Antonine Bisseiux's friend Kai Kailo, a member of Fly Fishing Team Finland, with an above average Farmington River brown trout caught on a nymph Sunday 11/6.A positive recent change to the 3+ months of low water we've been experiencing: they are lowering Highland Lake, and that has the Still River (major tributary to the Farmington) at 50cfs for the past couple of days, giving us a total flow in the permanent Catch & Release/TMA of 105cfs- still lower than normal, but a significant improvement in flow over the 65cfs total flow we had just a few weeks ago. The Still River dumps in about 1/4 mile below the Rt 20 Riverton bridge, so from that point down, the flow is better. From the dam down to the Still River (about 2 miles), it remains 55cfs. Not sure how long this extra water will last, so take advantage of it before it goes away. Temps will be in the 50's through Friday, with Tuesday 11/8 hitting 63 degrees! Wind backs off the next couple of days too, so get out there if you can!
Fishing reports vary from day to day, but overall remain good. As is normal in November, afternoons start becoming prime-time, especially if it was extra cold the night before (water temps rise in the afternoon, getting both the bugs & trout more active). Water temps are ranging from mid 40s to mid 50s, depending upon day, time of day, and distance from dam. Afternoon Blue Winged Olives (BWOs) #24 and smaller are becoming the dominant hatch, look for them around 1pm'ish (make sure to also have some small Rusty Spinners, for late afternoon). Still some Isonychia, but getting smaller (as in #14) and more olive in color. Also still some Tan Caddis #16-18, make sure to have both dries & pupa. While Caddis Pupa (tan, brown) and small nymphs (Midges, BWOs, Quasimodos, attractors, etc.) remain top producers, 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. While 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.
Streamers are a great fall choice, try especially yellow, olive, black, and white. With the low water, consider going smaller on your streamers if you want to catch numbers, or go bigger and shoot for a trophy, but expect to catch less fish. To really up your odds, try trailing a soft-hackle, nymph or wet fly about 18" behind your streamer (tie tippet to the hook bend on the streamer). Various wets & soft-hackles are producing, particularly upstream in Riverton. Except for the biggest dries, keeep your tippets light, in the 6x-7x range, and nymph with 5x-6x tippet. Normal #6-8 streamers can be fished on 2x-3x (4x at the lightest for the tiniest ones), big ones should be matched with 0x-1x.
We've gone to Winter hours now, we will be open 8am-5pm 7 days a week, including weekends. Our rental apartment is also closed for the season and will open back up in April 2017.
The FRAA stocked the upper river on 10/6 with 1,200 Brook Trout & Rainbows. Brookies averaged a foot, with the Rainbow Trout running 12-14". The trout were stocked in the section from a little below the dam in Riverton, down to about Whittemore Pool. They've been responding well to a variety of dry flies, wet flies/soft-hackles, and assorted nymphs. The upper river was also stocked by the state with 2,000 trout (mostly browns) for Labor Day from the Goodwin Dam/Hogback in Riverton, downstream to Whittemore Pool at the northernmost point of Peoples State Forest. On 9/26 the state stocked downriver in Collinsville/Unionville. And I think the MDC also put their traditional 1,000+ trout in the upper river in October.
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. There is also a large selection of used and clearance rods and reels from Sage, Orvis, TFO, Redington, Scott, Winston and Waterworks-Lamson. The fly tying bargain bin is currently overflowing with saltwater bucktails, necks, saltwater hooks, Mustad freshwater hooks and more.
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.