Wade Schools holding a picture-perfect Farmington River brown trout, this is the kind of fish that keeps us all coming back. Flawess & beautiful, trout like this don't come right off a stocking truck. The Farmington is currently 269cfs through the Catch & Release area (161cfs from the dam in Riverton, 108fs from the Still River),
and was stocked for the second time this spring by the DEEP yesterday
with 2400 trout (except for permanent C&R section, that gets hit after Opening Day). Hendricksons #12-14 are hatching in the
Collinsville/Unionville area and are beginning to move upriver, with a
few being sighted in New Hartford- unusually warm weather with a high of 68 today (Friday) and mid 50's on Saturday should help crank this up a notch. Look for a
fishable hatch of Hendricksons in the next few days in the permanent C&R section. The mild winter
& warm spring has the hatches about 2 weeks ahead of schedule.Fishing has been good all up & down the river, from the dam in Riverton all the way down to the Route 177 bridge in Unionville . Don't limit yourself to only the more popular sections of the Farmington, as there is literally excellent fishing all over the river. In addition to the Hendricksons: Winter Caddis # 20-24 have been on the water in the morning. Black Stoneflies #14-16, Mahogany Duns/Paraleps/Blue Quills #18, Blue Wing Olives #18 & Midges 22-32 have been hatching in the afternoons and have been bringing good reports of trout rising to dry flies on the less windy days. Normally we'd be 500+ cfs right now, instead we are under 300cfs, which gives you more of a window at dry fly fishing. To a degree, lower flows like this equals more rising trout (less efficient for them to feed on the surface during higher flows).
Nymphing has still been the most consistent way to catch trout early in the season on the Farmington, and some VERY nice trout have been landed on them this winer & early spring. Underneath the water use Hendrickson-type Nymphs (brown mayfly) # 12-14, Olive/green Caddis larva #14-16, Prince Nymphs #12-16, Quasimodo Pheasant Tails #12-18, Strolis Dark Brown Quill Jigs #10-14, Strolis Rock Candy 10-12, Black Stoneflies #12-16, Golden Stoneflies #8-12, Zebra Midges #18-20, and Hot Spot Nymphs #12-16.