8am-5pm Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on Saturday & Sunday. These will be the store hours through April.
Pictured up top is a picture perfect brown trout from Tim O’Shaughnessy while nymphing yesterday.
The upper 21 miles of river from the dam in Riverton to the Rt 20 bridge in Unionville is Catch & Release until the second Saturday in April 2025. With very few exceptions, all trout fishing in CT rivers is C&R in March/early April, and you cannot keep any trout until 6am on 4/12.
We have tons of books at the moment- just got in a bunch of used book as well as a big order of new books that just arrived.
A landing net was found behind the store Sunday afternoon, contact us if you think it's yours.
The total flow on the river below the Still River and in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R) is 309cfs, the historical median flow for today is 585cfs, we are in good shape for the weekend- I’d call this a medium water level. Riverton is 165cfs between the dam and the Rt. 20 bridge/Riverton Self Storage. The Still River is adding in 144cfs a little below that. Riverton water temp is 40 degrees this morning, it reached 44 degrees yesterday afternoon, New Hartford hit 46. Downstream water temps are generally higher, especially on mild/sunny days, peaking in mid to late afternoon. Unionville USGS gauge is reading 522cfs, historical median flow for today is 944cfs.
This
Saturday, April 12 at 6am is the unofficial Opening Day of trout
season in CT. Seeing as there is no longer a closed trout fishing
season, there isn’t technically a true Opening Day anymore, but
most people still view it as such because as of 6am on 4/12 you can
keep trout (except in permanent Catch & Release areas). On the
Farmington River it’s 2 trout 12” or bigger, and in most streams
around the state it’s 5 trout, any size (with some exceptions). The
traditional Riverton Derby will take place this Saturday from 6am to
10am.
Virtually all trout streams will have been stocked
at least once by now, and most of the Farmington River has been
stocked twice. FYI the Permanent TMA/C&R has not yet been
stocked, it gets stocked once a year in April, likely next week or
the week after. In the recently stocked sections, if you can locate
where the trout are podded up, you can do some big numbers on nymphs.
It gives you good practice on strike detection & setting the
hook. You might be surprised at how subtly the recent stockers can
take your nymph without any obvious indication of a strike. Set on
anything! Mix a Junk Fly like an Egg or Mop with a smaller, drab fly
such as a Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear, or Walt’s Worm. Try also
flashy, gaudy nymphs with hot spots. Weighted Woolly Buggers can be very effective too.
Water temps in New Hartford have been running from mid 40’s the past couple of days, depending upon the weather and time of day. Riverton above the Still River is always colder this time of year, anywhere from the upper 30’s in the mornings to as high as 44 on warm, sunny afternoons. In April, the Still River is a warming influence most days, and water temps are higher/better from there downstream.
Fishing reports have varied widely, depending on the angler, river section fished, time of day, and methods/flies used. Dry fly anglers are working hard for the occasional fish. Nymphs & streamers are producing most of the bigger fish. Expect to work for the high quality holdover & wild fish. If you find some recently stocked fish, you may do some numbers though. For the most part, it’s been more of a quality over quantity situation on the holdover & wild brown trout. It pays to move around and cover water currently. It one section is not producing, don’t beat it to death, move to a new area. The big wild browns are the hardest to fool, you need to do everything correctly. They’ve seen it all, and they spook easily. They are also very tuned into real bugs & minnows. With gradually rising water temps and increased bug activity, trout are sliding out of slower water and into faster water to feed. This is especially true on mild afternoons.
Quick
Tip:
Many of you are Euro Nymphing, and wind is your
biggest enemy. 2025 has been super windy. Make sure to carry some
small & medium Air-Lock strike indicators with you. Pop one on
your Euro leader, they are surprisingly easy to cast due to their
weight & aerodynamic design. On a windy day, this will anchor
your rig to the surface so the wind can’t blow on your leader and
move your flies during the drift. If you don’t want to do this, try
fishing closer with your rod tip lower to the water, and bump up your
anchor fly up to the next bead size, even 2 sizes up if it’s really
windy. Also, thinner Micro Leaders are less affected by the wind due
to their skinnier diameter and therefore reduced surface area. Bulky
anchor flies like Mops & big Rubber Leg Stoneflies are more
resistant to being pulled up toward the surface by the wind.
Perdigones are a bad choice for an anchor fly on a windy day because
they have so little water resistance the wind easily pulls them up
toward the surface.
