A very colorful rainbow by Andy Lyons last week, the 'bows tend to be extra pretty in the winter. Looks like the worst of the arctic blast is behind us, mild weather coming this week. Tuesday will be mid 50's (!) and rainy, this will melt/blow-out the extensive shelf ice that formed over this past weekend. We should be back in nice shape by Wednesday or Thursday, and the weekend looks very pleasant with highs in the upper 40's, wow. Fishing has continued to be good to excellent most days this winter,
especially for the skilled nymphers, but trout have
also been eating dries & streamers at moments. The
Farmington is 131cfs from the Goodwin Dam in Riverton,
downstream to the confluence of the Still River, about 90cfs from the
Still
River (flow gauge appears to be freezing up and giving a false elevated
reading), giving us a total flow in the permanent Catch &
Release area of approximately 200fs. This level is a moderate
flow,
leaving the river very wadeable in all areas. The Winter Caddis #20-24
hatch
is providing some decent dry fly
fishing for a few hours in the morning. Typically the hatch is an early
to mid morning deal,
but that can vary depending upon the day, with winged adults often on
the water after the hatch in late morning/early afternoon. On milder
afternoons
we are seeing Midges #22-32 with some trout feeding on the surface in
the larger pools. Our hardcore nymphing crew has been doing very well at
moments
with
Zebra Midges #16-20 (black, red, olive), Green/Olive Caddis Larva
#14-16, Cased
Caddis #12-14, Quasimodo
Pheasant
Tails #14-18, small Egg Flies, Squirmy Worms, Rainbow Warriors #16-18,
Hot Spot Nymphs #14-16 & Stoneflies #8-14 (brown, black,
golden/yellow).Most of our Farmington trout are in winter lies (slow to medium speed water with some depth). Skip the faster water and focus on pools, deeper pockets, moderate riffles, and deeper runs. Look for fish around current edges, drop-offs & structure; anywhere there is a break from the faster current combined with some depth. Trout are cold blooded so in the winter they don't have to eat as much and conserve energy by moving out of the faster water and holding in slow to moderate water. Having said that, when nymphing we are still hitting a lot of fish in medium speed water, especially where moderate riffles start to drop into deeper water. While you may still hit fish in knee-deep water, spots with 3-5 feet of depth seem to be holding the lion's share. Trout will often pod up this time of year, so where you find one, there may be a bunch more. Nymph slow & deep and expect strikes to be subtle. Get your streamers well down into the water column using weight or sinking lines and don't fast strip them, but rather swing, twitch, and slow retrieve them. Winter trout like their streamers slow, deep & easy to catch.
Aaron Jasper is doing a tying class on Saturday March 5th on "Tying Weighted Euro Anchor Flies", see "Events/Classes" page for more info.