8am-5pm Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on Saturday & Sunday. These will be the store hours through March.
Pictured up top is a frequent flyer to this report, customer Jim DeCesare with an absolute stud of wild male brown caught on a streamer next to a boulder in shallow water- that fish hasn’t missed many meals lately.
The
entire 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 is C&R in March and you cannot keep any trout until 6am on
4/12.
.jpg)
Friday morning 3/14/25 River Report:
Plenty of cool new toys in the store for this weekend, with the big news being the arrival of the long awaited and newest version of the Diamondback nymph rods, the “Generation IV Nymph” rods- see the above paragraph for more details. Joey & I are also putting a BIG Hareline fly tying materials order up on the wall, and Wapsi will be arriving sometime next week. We received some backordered Hanak hooks this week that filled some holes (400’s, 450’s, etc.).
Water temps hit 46 in New Hartford yesterday (Thursday) afternoon, and Tuesday they reached 48! Riverton above the Still River is much cooler, starting in the mid/upper 30’s in the mornings and reaching 40-41 degrees on warm, sunny afternoons
Total flow below the Still River is medium, clear, 303cfs and slowly dropping as I write this- a medium & great fishing level. Riverton USGS gauge is reading a medium-low 139cfs (from the dam to just below the Rt 20 bridge), and the Still River is providing the majority of the additional flow at 164cfs and dropping slowly. They have been ke. Water temp at the USGS Riverton gauge was 37 degrees at 8am this morning, Sunny afternoons see the highest water temps and the most bug activity, which also gives you an idea of when you should be on the water. Unionville USGS gauge is reading 569cfs.
The Farmington River was stocked last week on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, (OUTSIDE) the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release area. Recently stocked areas include: Goodwin/Hogback Dam in Riverton down to Whittemore, below the New Hartford Rt 219 bridge down through Canton, and Collinsville/Unionville. Last week CT fisheries stocked 31,000 trout throughout the state. FYI, 20% of the trout they stock 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 open to fishing.
We are finally seeing the bigger Early Black Stoneflies that average a #14. Look for them in the afternoons, especially on milder, sunny days. At some point soon, we will see the early season Baetis/Blue Winged Olives that run #16-18. Baetis nymphs can end up in the Behavioral Drift in the mornings. The peak water temps & insects are in the afternoons, making late morning to mid/late afternoon a prime time to be out. Nymphs & jigged streamers remain the main players. Think slow & deep on your presentations. Trout are holding in medium-slow to slow water with some depth to it, but you will see wild browns move into riffles to feed in the afternoons, especially on sunny afternoons with bug activity.
When flows are normal, various nymphs #14-20, olive/green Caddis Larva #14-16, black Stoneflies #14-18, Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #14-18, Junk Flies (Mops, Eggs, Worms) and jigged streamers (white, tan, olive) have been the high percentage patterns. Try also a Micro Mop instead of a standard full size Mop. Bigger stonefly nymphs #8-10 are sometimes effective when trout are passing up the small stuff.
16-18”
has been a pretty common size lately for the holdovers and wild
trout, with some 20-22” browns, 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.
Extra
deep discount: Diamondback
Ideal Nymph rods in stock are on clearance
for $330
(normally $525-550) until we
run out of stock,
(Generation IV Nymph rods have just replaced these).
Currently we are down to the 10’ #3 and 10’ 10” #4, they are
going fast.
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 fish. My
personal go to clean-up flies are cream mops & jigged streamers
(olive, tan, white). Although most of a trout’s winter diet is
small bugs, sometimes it takes a bigger piece of food to entice them
to eat. Their metabolism is slow when water temps are in the 30’s
and low/mid 40’s, and they don’t have to eat much, but 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 in cold water, 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 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, usually
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.
There are definite bite windows when the fish
decide to actively feed, and it can go from zero to 100 when the fish
turn on, so be patient. Hours of slow fishing can suddenly get good
when they go on the bite. And conversely, it can just shut off and go
dead suddenly. These windows typically last 1-3 hours. As water temps
rise during the afternoons and bugs get active (especially on sunny
days), some trout (especially wild browns) will push up into the
riffles to feed. This can also happen in mid to late mornings when
it’s sunny and you get some behavioral drift of nymphs. Sunny days
will raise water temps more than mild air temps will on a cloudy
day.
If you are nymphing slower/deeper water,
fishing far away, fishing below you, or fishing in the wind, using a
strike indicator is generally better than Euro nymphing. FYI you can
fish an indy with either fly line or a mono rig. Mono rig lets you
hold line off the water and also helps prevent your guides from icing
up as fast, but fly line lets you fish further away and you can also
roll cast it (unlike a Mono rig). Make sure to play with the depth
you have the indy set at, it can make a big difference. Generally you
want your flies just above bottom, but sometimes a bit higher if fish
suspend in slower water. Trout like to feed at their level or a bit
above, but not so much ON the bottom or below
them.
****************************************************************
Dries:
-Early
Black Stones #14: starting up- afternoon hatch, sunny/mild days are
best.
-Small/Tiny Black Winter Stoneflies #16-24: afternoons,
averaging about #16-18 currently, can be smaller than that
too
-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 #14-18: afternoons, imitates what is currently hatching and
also in the nymphal drift
-Egg Flies #12-20: Otter Eggs,
Glo-Bugs, Sucker Spawn, etc. Shades of yellow, orange, pink, or a mix
of those. Try Otter Eggs on extra picky fish.
-Caddis Larva
(olive to green) #14-16: lots of these in the river (most others
too), imitates the common Hydrospyche, good March/April fly
-Cased
Caddis #10-14: good this time of year, especially during & after
flow bumps
-Winter/Summer Caddis Larva #18 (yellow)
-Pheasant
Tails/Frenchies #12-20: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including
Blue Winged Olives, small Stoneflies, and more
-Blue Winged
(Baetis) Olive Nymphs #16-18, good all year, a common item in the
drift, should start hatching soon
-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, especially in the winter.
-Midges
#18-22 (black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge.
A staple winter bug, fish mainly in slower water in the afternoons
when the pupa are active & hatching. Larva can be fished in
mid/late mornings.
Streamers:
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