After a very pleasant long stretch of unseasonably mild weather with highs in the 40s-60s, it looks like a return to normal Winter weather through the middle of next week or so. Snow is in the cards from mid-afternoon Saturday through Saturday night, with 2-6" total forecasted. Sunday will be the nicer day with some sunshine and a high of 37. Don't count Saturday out though, it looks like the snow will hold off until about 3pm or so- I have MANY times had good fishing right before & during a snowstorm. I ventured out yesterday from mid afternoon through dusk, and ended up with a half dozen or so trout on nymphs. Felt good to catch my first CT trout of 2020. The hits were gentle, with the better fishing seeming to be around mid-afternoon. Even got snowed on pretty hard for about 15 minutes! Water levels remain medium in the upper 300cfs range and slowly dropping, 8am water temps this morning are 34 degrees. Sunny days will typically see a slight bump in water temps.
"Junk Flies" (especially eggs, but also Mops & Worms), Midges/small nymphs, big Stoneflies, Attractor/flashy/hotspot nymphs (Haast Haze, Frenchies, Rainbow Warriors, etc.), and Caddis Larva (both regular & cased) continue to be the most productive flies on average. The hot flies vary from day to day, and can even change as the day progresses, so make sure to experiment. While many fish are in the classic Winter lies of slower/deeper water, in the afternoons if the fish decide to feed sometimes the faster riffles at the heads of pools & deeper runs is where they move too, and often it is the bigger fish that move there. Dry flies have produced at moments, and as flows continue to reduce look for that to increase (lower flows = more rising trout). Current hatches are Winter/Summer Caddis in the early/mid mornings, and Midges in the afternoons- these hatch times are not set in stone, sometimes Caddis are on the water in mid to late afternoons and Midges can start earlier on milder days.
experiment with colors as sometimes it can make a big difference in getting solid strikes, and color preference can change during the day as light conditions change. Cold water in the 30s normally means slower retrieves/swinging presentations will generally outfish a faster strip when it comes to streamers- but there will still be occasional moments the trout want a faster strip, so make sure to experiment and see what gets you strikes. Some days the streamer fishing is dead, and other days it will produce some big fish. Be willing to switch methods when it makes sense.
Landon Mayer, maybe the top sight fishing trophy trout guide in the country, is doing a FREE presentation on catching trophy trout.
It's open to the public and will take place at the upcoming FRAA 7pm
meeting this month on Wednesday, Jan 22nd at the Farmington Senior
Center in Unionville (321 New Britain Ave, Unionville, CT 06085). His
latest/4th book is "The Hunt for Giant Trout", and there will be copies
of it for sale at the meeting and you can get them autographed. All
are welcome to attend, and what you will learn is 100% relevant to the
Farmington River as Landon spends most of his time fishing pressured
tailwater fisheries in Colorado targetting above average trout. He
has also ventured out East to fish Great Lakes tributaries for giant
fall Lake Run Browns & Steelhead, and he has fished central PA for
trout too. There will be plenty of opportunity for Q&A with Landon
at this event.Don't forget to get a new 2020 CT fishing license & Trout/Salmon stamp so you are legal! We sell them here at UpCountry, or you can purchase online by clicking here.
We do a lot of trade-ins of used equipment, as many of you know. Please call and schedule an appointment before you bring your gear in to trade- you need to make sure Grady or I (Torrey) are here to do the trade, and you also need to make sure it's stuff we will be interested in so you don't drive here for nothing. If your trade-in is relatively small/simple and you want store credit (that's what 90% of people do it for), I (Torrey) can generally do it. However, if it's multiple items or you want us to purchase it, Grady needs to be here. He can do big trades quickly, plus he's the only one with check writing privileges (if we purchase your equipment we pay with a check, not cash). We generally give you roughly full current market value if you opt for store credit, and if you want us to purchase it we knock about 1/3 off what we plan to sell it for.
