We are open 7 days a week, current hours are:
8am-5pm
Monday & Tuesday, Wednesday
10am-4pm,
8am-5pm Thursday & Friday, and 8am-5pm on Saturday &
Sunday.
We
will be closed this Easter Sunday, April 5th.
*****We
are looking for one more
part-time
employee, someone who knows the river well and and is knowledgeable
about flyfishing*****
Pictured
up top is a true Native fish, a sucker I landed on Tuesday. It was
over 20”, and my buddy Will landed an even bigger one that was a
little over 4#. I landed a pile of stocked Rainbows on Tuesday &
Wednesday, and I got to do it on the new T&T Contact III+ 10’
9” #2 and 11’ 5” #3 rods.
We
have the brand spanking new Simms
Flyweight Waders
in
stock now, check ‘em out. Super lightweight and fold into their own
pouch for easy carrying.
Current
Sale Items:
-Thomas
& Thomas Contact II Euro rods $499 (were $895): all sizes are now
completely sold out. The all new Contact III+ is available now in
the store.
-Scott
G Series fly rods $660 (30% off, were $945)
-Thomas & Thomas
Lotic fiberglass rods $450 (were $695)
-Sage Sonic fly rods 25%
off
-Scott G Series fly rods 25% off
-Simms G3 Waders 20%
off
-Simms Confluence Waders 35% off
-Scientific Angler
Amplitude Smooth Trout fly lines 20% off
-All
Airflo fly lines are 40% off while
they last.
***Sales
apply only to
in-stock merchandise and can be bought in-store, or on the website &
shipped to your door - call with any questions***
Gift
Certificates are available and can be sent by mail or bought on our
website.
We
will match most
advertised deals
from other stores local or on the internet if we have the item in
stock. 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
brand spanking new
Thomas & Thomas Contact III+ Euro rods have
arrived! 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 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 and greater sensitivity.
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). 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.
Thursday
Morning 4/2/26
River
Report:
We
will be closed this Easter Sunday, April 5th.
*****We
are looking for a part-time employee, someone who knows the river and
is knowledgeable about flyfishing*****
Don’t
forget to get a 2026 CT fishing license, you will need a new one as
of January 1st. You
can get a license here at UpCountry, on the CT DEEP website, or you
can get one in person at most town halls. Don’t forget to also
purchase the $5 Trout/Salmon Stamp, you need it to fish the
Farmington River and any other river that is a TMA (Trout Management
Area).
We
currently have all models of the Thomas
& Thomas Contact III+ rods in
stock,
with the exception of the
4 weight, we just received
another batch of them.
They are sweet! I (Torrey)
got to spend two days fishing the 11’ 5” #3 and the 10’ 9”
#2, loved them both, happy to describe how they fish if you stop by
the store.
Cooler
& wet this morning, a bit of a change from the super mild 70
degree plus mostly sunny
weather of the previous days.
Back to highs in the 60’s
for Saturday & Easter
Sunday. We
will be closed this Easter Sunday.
Rain Wednesday night (.84” total) pushed the Still River up a bit,
from the mid 100’s to
upper 200’s & rising, total flow is mid 500’s and increasing
as I write this. The Still River drops very fast, we should start
dropping later today and be in nice shape for the weekend. I fished
the last 2 days and finally had some easier fishing. Landed a lot of
stocked trout, mostly rainbows, and even got a 20”+ Sucker (they
are starting to spawn now) on the new T&T Contact III+ 11’ 5”
#3. Water temps pushed up to 52-54 degrees in the afternoons, and
combined with very mild nights (50 degrees), the trout were active,
even in the early morning. Quite a few fish are holding in faster
water at these temps, it’s not Winter conditions anymore.
Total
flow is 565cfs and rising,
in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (historical
median/normal total flow for today would be 612cfs).
Riverton from the dam to the Rt 20 bridge/Riverton Self Storgage
(Hitchcock) is 283cfs,
and a little below that the Still River is adding in 282cfs
& rising.
Morning water temp in Riverton is 40
degrees, it reached 42.5
degrees Wednesday
afternoon, and in New
Hartford it hit between 52 and 54 degrees the past 2 days.
Behind UpCountry it’s 44.5
degrees this morning, it reached 50
degrees yesterday afternoon. Flows
are a bit higher from about Satan’s Kingdown & below, as they
are dumping some water out of the East Branch.
Unionville USGS is
1,160cfs
and rising- wading anglers
will want a flow there of 1,000cfs or lower.
The normal/median flow for Unionville would be 1,170cfs
for today.
The
rising water temps is finally
picking the fishing up,
especially where they recently stocked. You still have to work hard
for the bigger holdover & wild browns. The recent stockers are
mostly Rainbows that average about 13-15”, with some
16” and pushing the two
pound mark. They fight
HARD. The
holdovers & wilds have been a large average size (16-19”, with
some in the 20” plus range). We
should start seeing the
early season Baetis/Blue Winged Olives (BWO’s) any
day now, they are late.
Not surprising after the brutally cold Winter we had, that can make
the hatches start later than normal. Early Black Stoneflies are the
afternoon glamour hatch, but they have not brought many
trout to the surface, it’s been a nymphing deal with them.