The Farmington River was stocked
recently on virtually the entire river, except for the Permanent
TMA/C&R (that will get stocked very soon). FYI, 20% of the trout
they stock throughout the state are over one foot, with some much
larger. Almost all trout fishing in the river and streams around the
state is Catch & Release until April 12th, but still
open to fishing.
16-18” has been a pretty common size
lately for the holdovers and wild trout, with the occasional 20-22”
brown landed by lucky/skillful anglers, along with some giant FRAA
rainbows that push 20-24”+. The recently stocked trout will
typically run 12-16”, with rainbows being the most common catch.
Fishing Tip:
After you nymph a
fishy section of water, before you leave make one more pass with
either a “Junk Fly” (Mop, Egg, Squirmy Worm) or a jigged
streamer, it will often result in one or more additional fish. My
personal go to clean-up flies are cream mops & jigged streamers
(olive, tan, white, black). Although most of a trout’s diet is
smaller bugs, sometimes it takes a bigger piece of food to entice
them to eat. A big meal can be too enticing to resist. Plus they will
move further to eat a bigger fly. Sometimes you have to almost hit
them on the nose with a small nymph to get them to eat, and those
subtle eats can be very hard to detect. If you are playing with jig
streamers, make sure to try different colors, some days it makes a
BIG difference. Top 3 streamer colors lately have been olive, tan,
and white. Other colors can have their moments, but usually one of
those colors will get it done. Freshly stocked trout (especially
rainbows) like black streamers. Also experiment with different
presentations: dead-drift, occasional twitches, actively jigged,
swung, and stripped in with different retrieves. Sometimes they will
eat it on the dangle when it’s hanging straight downstream of you,
wafting around enticingly in the current until the trout cannot stand
it any
longer.
****************************************************************
-Early Black Stones #12-16: afternoon hatch, sunny/mild days are best.
-Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24: hatch is typically early to mid morning, all year long. Trout focus on the pupa first, and then as the morning progresses they normally switch to the winged, egg-laying adults.
-Midges #20-28: afternoons, sunny/milder days are best
Nymphs:
-Black
Stonefly #12-16: afternoons, mild sunny afternoons are the best of
all
-Blue Winged (Baetis) Olive Nymphs #16-18: active/hatching
in the afternoons, good all year, a common item in the drift
-Caddis
Larva (olive to green) #14-16: lots of these in the river (most
others too), imitates the common Hydrospyche, good all year but
especially in early spring
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #14-20:
imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Blue Winged Olives, small
Stoneflies, and more
-Cased Caddis #10-16: good this time of
year, especially during & after flow bumps
-Winter/Summer
Caddis Larva #18 (yellow)- also imitates Black Caddis larva &
some Midge larva
-Egg Flies #12-20: Eggstasy, Otter Eggs,
Glo-Bugs, Sucker Spawn, etc. Shades of yellow, orange, pink, or a mix
of those. Try Otter Eggs on extra picky fish.
-Junk Flies
(Mops/Micro Mops, Squirmy/San Juan Worms, Eggs, Green Weenie): eggs
are deadly in the fall/winter/early spring, and the others are good
change-up flies when the usual imitative flies aren’t producing,
during non-hatch times, cold water, on recently stocked trout, or
during higher/off-color water.
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20: such as
Sexy Waltz, Rainbow Warriors, Frenchies, Prince, Triple Threats, Pink
Bead Walt’s Worm/Pheasant Tails/Hare’s Ear, etc. Often work
better than drabber, more imitative flies.
-Midges #18-22
(black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris
Midge.
*We have a lot of new streamer patterns from MT Fly Co in the bins.
***Don’t
neglect streamers! - top 3 colors have been olive, tan, and
white. Black is good on recently stocked trout, and also during low
light (first & last light) and high/dirty water.
-Jigged
Streamers #8-12: various patterns/colors, deadly fished on a
tight-line/Euro rig, often sorts out bigger fish. Great to use as a
clean-up fly after you nymph a run.
-Ice Picks (tan, gray,
white, yellow): tied by Rich Strolis, a very nice single hook
baitfish pattern
-Woolly Bugger #4-12: assorted colors, try also
Don's Peach Bugger
-Zonker #4-6: a classic fish catcher! In
white, natural
-BMAR Yellow Matuka #6: deadly fall fly! Also
standard Matuka in olive, brown
-Zuddler #4-8: one of our
favorites, in olive, white, brown, black, yellow
-Complex &
Mini Twist Bugger #2-6: assorted colors, very effective