We've been receiving more fish porn from customers than we can post lately- keep an eye on our FaceBook & Instagram pages to see additional big trout pix over the next couple of days. Local guide Zach St. Amand sent us this pic of a beautiful 20 1/2" brown he nymphed up Sunday morning on a Caddis Pupa. Perfect fins with no marks, dye marks/elastomer tags or fin clips, this one is either wild or a multi-year holdover.Holiday store hours: we will be open normal hours today, Monday 7/3 from 8am-6pm, and on Tuesday the 4th of July we will close early 8am-3pm. Hope ya'll get to do something fun!
Current flow is medium, MDC cut flow back by 27cfs at 9am, at 10:30 am the USGS flow update was 351cfs and dropping in the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R), with 275cfs from dam in Riverton plus an additional 76cfs & dropping from the Still River. Water temps are running low 50's to mid 60's depending on distance below dam (coldest near dam, warmer in Collinsville/Unionville). Evenings are prime hatch time right now, but you may find risers in the mornings & afternoons too. Fishing remains good to excellent for many anglers, with #16-18 Sulfurs still being the glamour hatch, and decent numbers of Cahills/Light Cahills too. They are now both all the way up into Riverton. In the permanent TMA/C&R, look for these bugs in the evening, and maybe a little earlier up in Riverton (colder water near dam there).
We are also starting to get a fishable #10-12 Iso hatch at least as far upstream as New Hartford/lower end of the TMA (permanent Catch & Release area). Isonychia are a fast water mayfly, so look for them in riffles, pocket water & pool heads. Hatch time can start as early as late afternoon and go as late as dark, typically peaking in early/mid evening. Both the nymph and the dries fish well for this hatch. The nymph is an unusally good swimmer, so try both dead-drifting & swinging it, at moments I've even done well making short strips and retrieving it like a small streamer. July is normally the big Iso month in the permanent C&R/TMA.
We will be closing out our Sage Salt, Sage Accel, Sage Bolt, Sage Approach and Sage 4200 series reels starting tomorrow (Sat 7/1), both in store and online and can be found on our Used / Store Specials page. These rods are being discontinued to make room for Sage's 2018 lineup which will be announced in a couple of weeks. Our closeouts are first come first served and won't last long so don't wait to come in or place an order.
Cortland's "Top Secret" Ultra Premium Fluorocarbon Tippet is now in stock in 3x-8x. This stuff has literally been flying off the shelf since it arrived last week. So far customer & guide feedback on this new product has been exceptional. No hype or exaggeration, it literally is the world's best fluorocarbon tippet, hands down. Grady and I have both fished it now, and we found it to be super strong, unusually flexible, hold & knot like a champ, very abrasion resistant, have excellent clarity, and just is an amazingly durable tippet. The combination of high break strength, stretch, and perfect plasma optical quality outer finish make it hard to break off fish & flies, and despite the slightly higher price tag, most using it report they go through it at about half the rate of normal tippet due to it's amazing durability.
Hatches continue to be good: Sulfurs #16-18 (Invaria & Dorothea), Cream Cahills/Light Cahills #12-14, Isonychia ("Iso's") #10-12 (as far upstream as New Hartford & progressing upriver), Vitreus #14-18(Riverton only), March Browns #10-12 (still a few), Blue Wing Olives #18-22, Summer Dark Caddis #16-22, Tan Wing Olive bodied Caddis #16-18, and spinners/spent wings of all the above. The best dry fly activity has been in the upper end of the pools including Pipeline, Roberts, Whittemore, People's Forest, Church Pool, Greenwoods, the Wall, and Town Bridge. Terrestrials, ants & beetles are working as well, especially midday when other hatches tend to be sparse. Try also blind-fishing with attractors such as Mini Chernobyls #12-16 & Hippy Stompers #16-18.
Nymphing has been good to excellent for many using things like Caddis Pupa #14-18 (tan, olive-green), Antoine's Perdigons #16, attractor/hot-spot nymphs #14-18 (Frenchies, Triples Threats, Egan's Red Dart, Rainbow, Warrior, etc.), big Stoneflies #8-12 (Pat's Rubber Legs in coffee/black, Golden Stones, etc.) Quasimodo Pheasant Tails #16-20, Isonychia #10-14, Fox Squirrel Nymphs #12-16. The Mop Fly continues to produce good results, and is a good pattern to play "clean-up batter" with in a nice run after you've fished your usual nymphs, it'll often score you 1-3 extra fish.
