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, is experienced and knowledgeable about flyfishing, and has a flexible schedule.
Pictured up top is a Golden Rainbow I landed Wednesday. Fished for it for a little bit with zero reaction, so I gave up on. But I fished right around her because there are always a bunch of trout you cannot see nearby, and wouldn’t you know it, I ended up catching her when I stopped targetting her. Typical lol.
We will match most advertised deals and sales from other stores local or on the internet. 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 2026 Thomas & Thomas Contact III+ Euro rods are available and we love them- I (Torrey) have a lot of river time on the 10’ 9” #2, and the 11’ 5” #3, so feel free to ask me about my experience with those two models. 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 if more flexible and 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, a great rod for fishing at distance). 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 the added snake guide below 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 Guideline Euro leader butt material in 3x to 5x for making micro leaders (great stuff and it’s inexpensive), plus a cool mini chest pack that you can attach 5 different ways.
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.
River
Report:
We literally just received 100 copies of Steve Culton's brand new book, "Fly Fishing the Farmington River", and it looks fantastic. Detailed info on the river, covering it from the dam in Riverton down to Tariffville Gorge. Seasons, hatches, locations, techniques, suggested fly patterns, plus detailed info from guides & river regulars. Plenty of great pictures too. Steve will be doing a book signing on August 22nd, 11am to 2pm at UpCountry. Bring a copy or buy one on that day.
We’ve
taken in 4 different book collections over the past few
weeks,
we literally have so many used books there is not room on our
bookshelves! There are some
excellent
titles in the recent batches. FYI we also have quite a few
autographed books.
Had
an interesting day Wednesday. Fished with my buddy Will. In the first
spot we fished together, he fished a run that was very slow last
week, but
he
crushed them in there on Iso nymphs. I fished downstream in the next
deep pool and did alright, but not as good as last week (it was
lights out). I did manage a couple of bigger fish, but the biggest
one of all buried me under a rock and cut my tippet. After lunch it
seemed like there were people everywhere, but eventually I found an
unoccupied run. Started slow, but once I cracked the code it was
lights out. Fishing also improved likely because it went from sun
directly on the water to the entire run being in the shade. Ended up
being a great day with lots
of fish including
all 3 regular trout species (brown, brook, rainbow), a golden
rainbow, and some Salmon Parr. The only thing missing was a sucker
lol.
The state did a small flow cut of about 20cfs at the
dam Wednesday morning, which came as a surprise given that we’ve
had a good amount of rain in July. We only got 1/3” Tuesday, but we
are at 3.5” for the month, which puts us slightly ahead for the
month. And they got 1.5” above Colebrook Reservoir up in Otis on
Tuesday, and
about 4.5” for July.
They
are being conservative because they want to maintain a bank of cold
water to get us through August & September, even if there is a
drought.
The flow cut drops Riverton from 120+ cfs down to 100cfs, with the
Still River adding in 27cfs,
giving us a total flow of 127cfs below that and in the Permanent
TMA/Catch & Release (C&R). Historically the normal/median
total flow in years with typical
rainfall would be about 225-250cfs
in late
July. The water coming out of the dam was reading 46.5 degrees this
morning at the Route 20 bridge (River Self Storage/Hitchcock), it
peaked yesterday at 53 degrees. The
HOBO unit in New Hartford behind UpCountry is reading 59 degrees this
morning, it peaked yesterday at 65.6 degrees. After
cooler nights you can easily fish in the mornings down in New
Hartford and even Canton, but you may need to move upriver at least a
few miles as you get toward lunchtime and
into the afternoon.
Ideally try to stay in water below 65 for the best fishing. Make sure
you have a thermometer, and use it!
Still
getting some
good to
excellent
dry fly reports, especially from those fishing in the evenings, so
don’t leave too early! Later in the day look for Isonychia (Iso’s)
#10-12, small Blue Winged Olives #20-24, Rusty Spinners in the same
sizes, Cahills/Summer Steno’s #12-16, Attenuata #18-20 (Riverton
only),
and egg-laying Caddis #18-22 (tan, black). Sulfurs
are basically done in the Permanent TMA/C&R, but you will
probably continue to see some hatching in Riverton above the Still
River.
