Zach St. Amand is one of those guides who fishes as much as possible, and as such he know the river in a way that few people do. Check out the cool spotting pattern on this really nice Farmington River brown trout. I dig the blue/gray cheek dot too. Quite a few large trout are being both landed & lost lately, and in all water types.
Farmington
River is at a very nice level and about normal for mid June- a medium 380cfs & dropping in the permanent
Catch & Release
area in BarkhamstedNew Hartford/Pleasant Valley (314cfs in
Riverton, with an additional 66cfs from the Still River).I would not be surprised to see the MDC cut the flow back a little today, maybe a reduction of 50-75cfs (educated guess), I'll update report if this happens. Lower flows = more rising trout.
Fish are rising at
moments (especially in the evenings). The hot weather today & Tuesday will tend to push hatching to early and late in the day, so don't leave before dark! Temps go back to normal starting Wednesday. FYI the hot weather has terrestrials insects very active, and we're getting good reports on ants & beetles. Of late the best dry fly action
has typically been late afternoon until dark, with plenty of exceptions though. Nymphing remains by far the most consistent method, but all methods are working at moments.
Streamers & wet flies/soft-hackles are
both catching fish too- early, late, and/or cloudy moments have been best for streamers. When streamer fishing midday in the sun, look for shade & structure along the banks. During the daytime, nymphers are finding
success using things like Caddis Pupa #14-18,
attractor/hot-spot nymphs #14-18 (Frenchies, Triples Threats, Egan's Red
Dart, Rainbow, Warrior, etc.), Sulfur nymphs #16 (you can use a
Pheasant Tail or a specific imitation), Stonefly nymphs #8-12 (brown,
golden, black), and anything resembling a March Brown/Gray Fox in #10-12
(other than a specific imitation you can use a big Fox Squirrel or
Hare's Ear). And the controversial Mop Fly continues to produce at moments too. It's a good "clean up" fly to use in a run after you fish it with your normal nymphs.
Nymphers should look for the medium to fast broken water, and focus
on edges/transitional zones: seams between fast/slow water, cut banks,
rocks that break the current, drop-offs, spots where 2 or more currents
converge together, etc.. You are looking for spots with good current
that will deliver an above average amount of bugs to the trout, while at
the same time providing a current break and overhead cover (this includes both objects they
can hide under as well as a broken/ripply water surface that obscures
them from predators like birds) and refuge from the current.The Prime
Lies, where you have some depth/overhead cover, current bringing in
food, and also a current break, will typically hold the biggest trout as
they will use their size to dominate the most desirable spots.
Sulfurs #16, Vitreus #14-16 (Pink Lady/Pink Cahill/Pink Sulfur) &
#10-14 March Browns/Gray Fox are all hatching now on top of the
olive/green and tan bodied Caddis #14-18 (both with tannish wings) we've
been seeing the past several weeks. Caddis are all up & down the river,
and the Sulfurs, March Browns & Vitreus are at least as far up as
the top of the permanent Catch & Release (C&R)/TMA and up to
Pipeline, but NOT as far as Riverton (upper 2 miles above the Still
River to
the dam, basically Rt 20 Hitchcock bridge up)- the water from the dam
is cold so hatches happen weeks later up there. FYI all Caddis look tan
in the air, so make sure to capture one before you make a decision on
the body color. If you cannot grab one, then look for spider webs that
have Caddis stuck in them. Trout can sometimes get very specific on body
color when it comes to Caddis. FYI the Vitreus are an Epeorus species,
just like the Quill Gordon- they have only 2 tails, and the duns hatch
out of the nymph near the stream bottom and swim to the surface, making
flies like a Partridge & Orange a good choice to swing during the
hatch.
The
long awaited book "Nymph Masters" arrived recently, and it's really
good! Author Jason Randall fished
with a bunch of the top nymphers in the USA (guys like George Daniels,
Pat Dorsey, Joe Humphreys, etc.), and then wrote this book about his
experiences. He codified what he learned into a systematic approach covering all styles of nymphing.
We recently 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. We still have some closeout Sage ONE's left.
Current flies to have:
Caddis
pupa (olive/green, tan) #14-18, Caddis dries #14-18 (olive/green, tan-
X2 Caddis, Elk Hair, CDC Caddis, Emergent/Crippled Caddis, etc.),
Vitreus #14-16, Usual #14-16, March Brown/Gray Fox #10-14, Sulfur #16,
Baetis/Blue Wing Olive dries & emergers #18-22 (on cloudy days),
Midges #20-26. Subsurface try
Caddis pupa #14-18 (olive/green, tan), March Brown Nymph #10-14, Hare's
Ear #10-14, Frenchies
#14-18, Sulfur Nymph #16, Pheasant Tails/Quasimodos #14-20, Caddis Larva #10-16 (olive,
green), Baetis/Blue Wing Olive nymphs #16-20, and #8-12
Stonefly nymphs (gold, brown, black). Make sure
to also try Hot Spot & Attractor Nymphs #14-18, and Mops.
Streamers have been very effective at moments (especially early, late,
on overcast days, and when water is high or murky) on both the fresh
stocked trout
and also the big holdover and wild fish. Experiment with
colors & retrieves to
find what will attract the trout- olive, black, and white are good
starting points, but also try brown, tan, and yellow or combinations
thereof.