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
20” wild brown I caught in fast water Tuesday afternoon, he ate a
nymph and took me downstream 150-200 feet during the fight. Strong
fish, gave me a hard battle. It's been a good week for big trout so far.
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.
Perfect for traveling when you need to
pack light.
Current
Sale Items:
-Thomas
& Thomas Contact II Euro rods $499 (were $895): all sizes are
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, we are almost out of
them.
***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
new Thomas
& Thomas Contact III+ Euro rods are now available.
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. Between the
improved damping/recovery and one snake guide (right next to the tip
top), you also get dramatically less tip wrapping with micro
leaders.
Thursday
Morning
4/30/26
River
Report:
*****We
are looking for one more
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 our third batch
of them. They are sweet! I (Torrey) now have spent several 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.
The
Hendrickson hatch continues, it’s steadily working it’s way
upriver. New Hartford (where we are located) up to just below the
Still River (Pipeline/Lyman’s Rock) is where you want to be to
catch the afternoon hatch, but you can still see spinner falls well
downstream of that. The
hatch is moving upstream a bit every day.
The entire Permanent TMA/Catch & Release is seeing a good hatch &
spinner fall, with the
peak of the hatch probably mid TMA (Church Pool) to upper TMA
(Campground).This
may be the last weekend to catch the hatch in the Permanent TMA/C&R,
it will be moving upriver into Riverton soon. Usually when the hatch
is ending in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R), it’s
just getting going in Riverton. The spinner fall can go 5-7 days
after the afternoon hatch
ends. Mild sunny days are
seeing the best hatches, with cooler cloudy days seeing lighter
bugs. There were a lot of spinners in the air yesterday evening, look
for them over the riffles & pocket water. When they fall, it can
bring large wild brown
trout to the surface. Spinner falls require mild air temps, minimal
wind, and no rain.
I
had good fishing on my
days off. Tuesday myself & Will Ryan nymphed through the hatch
and it paid off with some really nice fish, including a big holdover
brown and the 20” wild you see pictured in this report. The
hatch went from about 2:30 to 3:45pm.
Wednesday I nymphed up a
bunch of rainbows in the morning and early afternoon, and then I
saw a brief but decent hatch from about 2:30-3:30 pm, managed an 18”
wild, and Derrick landed a 21” holdover. Had
to make some fly changes to get fish, with a Sparkle Dun &
emerger both taking fish. Bigger
fish often key on emergers/cripples and ignore the duns during the
hatch, so make sure you have some, don’t get hung up fishing only
duns. In the evening we
fished spinners, and even though I didn’t have risers, I was able
to blind fish up several wild browns up to 18”. Derrick
landed a 19.5” wild, an 18” holdover, a big holdover FRAA
rainbow. He moved around a lot, probably covered a mile of river in
the evening to find those nice fish. Put in the effort and you are
often rewarded. There were a TON of spinners in the air. Make
sure you have Hendrickson nymphs, emergers/cripples, duns (light &
dark), and spinners.
The
80cfs flow cut they made Monday morning should
only help the dry fly fishing- lower
flows usually means more rising fish. Highs
through Sunday will be about 55-60. All things being equal, mild &
sunny is optimal for the Hendrickson hatch. Current total flow
Thursday morning is 303cfs (we received just over ¼” of rain
overnight). Riverton from the dam to the Rt 20 bridge
(Hitchcock/Riverton Self Storage) is 165cfs, and a little below that
the Still River is adding in 138cfs. Riverton
water temp was 44.5 degrees at 8:30am, it peaked yesterday at 48.5.
Behind UpCountry it is just over 50 degrees this morning, it peaked
Wednesday afternoon at just over 56 degrees. Unionville USGS gauge is
reading
Hendrickson
run #12-14, females tend to be slightly bigger and lighter in color
(tannish), and males are smaller and more brownish. Spinners are
rusty brown, and the females have prominent bright yellow egg sacks
at the end of their abdomen. The spinners mate in the air over the
riffles and pocket water. The nymphs get active subsurface 2-3 hours
before the main event, and can give you some great nymphing in
the faster water, and if
your a “nympho” like me, you can even fish them during the hatch
and do well. The lower the water, they more apt your are to see
rising fish. We have a good supply of BMAR Hendrickson nymphs in
stock. If trout are not rising, fish subsurface, I guarantee the fish
are eating, just not always on the surface where you want them to be.
