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| Tommy Baranowski with a giant Bow he caught recently on a streamer |
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| A beauty by Sean Monaghan |
We have 2 classes coming up next weekend:
-"Intro to Wet Flies & Soft-Hackles with Pat Torrey" on Saturday, June 15th from 10am-4pm
-"Fly Fishing 101 with Mark Swenson" on Sunday, June 16th from 9am-4pm
Go to our Classes/Events page to see the details of either class, and call the store at 860-379-1952 to sign up- each class is filling up but both still have limited availability.
I would currently rate the fishing as excellent with some anglers catching a lot of trout. Those doing the best have been the expert nymphers, and overall subsurface flies have produced the majority of the fish and most of the big ones pictured. The normal flows combined with dry weather in the future
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| Ivan Ramos with a solid 2 Year Old from this week |
Sulfurs are typically an evening hatch so don't leave early! Vitreus are typically late afternoon/early eve to dusk/dark. If it's cool & cloudy they can start in early/mid afternoon, but on hot sunny days they will hatch in the evening.
If you are nymphing, think about fishing a #14-16 olive/green to tan Caddis Pupa or Larva, a brownish #14-16 Mayfly type nymph (can be a Pheasant Tail, Hare's Ear, Frenchy, Sulfur Nymph, etc.), or something smaller & olive in the #16-20 range to imitate the Baetis/Olives. The Pheasant Tail is a very effective imitation of Olives and many other mayflies. Also #10-12 Fox Squirrel Nymphs & big Hare's Ears do a great job imitating March Brown/Gray Fox nymphs, they get very active subsurface starting 1-2 week before they hatch, they migrate from faster water into the shallower stream edges. If you are targeting the fresh stockers, I'd try pairing a natural looking nymph with a Junk Fly like a Mop or Squirmy Worm, or maybe a flashy/gaudy hotspot nymph- deadly combo!
The few people fishing soft-hackles & wet flies are giving me some excellent reports, try soft hackles with Hare's Ear bodies, as well as Partridge & Yellow these flies will cover your Caddis, Vitreus & Sulfurs. I recommend fishing 2-3at a time, on
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| 19" wild female brown I deceived in late May with a Caddis Pupa |
FYI we have a KILLER assortment of custom tied soft-hackles in our bins by Dick Sablitz, they are both fun & deadly to fish. We have flies to imitate all the current hatches, the most effective way to fish them is 2-3 at a time on droppers.
-Rule #1 is find the fish and fish where they are
-Rule #2 is don't spook them! (FYI big wild trout spook easily)
-Rule #3 is fish something they want to eat
-Rule #4 is present it in such a way they they will eat it (dry fly guys take note: this may mean you
have to fish subsurface!)
I would add Rule #5 fish when the fish are feeding, with hatches being prime-time, especially when they intersect with low-light periods (big browns love to feed in low light). Fishing subsurface a couple hours before a hatch with the matching nymphs/pupa can also be deadly.
FYI we are now in our extended hours: 8am-6pm weekdays, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
We have
Devin Olsen's hot new book "Tactical Fly Fishing", and it looks really,
really good- second batch arrived recently. It cover Euro style
nymphing, plus a whole lot more. Based
upon what he's learned from years of the highest level fly fishing
competitions against the best trout fly fishermen in the world. It
covers things in an extremely detailed way, and has some great "Case
Studies" where he shows you different water type pictures with photo
sequences of how they were able to successfully catch fish in them, and
what adjustments they had to make in their rigging, approach,
presentation & flies to find success. It's a good
new option that does NOT duplicate George Daniel's two books on
nymphing, but rather it compliments and adds to them.
Currently the 8am total flow in permanent TMA/Catch & Release per the USGS gauge is normal & medium at 398cfs (the Still River is 56cfs & dropping), and in Riverton the in the 2 miles above the Still River the Farmington is medium/medium-high at 342cfs. USGS average historical total flow for today is 379cfs. The Still River joins the Farmington River about 1/4 mile below Riverton Rt 20 bridge, roughly 2 miles below the dam. East Branch release was 50cfs, MDC said they were going to reduce it to zero this week, it joins the West Branch about 3/8 mile below UpCountry near condos & sewage plant. The Still River drops every day we don't get significant rain.
Click this Thomas & Thomas blog link for a very recent review I wrote about their awesome new Contact 10' 8" #6 rod for Steelhead & Lake Run Trout/Landlocks: https://thomasandthomas.com/blogs/news/torrey-collins-contact-1086
Check out this link to my blog post on 10 of my favorite books on a variety of subjects:
http://www.farmingtonriver.com/classes-news-reviews/10-of-torreys-favorite-books-december-2018/ I'll be doing more blog posts on recommended books in the future, there are many great books out there.
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| A favorite image of mine Matt Supinski used in "Nexus" |
We are open 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
Water Temps:
Look for water temps to average in the mid/upper 50s in the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (mid/upper 40s in Riverton above the Still River), but will vary depending upon the weather, time of day, and specific location. Long range highs average 70s to low 80s, with lows in the 50s to low 60s. Warmer, sunny days will see the biggest water temp increases. The exception to this will be during high water releases from the dam, as the colder water from deep in the reservoir chills down the river. Highest water temps will occur in mid/late afternoon, with sunny days seeing the biggest temperature increases. Typically the best bug activity (and fishing) correlates to the most pleasant time of the day for us humans.
Hatches/Dries: