Category Archives: Fishing Reports

Farmington River Mini-Report 8/6/26: Wet flies rule!

This can be a challenging time of year to fish the Farmington, but I arrived on the river with a plan: swing wets in snotty, treacherous pocket water, then find a dry fly spot for the evening rise. The water bump from the dam, which put the flow in the PTMA at around 290cfs, was a welcome enhancement. (I got 54 degrees just above the PTMA at 6pm, which is wheelhouse water for trout.)

I was wading and swinging a team of three (Drowned Ant on top, LaFontaine’s Diving Caddis in the middle, my Iso Soft Hackle on point) by around 5pm. After a slow start, I connected with what would be the first of 6 trout on the wets — 5 of those fish were wild browns. And 5 of the 6 fish took the Iso soft hackle. While I didn’t see a single Isonychia flitting about — I’d rate the overall hatch activity on this evening a 2/10 — this underscores the importance of that bug as a food source for trout. Every year, some of the biggest fish I hook on a wet fly come in August on the Iso.

I’d already locked into a mid-teens wild brown when a big old buck ate the fly. Prior to this hookup, every take had come on the dangle. This one was on the dead drift, close enough to the surface for me to see the take. Three times the fish bulldogged its way upstream, twice, he seemed ready for the net, only to bolt. Between the speed of the current and the size of the fish, my forearm was on fire. I carefully walked downstream to a more favorable LZ. Finally, to the net.

Best trout of the year. No wonder this guy looks so excited!

The dry fly action from 7:30pm to 9pm was rather disappointing, having nothing to do with already landing such a fantastic fish. I found one fish working a foam line, but he was small, and though I rose him 4 times on three different patterns, there was no hookset. Finally, on the walk out in the fog, I spied a sipper that ended up clobbering my size 12 Catskills-style Light Cahill.

My victory cigar was one that I truly relished.

This is fly, minus the bead. This time of year, in lower light situations and moderate flows, there’s a good chance the fish will be looking up.

Meanwhile, back on the Farmington…

I have neglected the Farmington this month most cruelly. I understand the fishing has been excellent in spite of the low water, but I have been pulled in some other directions.

But not yesterday. Yesterday was one of those summer flow spikes I look for, the kind that puts some color in the water and chases most of the anglers away. The plan on those days is to throw streamers and look for a big ol’ brown that’s been hiding under a logjam for the past few weeks and is now in the hunt for a protein payoff. Yesterday I fished a full-sink tip line with an assortment of weighted and non-weighted streamers — trying to present at several levels in the water column — in both muted and bright colors. I walked about 500 yards of water, pounding the banks, waiting for that roll at the surface or that dull thud below.

It never came. The plan was go big or go home, and since I didn’t do the former — not a touch in two hours — I did the latter. But oh, man, it felt wondrous to be back.

Bring your waders if you want to sit. The water was moderately stained, 650cfs, and 64 degrees in the PTMA. As you read this, the flow has dropped dramatically and has cleared up, making for excellent conditions this weekend.

My bizarro Farmington season continues

This is a late report from last week, but it’s a report that I think is worthy of your attention. I fished the evening (virtually non-existent) rise with surfcaster extraordinaire Toby Lapinski at popular dry fly mark within the PTMA. We fished from 4:30pm-9pm. When we arrived, I was delighted to see that there were no other cars in the small dirt parting area; in hindsight, I wonder if it was because everyone else knew something I didn’t.

Here’s the bottom line: the sulphur hatch stunk like a salt marsh at low tide. I’d give it a 1 out of 10. So, that was disappointing. What was even more disappointing was the lack of fish over 8″ long. What was rising was, by and large, small wild fish, mostly brookies, with a few browns in the mix. Now, this could also be considered good news. In fact, I’ve never run into such a substantial pod of wild brook trout on the Farmington. Between us, we easily landed a dozen of them. Once, at dusk, I hooked one, and as it sped into the shallows in a desperate attempt to get free, a larger brown charged out of its hole in hot pursuit. I could see the bulge in the water as the predator neared its target; unfortunately at the last moment, the hunt was aborted. But that was cool to witness, and I wish you could have been there to see it, too!

We only put one decent fish in the hoop, this some-teen wild brown by Toby. It had three bird wounds; you can see one of them on the midway point of the fish’s flank.

I’ve been so busy in the yard this spring that I haven’t been able to get out to the Farmington as much as I’d like. But the rest of the summer is still ahead, in all its lazy, hazy, crazy glory.

Farmington River Mini Report 6/1/26: June is bustin’ out all over!

It was cold on Monday for June 1, but today we are firmly in a warming trend with great flows (275cfs). I’m anticipating stronger hatches and better fishing.

