Another very nice brown caught by customer Sam Morse- he likes fishing here so much, he drives down from Maine all the time. He picked us some nice trout over the weekend on streamers, nailing trout of all 3 species. If you are throwing meat (streamers), focus on pool tailouts, heads, and structure. One last cooler day today (Monday), and then back to highs in the 60's and lows in the 30's-40's for the next few days. This should not only make things more comfortable, but also improve the fishing. Catching has been surprisingly good for many anglers, despite the low fall flows (we are actually in better shape than most other streams in the northeast). The conditions are really concentrating the trout, and making it very easy to read the water. Just skip the shallow and/or extremely slow-water spots (unless you see rising trout) and focus on areas with depth and some current. The
river is 99cfs total flow through the
permanent Catch &
Release, with 64cfs coming from the dam. Make sure to adapt to the conditions- use longer leaders (12' or even longer), wear drab clothing, be stealthy in your approach, and use smaller flies & lighter tippets. Main hatches in the afternoons are Isonychia, Tan/brown Caddis, and small Blue Wing Olives. Mornings will keep seeing Winter/Summer Caddis. October trout get aggressive (it's spawning time, plus they put on the feedbag before winter), so streamers are catching fish- play with colors & retrieves, some of my clear water fall favorites are white, yellow, tan, black and olive. Sometimes in the normally low/clear waters of fall, especially on sunny days, slimmer old-school traditional patterns will outfish the typical modern bulkier flies- try Baby Brown Trout, Grey Ghost, Black Ghost, Muddler Minnow, Mickey Finn, etc. Riverton (from just below the dam down through Whittemore) was stocked in late September with well over 2,000 brown, brook & rainbow trout 12" and bigger, and not surprisingly has been fishing well up there.
Fishing has been very good on a combination of dries, streamers and nymphs. Look for deeper & faster water for the best action, spots like that will concentrate the fish at this lower level. Blind-fished dries are working well, especially in the quick water. Bigger dries such as Stimulators #12-14, Tan Caddis #14-16, and Isonychia #12-14 are all working well as searching flies in the afternoons, and can be combined with a nymph dropper for even more action. When nymphing, try smaller patterns such as Zebra Midges #18-20, Yellow Sally Stonefly nymphs #14-16, Hot Spot Nymphs #16-20, Wade's Clinger Nymph #16, Blue Wing Olive nymphs #16-20, Yellow Sparkle Prince #14-18, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Caddis Pupa & Larva in both tan & olive/green #14-18, Pheasant Tails #16-20, Prince Nymph #14-16 are all working well. Soneflies #8-14 (in black, brown, and golden/yellow) have been working as well.
We literally have a ton of sale and clearance items at the moment- rods, reels, lines, etc. We've been getting trade-in rods & reels faster than we can list them on our website, so make sure to stop in the store and take a peek, the best stuff goes fast. We just received a pile of closeout demo Scott rods from our rep, so if you are a fan, check 'em out ASAP. We also have lots of closeout rods & reels from Sage, Hardy, Winston, Redington, Echo and others. We are receiving next years products on a weekly basis, as most of the companies debut their new stuff in the early fall. This includes the new Hardy Zepherus rods, Scott Meridian rods, Redington Hydrogen and just about all of the new rods from Sage. Grady has let me slowly but surely let me beef up our book selection. There are some fantastic books available that can shortcut your learning curve big time. Take a peek, and don't be afraid to ask me (Torrey) for suggestions, I'm a book fanatic. FYI George Daniel's new streamer fishing book "Strip-Set" just came out, and it's phenomenal. Local fly tyer/guide/author/streamer fanatic Rich Strolis is prominently featured.