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 still
looking for one more
part-time
employee, someone who knows the river well and and is knowledgeable
about flyfishing*****
Pictured
up top is Jim
DeCesare with a quality evening dry fly brown from earlier this week.
Mr Consistent. Persistence pays off!
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
5/28/26
River
Report:
*****We
are still
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.
We
are now a Guideline
dealer,
the product arrived last
week.
They are a Scandanavian company that makes some great rods &
reels and
more.
Zach & Derrrick are both BIG fans of their products. We have
Euro, dry fly, and streamers rods from them. We also have Euro leader
butt material in 3x to 5x.
Sorry
I missed the Monday update, it was busy and we closed early. Hatches
& water conditions are both evolving & changing. Caddis have
been consistent/predictable, still seeing Tan Caddis #16-18 in the
mornings through about early afternoon, and they come back in the
evenings to egg-lay in the lower light in riffly water. They
don’t always rise, but subsurface with pupa type patterns will
catch you fish.
There are also small black Caddis in #20-22, most people don’t notice
them because they are hard to see. Some #10-12 March Browns in the
afternoons/eves, not a lot, one here/one there kinda deal. FYI you
can blind fish the faster water with March Brown dries. Starting to
see an evening Sulfur hatch, not heavy, but fishable. #16’s
(Invaria Sulfur), at least as far upstream as Church Pool, and likely
above that. It’s more developed/heavier in Canton and downstream.
Look
for #20-22 Blue Winged Olives (BWO’s) on cloudy afternoons.
Even
where they are not hatching, Sulfur nymphs can be effective. Overall,
the last couple hours of daylight is your best chance for risers, but
if you move around and look closely, you can find a few risers. Stay
stuck in one pool with a “dry fly
or die” mentality and it could be a long day if
you aren’t mobile.
Vitreus
are most active on cooler, overcast, and even wet days, and tend to
hatch between late afternoon and evening. They are a fast water bug,
close cousin to the Quill Gordon. The
winged dun emerges at the stream bottom from the nymphal shuck, and
then swims to the surface fully winged. Females have a pinkish-orange
cast to their abdomens due to eggs, males are more of a dull yellow,
kinda like a bigger Sulfur.
March Browns are also a fast water bug, they tend to hatch one here,
one there, sporadically between late morning and evening, with
spinner falls at dusk. Caddis are most active from about mid morning
through early/mid afternoon, and come back later in the day to
egg-lay over faster water in the eves. FYI,
hatch times in Riverton in the 2 miles right below the dam can vary
considerably from “normal” due to the abnormally cold water.
Trout
do not always rise to hatches, and
this
seems to surprise some experienced anglers, which amuses me because
it’s always been the case on every river I’ve fished in my life.
Be
prepared to go subsurface with nymphs & pupa. I’ve caught many
thousands of trout over the years nymphing Caddis pupa in the fast
water from May to October, even November. Caddis pupa are like candy
to big trout. Wet flies & soft hackles are also good options if
you don’t want to nymph.
And don’t rule out streamers, especially early & late in the
day, and on rainy days
and/or during high or off-color water.
Water levels are
lower
than normal for late May, looking more like July
conditions at
just under 200cfs total flow- I’d call this medium-low. Riverton is
95cfs below the dam (normal
would be 246cfs),
and the Still River is adding in 103cfs (normal
would be 114cfs)
and dropping a little below the Rt 20 bridge
(Hitchcock/Self-Storage). Normal total flow for today’s date would
be 360cfs. The state (DEEP) is being conservative with asking for
additional water from the dam due to lower than normal inflow into
the reservoir, and fear of protracted droughts like we had the last 2
years in the summer & fall. We
are about normal for total
rainfall
in 2026 in our area, but we finished 2025 in a 6-8” deficit, and I
don’t think the water table ever fully recovered. Pray for
consistent rain this summer, we
need it.
200cfs
makes the river very wadeable, and when you have bugs on the water it
increases your chances of rising fish. Keep your leaders longer (12”
plus), and use long tippets(3-6+ feet) in the 5x-7x range, depending
upon dry fly size. This will both help prevent spooking the trout, as
well as give a longer & better drag-free float.
Unionville USGS gauge is reading a low 321cfs, normal/median flow would be 531cfs. Riverton water temp was 45 degrees at 8am this morning, it peaked at 51.5 yesterday. Behind UpCountry it is 57.7 degrees this morning, it peaked yesterday afternoon at 63.
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.
Regardless of hatching activity and rising fish or lack
thereof, good nymphers have been successful. During lower flows, make
sure to fish lighter weight flies and/or use smaller split shot and
smaller strike indicators. Downsizing your nymphs sometimes helps. Be
stealthy and dress in drab colors. You cannot catch them if you spook
them first! 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 that was caught
in April on
the Farmington River, it weighed 16.47#, 31” with a 21 ¼” girth.
This was stocked by the state for the Riverton Derby.
Colebrook
Reservoir is in good shape after being low all winter
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 709
plus 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. Starting July 1st,
“full” changes to
708cfs,
that’s the begining of Hurricane
Season.
Subsurface
flies that are working include #14-20 Caddis patterns (pupa, larva),
Pheasant
Tails/Frenchies #14-20, #8-10 Stonefly nymphs (mornings),
#16-18 Walt’s Worms, Blue Winged Olive nymphs #16-22,
flashy Perdigons #16-22,
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
trout rising to small BWO’s. Some days there can be a good streamer
bite. Top colors this time of year are olive and
tan.
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
early/mid
afternoon, egg-laying in the evenings. Olive/green #18 Caddis will be
mixing in anytime now.
-Blue Winged Olives/BWO’s #20-22:
afternoon hatch on cloudy days
-Assorted small Caddis #18-22:
black, gray/brown
-March Brown #10-12: sporadic
fast water hatch
-Vitreus
#12-14: late
afternoon through eves, especially 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: Sometimes brings trout to the
surface. If not, go subsurface with Midge pupa & larva. 365
days a year, all trout streams.
Nymphs:
-Tan
Caddis Pupa #14-18
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #14-22:
imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Sulfurs, Vitreus,
Baetis/Blue Winged Olives, Isonychia, small Stoneflies, Hendricksons,
and more
-March Brown #10-12: can also use big Hare's Ears &
Fox Squirrel Nymphs
-Baetis/BWO Nymphs #16-22
-Caddis Larva
(olive to green) #14-16: tons of these in the river, good all
year
-”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.
-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! Usually work best in early to mid mornings.
-Small
Generic Nymphs #18-22: various patterns, many bugs are small to tiny,
with size of the fly often superseding the exact fly pattern.
Pheasant Tail, Hare’s Ear, Walt’s Worm, etc.
-Midges #18-22
(black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge,
etc.
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20:
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 or off-color is a great time to
use a streamer.
Top colors currently are 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.
-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