Morning bugs include Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24, Needhami duns &
spinners #22-26, and tan Caddis #18. Ants & Beetles are good
dries to fish between late morning and early evening when there
aren’t too many bugs hatching. FYI, you can blind fish Isonychia
dries in riffle water, even when there are no fish rising. Also they
are a good fly to do Dry/Dropper with.
46 degree water is
coming out of the dam, which is
fantastic
for the 4th
week
of July. It keeps the river at trout-friendly water temps for a good
ways downriver, but if you go far enough below the dam you will
eventually run into water temps that are too high to ethically trout
fish (over 68 degrees), especially in the afternoons/evenings on
hotter sunny days. FYI sunshine is the #1 driver of water temp
increases, followed closely by hot air temps. Mornings after a cool
night allow you to fish further downriver, and then you may need to
work your way upstream to stay in cool water as the day progressed
and water temps increase. Use your thermometers in the Summer to help
you decide how far up or downriver to fish. Riverton just above the
Still River has been ranging from about 46 to 53.5 degrees. 68
degrees is a good number to use as a cutoff to move upriver and find
cooler water, with 50-65 degrees being even better. A good strategy
is to start downstream, and work your way upstream as the day
progresses, and this will keep you in water under 65 degrees all day
long, which
will give you the best fishing and minimize stress on the trout.
Fishing is always more technical in July due to
lower flows and months of fishing pressure “educating” the trout,
but it can be very good if you know what you are doing. Be stealthy,
wear drab clothing, and use 12' or longer leaders with long/light
3-6' plus tippets in the 6x-7x range. July is prime dry fly time, but
it is also good for nymphing, streamers can be good at first &
last night, and this is a great time of year to go Mousing after dark
(or fish big wet flies & streamers).
Low
water like we currently have actually creates more dry fly fishing as
it makes it more efficient for trout to feed on the surface due to
slower & shallower flows. This time of year when you are
nymphing, look for fast water, and if it’s in the shade even
better. Small nymphs #18-24
can be the difference between a slow day and a great one. 6X tippet
helps, but 5x is typically okay if you don’t want to go light.
Thinner tippet sinks lightweight flies better, and the greater
flexibility lets you flies drift more naturally. Don’t sleep on
smaller jig streamers in olive or tan. There have been a lot of Blue
Winged Olives (BWO’s) around lately, from about #18-24, with the
smaller sizes being overall more prevalent. July is the month for
bigger Isonychia averaging #10-12, typically in late afternoons
through dusk. Iso’s & Caddis are most prevalent in faster
water, the most common Caddis
I’ve
seen lately is a
#18 tan.
A word about taking water temps. I see people doing it wrong all the time, and this can give you an artificially high reading. You need to do two things: 1) take the temperature in moving water, and 2) make sure your thermometer is in the shade when you take a reading. If you don’t do this and you take the temp in the slack water along the shoreline that is exposed to the sun all day, you can easily get a reading 5+ degrees above what the water temp is in the current. Some people will tell you taking the surface temp of the water in the river is no good, but that is not true. The max difference you may see in the slowest, deepest pools is maybe 1 degree between the surface and the bottom. And to the folks who dispute this and say the bottom layer of pool water is significantly cooler than the surface, I would point out that even if this was true (it’s not), you still have to play your fish in the middle and upper layers of the water column.
Don’t
forget about Terrestrials, especially Ants & Beetles, they are
very active in the summer, and normally work much better than hopper
patterns like they fish out west. If they are not rising (often the
case), go subsurface with nymph & wet flies/soft hackles, blind
fish an Attractor dry fly, or do a Dry/Dropper rig with a nymph
18-24” under a buoyant/visible dry. Don’t go too heavy if you are
nymphing during low water conditions (often the case in the summer),
or you will hang bottom constantly and not catch fish. Plus you don’t
need to dredge bottom this time of year. Streamers are at their best
during first and last light, and at their worst in the middle of a
bright, sunny day. Also after a rain when the water rises and
dirties. Mousing at night is a good option for big brown trout, keep
your leader very short and heavy.
