As of May 20th, CT
guidelines for "non essential businesses" like us changed to once again allow customers in the store. Per new CT rules,
you must wear a mask/face covering of some sort inside the store- no exceptions.
We are now open Monday through Friday 8am-6pm, and Saturday/Sunday 8am-5pm.
You can purchase your
CT fishing license in advance online by clicking on this link. FYI if you don't have a printer, it's perfectly acceptable to keep your license on your mobile/smart phone nowadays.
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Your continued support has kept our store open
so we can keep supplying you with the best fly fishing
stuff, fly tying materials & flies. A big "Thank You" to each and every one of our customers.
Thanks!
-Grady & Torrey
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Farmington River Report
Standing in the cold water of the Farmington River can be beautiful thing on a hot Summer day. Despite the recent daily highs 85-90 degrees and low in the mid to upper 60s, we remain nice & cool with water temps averaging in the 50s (it's still coming out of the dam in the high 40s, and then slowly rises as you work you way downriver). The whole 20+ miles of river from the dam in Riverton down to Unionville remains at trout-friendly temps and all of that water is remains an option. The further downriver you go, the more the river behaves like a natural freestone river, meaning early & late are the prime times to be out. Closer to the dam the icy water means that "morning hatches" happen later, and often the "evening hatch" can start & end before it does downstream. Warm to hot air temps make terrestrial imitations such as beetles & ants great choices, especially in the afternoons when hatches are generally scarce now. You can blind fish them, or target sporadic risers with them. Dry/Dropper with a buoyant visible dry fly (Mini Chernobyl, Elk Hair Caddis, Stimulator, etc.) trailing a smaller weighted nymph 18-30" off the hook bend is another effective and fun option when the hatches aren't coming off. And of course Euro nymphing the faster water is always a good option when they aren't rising. First light with streamers can produce a big trout- cover lots of water. Hot sunny weather means that targeting shade, structure (big rocks, undercut banks, downed trees, etc.), and faster choppy water are good ideas. Remember that trout don't have eyelids, and they also seek concealment from predators. The most technical midday game is fishing dries to trout sipping in slow, flat water. Sometimes it requires a long light leader and tiny dries, and sometimes 5-6x and a beetle or ant will fool them. Be stealthy, wear drab colored clothing, use longer leaders, lay your casts down gently, and make sure to make pinpoint accurate & drag-free presentations. Lighter rods in the #2-4 range will help you make a gentle presentation.
Top pic is a beauty of a brown by Trever Musselman, 2nd down is a 20" dry fly brown landed by Steve Culton on a Light Cahill dry fly. 3rd fish pic is a smiling Rebecca Coons with a quality brown, 4th pic is a dark, colored up brown by J. Valenti. Last fish pic is Steve Hogan with a nice fish.
Sulfurs ranging
from #14-18 are a great hatch all over the river, with #16
being the most common size- hatch times vary from late morning to dusk
(depends upon river section & weather, with the bigger #14-6 Invaria Sulfurs hatching earlier, and the smaller #16-18 Dorothea hatching later). Isonychia are #10-12 and
hatching on most of the river now, and they normally hatch sometime between 4pm and dusk
(later on hot/sunny days, earlier on cooler/cloudy ones). Iso's are a
big dry fly you can blind fish are bring trout to the surface on if .
All sorts of assorted Caddis are out, averaging #14-18, with some bigger
and smaller. Tans and olive/greens are the most common colors, but
gray, black and brown are also not uncommon, the black ones tend to be
small to very small. Look for peak Caddis activity in the mornings &
evenings, they typically hatch earlier in the day, and then come back
and egg-lay in the low light of eves, but you will also see them midday
in lighter numbers. There are light numbers of #10-12 March Browns, they
hatch in fast water sporadically from late afternoon through the
evenings, but the spinners fall all at once at dusk. Make sure to have a
matching yellow-brown spinner for them if you are out during their evening spinner falls, as I find rusty spinners
don't
work well for them. Various spinner patterns are a good idea to keep in
your fly box, they tend to hit the water in the evenings and bigger
fish often prefer them. I also often see #14 Light Cahills in the
evening mix this time of year. The big
#6-10 Stoneflies are
hatching, you will see the shucks on the rocks in fast water- they don't
provide much dry fly action overall, but the early to mid morning
nymphing with
them in faster water can often be lights out and produce some bigger
fish. However, you can blind fish the faster water with yellow Stimulators (imitates adult Stonefly) and bring fish up.
 |
| Sulfur |
Be aware that bug activity varies from day to day and section to section, but also depending upon
water type.
Don't look for Isonychia 200 yards down a pool in the flat water, as
they are a fast water insect and that's where you will find them, at the
pool heads and in pocket water/faster water. I hear customers tell me
there were "no bugs", but then I find out they were fishing early
afternoon in flat/slow water on a bright sunny day and expecting to see
Iso's. Do your homework and learn at least a little about major hatches
(e.g. Iso's, Sulfurs) that are common and last a while. Sulfurs
typically are seen in medium-slow to medium-fast water. Mayfly Spinner
falls occur over riffles & pocket water. Caddis most commonly hatch
& egg-lay in riffles and faster water. Big trout will often drop
into the tails of pools in the evenings to feed. Bottom line is that if
you aren't seeing bugs, move around to different water types, and move
up & down the river. Fish have been hit up hard this season and are
no longer pushovers, so be on your "A" game, especially if you hope to
land some big wild browns.
