Recent beauty, caught by guide Zach St. Amand on a dry fly. Flow from the dam in Riverton is now 196cfs, giving us a total flow of 277cfs in the permanent Catch & Release area. This is more of a typical flow for this time of year, and that is a good thing. Some trout
are still spawning, this will help them access some of the gravelly
spawning areas (more wild trout in the future!). Look for good Blue Wing Olive #22-26 hatches in the afternoons, and make sure to have some
matching Rusty Spinners. Small nymphs
including Zebra Midges in #18-20 in black, olive, and #18 Olive
Flashback WD-40's. Streamers are also quite productive at moments, it's
fun looking for the big grab from a trophy brown- don't be afraid to
throw some bigger streamers right now, and make sure to experiment with
different colors and cover lots of water. Other than the Olives, we are also seeing Winter Caddis #20-24 most mornings. In the afternoons look for Tan Caddis #16-18, October Caddis #10-14 and Isonychia #14. Effective nymphs include Yellow Stoneflies #8-16, Black Stoneflies 8-14, Fox Squirrel Nymph #12, Squirmy Worms #10-14 (red, tan, pink), Hot Spot Baetis #16-20, Blue Wing Olive #16-22, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Tan Caddis Pupa #14-16, Green/Olive Caddis Larva #14-16, Pheasant Tails #16-22, Prince Nymph #12-14. Play with colors on your streamers, lately some of the better ones have been brown/yellow, olive, yellow, and brown. Nothing lighter than 2x on your streamers, and go heavier if you are tossing big ones. 5x fluoro is a good average for your nymphs, and 5x-7x tippet for your dries (depending upon size). Long tippets help with both dries & nymphs: it will give you "S" curves to get a drag-free float with dries, and it will sink faster & with less weight when nymphing.
Don's Beginner Fly Tying Course on 11/14 & 11/21 is almost full, so sign up ASAP if you want in. Call 860-379-1952 to reserve a spot. From now until April 2016, we close at 5pm every day. Our rental apartment is now closed for the season, and will be available again starting in April 2015