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 a recent perfect Farmington River brown trout by Derrick Kirkpatrick.
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
5/14/26
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 now
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.
I
was out of state fishing in central
PA Sunday through Wednesday, so I’m a little out of the loop but
I’ll update things as best as I can.
Hatches
are definitely in transiton right now, with some (like Hendricksons)
ending in the Permanent TMA/C&R, and others about to start up. By
the end of the month we will have a real diversity of bugs hatching,
and we are seeing hints of that now.
Caddis have become the dominant
hatch, with a tan Caddis in #16-18 being the main bug- not sure if
the olive/green #18’s have joined the mix yet, but
they will shortly.
There are also #20-22 black Caddis and
some small gray/brown ones.
The Caddis have been hatching between mid morning and mid afternoon.
Subsurface with pupa & wet flies/soft hackles is a good choice
for the Caddis when
they are hatching,
and if you find them feeding on the surface you can pick out the
bigger trout and target them. General
rule of thumb: Caddis usually hatch earlier in the day, and come back
and egg-lay in the evenings in riffles.
#18-20
Olives are hatching on cloudy afternoons like today, usually in
gentle riffles & pools.
Hendrickson hatch has basically ended in the Permanent TMA/Catch &
Release (C&R) and is up in Riverton above the Still River and up
to the dam (about a 2 mile section), hatch was light up
there last
I knew. You may still see a few hatching in the TMA/C&R, but not
many. Spinner Falls can linger 5-7 days after the hatch ends though.
A few credible reports of a few March Browns & Vietreus up as far
as New Hartford and even into the TMA/C&R, but not enough to call
it a hatch. The
warm to hot weather moving in from Saturday onward should accelerate
the development of the upcoming hatches, with 75 to 89 degree highs
through Wednesday.
With
flows in the low 200cfs range, trout are definitely looking up now
when bugs are on the water. And nymphing the fast water can be very
effective when they aren’t rising (which is most of the time!).
If
the river is crowded, and it often is, remember that there are miles
of trout-filled water both above and below the 6.2 mile Permanent
TMA/Catch & Release (C&R). Don’t
limit yourself to
only fishing that section, that’s a mistake.
There are
4 miles of TMA above that up to the dam, and another 10 miles of TMA
below that down to the Rt 177 Unionville bridge, and it’s all great
water with lots of trout: stocked, holdover & wild. There is a
decent amount of trout for below that into the town of Farmington,
and even trout all the way down to Tariffville Gorge. The lower river
is good until the water gets too warm, usually around mid to late
June, and then it picks up again in September when things cool down.
The
Permanent
TMA/C&R this morning is medium-low
at
227cfs.
Riverton from the dam to the Rt 20 bridge (Hitchcock/Riverton Self
Storage) is 137cfs,
and a little below that the Still River is adding in 90cfs.
Riverton water temp is 44.5
degrees this morning, it peaked yesterday at 46.5. Behind UpCountry
it is 49.5
degrees this morning, it peaked Wednesday afternoon at 51
degrees. Unionville USGS gauge is reading 343cs,
making the lower river very fishable & wadeable.
Regardless
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, remember
there are always
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.
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.
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 710.57
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
#14-20
Caddis
patterns (pupa, larva),
Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #14-20,
#8-10 Stonefly nymphs, #16-18
Walt’s
Worms, Blue Winged Olive nymphs #16-20, flashy Perdigons #16-20,
Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Junk Flies (Mops, Eggs,
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.
*******************************************************************************
Dries:
Tan
Caddis #16-18:
hatching about mid
morning
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. Olive/green
#18 Caddis will be mixing in soon.
-Blue
Winged Olives/BWO’s #18-20:
afternoon hatch on cloudy days
-Hendrickson
#12-14:
hatch is about
done in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release, although you may
continue see a few. It’s
now a
light hatch in
Riverton above the Still River from about Hitchcock/Riverton Self
Storage up to the dam. 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. Spinners are typically evenings, but can happen
anytime from about 9-10am until darkness.
-Assorted
small Caddis #18-22 (black, gray/brown)
-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: Sometimes brings trout to the surface. If
not, go subsurface with Midge pupa & larva.
Nymphs:
-Tan
Caddis Pupa #14-18
-BMAR Hendrickson Nymph #14 (Riverton only,
above the Still River)
-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