FYI there are truly no "hot spots". The entire stretch of river from the
dam in Riverton down to Unionville (20+ miles), numerous trout spread
throughout it in very good numbers. Big trout are scattered throughout
the entire river. This
is not a river where you have to be in one of only a handful of spots to
do well. The trout are truly everywhere, a mix of 2020 stockers,
multi-year holdovers, and plenty of wild fish too. Excellent habitat and
many miles
of cold water means the trout exist in good numbers all over the river.
Yes, the 6.2 mile permanent TMA/C&R (catch & release) likely
has the highest density of trout (and the heaviest fishing pressure by
far), but.... the rest of the river holds a lot of trout too, and some
really good ones. Most years I catch my biggest trout
outside
of the permanent TMA/C&R. 2020 has been a year for the books, with
an epic number of anglers venturing out trout fishing all over CT and other
states. Make 2020 the year you explore new water on the Farmington,-drive until you see some juicy looking new water unoccupied by other
anglers and explore it, I think you will be pleasantly surprised
Make sure to to make accurate, drag-free presentations when targeting
rising trout during hatches. Try to make your first cast be the best
one, subsequent casts often "wise the trout up" and results in refusals
or no looks at all. If you get a handful of good drifts over a fish with
no take, either change your fly, or move to another fish. Refusals
often mean your fly choice is close but not quite right, or that you are
getting subtle drag. Longer tippets in the 3-4'
range will help you get a drag-free float with your dries, and in really
tough situations you can go even longer with your tippet if it's not
windy and your fly isn't too bushy or wind-resistant.
Fishing
subsurface with nymphs & wets/soft hackles is a good
choice in June, even when it appears not much is going on. Subsurface
the trout are often chowing down on nymphs & pupa, unseen to us.
Look for
the medium to fast water (pool heads, fast runs, riffles, pocket
water), and seek out current breaks & seams. Experiment with flies,
as the best ones can and will vary throughout the day. If you are
unsure, when nymphing start with a Caddis pupa #14-16 (tan or
olive/green) &
Pheasant Tail/Frenchy #14-18 combo, it covers a lot of bases. If you get
out early, nymph the fast water with big Stonefly nymphs, this is
usually good from first light to 10am or so (later if it's cooler/cloudy
out). The big stones crawl out onto the rocks overnight and in the
early to mid morning, and that's when the big nymphs (#6-12) end up in
the drift. For wets/soft hackles, fish at least 2 flies (I prefer 3 for
that), and pick flies to imitate Caddis (bodies of Hare's Ear, green, or
olive), and others with yellow bodies to imitate the various Sulfurs.
The Partridge & Orange is an old standby that is in most serious
anglers top 3 soft hackles. Wets & soft hackles are particularly
good in the evenings when fish move into shallow water to feed just
subsurface right before & during evening hatches.
FYI a classic Euro nymphing mistake I see
a ton of people do is picking out the heaviest anchor flies that we have in the bins.
One of the biggest Euro myths is that you have to dredge the river bottom to catch fish.
Yes, in the high/cold flows of March & April and in the Winter you
will primarily be using heavier anchor flies with 3.5-4mm beads on them when you are fishing the Farmington River,
and maybe heavier dropper flies too- this puts them in the face of
lethargic cold water trout that won't move much at all to eat your
flies.
Since May though, I've mostly fished anchors no
bigger than a #14 with no more than a 3mm bead, occasionally using a
3.5mm (1/8") bead for truly deep, fast water, and bigger nymphs when bigger bugs are active (March Browns, big Stoneflies, Isonychia, etc.).
Droppers have ranged from #14-18 with 2mm-3mm beads.
You don't have to be on bottom this time of year, 1/2 to 3/4 the way down is normally plenty deep
(and can even be too deep during a hatch, that's when wets flies/soft
hackles tyically beat out weighted nymphs). Water temps are optimal (50-65), there a lots of bugs
hatching & in the drift, and trout are feeding throughout the water
column. As long as you are getting your flies down and in touch with
them, you will do fine. Be aware that when fishing lighter flies,
strikes are primarily visual, so watch your sighter like a hawk. I've
hardly lost any flies lately, because I'm hardly ticking bottom at all,
but I'm catching plenty of trout. If you are ticking bottom multiple
times per drift, snagging bottom frequently, or losing a bunch of flies
to bottom snags, your flies are likely too heavy. Lighten up and I
guarantee you will catch more trout, have better strike detection, and
lose way less flies.
