Out store hours have moved to closing at 6pm on weekdays, but staying at 5pm on weekends. We are also closed on Wednesdays, at least for a while (not a permanent change).
Store
hours currently are 8am-6pm Monday & Tuesday, closed on
Wednesdays, 8am-6pm Thursday & Friday, and 8am-5pm on
Saturday & Sunday.
Pictured up top is the result of a
fishing trip with the Juliana’s Anglers and CT Fly Guides, Dave
Machowski guided Nancy into this big holdover brown on a #20 dry fly Thursday evening.
We have a lot of used reels at the moment. As such, we
have a 20% off sale on the used reels in that specific case.
Get ‘em while they last! This is an in-store promotion only, no
mail order on these.
We received a small batch of the
new Diamondback Gen IV Nymph Rods with carbon grips- the first
batch prior to this was all with traditional cork grips. Carbon grips
are very sensitive, more than cork, as well as quite durable (they
won’t chip like cork can). There is a $25 upcharge for the carbon
handle. We got them in the popular 10’ 7” #2 & #3 rods, and
the 10’ #2. We can order the carbon grip in any size rod you want
though. We have very limited quantities on this first batch, so don’t
wait if you want one.
The store is stocked with
tons of books at the moment, both used & new
books. Also, more used rods & reels
came in, we have a LARGE inventory of used stuff.
We are
once again carrying the very popular Frabill
Landing Nets. They are very reasonably priced ($35-45),
lightweight, and capable of netting large trout. Rubber coated mesh
nets with flat bottoms make it easy to handle the trout once you net
them. Hard to beat for the money. This first batch sold out, but we
have another big batch of them on the way any day now.
Diamondback
Generation IV Euro nymphing rods are available. I know
many of you have been eagerly anticipating them, and 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 with crisp, responsive tips that recover fast with minimal
wobble. The 10’ 7” #1 is a very interesting option for Micro
Leaders, lighter tippet, and lighter flies.
After walking
through the woods, check yourself for ticks-
they are extremely active. I’m picking 1 or more off the dog on a
near daily basis, and also finding them on me regularly when I walk
in the woods or through tall grass.
Friday
morning 6/27/25 Report:
So
nice to have the heat wave over. Thursday was very pleasant and the
fishing was good, with temps dropping down around 60 in the late afternoon/early evening! Another comfortable mostly overcast day today (Friday), with
nice cloud cover and a high in the low 70’s, the humidity is gone. Low to mid 80's for Saturday (cloudy) & Sunday (sunny). CT DEEP has been augmenting the dam release since Monday 6/23 to keep the
river cooler, and also to keep the water temps lower further
downstream (Collinsville, Unionville). Excellent decision by them! Yesterday ended up being a
good bug day, but it was very quiet from late morning through mid
afternoon (at least it was in New Hartford). Heard there was a decent
Caddis hatch that ended around 10am (which is when I started lol).
Dug fish out on nymphs, one by one. First fish I hooked was a giant FRAA Rainbow that I almost landed, but snapped off on 6x tippet due to user error/lack of patience. Oh well, better to have loved & lost. Ended up landing 5 species, again: rainbows, browns, 2 brookies, 1 sucker, and multiple salmon parr. Picked up noticeably in late
afternoon, which also correlated with light rain/drizzle and assorted
bugs in light to moderate numbers in New Hartford: Vitreus (which I haven't seen this far downriver in weeks),
Attenuata, small Blue Winged Olives (#20-22), and #10 Isonychia
(“Iso’s”). Knocked off right after 7pm and went home to walk
the dog. When we went by the river at about 8pm, there were a good
number of trout dimpling to Blue Winged Olives, most trout I’ve
seen rising in a while. Quite a few good fishing reports from those
fishing yesterday. If you are further upriver (Mathie’s/Campground
& above), you will likely see Sulfurs in #16-18 (prob more 18’s
than 16’s). Be ready to fish nymphs or wet flies if there aren’t
bugs or the trout aren’t rising.