Assorted Caddis going from
#16-24 (tan, olive/green, black, gray) are major players. Most Caddis
hatching occurs from about mid morning to early afternoon, and then
the adults come out in the evening to egg-lay in riffly water. July
is a peak Isonychia (“Iso”) month. Isonychia are a big #10-12
fast water bug that typically emerge between late afternoon and dark.
You can even blind fish them over likely looking fast water. This is
one of my absolute favorite hatches. Iso’s will continue right into
the mid fall time period, but they get smaller as the season
progresses, and the color changes from brownish to more of an olive
color. #10 is about average for them currently, but some are bigger,
some are smaller.
Dry/Dropper
with a Caddis dry and a trailing weighted pupa 1-2’ below can be an
effective combo during a Caddis emergence or when blind fishing- they
usually take the pupa, and the dry acts as a suspender/indicator, but
sometimes they eat the dry. Frequently the better dry fly action for
Caddis is when they come back later in the day to egg-lay, usually in
the low light of evenings. And sometimes swinging wet flies/soft
hackles is the way to go when Caddis are hatching and/or egg-laying.
On average, they are much better/faster swimmers than Mayflies, which
is why the takes to them are often violent and trout will sometimes
jump out of the water. They also tend to be most active in faster,
broken water like riffles, pool heads, pocket water, etc. When
fishing Caddis dries, sometimes the fish want them dead-drift, but
frequently they won’t eat it unless you twitch/move it, the
naturals are very active, not passive like a Mayflies.
****************************************************************************
Dries:
-Isonychia
#10-12: Fast water bug, usually about 4pm to dark. Can also be on the
water in the late mornings/early afternoons sometimes
-Sulfur
#18 (Dorothea): hatch is moving upriver, not sure of the exact
downstream boundary. Still plenty haching from about Campground all
the way up to the dam in Riverton. Typically and evening bug, but we
sometimes will also see them hatch around mid afternoon, especially
as you get closer to the dam in colder water.
-Attenuatta
#18-20: evenings, often confused with Sulfurs but they are slightly
smaller and more of a bright greenish-yellow almost chartreuse color.
-Assorted Caddis (tan, olive/green #16-18, black, gray #18-22)
-Beetles & Ants #12-20: great option from late morning to early evenings, especially when bugs are not hatching
-Blue
Winged Olives/BWO’s #18-24: afternoon hatch on cloudy days, also on
the water in the last hour of daylight in flat pool water. Don’t
sleep on #18-22 rusty spinners at dusk.
-Needhami #22-26:
mornings, spinners & duns
-Light Cahill/Summer Steno #12-16: evenings
-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: 365 days a year
Nymphs:
-Caddis
Pupa #14-18 (tan, olive/green)
-Sulfur Nymphs #16-18: you can use specific imitations, or go generic with Pheasant Tails/Frenchies
-Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #12-22: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Sulfurs, Vitreus, Baetis/Blue Winged Olives, Isonychia, small Stoneflies, Hendricksons, and more
-Small Nymphs #18-22: try Pheasant Tail’s, Hare’s Ears, Walt’s Worms, etc. Size is often more important than the exact pattern, and the bugs get smaller (mostly) in the Summer
-Isonychia
Nymph #10-12: dead-drift, swing, twitch, and even strip them in. They
are great swimmers, and some days trout prefer different
presentations- you won't know until you experiment.
-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 aren’t many hatches.
-Stonefly Nymphs #8-10: golden/yellow, brown, black, Stoneflies 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 morning during summer
-Midges #18-22 (black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge, etc.
-Attractor Nymphs #14-20: such as Sexy Waltz, Rainbow Warriors.
-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 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: a classic, underfished & still deadly!