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Monday morning 10/16:
Pictured up top is a pretty holdover brown by Rich Foster caught on a flashy nymph, and below that is a nice brown by Gordon Perkins. Seems like a lot of the adult fish are on the skinny side this Fall. The smaller wild browns have been plumper though.
Looks like great weather for the next several days, and the water level is medium & near perfect, with water temps running mid 50’s to low 60’s lately- also about perfect. Any day now the spawn will begin, so keep your eye out for redds and don’t walk on or immediately below these areas- see a few paragraphs down for info on what to do & what not to do during the spawn. Lately the predominate catch has been smaller wild browns averaging 6-10”, along with some Salmon Parr and the occasional rainbow. Normally the egg bite starts right about now, should be any day. One day you are lucky to catch a trout on an egg fly, but when the egg bite starts up an egg pattern is lights out. Streamers are still a good bet to possibly pull a larger fish that you might not see on a nymph, browns are aggressive due to the spawn. Nymphing is producing smaller wild browns as I mentioned above.
The Riverton gauge is reading 331cfs this morning, and the Still River is adding in 91.5cfs, giving us a total flow below that in the permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R) of 422.5cfs and slowly dropping. This is a great fishing level, so take advantage of it! You might see the MDC make a small flow cut today, Monday is typically the day that they make weekly flow adjustments. This upcoming weekend should be about peak foliage color, but it’s very pretty now and should be very colorful for the next 2 weeks or so.
The state stocked the river on October 10th from just below the Rt 219 bridge in New Hartford (1 mile upstream from us) all the way down to Avon- please remember that as of 9/1, the entire river from the dam all the way down to the Rt 177 bridge in Unionville is strictly Catch & Release. With current flows, all of the river is once again very fishable, and those new fish are in need of some “education” :). Water temp in Riverton is 60.5 degrees this morning and peaked at 61.5 yesterday afternoon, and downstream of that it’s been running from mid 50’s to low 60’s depending upon the weather and time of day.
Small wild browns 4-10” have been VERY active the past few weeks, along with small Atlantic Salmon Parr. The most active bug has been tan Caddis #16-18, but we are also seeing some small Blue Winged Olives #22-26 and Isonychia #12-14. Best fishing by far has been subsurface with nymphs & streamers.
Usually brown trout start spawning around mid October on the Farmington River, with peak spawn in late October/early November, but some will spawn as late as December, and I’ve seen browns spawning as late as the 2nd week of January! Keep an eye out for redds, the oval light colored depressions in gravelly riffles where trout deposit there eggs. Avoid those areas and the first 10-15 feet below them, otherwise you may crush the eggs if you walk there. Also, don’t fish to actively spawning fish, they are already stressed out, so don’t add to it, just let them reproduce in peace.
The three main October hatches are Isonychia (Iso’s) #12-14, small Blue Winged Olives #22-26, and Tan Caddis #16-18. You may see a few other bugs too, such as Giant October Caddis #6-10, Light Cahills/Summer Stenos #12-14, Fall Sulfurs/Hebe #16-18. Isonychia typically hatch mid to late day, BWO’s in the afternoons (especially cloudy days), and Caddis hatch in the mornings and come back to egg-lay in the riffles at the end of the day.
Streamers are a great option in the Fall as brown trout get extra aggessive due to spawning. Some good Fall streamer colors include olive, white, brown, brown & yellow, olive & yellow, and all yellow. Browns react aggressively to the color yellow in the Fall due to spawning (yellow represents a heighted spawning color). I’d stick to small to medium size (1.5”-3”) if you’re looking for numbers, but you can go 4-6” if you want to head hunt for trophy trout and are willing to catch less fish. Tight-lining them on a Euro rig can be deadly and often outfishes conventional presentations because you are fishing them slower and down deep, making it easy for them to eat your fly and not have to chase it. Sometimes throwing the meat will aggravate brown trout in the Falland draw a strike when the nymph fishing is slow. Play with colors & retrieves, let the trout tell you what they want. Don’t be afraid to strip them in fast, sometimes that is the trigger to get them to eat. Early & late in the day is prime time (low light), but midday can be good if you look for shade & structure. Cover as much water as possible when streamer fishing. You are looking for aggressive trout, which typically strike quickly, or not at all.
A favored AM nymph rig would be a bigger #8-12 Stonefly nymph paired up with a #16 Caddis Pupa or a #18-20 nymph like a Pheasant Tail/Frenchy, Walt’s Worm/Sexy Waltz, or a Blue Winged Olive Nymph. From mid/late afternoon onward replace the big Stonefly with a #12-14 Isonychia-type fly- can be a specific imiation, or just a #12-14 Pheasant Tail or Prince Nymph.
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Hatches/Dries:
Hatches have been modest but improving lately, Tan Caddis, small Blue Winged Olives & Isonychia are the main 3 October bugs- we have been seeing more Caddis by far.
-Ants & Beetles #12-20: good choice late morning through early eves when bugs aren’t hatching but trout are sporadically sipping small stuff, you can also blind fish bigger ones
-Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24: hatching in early to mid morning
-Summer Stenos/Cream Cahills #12-16: evenings at dusk
-Fall Caddis #16-18 (tan/light brown): hatching in early to mid AM, and returning to lay eggs in the riffles mid afternoon to dusk.