Colebrook
Reservoir is full after being low for many months due to the drought
in the second half of 2026. The reservoir height/elevation has come
up about 40 feet in the past month,
from about 670 feet up to about
710 feet, “full” would
be considered to be 716’ of elevation this time of year, and once
it goes over that the Army Corps will dump extra water to get it
below that. The state began their Spring trout stocking in rivers
about 3
weeks ago, and they have stocked both upstream
and downstream
of the Permanent TMA/Catch & release in Riverton (from the dam
downstream about 4 miles through Whittemore, stopping just above the
Campground), also in New
Hartford/Canton from just
below the 219 bridge/the Wall in New Hartford down to just below the
Rt. 202 bridge in Canton to the Nepaug River junction/Town Bridge).
The 6.2 mile Permanent TMA/C&R normally gets stocked once a year
in mid/late April.
When flows are elevated and/or off-color, you should
think about Junk Flies (Worms, Mops, Eggs, Green Weenies), bigger
nymphs (Stoneflies, Princes, etc.), and streamers of course. Recently
stocked trout also love Junk Flies & Woolly Buggers. The higher
the flow gets, the more trout will move closer to the banks to get
out of heavier current. Darker colored flies show up well in off
color water, nymphs with hotspots are also good. Fish the water near
the bank before you step into the river, otherwise you may spook
trout you otherwise could have caught.
Early Black
Stoneflies #14-16 are the current Bug
du Jour, and they normally
spill over well
into April and can even overlap the Hendrickson hatch some years.
They haven’t been bringing trout to the surface, but the holdover &
wild browns are eating the nymphs subsurface. Any day
now we will see #16-18 Baetis/Blue Wing
Olives. Cycle between
black nymphs & Prince nymphs #14-16 (to imitate the Early Black
Stones), Caddis larva (cased & regular), Blue Winged Olive nymphs
#16-18, small nymphs #16-22 (Midges & Mayflies), flashy
Perdigons, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Junk Flies (Eggs, Mops, Worms,
Green Weenies), various streamers- fish them all slow & deep. In
the mornings (roughly 7am to 10am’ish) you may find some trout
rising to Winter Caddis, and during sunny afternoons, if you are
lucky there may be a few trout rising to Stoneflies or Midges.
Strikes
can be VERY subtle, so set the hook on anything. Remember, “hook
sets are free”. Some days there can be a decent streamer bite. Top
colors this time of year are white, olive, tan, and
black.
Midges and
Early
Black Stoneflies
#14-16
are
the
main afternoon hatches, Early
to mid mornings, Winter
Caddis
#18-24 is the bug and may
bring some trout to the surface. The lower the flow, the more apt you
are to find some
risers.
*******************************************************************************
Dries:
-Early
Black Stoneflies #14-16: Mild sunny afternoons are
best.
-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: afternoon
hatch, especially on sunny/milder days. Sometimes brings trout to the
surface. If not, go subsurface with Midge pupa & larva.
-Baetis/Blue Winged Olives/BWO’s #16-18: not yet but any day
now, afternoon hatch, nymphs are already active
subsurface
Nymphs:
-BMAR Early
Black Stonefly #14 (hatching now in afternoons)
-Cased Caddis
#10-14: above average pattern in March & April, especially when
flows are up (high water knocks them into the drift, they mostly live
in slower water near the stream edges).
-Blue Winged Olive
(Baetis/BWO) Nymphs #16-18: late morning through afternoon
-Pheasant
Tails/Frenchies #14-22: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including
Sulfurs, Isonychia, Vitreus, Blue Winged Olives, small Stoneflies,
and more.
-”Junk Flies” (Eggs, Mops, Squirmy/San Juan
Worms, Green Weenies): Can work when standard nymphs fail, especially
when there are not many hatches. Also great in higher and/or
off-color water, and on recently stocked fish.
-Big Stonefly
Nymphs #8-10: golden/yellow, brown, black, Pat’s. Big Stones 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. Experiment!
-Small Nymphs #18-22: various patterns, many
bugs are small to tiny, with size of the fly often superseding the
exact fly pattern.
-Midges #18-22 (black, olive, red): Zebra
Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge, etc.
-Caddis Larva (olive to
green) #14-16: tons of these in the river, good all year, especially
in March/April.
-Attractor Nymphs #10-20: such as Sexy Waltz,
Rainbow Warriors, Frenchies, Prince, Triple Threat, flashy Perdigons,
etc. Some days trout ignore natural/drab nymphs but will eat gaudy
attractors.
-Winter/Summer Caddis Larva #18 (yellow)- also
imitates Black Caddis larva & some Midge larva, works all year
long, one of the only bugs that is active & hatching in the
Winter.
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 is a great time to use a
streamer.
Top colors have been white, olive, tan. A little
yellow paired with another color (olive, tan, etc.) in a streamer can
trigger brown trout. Black can be very 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. White has been a top color, and olive and
tan are both very good.
-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 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
-Muddler Minnow #6-10: an oldie but a goodie, still VERY effective