Friday, September 2, 2016

Friday 9/2/16 Report - Labor Day Trout Stocking & UpCountry Table Sale

We will be open on Labor Day, Monday September 5th, from 8am-3pm, back to normal hours Tuesday.

UpCountry has just acquired a large collection of fly fishing tackle and fly tying equipment from an estate. This collection along with sale items from the store will be available inside and outside of the shop this weekend. There are vests, waders, wading boots, lots of fly tying tools, fly fishing gadgets, Renzetti Master Vise, HMH Vise, Dyna King Vise. fly tying necks, Scott, Sage Orvis Graphite, Orvis Bamboo fly rods,  Tibor, Abel Super 8, Billy Pate, Orvis, Hardy Classic Reels all in beautiful condition. Fly lines, rod tubes, Wheatley fly boxes and more. Items remaining after the weekend will be listed for sale on our website.

The Farmington is being stocked with 2,000 trout for Labor Day Weekend. All of the trout will be put in the area from the Goodwin Dam in Riverton, downstream to Whitemore Pool which is at the northernmost point of Peoples State Forest. The entire river from Riverton to Unionville is catch and release from Sept 1 - Opening Day so these trout should stick around to add to the aready good numbers of fish in the upper river. For the next few days streamers will generally catch the stocked trout the fastest while traditional methods (dries & nymphs) will catch more of the educated ones. Fishing has been good in the morning with Tricos #22-26 and Summer/Winter Caddis #20-24 from Barkhamsted to Riverton. Afternoons are the slowest for hatches; Ants, Beetles, Hoppers and Mini Chernobyls have been excellent for bringing trout to the surface even if they are not rising. Evenings are seeing Blue Wing Olives #20-24, Isonychia #12-14, White Flies #12-14, Tan Caddis #16-18, Summer Steno/Light Cahill #16-20, Rusty Spinnners 18-24.

The Farmington is currently 82cfs through much of the upper river. UpCountry is asking anglers to use common sense when fishing on the Farmington for the next few weeks due to the low flows and warm weather. The river south of Route 219 in New Hartford gets too warm to fish without overstressing the trout, so please stay upriver. Follow these guidelines when fishing on the river: New Hartford to Peoples State Forest is ok to fish during the morning before the heat of the day warms the water, but by afternoon you should be fishing the upper miles of the Farmington below the Goodwin Dam where the river is maintaining cool temperatures. The state (DEEP) has closed all tributaries to the Farmington from New Hartford and downriver through Collinsville/Unionville so that they can act as thermal refuges to any trout seeking colder water to survive. You are not allowed to fish within 100ft of the signs at the mouth of any brook or stream that enters the river. In our opinion this does not go far enough... please refrain from fishing altogether south of New Hartford unless you are targeting smallmouth. Lets give the trout on the lower river a break.... its only a few weeks until cooler temperatures.

New Sage & Redington rods have arrived at the store: the hot new Sage X, the new version of the Sage ESN (including the 10.5' #3 that weights UNDER 2 3/4 ounces!), and the Redington Trout Spey rods in 2-4wts are all in stock and online as well. We still have a bunch of both demo & new Sage ONE's, Circa's and ESN's on sale, priced to sell. Current stock is listed on our website if you can't make it in to the store.

Summertime Fishing Advice:
The trout have been getting caught & released for months, the water is the lowest of the year. Lower flows means it is easier to spook the trout, so a stealthy approach can be very important, especially on flat water pools and trout laying in skinny lies. Trout sipping bugs on flat water requires using better techniques to drift the fly. Use a Reach Cast, which helps present your fly to the fish before your leader, and also usually makes it easier to get a drag-free float. Longer leaders (12' and up to 15' +), lighter lines (#2-4), lighter tippets, smaller flies, proper fly selection, accurate casts, and drag-free presentations are the keys to unlocking the puzzle. Many anglers think they are getting a drag-free float, when in reality they are getting micro-drag they cannot see. Longer tippets & shorter casts will help give you a natural, drag-free presentation, and as flies get smaller you need to lighten your tippet. For all but the biggest dries, think 6x & even 7x tippet (for tiny flies like the #24 Tricos for example), for Isonychia and big foam terrestrials you can do 5x and even 4x (it's a bigger, more wind resistant fly, and you are usually fishing it in the fast water). If it's not too windy and you are able to turn your dry fly over, lengthening your tippet out to 3 or even 4 feet will do wonders for reducing drag, it will give you the same effect as dropping down 1-2 tippet sizes.

For nymphers, some of the same advice for the dry fly guys applies to you too. Longer leaders (12' or even longer, Euro-style nymphers often use 30+ foot leaders or pure mono set-ups), accurate casts, and drag-free floats are all very important. While there are exceptions (#6-14 Stonefly nymphs & #10-14 Isonychia nymphs), I frequently find smaller nymphs (no bigger than #16-20 patterns if tied on short-shank curved scud hooks, and #18-22 if tied on standard hooks) to be the key to success many days in July, August & September. Many of the natural bugs are smaller this time of year, and our highly pressured trout seem less suspicious of smaller flies too. Use a two fly rig with a bigger fly, but make your second pattern something SMALL. If one of your flies is gaudy, flashy or has a hot-spot, make sure your second pattern is drabber & more natural (maybe beadless or with a black or brown bead instead of a shiny gold, copper or silver one). Usually 5x fluorocarbon tippet is light enough, but sometimes in pressured spots (like Church Pool) I'll go down to 6x, especially if it's sunny, the water is low, and the flies are small. If you like TroutHunter fluoro tippet, they do in-between sizes: 4.5x, 5.5x & 6.5x- I use the 5.5x a lot in the summertime, and so do some of the guides. Many trout pile into FAST water in the summer, so make sure to make some casts there. Big Stones, many Caddis larva/pupa, and certain Mayflies all live in faster water, so put your flies where the food (and the trout) are.

UpCountry is 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.