Friday 4/21/17 Report- fishing keeps getting better & TMA stocking

Customer Lane Finley with a FAT Farmington River Rainbow Trout caught 4/19. Some bigger fish have been making appearances this week, both of the large stocked variety as well as big holdover & wild browns. Keep your eye on our FaceBook page for even more big trout pix. Rising water temps & dropping flows has the holdover and wild trout "waking up", and eating. Still more subsurface than on top, but that will change soon enough. I spent the afternoon on the river Wednesday, first picking up some stocked trout outside of the permanent Catch & Release, and then inside the C&R I caught some nice holdovers & wilds up to about 18". When it started raining, the Blue Wing Olives started popping, and I switched to a #18 BWO nymph and tagged the fish of the day.

Just got word that the state is stocking the permanent Catch & Release/TMA with several thousand regular size adult Survivor Strain brown trout today (Friday 4/21), and the big Two Year Olds (14-18"+) will go in next week. Game on!

We had a last minute cancellation on our upstairs apartment, so call the store at 860-379-1952 if you are looking for lodging this weekend (riverside with a full kitchen). 

The upper river was stocked again this week, so plenty of willing victims up there in need of education if you are having a slow day in other sections.  Heard they put in some fatties. Seeing more & more bugs on mild afternoons including Blue Wing Olives, small dark Caddis, Midges, Early Stoneflies, etc. No significant Hendrickson hatch yet, just rumors of a few popping in the Collinsville area - should be any day now up in our neck of the woods.

Total flow in the permanent Catch & Release is a normal for this time of year at 449cfs, with 269cfs,  from the Goodwin Dam in Riverton and the Still River adding another 180 cfs below Riverton. In the permanent Catch & Release water temps have averaged upper 40s to low 50s, so the Hendrickson hatch should be soon.

We have just received a huge closeout of  Hardy Jet and Shadow fly rods which can be found in store and on our website on our Used Gear and Specials page. If you are looking for a great fly rod at at a great price, the Hardy rods are hard to beat and are available in most sizes.

There is more & more bug activity everday, with the bulk of it in the afternoons:  Baetis/Blue Wing Olives #16-18, Early Stones #12-16, Midges  #20-26, and a few Paraleps/Blue Quills sz 18, plus assorted dark Caddis. Caddis Larva #12-16, Hendrickson nymphs #12-14, Frenchies #16-18, Quasimodo Pheasant Tails #12-18, Attractor Nymphs, Mops, San Juan Worms/Squirmies, Green Weenies, Egg Flies and bigger Stonefly nymphs #8-12 are still working well. Streamers have been very effective on both the fresh stockers and also big holdovers/wilds. Experiment with colors & retrieves to find what's best at any given moment (it changes).