Jordan M. with a flawless specimen of a Farmington brown trout. He beat 'em up good Tuesday on small nymphs under a Strike Indicator. landing 20 plus fish over the day. The fish pictured taped at 19.5", so close to the "magic" 20" mark. If I had to guess, I'd bet this one was wild. I ventured out Wednesday, and between 1pm and dusk I put 17 in the net, and missed/lost more than that. It was a steady bite on various #14-16 nymphs, and then in the last 1/2 hour of daylight it was fast & furious on a big Stonefly. It's been a great winter for fishing here thus far. Saturday will be upper 30's for a high, and Sunday will be mid/upper 40's! Get out there while the gettin' is good.The Farmington is currently 181cfs from the Goodwin Dam in Riverton, downstream to the confluence of the Still River, 69cfs from the Still River. Total flow in the permanent Catch & Release area is 250cfs. This is a good winter level, very wadeable, and water clarity is excellent. 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 warmer 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 well with Zebra Midges #16-20 (black, red), 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 laying in slower water. They 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.
Rich Strolis' new book "Catching Shadows- Tying Flies for the Toughest Fish and Strategies for Fishing Them" is now available. It covers 20 of his best original fly patterns, the rationale for developing the fly and how/when to fish it. He will be doing a book signing at UpCountry on February 7th, noon to 3pm.
Aaron Jasper is doing a tying class on Saturday March 5th on "Tying Weighted Euro Anchor Flies", see "Events/Classes" page for more info. He is also doing a Euro Nymphing Class on Saturday April 30th, it's almost full already (see Events/Classes page).
Our apartment is now closed for the season, and will be available again starting April 1st.