If you are fishing wets/soft-hackles (and you
should be!), try a 2-3 fly rig, on tag end
droppers about 24-30" apart. During hatching activity where you see bugs and
occasional rising trout, keep all your flies unweighted and fish near
the surface. If it's slow and trout don't seem willing to move to your wets, use a lightly to moderately weighted
soft-hackle or nymph on the point position to get your rig down deeper
where the trout are. Throw across & slightly upstream and make an upstream
mend to sink your flies, let them dead-drift (watch your fly line tip
for subtle strikes), and then let them do the traditional wet fly swing-
expect strikes especially at the 3/4 downstream point when your flies
rise toward the surface. At the end of the drift let them dangle for
several seconds, then twitch them up & down a couple of times. Add
some slight rod tip twitches during some drifts, and on others just let
them drift. Keep your rod tip up around 10 o'clock during the entire
drift for tippet protection, better fly animation, and better hook-ups- this creates very
slight controlled slack you need so trout can inhale your fly and not
short strike it. This technique is great for covering riffle & pool
water where the trout are spread out and can be anywhere, the kind of
water that can be difficult/challenging to nymph.
Remember the beloved Grey's Streamflex rods? If you liked them, you will
love what I'm about to tell you: Pure Fishing has released an updated
version of the Streamflex series under the Fenwick name, using the
latest materials that
give the rods noticeably improved rod
recovery and durability (30% increase). These rods feel
fantastic in the hand. We have these in the Euro specific models, The
11' #3 & #4 Streamflex have an MSRP of $349.95-
we are selling them for $265. The also do a Streamflex Plus that goes
from 10' to 10' 6"- a six inch extension piece hides in the handle and
can be put in or out in seconds. We have the 10' #3 Streamflex Plus
(goes up to 10.5')- MSRP is $379.95, we are selling it for $285.
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Nymphs imitating or
suggesting Caddis Pupa & Caddis
Larva
(olive/green #14-16), Sulfurs #14-18, March Brown
#10-12, Cahills #14, Blue Wing Olives/Baetis #16-20, and larger
Stoneflies
#6-12 (golden, brown, black) have all had their
moments. Also try attractor patterns (gaudy flies with hot spots, flash,
UV materials, or unusual colors), sometimes they will outfish the usual
drabber flies for reasons only know to the trout. It can be worth trying
bigger #6-10
nymphs such as Stoneflies & Mops- larger nymphs sometimes
interest larger trout (more calories in a single bite, just like with
streamers). Bigger nymphs can also be better in higher and/or off-color
flows. Remember that
GISS
(general impression of size &
shape) is far more important than having an exact imitation, and
sometimes exaggerated features like a hot spot or flash gets their
attention better than a "perfect" drabber imitation. Trout perceive our imitations
differently than us humans do, so what looks good to YOU isn't
necessarily what the
trout prefer. We'd be lucky to catch any trout at all if our flies truly
had to look exactly like the natural insects. If your fly size &
shape/profile are close to the natural bugs, and the color is ballpark,
all you then need is to put it in front of a willing trout with a good
presentation. I've caught more trout than I can count on Pheasant Tails, Frenchies & Hare's Ears. The shape (tails,
slimmer abdomen, thicker thorax),
color (brown) and size match up to the real Mayflies. I've caught many a
rising trout during various Mayfly, Caddis & Midge hatches on a Parachute Adams
after they refused a dozen different dun, emerger, cripple & spinner
patterns.
For streamer fishing
black, olive, brown and white are great starting colors, but make sure to
experiment and let the trout tell you what
they want. Other often
good colors are yellow and tan. Two tone streamers such a brown/yellow,
olive/yellow, etc.
can sometimes be the ticket. Try the following hybrid rig: a
weighted streamer such
as
a conehead Bugger, Complex Twist Bugger, Zuddler, Slumpbuster, etc.
with a #14-16 soft-hackle, wet fly
or nymph trailed 14-18" of the hook bend- the streamer often functions
as the attractor, and then the trout eat the trailing smaller fly. This
helps turn some of those chases, rolls & flashes into a solid
hook-up. Streamers will produce fish if
fished properly. The low light of early & late in the day are the
prime times, but if you target structure & shade you can catch fish
on them during midday. Try also
streamers with Sculpin Helmets, bounced & twitched along the bottom
on a floating
line- deadly on bigger trout. Play with colors, fly size, pattern style,
retrieve, depth, and cover lots of water and you should be able to find
success.
Current Store Hours:
8am-6pm Monday through Friday, and 8am-5pm on weekends.
Flow:
The
Farmington is currently medium-low at a very wadeable and dry fly friendly total flow of 268cfs total flow
through
the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R) area, and averaging in
the low to high 50s for
water temps (depending upon the weather, river
section, and time of day)- USGS historical normal combined flow
for today is 329cfs. Riverton is 256cfs from the dam on the West
Branch, and the Still River is very low and adding
in an
additional 12cfs below it's junction with the West
Branch. 8am Riverton
water temp was 48 degrees this morning, downstream water temps are
higher (50s), temps will rise during the day. Sunny days will see the biggest
increases (peaking in late afternoon), and the further you get from the
dam, the higher the temps.
Hatches/Dries:
