Friday 4/30/21 Farmington River Report

Our store hours through March: Monday through Friday, 8am-6pm, Saturday & Sunday 8am-5pm. We are now open until 6pm on weekdays (not weekends) and will be on that schedule through October. When entering the store please try to maintain a 6ft distance from other customers if possible, and as per the governor's decree you must wear a mask/face covering of some sort inside the store. We are happy to deliver curbside if you are uncomfortable shopping inside. Just give us a call. 

Many nice trout continue to hit our customer’s landing nets, check out a few of them in this report: up top Derrick of CT Fish Guides with 20”+ of wild brown trout, caught on a Hendrickson spinner Wednesday ee. Next down is customer Nick Dobrowski with 19.5” of holdover Survivor Strain brown trout. Third pic is Antoine’s customer with a NICE brown, and the fourth pic is Paul McConnell of Reel Adventure Outfitters with one of manyrecent fish. 

Just another day in paradise. Modest flow bump from yesterday’s rain, Still River is just about peaked and will drop latertoday and over the weekend. Total flow this morning is 458cfs and still creeping up, should be in nice shape this weekend. Hendrickson hatch is going pretty good in most of the permanent C&R (catch & release)/TMA. We’re starting to see a few Hendrickson spinner falls now- the books say they happen in evenings, but on the Farmington I’ve seen them mid to late morning, at lunchtime, mixed with the mid afternoon hatch, and also in the evenings. Look for mild days with minimal wind and no rain- if conditions are not right, the spinners mass over the riffles, but instead of mating in the air and droppingspentto the water,they go back into the trees and wait for better conditions. But when a spinner fall does happen, it often brings some of the biggest trout to the surface. Where riffles dump into pools is a spinner fall hotspot, but pool tails often also are great in the evenings for big trout. Make sure to bring your “A” game for the pool tails: long leaders, stealthy wading, and delicatedrag-free presentations. Subsurface fishing remain consistently good to excellent for many anglers. Most are fishing nymphs & streamers, but the few that are fishing soft-hackles & wet flies are giving me great reports. It’s a fun way to fish, and an efficient way to quickly cover a lot of water. Steve Culton informs me he's been hammering trout swinging wets & soft hackles during the day before the hatch, anything that resembles a Hendrickson nymph is working (brownish to dark bodies). 

Don ties a cool Parachute Egg Sack Spinner for UpCountry, and don’t forget to grab some Dick Sablitz Hendrickson/ Red Quill Soft Hackles, and some of Bruce’s BMAR Hendrickson nymphs.

Stocking Update: The entire river has been heavily stocked several times includingrecently, the permanent Catch & Release (C&R)/TMA was stocked in mid April. Hard to go wrong with Woolly Buggers (black, olive) & Junk Flies (Mops, Eggs, Squirmies, Green Weenies) it you are fishing for fresh stockers. #14-18 Hare's Ears typically work well too. 

We received a batch of the new Hardy Ultralite & Ultralite LL (Euro) rods. While I have not yet personally fished them, they feel amazing in hand, and I’m predicting they will be big sellers in 2021. Euro specific rods received: Ultralite LL series10’ 2” #2, 11’ 2” #2, 10’ 8” #0/2. 9’ 9” #3, and 10’ 8” #3. In the standard Ultralite the 9’ #4, 9’ #5, 9’ #6, 9’ #7, 10’ #4, and 10’ #5. 

The new T&T Contact II series (10' #2, 10' #3, 10' 9" #3, 11' 2" #3, 10' 9" #4 & 10' 8" #6) is a home run, the best Euro rods currently on the market according to most serious Euro nymphers. New improved materials, new guide spacing, down-locking reel seats are standard now, plus a new fighting butt design that is more comfortable. Recovery is noticeably better/crisper, the actions "tweaked" for more big fish playing power, plus the newer materials they use to make the rods inherently store more energy and give the rod more power for casting and playing big trout. The blanks are incredibly strong and much much harder to break, even when you do something stupid. These rods are easier to cast, will give you more distance, and they deliver with improved accuracy. Retail is $825. FYI demand is often exceeding supply with these rods, so if we don’t have what you want in stock get your name on a waiting list.

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Flow:
The Farmington is currently medium-high at a total flow of 458cfs this morning through the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R) area (historical normal total flow for today is 444cfs), and has averaged in the mid to upper 40s for water temps lately at the USGS temperature gauge in Riverton- depending upon the weather, river section, and time of day, look now for downriver temps to hit the low 50s andeven mid 50s or so on warmer, sunny afternoons. Riverton is medium at 173cfs from the dam on the West Branch, and the Still River is adding in another 115cfs below it’s junction and it’s dropping fast. AM Riverton water temp was 45 degrees this morning, water temps usually rise on sunny or mild afternoons- it hit 48 yesterday afternoon there. Downstream water temps can be higher than this in the afternoons, especially on mild sunny days. Last I knew, East Branch isreleasing 75cfs about 3/8 mile below UpCountry. 

Hatches/Dries:
-Hendrickson #12-14- afternoon hatch, up into theTMA/C&R now
-Rusty Spinner #12-14: imitates Hendrickson spinners, try Don’s Parachute Egg Sack Spinner
-Blue Winged Olives (BWO/Baetis/Olives) #16-20 (afternoons, esp. cloudy/crappy days)
-Early Stoneflies #14-16: afternoons (especially sunny/mild days)
-Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24: pupa & winged adults, typically early/mid AM
-Midges #20-32: anytime (365 days a year)
-Parachute Adams #12-24: different sizes imitate many bugs including Hendricksons, Midges & BWOs

Nymphs:
-BMAR Hendrickson Nymph #12
-Olive Nymphs #16-18
-Frenchies & Pheasant Tails #12-20: various sizes imitate Mayfly nymphs like Blue Wing Olives, Hendricksons, Paraleps, etc.
-Darker Nymphs in brown, black, peacock#12-18 (such as Prince Nymph)
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #12-18
-Cased Caddis #10-14
-Early Stoneflies #14: brown, black- most active in afternoons
-Egg Flies #10-18: assorted colors (yellow, pinks, oranges or mixed colors)
-Junk Flies (Mops, Eggs, Squirmies/San Juan Worms, Green Weenies)
-Midges/Zebra Midges#16-22: black, olive, red
-Bigger Stoneflies #6-12: golden/yellow, brown, black- often works when smaller stuff doesn’t
-Antoine's Perdigons #14-20: black, brown, olive
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20: anything flashy, gaudy, or with a hot spot such as Rainbow Warriors, Haast Haze, Blue Lightning, Miller's Victim, Triple Threats, etc.

Soft-Hackles/Wet Flies:
-Hendrickson Soft Hackles #12-14- Dark Hendrickson & Red Quill (tied by Dick Sablitz- deadly)
-Assorted Patterns #10-18: Hare's Ear, Partridge & Orange/Green/Yellow, Partridge & Flash, Starling & Herl, Leadwing Coachman, March Brown, Partridge & Pheasant Tail
-best fished 2-3 at a time, on tag end droppers

Streamers:
-BMAR Yellow Matuka #6
-Zuddler #4-8: olive, yellow, white, brown, black
-Complex Twist Bugger & Mini version #2-6: assorted colors 
-Sculp Snack #8 (George Daniel pattern) 
-Home Invader #2-6- tan, black, white, yellow 
-Woolly Buggers #2-14 (black, olive, white, brown, tan)
-Rio's Precious Metal #4 (Kreelex copper, olive)
-JJ Special/Autumn Splendor/Tequeely #4-8
-Matuka #4-8 (yellow, olive, brown)

Report by Torrey Collins