The Farmington is 284cfs and clear through the Catch & Release area (TMA)- this is a very angler friendly water level. I fished Wednesday from about mid afternoon until dark with Mandy. We started in the C&R/TMA section, and picked up fish in the faster water on smaller nymphs (#16-18). I started seeing some Isonychia trickling off in late afternoon, so I chopped off my pair of weighted nymphs and tied on a big Iso emerger. The result was this perfect specimen of a female brown trout- big/perfect fins, no clipped adipose, colorful, fat & healthy. Caught in calf-deep riffle water. I thought I was throwing to a 12" fish when I saw her rise, so she was a nice surprise. We ended the day in Riverton, and picked up some more trout on nymphs in the riffled water. Water temps in Riverton at the day's end was 58 degrees. -Torrey
Currently, the most rising activity will typically come from before daybreak to noon & after 5pm.
Afternoons will see the least bug activity, but you can catch trout on
midges, beetles & ants if you move around and look for rising fish- don't
neglect banks and shadelines. You can also blind fish the riffled water.
Morning hatches (Needhami & Summer/Winter Caddis) are still good. Tricos are finally hatching in
early to mid AM, and they are going in the Catch & Release ad through Peoples State Forest. Isonychia are coming off in the C&R section, generally best after 5pm- look for them to hatch in the faster, broken water, NOT in the smooth pool water. Blue Wing
Olives #20-24 and cream colored Summer Stenos #20 are hatching
in
the from late afternoon through later evening
Many of you ask were the big trout are.... the answer is everywhere and
where you are not. The best trout have grown big by avoiding the easy
places to be caught. In general they will be on the bank away from a
major access to the river. and in areas that are hard to get to but
provide protection. A spot where a big trout will reside usually has a
big trout there year after year so if you catch one there.... it or its
brother will be there in the future. If you are nymphing with a 2 fly
rig, make sure one of your nymphs
is small, as
in #18-20 (#16 can be small enough if tied on a shorter shank scud
style hook). This time of year when flows are at normal summer levels
(say 150-350cfs ), the trout really key into smaller nymphs, as that is
what is
mainly available. The exceptions would be Isonychia & Stoneflies,
they are both bigger bugs. Also, nymphing the broken, faster water will
greatly
outproduce nymphing the softer, slower runs. Focus on medium to fast
choppy
water, and don't neglect the calf to knee-deep sections. Currently
effective
nymphs include: Hot Spot Nymphs #14-20, #10 Tungsten Carotene Jig,
Wade's Clinger Nymph #14-16,
Olive nymphs #16-20, Yellow Sparkle Prince #14-18, Sulfur Nymph #16-18,
Rainbow Warrior #16-18,
Caddis Pupa & Larva in both tan & olive/green #10-18 (#14-18 on
the pupa), Jig nymphs
#10-16, Pheasant
Tails #16-20, Isonychia Nymphs #10-12, Fox Squirrel Nymph #10-14, Prince
Nymph #10-18.
The brand new Scott Meridian saltwater rods arrived at
UpCountry (we have #7-10 in the rack), and to say they are impressive is
an understatement. They won Best of Show in their category at the
recent annual Fly Tackle Dealer/ICAST show. They are in the same vein as
the popular Scott Radian series, in that they have tremendous power and
are very castable, without being pool cues. They are exceptionally
light in the hand, with blanks so thin in the butt section they look
more like trout rods. Scott uses cutting edge technology to create a rod
that has an incredibly fast recovery rate to generate line speed, as
opposed to just making a stiffer rod that takes more effort to cast and
has no feel. I was super impressed when I picked them up. Come by and
cast one and tell us what you think.
-Torrey
