Monday 5/4/15 River Report- "Stop, Hennytime"

I fished after work last night, picked up a mix of holdover browns, stocked browns, and some rainbows. A #14 BH Pheasant Tail was the hot fly for me, every trout ate it. Fishing pressure was heavy in the TMA/C&R yesterday, but despite that fishing was good to very good for most anglers- it was heavily stocked on Tuesday/Wednesday. If you want to avoid the pressure, try one of the following: go out in the early mornings, fish weekdays, fish outside of the TMA (especially downriver, the further downstream you go, generally the lower the pressure), or fish the "B" water away from the main pools. Also, the further you have to walk from easy access, generally the less anglers you will find. Trout are currently being caught via all methods: wets, dries, nymphs & streamers- some big fish were landed, both holdovers & Two Year Olds. The influx of stocked trout last week seems to be creating competition and getting the holdovers fired up. Wet flies/Soft-Hackles have been very effective, and are a fun way to catch trout & cover lots of water efficiently & quickly.

There have been trout rising in the TMA/C&R section if you want to fish dries, albeit the subsurface guys are catching the most fish. Hendrickson hatch is picking up every day in the C&R section, best hatching reports were downriver towards Collinsville/Unionville, they are always at least a few days ahead of us. Some of the risers were big holdovers too.  Although most of the catch has been comprised of recent stockers, some big holdovers have been mixing in, the competition from stocked trout seems to have them feeding better, plus the increase in water temps & increased bug activity. A "Perfect Storm" of sorts, in a good way. Water temps, flow, hatches & trout stocking have all lined up perfectly, finally! I've seen a lot of fish porn over this week, with some big trout in the pictures, a mix of holdovers/wild trout, and large recently stocked Two Year Old browns.

The Farmington is currently 273cfs total flow  through the catch & release area (104cfs from the Still River). The Farmington River Catch & Release area was stocked last week on Tuesday & Wednesday with thousands of trout trout, including 1,000 Two Year Old Survivor Strain brown trout which average over 16 inches and some of which are bigger and top out at 3 1/2 to 4 pounds- they put in some hefty trout this year. The Hendrickson hatch has started, and though it has been only a modest hatch so far in the TMA/C&R section, it it increasing daily and it will only get heavier- highs today will be in the mid 80's, and it will be mostly sunny. Trout are being caught on the surface using a combination of Hendricksons (sz 12-14), Winter Caddis (sz 18-22), Caddis (sz 16-18), Blue Wing Olives (sz 16-24), and Mahogany Duns/Blue Quill (sz 16-18).

Subsurface, try fishing Hendrickson nymphs, a bigger #12-14, Pheasant Tail can also work well. #16-18 Olive nymphs imitating Baetis Vagans are also a good choice now, they are active. Early Stoneflies (sz 12-16), Pheasant Tails (sz 12-18), olive/green caddis larva (sz 8-16), cased caddis larva (sz 8-16), midge larva/pupa (sz 16-20, especially in red), attractor nymphs (sz 12-18 in Red Headed Stepchild, Copper Johns, blue Lightning Bugs, Yellow Prince, Rainbow Warrior, and egg flies (sz 10-18) are still a good choice. Don't be afraid to fish some some gaudier/flashy/attractor-type nymphs, the trout sometimes show a preference for them, doubly true for recently stocked trout.

UpCountry Sportfishing is always looking for good used fly fishing gear for cash and trade. This is how we get those great items we list on our website and you see on our racks. We buy fly rods, reels, quality classic bamboo, and fly tying equipment etc. Bring in your old items and we can help turn them into something new. Call ahead for an appointment at 860-379-1952.