8am-5pm Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on Saturday & Sunday. These will be the store hours through April.
Pictured up top is former shop guy Brayson with a very nice brown from Sunday.
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.
Diamondback
Generation IV Euro nymphing rods
have
arrived! I know many of
you have been eagerly anticipating them, and now we have the full
line-up, minus the 10' 7" #4 (not available yet). The models we
have include 10' and 10' 7" lengths in #1, #2, #3, and 10' 7"
in #6 & #7. The rods feel great, with crisp and extremely
responsive tip sections that recover immediately with almost no
bounce, and plenty of backbone in the lower half of the rods. Each
model includes an instruction sheet explaining what that particular
rod is best for (fish size, tippet size, hook size, leader type,
suggested reel weight, applications, etc.). The 1 & 2 weight
models have slightly softer tips than their predecessors, but still
have plenty of backbone in the mid to lower rod for when you do hook
a bigger fish. The 10’ 7” 3 weight is your all around Euro stick
for the Farmington River, it will do almost everything and do it
well. He added in a 10' 7" #7 rod for those requesting a heavier
Great Lakes Steelhead/Salmon rod for bigger fish & heavier
tippets, and the updated 6 weight version also has more backbone than
it’s predecessor while maintaining a flexible tip to protect your
tippet. The 1 weight comes in a longer version now, not just the 10'
length. Prices are $625 for the 10 footers, and $650 for the 10' 7"
models.
Monday morning
4/7/25 River Report:
A landing net was found behind the store Sunday afternoon, contact us if you think it's yours.
Make
sure to check out all the used rods & reels we’ve received in
trade-ins, we have a pile at the moment, and there are some great
deals. New product is arriving every day, including a bunch of Montana
Fly streamers,
Suncloud sunglasses, and some new Simms sun hoodies. We also
recently received a Smith Optics sunglass fill-in, they make
the absolute best polarized glasses for fishing. We have a couple of
Guideline 10' 8" #3 LPX Nymph Euro rods in the rack, with
more supposed to arrive soon, fantastic value at $389.95, Umpqua & Tiemco are
here, including their Euro butt section material (FYI,
it’s the best one I’ve used so far). The Wapsi tying
materials order arrived and is up on the walls now, as is a recent
order from Hareline.
The total flow on the river below the Still River
and in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R) is 393cfs,
the historical median flow for today is 769cfs, so we are in nice
shape, I’d call this a medium water level. Riverton is 175cfs
between the dam and the Rt. 20 bridge/Riverton Self Storage. The
Still River is adding in 218cfs a little below
that. Riverton water temp is 41 degrees this morning, it reached 43
degrees yesterday afternoon. Downstream water temps are generally
higher, especially on mild/sunny days, peaking in mid to late
afternoon. Unionville USGS gauge is reading 685cfs, historical median
flow for today is 982cfs.
This
upcoming Saturday April 12 is the unofficial Opening Day of trout
season in CT. Seeing as there is no longer a closed trout fishing
season, it isn’t technically Opening Day, but most people still
view it as such. Virtually all trout streams will have been stocked at
least once by then. The traditional Riverton Derby will take place
this Saturday from 6am to 10am.
Better bug reports from the weekend, and even a few
fish rising here and there. Dry fly fishing has been spotty though,
but this should slowly improve as we move into spring. So far it’s
still primarily nymphs & streamers. Blue Winged Olives
(BWO’s)/Baetis #16-18, Midges #20-28, and Early Black Stoneflies #12-16 remain the major
hatches, all 3 are afternoon deals. Look for Hendricksons to start up downriver
(Collinsville/Unionville) later this month, I’m
guessing April 20th. Nymphing has been the name of the
game, with fish coming on #14-18 Pheasant Tails/Frenchies, #16-18 BWO
nymphs, #14-16 olive Caddis larva/Walt’s Worms, Mops, Egg Flies,
and flies with pink beads (Walt’s/PT’s/Hare’s Ears). Many fish
are holding in faster water with some current now, especially in the
afternoons when water temps go up and trout get more active.
Water
temps in New Hartford have been running from about mid 40’s up to
as high as 50 degrees on mild/sunny afternoons, depending upon the
weather and time of day. Riverton above the Still River is always
colder this time of year, starting in the upper 30’s in the
mornings and reaching the low 40’s 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 fish, 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. 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 this
month, maybe next week?). Riverton got stocked for a second time last
week, and the rest of the river should get stocked a second time this
week. 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.
****************************************************************
Dries:
-Early
Black Stones #12-16: afternoon hatch, sunny/mild days are best.
-Blue Winged Olives/Baetis #16-18: Afternoon hatch, often
better on crappy, overcast days.
-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.
Streamers:
*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