8am-6pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Wednesday 10am-3pm,
Saturday & Sunday 8am-5pm
We are still looking for one more part-time employee, someone who knows the river well, is experienced and knowledgeable about flyfishing, and has a flexible schedule.
Pictured up top is Zach St. Amands son Declan with a beauty on a dry fly. This is a great time of year to target large fish with dries. It can be some technical fishing though, so bring your "A" game.
We will match most advertised deals and sales from other stores local or on the internet. We want your business, and as your friends and local fly shop please come to us first if we can help. Our business only survives because of your support.
The new 2026 Thomas & Thomas Contact III+ Euro rods are available and we love them. We are happy to accept various trade ins toward the III+ to make them more affordable, and you can also trade in your Contact II. They have two different tips, including a solid one that if more flexible and enables you to more easily cast lighter flies, cushion lighter tippet, fish thin Micro Leaders, and it also makes it harder for smaller fish to throw the hook. The Contact III+ is made of a new material that’s twice as strong and recovers noticeably faster/crisper. This will translate into greater accuracy. With the included second tip, it's like getting two rods in one. Lengths remain the same at 10' & 10'9" with the exception of the new 11’ 5“ 3wt (3" longer, a great rod for fishing at distance). If you break a rod tip on these, T&T has an expedited repair program for the Contact III+ series that should have you back on the water with a new tip in a week, instead of the usual 6-8 weeks. Between the improved damping/recovery, new low profile single foot guides, and the added snake guide below the tip-top, you also get dramatically less tip wrapping with micro leaders.
We are now a Guideline dealer, They are a Scandanavian company that makes some great rods & reels and more. Zach & Derrrick are both BIG fans of their products. We have Euro, dry fly, and streamers rods from them. We also have Guideline Euro leader butt material in 3x to 5x for making micro leaders (great stuff and it’s inexpensive), plus a cool mini chest pack that you can attach 5 different ways.
Hours:
Wednesday
10am-3pm. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 8am-6pm.
Weekends remain at 8am-5pm. We will stay on this schedule through the
end of the summer.
River Report:
We’ve
taken in 4 different book collections over the past few
weeks, we literally have so many used books there is not room on our
bookshelves! We have many of those books on the red tables in the
book room. There are some
excellent titles in the recent batches. FYI we also have quite a few
autographed books.
Things
are lining up now: historically normal weather for the 10 day
forecast, with highs averaging upper 70’s and
nights averaging low 60’s, and some rain too. It’s been overcast
the last couple of days, partly due to the smoke from the fires, and
that is helping water temps stay cooler further downstream. The
cooler long range forecast will also help keep the water cool.
It’s
currently coming out of the dam at a bone chilling 46 degrees and
slowly warming as it progresses downstream. There
is a HOBO unit behind UpCountry that gives us water temps in New
Hartford 11
miles below the dam,
and the past few days it’s been peaking in the 66-68 degrees range,
and typically starting at 58-60 degrees in the early mornings.
Riverton just
above
the Still River has been ranging from about 46 to 53.5 degrees. 68
degrees is a good number to use as a cutoff to move upriver and find
cooler water, with 50-65 degrees being even
better.
A good strategy is to start downstream,and work your way upstream as
the day progresses, and this will keep you in water under 65 degrees
all day long. Definitely have a thermometer and use it regularly,
especially if you are below Church Pool in the afternoons &
evenings.
Fishing is more technical in July due to lower
flows and months of fishing pressure “educating” the trout, but
it can be very good if you know what you are doing. Be stealthy, wear drab clothing, and use 12' or longer leaders with long/light 3-6' plus tippets in the 6x-7x range. July is prime dry
fly time, but it is also good for nymphing, streamers can be good at
first & last night, and this is a great time of year to go
Mousing after dark (or fish big wet flies & streamers).
Low
water like we currently have actually creates more dry fly fishing as
it makes it more efficient for trout to feed on the surface due to
slower & shallower flows. I
fished on Tuesday from mid morning through early evening, and had
some excellent nymphing- I’d tell you how many I caught, but you
might accuse me of lying or
bragging lol
:) It was a nice mix of wild & stocked Browns up
to 16/17”,
quite a few Brookies up to 15” including one small wild, and
Rainbows up to almost 20” and
3.5# plus.
This
time of year, look for fast water, and if it’s in the shade even
better. Small nymphs #18-22 can be the difference between a slow day
and a great one. 6X tippet helps, but 5x is typically okay if you
don’t want to go light. Thinner tippet sinks lightweight flies
better, and the greater flexibility lets you flies drift more
naturally. Don’t sleep on smaller jig streamers in olive or tan.
