Farmington River Report 7/26/22: Low, cold, getting going at dusk

I guided Matt and his son John yesterday afternoon from 3:15-7:15. We started off nymphing in the PTMA. Water was 115cfs, a tad low for my liking, but plenty cold! Matt went tight line and John fished under an indicator, both drop shot. The fish, however, weren’t very cooperative, so we moved to another mark. Here we found some smaller fish, smutting. Whatever they were eating, we failed to duplicate the process. We held council and decided to try our luck at the evening rise.

The mark I wanted to fish was on lockdown, so we headed to Plan B Spot which we had to ourselves. The pool was dead as Julius Caesar, but summer evenings on the Farmington being what they are, I knew it wouldn’t be long before the natives got restless. To make a long story short: we had a modest hatch. Midges, sulphurs, caddis, but mostly attenuata. Attenuata can be a very frustrating hatch to fish — the rise-to-hook-stick ratio can be maddening — but we kept at it and had a blast fooling trout. I stuck around after the session and fished until dark. I rose a good two dozen trout, but had only one partial hookset. (Sigh.) The spinner fall was not that great, and we called at dark.

**We like tight lines. So, like father…**

…like son. We a treat to be able to guide two enthusiastic anglers. We got to cover nymphing and dry fly basics, plus a little bit of wet fly for good measure. Excellent job, Matt and John, in some very technically difficult conditions. Dry fly tip of the week: longer leaders make for better drifts. Think a minimum of 13 feet, and you don’t need to go below 6x.

6 comments on “Farmington River Report 7/26/22: Low, cold, getting going at dusk”

darrelln09 says:

July 27, 2022 at 3:54 pm

I agree with your recommendation on leader length. I usually use a 9-foot leader and add 3 or 4 feet of tippet to get to 12 or 13 feet of total length. A 12-foot leader and a foot or two would probably work even better because with the taper of the leader it’s a little stiffer and would turn the fly over a little better. I also agree that 6X is probably all the smaller you need to go. I typically use 5X unless the fish are rather small.

Steve Culton says:

July 27, 2022 at 10:44 pm

Well then, Darrell, it would appear that we are in violent agreement! 🙂

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Arthur Rosenstock says:

July 28, 2022 at 5:41 am

Interesting report. I fished yesterday did well but thought I was losing my skill as hook ups during evening atenuatta hatch were difficult. Watched fish reject fly last second or felt the bite but no set.Same insects on water as you had seen.

Steve Culton says:

July 28, 2022 at 9:28 am

It can be a very frustrating hatch to fish! I haven’t yet cracked the get-the-hook-to-stick code. Most nights I am satisfied simply with the number of fish I fool. I tend to fish a lot of Usuals and The Magic Fly, 18-20.

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