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Store Hours:
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
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
beautiful brown trout Derrick’s client Chris landed on a guided
trip on Easter, one of several large browns caught by him and his
friend Dave.
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. 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
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 almost
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.
A
bit cooler at the moment, at least the sun is making an appearance.
Temps stay cooler (48-50 degrees) through Wednesday, and then rise
after that, going into 60’s for Friday through Sunday, and even
into the 70’s & low 80’s next week! No rain in sight for the
upcoming forecast. This
Saturday 4/11 at 6am is the Opening Day/the beginning of catch &
keep season on most of the river- 2 fish 12” and bigger is the
limit, but we encourage catch & release. However, the 6.2 mile
Permanent TMA/C&R is catch & release all the time. The river
is back into nice shape, with flows in the low 400’s. A TON of
anglers were out Saturday enjoying the
nice weather before Easter
Sunday. Easter was pretty quiet on the river, with much cooler temps
and light rain in the afternoon. Mandy & I ventured out in the
recently stocked sections in late morning/early afternoon, and then
again for the last 1 ½ hours of daylight. It was very
good for us, we landed a
lot
of fish (virtually all recently stocked). I managed 5 species: Brook,
Brown, Rainbow, 1 Sucker, and 1 Atlantic Salmon Parr (a rare catch in
early April). Various Pheasant Tail, Egg Flies, Walt’s Worms &
Sexy Waltz got it done. We missed it because we went home for the
afternoon to get out of the rain after we got soaked, but apparently
around 2pm there was a very good Blue Winged Olive (BWO) hatch, and
there were some rising fish, something we haven’t seen much of in
2026. Baetis/BWO’s love
cold, crappy, overcast weather.
The hatch is about 2 weeks late, I’m glad it is finally starting-
they run big by BWO standards,
in the #16-18 range.
Total
flow is 435cfs
and slowly dropping
in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (historical median/normal
total flow for today would be 646cfs).
Riverton from the dam to the Rt 20 bridge/Riverton Self Storgage
(Hitchcock) is 256cfs,
and a little below that the Still River is adding in 179cfs
and slowly going down.
Morning water temp in Riverton is 40
degrees, it reached 41
degrees Sunday
afternoon. Behind UpCountry it’s 42.5
degrees this morning, it reached 45.4
degrees yesterday afternoon. Flows are a bit higher from about
Satan’s Kingdown & below, as they are dumping some water
(probably about
200-300cfs) out of the
East Branch. Unionville USGS is 880cfs
and dropping, anything
under 1,000cfs is doable for wading anglers.
The normal/median flow for Unionville would be 1,1080cfs
for today.
The rising water temps is finally
picking the fishing up, especially where they recently stocked. You
still have to work hard and
grind for the bigger
holdover & wild browns. Quite
a few fish are holding in faster water now, it’s definitely not
Winter fishing anymore.
The recent stockers are mostly Rainbows that average about 13-15”,
with some 16” and many
pushing the 1.5-2
pound mark. They fight HARD. There
are also Brook Trout & Brown Trout in the stocker mix. Above the
Permanent TMA/C&R in Riverton has been stocked once so far, it
should get hit again sometime this week before Opening Day (Saturday
4/11). Below the Permanent TMA, it has now been stocked twice, with
more to come. The
holdovers & wild Brown
Trout have been a large
average size (16-19”, with some in the 20” plus range). Not
surprisingly,
the brutally cold Winter we had is
making the hatches start
later than normal.
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 711+
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 4
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 the Rt 4Rt177 junction in Burlington/Collinsville. 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.
Baetis/Blue Wing
Olives #16-18
are finally starting up,
they are an afternoon hatch and can bring trout to the surface in
slower water. You
can also fish nymphs imitating them. Early
Black Stoneflies #14-16 also
hatch in the afternoon hatch thats
normally spill over well into April, and can even overlap the
Hendrickson hatch some years. They haven’t been bringing many
trout to the surface, but
the holdover & wild browns are eating the nymphs subsurface.
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,
Blue
Winged Olives (BWO’s) #16-18, and
Early
Black Stoneflies
#14-16
are
the
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.
-Baetis/Blue
Winged Olives/BWO’s #16-18: finally starting up, afternoon
hatch
-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.
Nymphs:
-BMAR Early Black
Stonefly #14 (hatching now in afternoons)
-Baetis/BWO
Nymphs #16-18
-Cased Caddis #10-14: above average pattern in the
early season, especially when flows are up (high water knocks them
into the drift, they mostly live in slower water near the stream
edges).
-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