Bugs I saw included assorted
Caddis #16-24, #18 Sulfurs,
and Attenuatta. There have been a lot of Blue Winged Olives (BWO’s)
around lately, from about #18-24, with the smaller sizes being
overall more prevalent. July
is the month for bigger Isonychia averaging #10-12, typically in late
afternoons through dusk. Iso’s & Caddis are most prevalent in
faster water, the most common Caddis
I saw was a #18 tan.
The
total flow below the Still River and in the Permanent TMA/C&R is
133cfs
(low
but
very
fishable),
with
the Still contributing 17cfs to the total.
Riverton is 116cfs
(low
and
definitely
fishable)
at the USGS gauge by the Rt 20 bridge (Hitchcock/Riverton Self
Storage). Historically
the normal/median total flow in
years with normal rainfall would
be about 250-300cfs in mid July. The
water is still
coming
out of the dam
icy cold
in the mid 40’s, which is amazing
for the middle of July, and
then it slowly rises as you move downstream and further from the dam.
DEEP is being conservative with the dam release (due to drought
concerns), and
this is why flows are low despite plenty of water in Colebrook
Reservoir(11
feet below full pool),
and it is also why the water temp coming out of the dam is so cold
currently. Hopefully
we will get normal, regular rainfall and DEEP will be able to release
more water in the near future, but unless that happens flows will
remain low but fishable. We are about 4”
below normal precipitation so far for 2026, and we finished 2025 6-8”
shy of normal. They are attempting to maintain a bank of cold water
in the reservoir system so that they don’t run out of cold water
when we really need it in August & September. If they were to
steadily release 200cfs+ and this drought continues, we could end up
at 50cfs by the end of the summer, so this reduced release is
necessary.
A word about taking water temps. I see people doing it wrong all the time, and this can give you an artificially high reading. You need to do two things: 1) take the temperature in moving water, and 2) make sure your thermometer is in the shade when you take a reading. If you don’t do this and you take the temp in the slack water along the shoreline that is exposed to the sun all day, you can easily get a reading 5+ degrees above what the water temp is in the current. Some people will tell you taking the surface temp of the water in the river is no good, but that is not true. The max difference you may see in the slowest, deepest pools is maybe 1 degree between the surface and the bottom. And to the folks who dispute this and say the bottom layer of pool water is significantly cooler than the surface, I would point out that even if this was true (it’s not), you still have to play your fish in the middle and upper layers of the water column.
Don’t
forget about Terrestrials, especially Ants & Beetles, they are
very active in the summer. If they are not rising (often the case),
go subsurface with nymph & wet flies/soft hackles, blind fish an
Attractor dry fly, or do a Dry/Dropper rig with a nymph 18-24”
under a buoyant/visible dry. Don’t go too heavy if you are nymphing
during low water conditions (often the case this time of year), or
you will hang bottom constantly and not catch fish. Plus you don’t
need to dredge bottom this time of year. Streamers are at their best
during first and last light, and at their worst in the middle of a
bright, sunny day. Mousing at night is a good option for big brown
trout, keep your leader very short and heavy.
Sulfurs
are a mix of #16 Invaria and #18 Dorothea- make sure you have BOTH
sizes, trout can be picky on that. Sulfur hatches are trending more
toward #18’s now though. Typically an evening hatch, but the
further upriver you are the more the chances you may see an early to
mid afternoon hatch of them. Assorted Caddis going from #16-24 (tan,
olive/green, black, gray) are major players. Most Caddis hatching
occurs from about mid morning to early afternoon, and then the adults
come out in the evening to egg-lay in riffly water. July is the peak
Isonychia (“Iso”) month. Isonychia are a big #8-12 fast water bug
that typically emerge between late afternoon and dark. You can even
blind fish them over likely looking fast water. This is one of my
absolute favorite hatches. Iso’s will continue right into the mid
fall time period, but they get smaller as the season progresses, and
the color changes from brownish to more of an olive color. #10 is
about average for them currently, but some are bigger, some are
smaller. Other bugs in the mix include #14 Light Cahills in the
evenings, and #18-24 and smaller Blue Winged Olives (evenings, cloudy
afternoons). Look also for #18-20 Attenuata in the eves, and Needhami
#22-26 spinners & duns in the mornings, along with the
Winter/Summer Caddis #18-24.