-Isonychia #12-14: fast water insect, mid/late afternoon
-Blue Winged Olives #22-26: esp. cooler/cloudy days
-Midges #20-28: mornings & eves, try a Midge Pupa subsurface
Nymphs
-Big Stoneflies #8-12 (gold/yellow, brown, black): early to mid AM in fast water, you will see the shucks on the rocks, as well as on cement bridge abutments
-Isonychia Nymph #12-14: nymphs are working, fish in fast water, dead-drift & swing them. Prince nymphs & large Pheasant Tails work well to imitate them.
-Caddis Pupa #16-18 (mostly tan right now): dead-drift & swing in medium to fast water.
-Frenchies & Pheasant Tails #12-20: various sizes imitate many different Mayfly nymphs (BWO, Isonychia, Sulfur, Iso, etc.) & smaller Stoneflies and are quite effective everywhere
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #14-16: anytime, lots of these in the river
-Jigged Streamers #8-12: various colors/patterns- dead-drift, twitch, swing & strip, best on a Euro rod & leader, excellent choice to fish in September/October with aggressive pre-spawn brown trout
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20: anything flashy, gaudy, or with a hot spot such as Rainbow Warriors, Sexy Waltz, Prince, Triple Threats, etc
-Junk Flies (Eggs, Mops, Squirmies/SJ Worms, Green Weenies): especially good in high/stained water, or as a change-up fly after you have fished a good run with standard nymphs
Streamers:
With Fall at hand and aggressive pre-spawn brown trout, now is prime time to fish the meat. Big trout are almost always on the lookout for bigger bites, especially early & late in the day (low light) and during lulls in bug activity. Also a great choice anytime the flow is up or off-color.
-Rich Strolis articulated streamers (assorted)
-Jigged Streamers #8-12: various patterns/colors, deadly fished on a tight-line/Euro rig
-Rio's Precious Metal #4 (Kreelex copper, olive, white)
-BMAR Yellow Matuka #6
-Zuddler #4-8: olive, yellow, white, brown, black
-Complex Twist Bugger #2-6: assorted colors
-Conehead White Marabou Muddler #8
-Woolly Buggers #2-8 (peach, black, olive, white, brown, tan)
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Diamondback Ideal Nymph Reels:
These are the most well thought out & designed Euro nymphing reels out there, the product of Joe Goodspeed who designed the Diamondback Ideal Nymph Rods. It has a full cage which makes it very unlikely for long/thin leaders or Mono Rigs to work their way outside the frame- a common problem with most modern reels (very few are full frame, 90% have a half frame). The machined tolerances are also extra tight to help with this. It has removable weights so you can fine-tune the rod/reel balance. The ultra large arbor, large diameter, narrow spool is ideal for Euro nymphing where you don’t want or need a ton of line capacity- this also gives you a faster retrieve rate and less line coiling. The drag is ultra smooth to protect light tippet. The most unique feature of all is the offset reel foot, which gives you the ability to put the mass of the reel even closer to the rod butt, improving rod balance. If you need to take up slack quickly the reel is designed so you can hit the spool with your palm to spin it rapidly and take up excess line. Anywhere the line/leader can rub against the reel when stripping line has been machined round to eliminate abrasion. The Ideal Nymph reel is unique, with all the features you wanted and clever ones you never even thought about. They use the latest 5D-5 Axis machining to make this unusual & beautiful fly reel. These reels have already become a hot seller.
The T&T Contact II 10’ 9 2wt rod debuted in 2022, and it is an excellent addition to the best line-up of euro rods. I absolutely love it- the perfect rod for conditions that dictate lighter tippets & smaller/lighter flies: casts great, very sensitive, very low swing weight, and a blast to play the fish on. It is my current favorite rod, it’s really fun to fish with, and guides Zach St. Amand & Derrick Kirkpatrick are also big fans of it, as is shop employee/shop rat Joey. The length is ideal for rivers like the Farmington, allowing you to fish & cast further away, make longer drifts, cast easier, faster hook sets, and the soft tip will protect your tippet against big trout. Enough power in the butt section to handle bigger trout when necessary, and a bit of extra flex in the tip for casting thinner micro leaders and lighter flies. The new 2wt is a great compliment to your arsenal, especially if you already have the 3wt, which is the “all 'rounder” for Euro Nymphing.
The Diamondback range of Ideal Nymph rods are in stock. These excellent Euro nymphing rods are available in 10’ 1wt, 10’ 2wt, 10’ 10” 2wt, 10’ #3, 10’ 10” 3wt, 10’ 10” 4wt, and 10’ 10” #6, with more models to come soon. Joe Goodspeed, (formerly of Cortland and T&T) designed this new series in 2022, and he did a great job. At $525-550, these rods are a deal and easily the best Euro rods in the $500 range. Using the latest, state-of-the-art materials & construction, the rods are light with excellent recovery & sensitivity, plenty of big fish playing power, double rings on the downlocking reel seat, 3 snake guides on the rod tip for minimal line/leader wrap with thinner/micro leaders, and 2 single foot ceramic stripping guides to reduce friction & improve line shoot. The 10’ 10” #2 has been a best seller for the Farmington River, also the 10’ #1 (a unique & very fun rod). The 10’ 10” #3 has the backbone to handle larger trout & heavy jigged streamers. I’ve also noticed the 10’ #2 is very popular with top competition anglers who have access to any rods they want, Joe really nailed it on this particular length & line weight.