Handful of September brown trout by local guide Steve Hogan. As of September 1st, the entire Farmington River from the dam in Riverton for 21 miles downstream to the Rt 179 bridge in Unionville is now Catch & Release until Opening Day in April 2020. If you see anybody keeping fish in this section, please call the CT DEEP at 1-800-824-HELP and report the violation. Even if they are not able to respond to it on time, the info goes into their database and helps to create better/more policing of the area in the future.
Not a lot has changed since Tuesday. The dam release remains low, and the Still River is contributing a modest amount of additional water. We are supposed to receive about 1/3" of water today from some afternoon showers. Water temps have been in the 60s on the entire river due to the cooler weather & lower sun angle. You can fish downriver now too if you want, water temps should be fine. 8am water temp at the Rt 20 bridge in Riverton was 61 degrees this morning (lowest water temps are in the AM). Despite low water, still plenty of good fishing reports from those adapting to the conditions (always the #1 key to success in any kind of fishing). Weekend weather looks perfect, with highs low 70s and nights down into the low/mid 50s, partly cloudy. Remember that lower flows generally equates to rising trout when there is a hatch. Find the faster water and fish small nymphs when they aren't rising, or fish wet flies, soft hackles, or small streamers. Most of the biggest trout are getting caught at dusk, after dark, or at first light FYI. Yellow Sallies & "Hebes" have joined the hatches mix. Hebes look like a pale colored Sulfur in the #16-18 range and are also common on the Housatonic & Delaware. September is the month I see the most Yellow Sally activity- look on the downstream edge of rocks in the fast water, and you will sometimes see dozens of shucks of what appear to be miniature Golden Stoneflies in the #14-20 range. FYI a Sulfur nymph will double as a Yellow Sally nymph.
In low flows I like to look for deeper water, current, and structure- find those together, and you will find trout. Cherry pick and only fish the best spots, and unless you see rising trout, eliminate the water that is shallow and/or has little current, unless you see rising trout. Look for the darker water that indicates depth, look for riffly, broken water that has some current speed & structure (downed trees, undercut banks, big rocks) . Trout feel vulnerable in shallow, slow water and will seek out water they feel more comfortable. Choppy/broken water helps hide them from predators, plus it's where many of the bugs live. Midday also look for shade. For dries, if there's a hatch, match it in size/shape/color. Wet flies/soft-hackles are very effective in low water, and easy to fish because unlike nymphs, they don't get hung up on the bottom a lot. It allows you to target some thin lies when needed.
Good reports are still coming from the permanent Catch & Release area and upstream: Trico Spinners (#22-26) are falling in the mid morning (stay up closer to Riverton to catch this hatch), and the early morning has been bringing Winter/Summer Caddis (#18-24). From late morning through the afternoon, Blue Wing Olive (#20-24), Ants (#14-18), Beetles (#14-16), Chernobyl Ants (#12-14) have been good. Evenings are bringing Isonychia (#10-14) and Cream Cahills (#14), as well as Summer Stenos (#18-20). You may also see some assorted Caddis ((#14-20). Midday is terrestrials (ants, beetles, hoppers), dry/dropper, wet flies/soft hackles, and nymphing (mostly smaller assorted #18-20 nymphs & #16 Caddis Pupa).
Flows: We are currently at 77cfs total flow through the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (55cfs in Riverton, 22cfs from the Still River). Morning water temp in Riverton is 61 degrees today. Currently they are releasing 0cfs from the East Branch (comes in 3/8 mile below UpCountry). We will update as things change.
George Daniel is once again doing two Nymphing Workshops for us on October 5th & 6th, 2019, 9am-2pm. Both clinics are now full, but you can get your name on a waiting list for 2020. Cost is $175, 6P max per class. Call 860-379-1952 to sign up, they fill up very fast. Click on Classes page for details.
Mark Swenson's next "Fly Fishing 101" beginner class will be on August 15th, 2019, click on Classes link for more information, and call store at 860-379-1952 to sign up. Class is full now, but you can put your name on a waiting list for the next one.
We have a pile of Solarez colored UV Resin in stock now- 9 colors. The first batch went in a blink so I ordered a bunch this time, and expanded the color range out. Now they are doing black, so I loaded up on that color, it's the classic color to do a wingcase on a Perdigon nymph. Also traditional is to use black nail polish, but then you have to wait for it to dry before you can coat it with clear UV Resin. This UV Resin speeds up the process and is more durable than nail polish. Got a bunch of other colors too, including various shades of fluorescent colors such as orange, pink, chartreuse, red (fire orange really), etc, and other non-fluorescent colors like brown, grape, and shimmer copper. All these colors make a good wingcase, or in the case of the fluorescent ones, a good hotspot. We also have the ultra thin Bone Dry formulation in black now. Solarez is hands-down the best UV Resin on the market: cures the fastest, cures rock hard/durable, and it's not tacky. It's also way less expensive than the other brands, despite it's superior performance.
Now is still a great time to experiment with fishing a pair (or even better yet a trio) of soft-hackles/wet flies, it is both fun & very effective, and deadly in lower flows. It's an efficient and pleasant way to cover a lot of water, and you can hit those thin water lies near the banks that are hard to nymph- big browns often hold in water like that, especially during hatches & low light. It's also deadly during a hatch, as a lot of the bugs get eaten by trout just under the surface, and that is where you are presenting these flies. Try soft hackles with Hare's Ear bodies, Partridge & Orange/Yellow/Green/olive, Isonychia Soft Hachles, etc. I recommend fishing 2-3 at a time, on tag end droppers, spaced about 20-30" apart. If tangles are a big problem, go to 1 fly only, but be aware 2-3 at a time are more effective and allow you to animate the flies in ways that you cannot do with a single fly (eg. "dancing the top dropper"). We have a great 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 tag-end droppers.
Zach St. Amand, one of the top local guides and frequent flyer in our big fish pictures, is leading a trip with Andes Drifters to Patagonia for big wild trout, February 8-15th 2019. He still has some availability, call him at 646-641-5618 to find out more or to get onboard.
FYI we are now in our extended hours: 8am-6pm weekdays, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
We have Devin Olsen's hot book "Tactical Fly Fishing", and it's really good. Its 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.
From April through October we are open 7 days a week, 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday, and 6am-5pm on weekends.
Hatches/Dries:
-Summer/Winter Caddis: #18-24 pupa & adults (early/mid AM)