It wasn’t that way on Monday. I guided Matt and John for the purpose of teaching them the art of wet fly fishing. They’d seen me talk at the Edison Fly Fishing Show, and we’d had this date on the calendar for months. Sadly, we had unseasonably cool weather and a gusty day that held hatch activity to a minimum. We only got two in the hoop, but on another day both anglers would have easily been into double-digits. Strong casting, good mends, hundreds of fish-worthy presentations — I’m really excited for them to experience wet fly fishing at its productive best in the future. Well done, gentlemen!

Not a sulphur, but a Cream Cahill, size 12-14. They’ve been out in decent numbers on the lower river.

After our session I ventured downstream. Very weird evening. I stuck eight trout on wets but had only two hooksets, and landed neither. It was as if the fish couldn’t make up their mind about eating. At 7pm, I switched over to dry flies, and while there were plenty of fish rising, none of them seemed to be in a steady rhythm. I had my best action from 8pm into dark, using creamy colored dries and one big, honking Iso dry.

I’m back to heavy-duty yard work mode, so this will be my only post this week. I’ll try to get back to normal posting next week. In the meantime, fish on. It’s the most wonderful time of the year….

Farmington River Report 5/26 & 5/28/26: Finally, some wet fly action worth writing about!

I guided Jeff, Andrew, and Angelo on Tuesday, and we couldn’t have asked for nicer weather. While Angelo was off exploring parts north solo, Jeff and Andrew headed downriver with me to learn the ways of the wet fly. We began in a snotty boulder field, and right away, Jeff was into a fat, stocked brown. There were caddis and some Cream Cahills in the air, but all of the four trout we put in the hoop took the size 12 SHBHPT. The second mark we hit featured similar water, but we only had one bump in 20 minutes, so we headed north, still in the mid-river, to see if we could find open water. Score! This is a superb run for fishing wet flies, and while the action wasn’t gangbusters, Jeff scored an 18.5″ (taped) wild brown. At this point, Angelo joined us to do some indicator nymphing, sticking one fish. It’s always gratifying to give a wet fly lesson and see your clients rewarded with multiple hits, and having everyone land a trout made it even sweeter. Fantastic job, gentlemen, and it was a pleasure guiding you.

I was downstream with Andrew when Jeff stuck this quality wild brown. Once I saw it was a decent fish, I hustled up with the net so we could enjoy this photo op. Even when you’re in the STMA, you can still find places where wild browns like to hang out.

Last night I fished with surfcaster extraordinaire Toby Lapinski from about 4:45pm into dark, 9pm. We hit the same initial run I took Jeff and Andrew to, and the fish were cooperative. We stuck 8 between us, but I wanted to investigate some favorite water a little bit upstream. We had the entire run to ourselves, and were in position at 5:45pm. The water was significantly lower than Tuesday, 325cfs and dropping, and with the sparse release from the dam, the water reached 64 degrees on the thermometer. The trout seemed to love those conditions. I stuck fish after fish on wet flies, with the runaway favorite being the SHBHPT. I have no idea how many trout I landed — the fishing was that good. The rainbows, in particular, seemed to all believe that they were steelhead. I’ve never had so many fish leap so many times, some of them even after they’d spit the hook. Tremendous sport!

Meanwhile, Toby wasn’t having the same results. But it turns out that he was saving his chips for the dry fly action. At 7pm, while I was still poking around with wets in some faster water, Toby was fishing dries in some more languid pools, and seemingly hooking trout at will. His secret weapon was an Iso dry, and Isonychia were among the bugs we saw (caddis, midges, a few sulphurs, a couple BWOs). I made the switch to dry around 8pm, and once I found some risers, I too got in on the dry fly action. Usuals and Light Cahill dries were my producers.

Thus begins (almost here!) my favorite month on the Farmington.

Stocked brown, but he ate well at the hatchery, and gave me quite the battle. All of last night’s trout were full of piss and vinegar.

Farmington River Mini-Report 5/18/26: Still slow on the wet flies, but holy caddis, Batman!

Tom is a long-time currentseams follower and an avid fly fishing show attendee and angler. He couldn’t have picked a finer day weather wise for a wet fly lesson: sunny, 85, 210cfs and 52 degrees water temp in the PTMA…and all those caddis! At one point I counted over 2 dozen of them crawling around his legs and backside: tan, black, and one funky darker one I couldn’t ID. Plus: micro caddis. Really small stuff that flitted around my forearms under the Church Pool bridge, enough of them to be a nuisance.

So where are all the trout? Not feeding near the surface. I saw just three rises in our four hour session. We stuck two, landed one, and that was two more fish than seven of the other nine anglers we watched or talked to had. One angler said he did very well nymphing, and so that spring trend has continued into mid-May despite the warm weather. Tom did an excellent job of managing his drifts, and he deserved far better than what the river gave him on this day. But he is certainly a dangerous wet-fly-machine in the making! Way to go, Tom.

Tom scores a lovely wild brown on his last cast — really! — in a top-secret location. The fish ate a size 14 Squirrel and Ginger.