Water temps are very
good. My buddy fished all the way down in Unionville this morning,
the water temp was 62 and the fishing was good. New Hartford was also in the low 60’s
yesterday 6/26). It will be even cooler as you head upriver, and near
the dam it’s low to mid 50’s. Optimal water temps for trout are
about 50-65 degrees. If you are planning on fishing downriver, take the water temp! Especially during sunny days or during hotter weather. FYI the safest time to fish the lower river is in the mornings after a cooler night. Knock off once water temps hit about 68, and definitely don't fish water that is 70 degrees or higher or you will stress the trout out and potentially kill them. Just go upriver until you find colder water.
Water level is looking good at a
total flow of 402cfs downstream of the Still River and in the
Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R). Riverton is 354cfs from
the dam down to to the Rt 20 bridge (Hitchcock/Riverton Self
Storage), and all that ice cold water is keeping the river cool for
miles downstream. The Still River is adding in 48cfs below that. The
absolute coldest water is from the bridge to the dam (about 2 miles),
it currently is staying in the 50’s even on the hottest sunny days.
The Still River is a warming influence, and typically in the summer
it’s at a low flow, which is a good thing.
Hatches are
shifting gears. Sulfurs are now from about mid Permanent TMA/C&R
up to the dam. Overall bugs have been light this year, with some
exceptions. Do not neglect Terrestrials such as Ants & Beetles,
they are often the ticket from now through early fall. Especially
when you have sporadic risers but there doesn’t appear to be any
real hatch. Nymphing is a mainstay right now, especially in the late
morning to early evening time slot when hatches are scarce. The fast
water at pool heads and in between pools is loaded with trout. It’s
also more oxygenated, and many bugs live & hatch in faster water.
Mousing after dark for big trout is popular in the summer, and an
especially good choice when it’s really hot during the days. A lot
of the biggest trout become mainly nocturnal in the summer.
The
bigger #16 Invaria Sulfurs and #18 Dorothea are more upstream now,
from about Mathie’s Grove or Campground. We are seeing more of the
Dorothea (#18) than the Invaria (#16). There are some Isonychia
hatching in the fast water, even up into the middle of the Permanent
TMA/C&R (and maybe even further upstream), but they have been
light in numbers overall. Having said that, it doesn’t take many
Iso’s to get the fish on them. Caddis have been a common bug, with
the best action in the mornings in faster water, and right at dusk
and even beyond into the dark. Be prepared to fish subsurface if you
don’t have a hatch or rising trout. Caddis pupa (tan, olive/green)
and Walt’s Worms are working well in #14-18, and Pheasant Tails too
(#12 for Isonychia, and #16-20 for Sulfurs & Blue Winged
Olives/BWO’s). There are still some Vitreus up closer to the dam.
Light Cahills #12-14 are a possibility anywhere on the river at dusk.
You may see #18-24 Blue Winged Olives, especially on cloudy days.
With summer now here, don’t neglect terrestrials such
as Ants & Beetles, both can be VERY effective, especially when
there isn’t a good hatch but you have sporadic risers. Air temps in
the upper 60’s and above get terrestrial insects active, so they
will be in play from now through October. You can also blind fish
them over likely water. The books say Sulfurs are a late afternoon to
evening hatch, and they often are, but with the icy cold water coming
out of the dam they can also come off in the mid/late morning and
early/mid afternoon. Tailwaters like the Farmington and Delaware
system often have hatches at times of day and times of the year that
deviate quite a bit from standard hatch charts.
July is
normally the peak month for big Iso’s in the Permanent TMA/C&R,
but there are a few around well up into the TMA/C&R. The nymphs
can swim like a tiny minnow, so play around with dead drifting,
swinging, twitching, and even 6-12” strips like a mini streamer.
The trout will tell you what they want. You can use a #12 BMAR Iso
nymph, Prince Nymph, or a big Pheasant Tail to imitate this bug. You
can also blind fish big Iso dry flies in #10-12. They typically hatch
between late afternoon & dark, but I’ve also seen them here at
other times of the day.
Hatch intensity has varied from
day to day, with light typical most of 2025, but there has been some
good hatching when you are in the right place at the right time and
the weather cooperates. It has also varied a lot depending upon
location, with some pools seeing better bug activity than others, and
it’s not 100% predictable either. Caddis pupa patterns #14-18
nymphed in the fast water work very well when Caddis are active, and
there can be some good dry fly action during milder eves when they
come back to egg-lay in low light.