Guide & fly tyer Mark Swenson is doing a 2nd beginner fly tying class February 9th & 16th, 2020, a two day class, click the link below to go to that page:
http://www.farmingtonriver.com/classes-news-reviews/
Flows:
Total 8am flow today (Friday) in the permanent Catch & Release is medium & clear at 394cfs and dropping (226cfs from the dam, and 148cfs & dropping from the Still River). 8am water temp in Riverton was 34 degrees, typically you will see water temps bump up at least a degree most afternoons in Riverton. Downstream further on sunny/mild days you may see an even bigger increase, as long as there isn't much snow on the ground (lotta snow + warm weather + sunshine = snowmelt, which drops afternoon water temps). Currently trout are most active when water temps are at their highest and/or moving upward, the early to mid morning period has typically been slow (exception: Winter Caddis hatch), fishing picks up as the day progresses and water temps rise- sometimes all it takes is a 1 degree increase to get the trout feeding. On days preceded by milder nights, sometimes the morning subsurface can be good (because you don't get a significant overnight water temp drop in that situation).
Cortland's brand spankin' new Nymph Series Rods for Euro Nymphing have arrived at UpCountry This series is all in a 10.5' length and three line weights: #2, #3, and #4, and retails at $299.99. These replace the extremely popular Competition Nymph Series. We have fished the new version in the 10.5' #3 model, and they are a noticeable improvement with a crisper action, faster recovery, more sensitivity, a downlocking reel seat for better rod/reel balance, and improved guide spacing to minimize line sag between the reel and the stripping (first) guide. The new construction also significantly improves the durability, and they maintained the stealthy matte finish to minimize rod flash on sunny days. You won't need a heavy reel to balance these either. I'm sure the #3 will be the best seller, but the 2 weight is sweet with a soft tip that will protect 6x-7x tippet on big fish, and the #4 has the power to handle heavier tippets with bigger flies on bigger fish and can cross over as an Indy nymphing rod too. This series looks like a real winner to us, and the best under $300 Euro rod on the market hands-down.
You will find that in the winter, there are often very distinct bite windows where it's not unusual to go
Check out the new T&T rods that debuted in late 2019: the new Contact 10' #3, the Zone mid-priced 10' #4, and the Paradigm dry fly series. All are in stock except the Zone 10' #4. Read several paragraphs down to find out more about them.
Less hatches this time of year and dropping water temps means the trout won't normally be in the faster water, however they may move into the heads of runs/pools/riffles as water temps rise in the afternoon, so keep that in mind. In the mid afternoons look for rising trout in the softer pool water where the riffles slow down and below that- same in early/mid AM when the Winter/Summer Caddis are popping.
Streamers can work anytime of day currently, but especially during low light. Trout, especially browns, are post spawn and looking to pack in some calories and put weight back on. Go with bigger streamers for less but bigger trout, or small to medium for better numbers but smaller trout- 3" long (give or take a half inch) would be the in-between size choice for the best of both worlds.
Winter Store Hours (through March):
8am-5pm 7 days a week
We've received a veritable pile of used rods & reels as trade-ins. Some are listed on our website, but many of the least expensive used rods & reels are for in store purchase only and are not listed up and can only be found by looking on our racks. Stop in the store and check it out for yourself, there are some really good deals!
Thomas & Thomas has debuted their Paradigm series of moderate action, dry fly type rods, along with a new Contact 10' #3, and a Zone 10' #4. Zach St. Amand beat up the new 10' #3 Contact and loves it. Grady & I were impressed with the Paradigms, they are on the moderate action/somewhat softer side, but they cast beautifully from up close to far out and will protect lighter tippet. FYI the Paradigm series won "Best New Dry Fly Rod" in the 2020 Fly Fisherman magazine Gear Guide! The Contact 10' #3 feels awesome in the hand, and it's a more portable length than it's longer brothers. Due to it being shorter than the 10' 8" & 11' 3" models, it has a crisper action that would make it a very good choice for someone who likes to tight-line/Euro nymph, but also likes to throw fly line with dries, wets, and small/medium streamers.
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.
Don't show up here at first light and quit at noon (unless you are fishing the Winter Caddis hatch), but rather focus on the late morning to late afternoon time slot when water temps are rising, trout metabolism peaks, and you have your best shot at finding feeding trout. It's also a hell of a lot more pleasant to fish during the milder part of the day. Sunshine can be a good thing this time of year, as sunny days see noticeably higher water temp spikes. Fish smarter and maximize your results. Also, in the colder water of winter (usually in the 30s) trout drop out of the faster water, so target deeper runs, pools, and softer/deeper riffles.
Hours: 8am-5pm, 7 days a week through March.
Hatches/Dries: