8am-5pm
Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm on Saturday & Sunday. These will
be the store hours through April.
Pictured up top is the
beautiful result of Trevor’s lesson with Zach St. Amand Thursday,
what an awesome looking big brown. Some high quality trout have been showing up lately.
We have tons of
books at the moment- we received a bunch of used books as
well as a big order of new books that arrived recently.
Also, more used rods & reels
came in, we have a BIG inventory of used stuff.
We are
once again carrying the very popular Frabill
Landing Nets. They are very reasonably priced,
lightweight, and capable of netting large trout.
Diamondback
Generation IV Euro nymphing rods are now available. 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, probably
in early/mid fall). The models we have include 10' and 10' 7"
lengths in #1, #2, #3, and 10' 7" in #6 & #7. These rods are
very nice and have been selling well.
After walking
through the woods, check yourself for ticks-
they are extremely active now.
Friday morning
5/2/25
River Report:
The total flow on the river
below the Still River and in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release
(C&R) is 279cfs
& dropping, the historical median flow for today is 435cfs- I
would classify today’s flow as a medium water level. Riverton is
154cfs between the dam and the Rt. 20
bridge/Riverton Self Storage (historical median flow for today is
263cfs). The Still River is adding in 125cfs a
little below that, historical median flow is 172cfs. Riverton water
temp is 45.5 degrees this morning, it reached 51 degrees yesterday
afternoon. Downstream water temps are higher, averaging mid 50’s to
low 60’s of late. Peak water temps are normally mid to late
afternoon, with warm sunny days seeing the biggest temp increases.
Unionville USGS gauge is reading 527cfs & rising due to T-storms
overnight, historical median flow for today is 652cfs.
The
Hendrickson hatch continues, albeit it’s moving upriver. You have a
fishable hatch from about New Hartford up to at least
Whittemore/Lyman Rock. I suspect it’s probably starting up in
Riverton now, but that’s an educated guess. It’s moving upriver
on a daily basis. The coldest water is the 2 miles right below the
dam, and hatches start there last. Saw a lot of spinners in New
Hartford yesterday, some around 10am, and then a lot more right at
dusk. Look for spinners over riffly areas, that’s where they mate,
lay their eggs, and drop to the water. Even after the hatch winds
down in a particular section, spinners continue to fall for a good
5-7 days afterward. If you want to fish dry flies, make sure to carry some spinner patterns or you may miss out on catching some large rising brown trout- big fish love them.
I was out all day Thursday, and I saw
a LOT of assorted Caddis in the morning, along with clouds of tiny
Midges. It was a mix of sizes & colors on the Caddis, from about
#14-20. It didn’t bring trout to the surface, but they were
munching on nymphs that looked Caddis-y, things like pupa, Walt’s
Worms, Sexy Waltz, etc. Before the bugs got active, they weren’t
eating nymphs well, but Junk Flies (Eggs & Mops) did the trick.
By 9 or 10am they were eating bugs subsurface. Also picked up fish
later on #14 Pheasant Tails (makes a good Hendrickson nymph). Ending
up being a ridiculous day in terms of numbers landed, with every spot
producing fish, and some spots producing a lot. Landed 3 large
rainbows (3 to 4+ pounds), and a big Survivor Strain 2 Year Old
Brown. Many anglers are getting their fish on dries lately, mostly in
the afternoons & evenings: Hendrickson emergers, duns, and
spinners. If you have a good eye, you can pick out the big trout rise
forms and focus on them.
Hendrickson
101:
Hendricksons are a #12-14 mayfly that
hatches in the afternoons, and can bring some large trout to the
surface. They have gray upright wings, 3 tails, the females have a
tannish body with tinges of olive/brown/pink/gray, and the males are
more of a rusty brown color. The hatch works it’s way upstream, and
when it’s over in the Permanent TMA/C&R, it will be going in
Riverton between the dam and the Still River. Hendricksons are
typically a mid/late afternoon hatch, with somewhere between 1-2pm
and 4-5pm being the normal time frame. The hatch can run anywhere
from about 45 minutes to 2+ hours. Make sure to have both dun &
emerger patterns for the afternoon hatch- often better fish will key
on emergers because they are more vulnerable & easier to catch.
Spinner falls (egg-laying) are an evening affair according to the
books, but on the Farmington River I’ve seen them anywhere from mid
to late mornings, concurrent with the afternoon hatch, and also in
the traditional evening/dusk time frame. Spinners falls require dry
weather, mild temps, and minimal wind. Cold or windy eves often lead
to mid/late morning spinner falls the following morning, well before
the “hatch” anglers are even on the river. Many of my biggest
Hendrickson dry fly fish have come during spinner falls- they are a
helpless meal that cannot get away, and often overlap with the
preferred low light period that big trout feed in. Spinners are all
rusty brown, and the females have a bright yellow egg sack at the end
of the abdomen. Look for them in the air over riffles, flying up &
down as they slowly work their way down to the water. Nymphs
resembling the Hendricksons can be effective, especially in the 2-3
hours preceding the hatch. Hatches don’t always mean rising fish,
so be prepared with nymphs. Think patterns in a medium to dark brown,
#12-14- the nymphs darken as they get near hatching time. You can use
a specific imitation, or something more generic like a Pheasant Tail
or Frenchy. They are bulkier than some other nymphs, so if you tie
them don’t make the abdomens too skinny, and make a robust thorax.