Dry/Dropper
with a Caddis dry and a trailing weighted pupa 1-2’ below can be an
effective combo during a Caddis emergence- they usually take the
pupa, and the dry acts as a suspender/indicator, but sometimes they
eat the dry. Frequently the better dry fly action for Caddis is when
they come back later in the day to egg-lay, usually in the low light
of evenings. And sometimes swinging wet flies/soft hackles is the way
to go when Caddis are hatching and/or egg-laying. On average, they
are much better/faster swimmers than Mayflies, which is why the takes
to them are often violent and trout will sometimes jump out of the
water. They also tend to be most active in faster, broken water like
riffles, pool heads, pocket water, etc. When fishing Caddis dries,
sometimes the fish want them dead-drift, but frequently they won’t
eat it unless you twitch/move it, the naturals are very active, not
passive like a Mayflies.
****************************************************************************
Dries:
-Isonychia
#8-12: Fast water bug, usually about 4pm to dark. Can also be on the
water in the late mornings/early afternoons
-Sulfur
#16 (Invaria) and #18 (Dorothea): we are seeing more 18’s than 16’s
now, hatch is moving upriver, not sure of the downstream boundary.
Still plenty haching from Campground all the way up to the dam in
Riverton.
-Attenuatta #18-20: evenings
-Assorted Caddis (tan, olive/green #16-18, black, gray #18-22)
-Beetles & Ants #12-20: great option from late morning to early evenings, especially when bugs are not hatching
-Blue
Winged Olives/BWO’s #18-24: afternoon hatch on cloudy days, also on
the water in the last hour of daylight in flat pool water. Don’t
sleep on #18-22 rusty spinners at dusk.
-Needhami #22-26:
mornings, spinners & duns
-Light Cahill/Summer Steno #12-16: evenings
-Summer/Winter
Caddis #18-24: hatch is typically early to mid morning. Trout focus
on the pupa first, and then as the morning progresses they normally
switch to the winged adults when they return to egg-lay. Try both
twitching & dead-drifting your fly, trout often key on movement
with this bug.
-Midges
#20-28: 365 days a year
Nymphs:
-Caddis
Pupa #14-18 (tan, olive/green)
-Sulfur Nymphs #16-18: you can use specific imitations, or go generic with Pheasant Tails/Frenchies
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #12-22: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Sulfurs, Vitreus, Baetis/Blue Winged Olives, Isonychia, small Stoneflies, Hendricksons, and more
-Small Nymphs #18-22: try Pheasant Tail’s, Hare’s Ears, Walt’s Worms, etc. Size is often more important than the exact pattern, and the bugs get smaller (mostly) in the Summer
-Isonychia
Nymph #10-12: dead-drift, swing, twitch, and even strip them in. They
are great swimmers, and some days trout prefer different
presentations- you won't know until you experiment.
-Baetis/BWO Nymphs #16-22
-Caddis Larva (olive to green) #14-16: tons of these in the river, good all year
-”Junk Flies” (Eggs, Mops, Squirmy/San Juan Worms, Green Weenies): Often work when standard nymphs fail, especially when there aren’t many hatches.
-Stonefly Nymphs #8-10: golden/yellow, brown, black, Stoneflies are a mouthful that can be hard for trout to pass up, and there are a surprising amount of them in the river. Good choice when flows are up. Some days when trout won’t move for a small nymph, it takes a bigger bite of food to get an eat. Often catches larger than average fish. Best in early morning during summer
-Midges
#18-22 (black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge,
etc.
-Attractor
Nymphs #14-20: such as Sexy Waltz, Rainbow Warriors.
-Winter/Summer
Caddis Larva #18 (yellow)
Streamers:
Streamers are a great “clean-up” fly to fish after you have thoroughly nymphed a run, and often will produce a bigger fish than the nymphs did. Also, anytime flows are higher or off-color is a great time to use a streamer.
Top colors currently are olive, tan. A little yellow paired with another color (olive, tan, etc.) in a streamer can trigger brown trout. Black can be good on recently stocked trout (especially rainbows), during low light (dawn/dusk), and high and/or dirty water.
-Jig Streamers #8-12: various patterns/colors, deadly fished on a tight-line/Euro rig, often sorts out bigger fish. Can also be fished under an indicator, or stripped/swung like a regular streamer. Great to use as a clean-up fly after you nymph a run.
-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 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 good fly
-Muddler
Minnow #6-10: a classic, underfished & still deadly!