catch & Release area early morning to 11am, with adults on the water in the late afternoon and evening. March Browns/Grey Fox #10-14 are showing up from mid afternoon and on. Look for March Brown Spinners (sz 10-12) before dark.
Subsurface, Caddis Pupa & Larva in both olive/green & tan #14-18, Hare's Ear soft hackles #12-16, Golden Stoneflies #6-12, Pheasant Tails #14-20, March Brown/Gray Fox Nymphs #10-14, Fox Squirrel Nymph #10-14, Prince Nymph #12-18. We are starting to see Golden Stonefly nymph husks on the rocks in fast water, so they are active & hatching, and are an especially good nymph choice in the mornings (they crawl out to hatch/emerge at night and in the early to mid mornings) FYI big trout LOVE them. Streamers are working well in the early morning and again toward dark- look for either low light or murky water for best results during this time of the year on the Farmington. Mice, Rats and giant Streamers are working after dusk.