8am-5pm Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on Saturday & Sunday. These will be the store hours through March.
Pictured up top is CT Fish Guides’ client Jonathan C. with a tank of a female rainbow that the FRAA stocked in April 2024. It’s been caught at least twice before this, catch & release works!
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 rivers is C&R in March/early April, and you cannot keep any trout until 6am on 4/12.
There will be a “Sage Day” at UpCountry on April 4th, from 10am-1pm. Our Sage rep Dave Steeves will set up a tent & table outside, and you will have an opportunity to cast various Sage rods and ask him questions. He will be giving away some swag too.
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Friday morning 3/14/25 River Report:
I
(Torrey)
will
be on vacation from starting 3/19, and then back in the shop on 3/28,
so this report probably won’t get updated until the 28th. Joey will
be the guy in charge until then. You can get the updated flows if you
click the link to “Local Conditions” on our website, there
we
have links to the USGS flow gauges for both the West Branch
Farmington River at Riverton, as well as the Still River. Add the 2
together to give the total flow below that in the Permanent
TMA/C&R.
Plenty
of cool new toys in the store, 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 two
paragraphs
above
for more details. Joey & I also put a BIG Hareline
fly tying materials order up on the wall, and Wapsi
will be arriving sometime this
week.
The
Hareline order included Polar
Reflector Chenille
(good streamer material that’s similar to UV Polar Chenille but
denser and not UV), and we now are stocking Danville
6/0 thread
in a variety of colors. Ice
Dub
is once again restocked in a wide variety of colors (pretty much all
the good ones).
We received backordered Hanak
hooks
that filled some holes (400’s, 450’s, etc.). Hanak
230 is now available down to #18.
Looks like Mother Nature
is cooperating with some rain scattered
throughout the
10 Day Forecast, we need a bunch to refill Colebrook River Lake
(reservoir). We got a nice shot overnight and it’s about done as I
write this, maybe 1” plus in total. Enough to push the water level
in the Farmington up quite a bit, but it should drop fast. The
additional flow is coming from the Still River, which dumps in about
2 miles below Goodwin/Hogback dam in Riverton. The
Still River comes up fast, but also drops like a stone after the rain
stops. As of 9am the Still River is adding in 598cfs
and rising, and Riverton is 213cfs (medium
flow)
from the dam down to the Rt 20 bridge (about a 2 mile section). This
puts the total flow below the Still River at 811cfs and rising (this
includes the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release). Should peak out and
start dropping later today. This
river rebounds quickly after a rain and is fishable most of the time.
Water
temps in
New Hartford have been anywhere from low to high 40’s, depending
upon the weather and time of day. Riverton
above the Still River is always
much
cooler this
time of year,
starting in the upper 30’s in the mornings and reaching 40-41
degrees on warm, sunny afternoons. Unionville USGS gauge is reading
1,040cfs
and
rising this morning, historical median flow is 728cfs.
Higher
flows will push trout closer to the banks. Bigger or gaudier nymphs,
Junk Flies, and streamers are your weapons of choice. Worm flies in
pink or red, and Mops in cream or chartreuse, are all at their best
in higher, off-color flows. Don’t
neglect larger stonefly nymphs in #8-10, they have caught me many a
big trout in March & April when the flows are up. Nymphs with
hotspots help the trout find them in these conditions.
If you like fishing streamers, these conditions give you at shot at
the biggest trout in the river. Play
with streamers colors, some days it makes a huge difference. Now is
when you can bust out the biggest streamers in your box, 4-6” is
not too big.
The
Farmington River was stocked recently
on most of the river, excluding
the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release area (that
typically gets stocked in mid April).
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. 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.
We are seeing the bigger Early Black
Stoneflies that average a #14. Look for them in the afternoons,
especially on milder, sunny days. Any
time now, we
will see the early season Baetis/Blue Winged Olives that run #16-18.
They
often hatch best on cloudy, cooler crappy days.
Baetis nymphs will
end up in the Behavioral Drift in the mornings. The peak water temps
& insects are in the afternoons, making late morning to 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 #12-18, BWO/Olive Nymphs #16-18, 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 (with occasional
exceptions).
****************************************************************
Dries:
-Early
Black Stones #14: afternoon hatch, sunny/mild days are best.
-Blue
Winged Olives/Baetis #16-18: as of 3/17 has not started up, but any
day now. Afternoon hatch, often better on crappy/overcast/cooler
days.
-Small/Tiny Black Winter Stoneflies (Capnia) #16-24: Near
the end. 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 #12-16: afternoons, imitates what is currently hatching and
also in the nymphal drift
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #14-16:
lots of these in the river (most others too), imitates the common
Hydrospyche, good March/April fly
-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 any day now
-Cased Caddis #10-14: good this time
of year, especially during & after flow bumps
-Winter/Summer
Caddis Larva #18 (yellow)
-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.
-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