FYI Hendricksons are close cousins to Sulfurs, varying mostly in size
& color. Wet flies & soft-hackles can have their moments
during this hatch, and are also a great way to cover water quickly
and efficiently.
Hendrickson Dry Fly Tips:
-Have
assorted patterns in #12-14, trout can be unusually particular during
this hatch, and I don’t know why that is.
-Use a longer leader
(12’ or longer) with a long tippet section (at least 3-4’, and up
to 6 to 8 feet). This helps a LOT to get a drag-free presentation,
which is absolutely critical to catching fish.
-Where possible,
present down & across to the trout using a Reach Cast. This shows
the trout your bug fly first and is the best angle for big, hard to
catch fish.
-Emergers and patterns with shucks will often
outproduce standard dun patterns during the afternoon hatch. Emergers
& cripples cannot escape and are an easy meal, especially for
bigger, more experienced fish.
-Make sure to have some spinner
patterns, big fish love them (easy meal that is spent on the water
and cannot escape). Spinner falls require air temps about 60 degrees
& up, minimal wind, and no rain. If it’s cold or windy in the
evening, they often fall in mid to late morning the next day.
Spinners mate in the air over riffles and fall there. Both sexes are
rusty brown, but the females have a bright yellow egg sack, so make
sure to have some that imitate the egg sack.
Don’t be
afraid to explore and fish new water to get away from the crowds,
there are literally fish EVERYWHERE. The further you go downstream,
in general the less anglers you will see- especially if you walk 5-10
minutes away from the easy access points. Most anglers also focus on
the famous named pools, and skip the water in between. The water
outside of the Permanent Catch & Release/TMA gets less pressure
for the most part. FYI, many anglers don’t start until noon or 1pm,
and then they leave at 4-5pm when the afternoon hatch is done.
Various nymphs averaging #14-20 have been working well on
recent stockers, holdovers & wilds. Try #12-18 Pheasant
Tails/Frenchies, #12-14 Hendrickson nymphs, #16-20 BWO nymphs,
#14-18, olive Caddis larva, Walt’s Worms/Sexy Waltz, Mops, and
flies with pink beads (Walt’s/PT’s/Hare’s Ears). Junk Flies
(Eggs, Mops, Worms, Weenies) can be particularly effective on the
recently stocked fish before they figure out what real food looks
like, sometimes vastly outproducing traditional nymphs. And some days
the wild browns like to eat the Junk too. They are very much a hot or
cold fly, not much in between. If one of your nymphs is a Junk Fly,
pair it up with something smaller, drabber & more natural
(Pheasant Tail, Walt’s Worm, Hare’s Ear, etc.). Streamers are
also a good choice, a great way to cover a lot of water in a hurry,
and also be able to fish the water that you cannot nymph. Make sure
to cover lots of water, play with streamer color/patterns, and vary
your retrieves. Try tan, olive, white, and black.
Fishing
reports have varied widely, depending on the angler, river section
fished, time of day, and methods/flies used. Overall we are getting a
LOT of good reports from smiling anglers. Dry fly fishermen have come
into their time now, Hendricksons are bringing trout to the surface.
Nymphs & streamers have been producing most of the fish you see
in this report, but now is a good time to catch a big trout on a dry
fly. Expect to work for the high quality bigger holdover & wild
fish. If you get into a pod of recently stocked fish, you can do some
big numbers with subsurface flies. 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.
The Permanent TMA/C&R was stocked recently
with a lot of brown trout of various sizes. Most sections outside
that have been stocked three times now, with more to come in the very
near future. FYI, 20% of the trout they stock throughout the state
are over one foot, with some much larger. The Permanent TMA/C&R
gets 1,000 fat Two Year Old Browns that average 14-18”, and some
are bigger than
that.
****************************************************************
Dries:
-Hendrickson
#12-14: mid/late afternoon hatch, as far upstream as Whittemore &
Lyman Rock, and working their way further upstream daily. Bottom
hatch end is about New Hartford and moving up a bit each day, but
you will see spinner falls well downstream of that
(Canton/Collinsville).
-Rusty Spinner #12-14: imitates
Hendrickson spinners
-Assorted
Caddis #14-20: very active in mid to late mornings, most productive
tactic is nymphing with pupa type patterns
-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/eves, sunny/milder days are best
Nymphs:
-Hendrickson
#12-14: medium to dark brown mayfly, can use specific imitations like
a BMAR pattern or generic stuff like a Pheasant Tail. Fairly blocky
abdomen, not a skinny nymph
-BMAR Hendrickson Nymph
#14
-Assorted Caddis Pupa #14-20: various colors
-Blue
Winged (Baetis) Olive Nymphs #16-20: all year long
-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 #12-20: imitates a
wide range of Mayflies including Blue Winged Olives, Hendricksons,
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
-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 colors have been olive, tan, white, and
black. Black is good on recently stocked trout (of which there are
lots right now), 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