Streamers can be a
good option when you don’t have bugs hatching (early AM, cold days,
in between hatches, etc.), if you want to cover a lot of water
quickly, or when you have high and/or dirty water. They are at their
best in low light conditions. Make sure to get them down, experiment
with different retrieves, change colors, and play with different fly
sizes & designs (length, bulk/sparseness, shape, etc.). I usually
start with a fast strip his time of year with water temps mostly in
the 50’s to 60’s. But if that doesn’t work, slow it down,
change your presentation angle, swing them, twitch them, fish them on
the dangle- experiment based upon the trout’s reaction (or lack
thereof lol). Go smaller if you cannot get eats on bigger patterns.
Also try trailing a nymph or wet fly/soft hackle about 18” behind a
weighted streamer, very effective for converting follows to eats, and
a great way to “nymph” if you aren’t proficient at
nymphing.
Caddis remain a major hatch and will be present
daily straight through mid fall, and anglers often overlook them
because they are so obsessed with Mayflies. Caddis are most active in
the faster water: pool heads, riffles, runs, rapids & pocket
water. Trout will gorge on the pupa surface, hint hint. Vitreus hatch
and are active between late afternoon and dark, and they hatch best
when it’s cooler and cloudy- look for this hatch in the upper river
mainly now. They also require high quality water, which we are
fortunate to have on the Farmington River. Various other nymphs from
#10-20 are catching fish. Caddis pupa are working great subsurface in
#14-18 (olive/green, tan). You can use specific pupa patterns, Walt’s
Worms, and Sexy Waltz (has flashy rib & hotspot). For Caddis
dries think tan #14-18, olive-green #16-18, and black #20. On crappy,
cooler overcast afternoons, we’ve been seeing #20-24 Blue Winged
Olives (BWO’s/Olives).
The fast water is currently full
of trout, they are literally everywhere. FYI after the CT fisheries
sampled the trout population last September, they estimated the trout
per mile in the Permanent TMA/C&R at 2,800+ fish- that’s a lot!
Tight-line nymphing with one or two weighted nymphs is your best
option to probe faster riffles, runs, rapids & pocket water, but
Indicator nymphing is effective also. Make sure one of your flies is
a pupa-type pattern. Junk Flies such as Mops (also Eggs & Worms)
are still very effective at moments, especially on the stocked fish
that aren’t totally dialed in on real bugs yet. Also hard to go
wrong with a #14-20 Pheasant Tail or Frenchy (just a hot-spot PT).
FYI, small PT’s work 12 months a year and are a great dropper fly
when you are not sure what to put on. From May through October, if
I’m nymphing, at some point there will definitely be a Caddis pupa
pattern #14-18 on my rig at some point.
In case you
missed it up top, we have gone to a 6pm closing time on weekdays.
Also, we are now CLOSED on Wednesdays at least for a
while, so please plan accordingly.
Caddis
& General Fishing Tips:
We are seeing
multiple different Caddis hatching. FYI, all Caddis look tan while
flying in the air, you have to get one in hand and flip them over to
determine the true body color. And they are not easy to catch by
hand, as they will actively try to avoid your hand, unlike a mayfly.
You can look for them in spiderwebs. Pupa color should match the
adult BODY color. Tan and olive/green are the two most common body
colors, and small black Caddis are very common now and hatch all year
long on the Farmington River. Tan Caddis can be as big as #14, but
also commonly are #16-18. At the moment the subsurface nymphing with
Caddis pupa and other nymphs is the most consistent & predictable
method. Caddis are a great bug to imitate with wet flies/soft-hackles
too, and that’s a fun method. You will find the best Caddis action
where the water is broken and has some current. If you have fish
breaking on the surface during a Caddis emergence, a Dry-Dropper rig
works well. Run a pupa or soft hackle wet 12-18” under a buoyant
Caddis dry. 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. They are at their best early & late in the day, on
cloudy days, and during higher flows. Make sure to cover lots of
water, play with streamer color/patterns, and vary your retrieves.
Try tan, olive, white, yellow, black, or combinations thereof.