Typically the hatch comes off between mid to late afternoon, starting
around 2-3pm,
and going for 1-2 hours.
Hatch times are not set in stone, and can sometimes occur earlier.
Spinner falls (egg-laying) can happen anytime from mid morning to
dusk over the riffles, even though the books say it’s an evening
event (which it often is).
Spinners will only fall when it’s mild out, dry, with minimal wind.
If it’s cold or windy you may see them in the air, but they fly
back into the trees and often fall the next day in mid to late
morning, before the Hendrickson fishermen arrive in the afternoon.
Make sure to have Hendrickson nymphs, emergers, duns, and spinners to
cover all of your bases.
Regardles of hatching activity
and rising fish or lack thereof, good nymphers have been whacking
fish. Don’t sleep on Junk Flies (Mops, Squirmies, Eggs), at moments
it’s been lights out on them when the trout aren’t responding to
traditional or more imitative nymphs. Also there are lots of smaller
bugs in the river, so things like #18-20 Pheasant Tails and smaller
Hare’s Ears and Walt’s Worms can be very productive. If you are
nymphing and not catching fish, you are doing something wrong! Move
and cover water, change your weight, change your depth, experiment
with different flies, change sizes, etc. Going smaller often helps.
Other bugs we are seeing include small assorted Caddis
#18-22 (gray/brown, black), and also a few #16-18
Baetis/Blue Winged Olive (BWO) hatches- BWO’s are almost over and
mostly upriver.
Cloudy/cooler afternoons
are seeing some smaller BWO’s in the #20-22 range.
There are good numbers of wild fish in the faster water now, due to
rising water temps and more bugs.
The Permanent TMA/Catch
& Release (C&R) was stocked on 4/13 with a large number of
trout, predominately browns, including 1,000 larger Two Year Olds
that average 14-18” and are quite fat. Above & below the
Permanent TMA/C&R has been stocked 3 times now, with lots more
fish to come. Fishing is getting very good. Be prepared to fish
subsurface. Trout are always feeding subsurface this time of year,
even when you don’t see risers or bugs. Hope to fish dries, but be
prepared to go underwater- just because there’s a hatch does not
always mean the trout will feed on the surface. Especially if the
water is cold or high.
FYI there is a new state record
rainbow, caught on the Farmington, it weighed 16.47#, 31” with a 21
¼” girth. This was stocked by the state for the Riverton Derby.
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 since early March, from
about 670 feet up to 711+
feet of elevation, “full” would be considered to be 716’ this
time of year, and once it goes over that the Army Corps will dump
extra water to get it below that.
Flies that are working
include BMAR Hendrickson nymphs #12-14, Pheasant Tails/Frenchies
#12-14, Caddis larva (cased & regular), #8-10 Stonefly nymphs,
smaller Walt’s Worms, Blue Winged Olive nymphs #16-20,
flashy Perdigons #16-20, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Junk Flies (Eggs,
Mops, Worms, Green Weenies), various streamers (Woolly Bugger,
Zuddlers, etc.). In the mornings (roughly 7am to 10am’ish) you may
find some trout rising to Winter Caddis, and during cloudy
afternoons, there may be a few trout rising to small
BWO’s. Some days there can be a good streamer bite. Top colors this
time of year are white, olive, tan, and black.
Hendricksons
are the current glamour hatch, they’ve been a legit hatch for about
a week now. Milder/sunny days are best of all for Hendo hatches.
We’ve been seeing smaller Caddis #18-22, gray/brown ones &
black ones. Some small
Blue Winged Olives #20-22
are hatching on cloudy/cooler afternoons. Midges are
a daily
occurrence.
*******************************************************************************
Dries:
-Hendrickson
#12-14: full-blown hatch, best from about Canton to Pipeline (stay
below the Still River currently for the hatch, Riverton gets the
hatch last due to the colder water). Mid/late afternoon hatch, best
on milder/sunny afternoons.
-Assorted
Caddis #18-22 (gray/brown, black)
-Blue Winged Olives/BWO’s
#20-22: afternoon hatch on cloudy, cooler days
-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
Hendrickson Nymph #14
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #12-20: imitates
a wide range of Mayflies including Hendricksons, Baetis/Blue Winged
Olives, Sulfurs, Isonychia, Vitreus, small Stoneflies, and
more
-Baetis/BWO Nymphs #16-22
-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).
-”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
-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 currently are olive, black, 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 good fly
-Muddler Minnow
#6-10: an oldie but a goodie, still VERY effective