Store Hours:
We are open 7 days a week, current hours are:
8am-6pm
Monday & Tuesday, Wednesday
10am-3pm,
8am-6pm 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 my
fish of the morning yesterday, the true native- a Sucker! I wish the
average trout was as big as the average Sucker lol.
Current
Sale Items:
-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 (only
small & XXL left)
-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, new
low profile single foot guides,
and one snake guide (right next to the tip top), you also get
dramatically less tip wrapping with micro leaders.
Thursday
Morning
5/7/26
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. They are sweet! I (Torrey) now
have spent a
good amount of time
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.
Weekday
store
hours extend one hour later to 6pm, except for Wednesday (10am-3pm).
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday will be 8am-6pm.
Weekends remain at 8am-5pm.
We will stay on this schedule through the end of the summer.
The
May Caddis
hatches
are starting up! Usually there is a lull between the Hendrickson
hatch and the onset of Caddis, but not this year. They are light but
all the way up through the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release (C&R),
and up above that to just below the Still River. Peak Hendrickson
hatch has
rapidly moved upstream and is
now above the Still River in Riverton (Hitchcock,
Van’s Pool, Canal Pool, Beaver Pool, etc.).
Look
for a light hatch of them from about mid TMA/C&R (Church Pool) up
to the Still River, and you will likely see a few well downstream of
that. FYI
here is a tip from Derrick: after the Hendrickson hatch is done, for
several days you can still blind fish Hendrickson dries and bring
fish up to them in the afternoons. Tan
Caddis
#16
are taking over as the main hatch on most of the river, and it should
only get heavier by the weekend. Sunday
looks like the best hatch day with sun & clouds and highs in the
upper 60’s.
We’ve been seeing Caddis
hatch between about 10am and mid afternoon, and they come back and
egg-lay in the evenings (look for splashy rises). We should see some
good spinner falls in the upper half of the TMA/C&R and upstream,
typically in the evenings, but can also happen at other times of the
day. Spinner falls won’t happen if it’s cold, windy, or raining.
In the eves if trout are rising, look closely at the rise forms. If
they are sipping or gently porpoising, it’s likely Hendrickson
spinners. If it is more aggressive splashy rises, it’s probably egg
laying Caddis. Caddis tend to hatch in
somewhat faster water (pool heads, riffles, pocket water).
Nymphing
with the pupa during the morning and afternoon emergence can be very
effective. A
dry fly with a pupa trailing one foot behind it is also good.
We
received about ¼” of rain overnight, and the current
total flow below the Still River and in the Permanent TMA/C&R
this morning is mdeium
at
308cfs.
Riverton from the dam to the Rt 20 bridge (Hitchcock/Riverton Self
Storage) is 157cfs,
and a little below that the Still River is adding in 151cfs
and
still going up a little from last night’s rain.
Riverton water temp is 44
degrees this morning, it peaked yesterday at 46.5. Behind UpCountry
it is 50.5
degrees this morning, it peaked Wednesday afternoon at 53.8
degrees. Unionville USGS gauge is reading 431cs,
making the lower river very fishable & wadeable.
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
#18-22
Pheasant Tails, 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 710.99 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.
Subsurface flies that are working
include BMAR Hendrickson nymphs #12-14, Pheasant Tails/Frenchies
#12-20, 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. If you are streamer fishing, the more water you cover
the more trout you will catch. Play also with fly color &
retrieves, it can make a big difference.
Hendricksons are
the current glamour hatch. 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:
Tan
Caddis #16: hatching about 10am through mid afternoon, egg-laying in
the evenings. Hatch is all the way up through the entire Permanent
TMA/C&R, and above that probably
up
to just below the Still River. Hatch is light and
starting,
but fishable & getting better daily.
-Hendrickson
#12-14: moved
upriver fast, main/peak hatch is now in Riverton above the Still
River from about Hitchcock/Riverton Self Storage up to the dam, below
that it is light and fading from about mid TMA/C&R (Church Pool)
up to the Still River. Spinner falls can linger after the hatch is
done up to 5-7 days. Spinner falls won’t happened if it’s cold,
windy, or raining. Mid/late
afternoon hatch, best on milder/sunny afternoons. Spinners
are typically evenings, but can happen anytime from about 9-10am
until darkness.
-Assorted
small 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:
-Tan
Caddis Pupa #14-18
-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
-Caddis
Larva (olive to green) #14-16: tons of these in the river, good all
year
-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): Often 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.
-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