Kudos
to CT DEEP for their wise management of the water in Colebrook
Reservoir since they took that over around June of 2024. They
were dealt a crappy hand in terms of weather (and by that I mean an
incredibly dry 9-10 months in a row), but they did the right thing
and ran the dam release low so they could fill the reservoir back up,
instead of running the flow according to historical norms that are no
longer relevant due to changing weather/climate. After the April &
May rains we are finally full. This means we don’t have to worry
about running out of water in July & August.
The
first Sulfur we see is the Invaria, they average a #16
and have a yellow body. They hatch in a variety of water types,
mostly in the medium-slow to medium-fast range. While I think of them
as an evening hatch, on the cold tailwater Farmington River it’s
common to see them in the mornings & afternoons too. You can
imitate the nymph with a Pheasant Tail, or tie up a specific nymph
with a yellow/brown body. Sulfur spinners fall at dusk. The second
Sulfur is the #18 Dorothea, they are now mixing in with the
slightly Dorothea are overall more numerous now. Very similar to the
Invaria, the main difference is size. And they often hatch later, as
in at dusk, but on the Farmington could be anytime from mid/late
morning until it’s dark.
Don’t be afraid to explore
and fish new water to get away from the crowds, there are literally
fish EVERYWHERE, including all the water in between the pools. You
are also more apt to get into wild fish when you fish water that
isn’t as busy. Wild fish don’t like being constantly disturbed by
anglers. 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 focus on the famous named pools that have
easy access, and skip the water in between. The water outside of the
Permanent Catch & Release/TMA gets less pressure for the most
part.
Fishing reports have varied widely, depending on
the angler, river section fished, time of day, and methods/flies
used. Overall we are getting a quite a few good reports from smiling
anglers. Dry fly fishermen have come into their time now, June &
July are peak dry fly months here normally. Expect to work for the
high quality bigger holdover & wild fish. 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
in mid April with a lot of brown trout of various sizes- that section
gets stocked once per season. Most sections outside that have been
stocked 3-4 times now, with more to come for July 4th and
Labor Day. 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:
-Sulfur
#16 (Invaria) & #18 (Dorothea): more upriver now
(Mathie’s/Campground & above), anytime from mid/late morning
through evening, varies from day to day and in different river
sections. Seeing more Dorothea than Invaria currently.
-Assorted
Caddis #14-20 (tan, green/olive, black): major hatch on all of the
river, very active mid mornings to mid afternoons, nymphing with pupa
is currently the most productive tactic for them. They typically
egg-lay later in the day in low light, in the faster
water.
-Attenuata #18-20: evening hatch, often confused with
Sulfurs. From the lower river up into at least the lower end of the
Permanent TMA/C&R, maybe further up too. Slightly smaller than a
true Sulfur, and more of a bright greenish yellow, almost chartreuse
right when they are freshly hatched (they darken up within
minutes).
-Vitreus #12-14: late afternoon & eves, fast
water, hatch is only/mainly in Riverton now
-Light Cahill/Summer
Stenos #12-14: eves, entire river
-Isonychia #10-12: light late
afternoon to evening hatch in fast water, upstream at least as far as
about the middle of the Permanent TMA/C&R (Church Pool or
so).
-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
-Ants &
Beetles #14-20: deadly in the summertime!
-Mouse patterns: fish
after dark for BIG trout, use a short/heavy leader
Nymphs:
-Assorted
Caddis Pupa #14-20 in various colors (olive/green, tan). Use specific
pupa, Walt’s Worms, and Sexy Waltz.
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies
#12-20: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Sulfurs,
Isonychia, Vitreus, Blue Winged Olives, small Stoneflies, and more.
-Blue Winged (Baetis) Olive Nymphs #16-20: all year
long
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #14-16: lots of these in the
river (most other rivers too), imitates the common Hydrospyche, good
all year
-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.
-Isonychia Nymph #10-12: late
afternoon through eves on the lower river, fish in fast water. Use
BMAR Iso nymph, also bigger Princes & Pheasant Tails
-Cased
Caddis #10-16: all year, but especially after rain or flow bumps
(higher water knocks them into the drift)
-Winter/Summer Caddis
Larva #18 (yellow)- also imitates Black Caddis larva & some Midge
larva
-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,
including plenty of bigger articulated patterns.
***Don’t
neglect streamers! - top colors have been olive, tan, white, and
black. Black is good on recently stocked trout (especially rainbows),
during low light (first & last light), and high and/or 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