Looks like the offspring of local guide Zach St. Amand didn't fall far from the tree- here is one of his sons holding a trophy Farmington River brown trout they teamed up on. Today, Friday, looks beautiful with sunshine and a high of 63, Saturday looks great too with a high of 59, nice and sunny, not windy at all today or Saturday. The brown trout in the Farmington are more than 3/4 of the way through
spawning season and are falling for well placed nymphs and chasing
streamers. As we enter late November & December, the bigger trout are post-spawn & hungry, and can often be enticed to eat a big streamer fished at first light or the end of the day (low-light periods, overcast or rainy days too). Please keep your eyes out for redds-
these are the light colored areas in shallow gravelly riffles where
trout dig out their spawning beds (tails of pools are typical locations). If you walk on the redds, you will
crush the eggs & future wild trout.The Farmington is running 87cfs through the permanent Catch & Release area/TMA (59cfs at USGS Riverton gauge, plus additional 28cfs from the Still River)- we are still low, but fishable for sure and fishing well at moments for many anglers. Longer leaders, smaller flies, and a stealthy approach will help to catch trout when flows are down. The MDC did their fall trout stocking last week. This batch was stocked in the upper river from the Goodwin Dam in Riverton downstream to Whitemore Pool. The main hatch for November is the Blue Wing Olive sz 22-26 and the trout have been rising well to them throughout the afternoons, along with lighter numbers of Tan Caddis sz 16-18 and Isonychia sz 12-14. Streamers are catching a lot of trout currently, try yellow, olive, white and black, all colors have their moments of superiority so play around. The egg bite is still in full swing, so make sure to fish small egg patterns.
Nymphwise: Caddis Pupa (tan, brown) and small nymphs (Midges, Baetis, Quasimodo Pheasant Tails, Hot Spot Attractors, etc.) remain top producers, but the egg bite is in full swing, so make sure to have some egg flies (small Glo Bugs/Sucker Spawn/Otter Eggs) in your arsenal. Although smaller nymphs have been more consistent than bigger ones, don't rule out Stonefly Nymphs in #8-14 (brown, golden/yellow, black), sometimes they will pull bigger fish.
We currently have an unusually large amount used rods & reels in the store due to some major trades and purchases, many are not listed on our website, so make sure to stop by and check them out. The unlisted items are for walk-in customers only, not mail/phone order. We do this for a couple of reasons: 1) it's not feasible or profitable for us to list and ship the most inexpensive used tackle on our website, and 2) most of the unlisted items show a little more wear so we prefer you can handle them before purchasing.
UpCountry has recently acquired a ton of Simms closeouts that are now on sale. There is a huge selection of Mens & Womens: Gore-tex jackets, packs, slings, shirts, pants, tee shirts, and a few shoes/wading boots/waders. Sizes are limited (the Men's is mostly in Large, and the Women's is all in Medium) and there are only a couple of each item so when they are gone they are gone.
We are always looking for good trade-in fly rods and reels to sell on our website. If you are looking for some new equipment we will gladly put the value of your used gear toward new items in our store. Give us a call to make an appointment.... our prices on trade ins are typically higher than found anywhere else.
If you like our fishing report, please consider buying your gear from us. We generally ship the same day, for free anywhere in the country on all but the smallest orders. Our shop can only exist with your patronage.