We are open 7 days a week, current hours are:
8am-6pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Wednesday
10am-3pm, Saturday & Sunday 8am-5pm
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 Farmington
River regular Brent M. with a hefty brown
trout from the weekend.
Current
Sale Items:
-Sage Sonic fly rods 25%
off
-Scott G Series fly rods 25% off
-Simms G3 Waders 20%
off
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.
We are now a Guideline dealer, 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, plus a cool mini chest pack that you can attach 5 different ways.
Monday
Morning
5/28/26
River
Report:
Hours: Wednesday 10am-3pm.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 8am-6pm.
Weekends remain at 8am-5pm.
We will stay on this schedule through the end of the
summer.
Hard
to believe it is June already! Still getting some cool tnights, and it looks like long range highs
will average in the 70’s, give or take. June is the big month for the #16 Invaria Sulfurs, and at some
point later this month the #18 Dorothea’s will join the fray.
Typically
the Sulfurs pop somewhere between late afternoon and dark.
Still seeing lots of Caddis of various sizes & colors, mostly in
the #16-22 range in tan, black, gray. #14-16 Vitreus are a good hatch in the
late afternoon through evening time slot, they are a faster water
bug. #10-12 March Browns continue to trickle off in the afternoons &
eves. Cloudy afternoons & eves have seen #20-22 Blue Winged
Olives hatching with lots of trout gently sipping them off the
surface. They don’t hatch well on bright sunny days. We are getting
toward that time of year where the best shot at good dry fly action
tends to shift toward the evenings. Cooler/cloudy days can see the
bugs hatch earlier, and hot/sunny days can push the bugs even closer to
dusk. Caddis are the main hatch in the mornings; they return in the low light of evenings to mate & egg-lay over the
riffles.
Vitreus
are most active on cooler, overcast, and even wet days, and tend to
hatch between late afternoon and evening. 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. 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 early
June. Conditions at
just under 154cfs
total flow- I’d call this low but
still very fishable.
The
upside to lower flows is easier wading/access, more trout are willing
to rise during a hatch and it is easier to figure out where the
trout will be because you can eliminate a lot of the water. The
biggest downside is spookier trout and there is less holding water
for trout to spread out in. Approach potential holding water with
stealth, don’t charge in and send shock waves in the water.
Consider using lighter weight fly lines, longer leaders, and lighter
tippet. Dress in drab colors like olive, brown, gray, or even camo.
Don’t wear brightly colored hats, that is the part of your body
that is the most visible to trout.
Riverton
is 95cfs below the Hogsback Reservoir, with the Still River is adding in 59cfs
a little below the Rt 20 bridge. The state is being conservative with water releases to maintain a good pool of cold water for summer distribution. We
are almost
normal
for total
rainfall
in 2026 in our area, but we need more rain.. Riverton water temp was 44
degrees at 8am this morning, it peaked at about
49
yesterday. Behind UpCountry it was
52.6
degrees at
8am this
morning, it peaked yesterday afternoon at 56.6.
There are miles
of trout-filled water both above and below the 6.2 mile year round Catch & Release area. 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 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.
Subsurface flies that are working include #14-20 Caddis patterns (pupa, larva),Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #14-20, #8-10 Stonefly nymphs (mornings), Blue Winged Olive nymphs #16-22, flashy Perdigons #16-22, Rainbow Warrior #16-18, Junk Flies (Mops, Squirmies, Eggs) are still working well. 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.
*******************************************************************************
Dries:
-Sulfur
#16 (Invaria): Typically hatch later in the day
-Tan
Caddis #16-18: hatching about mid morning through
early/mid
afternoon, egg-laying in the evenings. Olive/green #18 Caddis can
be in the mix too.
-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
#14-16: 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:
Nymphs:
-Tan
Caddis Pupa #14-18
-Sulfur
Nymphs #14-18: 14’s imitate Vitreus, smaller ones imitate Invaria &
Dorothea
-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. Best in early to mid mornings.
-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)
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.
-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