Store
Hours:
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 one of several large browns landed by customer & friend
Brent M., he said it was a really good bite for him yesterday.
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’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.
I’m
not a fan of typical July weather,
usually the hottest temps of the year, but the current 10 Day
Forecast is quite
nice:
highs
averaging upper 70’s to low 80’s, with cooler nights mostly in
the upper 50’s/low 60’s, and some much needed rain too. FYI we
received 1/3” of rain over the weekend, it did not affect flows at
all, there
is about ½” predicted for Tuesday/Wednesday.
Current
conditions allow you to fish further downriver for most of the day as
it’s keeping the water cooler.
Getting
quite a few good 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, and
egg-laying Caddis #18-22 (tan, black). If you are upriver, say
Campground and above, you will likely see some #18 Sulfurs in the
eves. 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 3rd
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. The past few days the water has been
staying cool enough that you can fish down to New Hartford in the
afternoon & evening- water temps peaked behind the shop Sunday at
64 degrees, it’s about 57 degrees this morning. 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.
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 #18-22 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.
The total flow below the Still
River and in the Permanent TMA/C&R is 143cfs
(low but very fishable),
with the Still contributing 17cfs to the total. Riverton is 126cfs
(low and definitely fishable)
at the
USGS gauge by the Rt 20 bridge (Hitchcock/Riverton Self Storage).
Historically the normal/median total flow in years with normal
rainfall would be about 250cfs
in mid July.
The water is still coming
out of the dam icy
cold in
the mid 40’s, which is amazing for the middle of July, and then it
slowly rises as you move downstream and further from the dam. DEEP is
being conservative with the dam release (due to drought concerns),
and this is why flows are low despite plenty of water in Colebrook
Reservoir(11 feet below full pool), and it is also why the water temp
coming out of the dam is so cold currently. Hopefully we will get
normal, regular rainfall and DEEP will be able to release more water
in the near future, but unless that happens flows will remain low but
fishable. We are about 4.5”
below normal precipitation so far for 2026, and we finished 2025 6-8”
shy of normal. They are attempting to maintain a bank of cold water
in the reservoir system so that they don’t run out of cold water
when we really need it in August & September. If they were to
steadily release 200cfs+ and this drought continues, we could end up
at
the bare minimum flow of
50cfs by the end of the summer, so this reduced release is necessary.
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.
Sulfurs are
more upriver now and mostly #18 Dorothea. Typically an evening hatch,
but the further upriver you are the more the chances you may see an
early to mid afternoon hatch of them. 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!
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.