Farmington River Mini-Report 5/7/26: Wet Fly Woes Continue

Usually, by this time of year, I’ve given you at least one report headlined with words like “spectacular wet fly action.” But not in 2026. It continues to be cooler than normal and windy and blech. When hatch activity has been strong, the fish seem content to feed on the bottom. This, of course, will change. I feel like we’ll go instantly from early spring to mid-summer weather, the surface bite will pick up, and you’ll get your enthusiastic, superlative-laden wet fly report. But for now, it’s keep on-keeping on.

I gave Jason a wet fly lesson from 11am-3pm on Thursday, and he deserved way, way better than what he got, which was two hits in four hours. To be fair, one of them was a very good fish, although it was camera shy. Jason did an excellent job of casting and getting his team of three where it needed to be, then mending and presenting. Some time later this month or in June, he’s going to hit it right, and people are going to be following him off the water, asking him, “What fly were you fishing?!?”

It’s way too early for me to be thinking about grasshoppers, but I did see one on my driveway yesterday. This is my Hopper Hammerdown.

We had 310cfs in the PTMA and points south. Water temp was in the high 50s. When it’s windy, the seed pods that blow into the water (which look very much like soft-hackled flies) do us no good, and that was yet another factor. Oh, did I mention the cold front that came through the night before? We got into our fish because we moved aggressively through pools, looking for biters. Do likewise when the fishing is slow, and you’ll up your odds significantly.

And a reminder: May is caddis month on the Farmington.

Farmington River Report: A slow wet fly start to spring, but beginning to come around.

This has been a cool spring with lower than average temperatures and not a lot of rain. While the hatches have been strong — this year’s Hendrickson showing has been far better than last year’s — I have yet to have a seems-like-a-fish-on-every-cast wet fly outing. (The river is usually good for at least one by month’s end.)

I gave James a wet fly lesson in mid-April, and we managed only one to net. We pounded several sections of river north of the PTMA, and managed only one bump. (Our lone fish came from within the PTMA.) I managed a day to myself during the Hendrickson hatch in the PTMA, and the number of rising trout fell far short of the bug volume. That certainly could be a function of me fishing where there weren’t many fish. Historically, though, the mark I fished holds a multitude of trout in April. On Tuesday, I did some advance scouting for Wednesday’s wet fly lesson. It was a fish here, a bump there, and none of it very impressive. I ranged from the lower river in Burlington up to the PTMA. I did manage to foul a beast mid-river; when the fish swam the leader over a rock, we parted ways.

Which brings us to yesterday’s lesson with Michael. We fished two marks, the lower end of the PTMA, and then mid-river. While the action wasn’t spectacular, we did find fish that wanted to eat in both locations. Our session began at 11am and we wound up at 3:30pm, a little over, but for a very good reason.

We had a decent caddis hatch at the first spot, but little was rising to it, and none of it on a regular rhythm. Lesson one: move around, cover water, find the fish. While I think everyone loves catching wild Farmington browns the most, the stocked rainbows more than make up for any lack of situational romance with power, urgency, and acrobatics. Because of the breeze, I had Michael fishing two flies instead of three. This beauty ate our point fly, a SHBHPT.

The second mark featured faster water, and it was a little deeper in spots. Even though it was a mid-river location, there were a surprising number of Hendricksons coming off. Nothing too wow, but there were a few trout rising in the frog water edges, and farther down from us in longer pool where the current slowed. We’d switched to a Dark Hendrickson BH soft hackle on point, and our next fish, a stocked brown, ate that fly. Even though it was close of business, I wanted to make a few casts at the fish feeding downstream.

We waded down and out as far as we comfortably could. Because the fish were rolling on mergers, I removed the BH point fly and replaced it with a Dark Hendrickson winged wet. Good call, because that’s what a gorgeous high teens wild brown hen decided to eat. Great job, Michael, fighting and landing that fish! If you head over to Instagram some time today, you can see a photo.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of better wet fly action. May is a strong caddis month, and caddis are a dish best served to trout subsurface.

Small Stream report (last week): Cold and slow and wonderful

I visited a Class 1 last week — there are so many of them now! — and what the outing lacked in action was made up for in sentimentality. I’ve been fishing these waters for a long time. Walking down its banks is like opening the restaurant door when you’re meeting a friend for lunch. Like many of the newly minted Class1s, this stream has fallen on hard times in the last decade-plus. Gone are the days when I’d pricks multiple dozens of brookies and browns, some of them a fairly impressive length for such small stream in the middle of nowhere. On this day, I managed only handful of swipes and one to net.

The water was an ideal height, probably about the same temperature as the air on this chilly day, in the mid-40s.

This is typically the time of year when I’ll wade through an unproductive pool after blanking in it. My gait is rather haphazard, as I’m hoping to spook some fish and suss out their lies. I rousted virtually no one; one languid stretch had about a half dozen fish, but they were all small yearling size. I did get to enjoy a cigar, and even when I stumbled and sat in the river, soaking my hindquarters, all was right with the world. I fished a dry-dropper system for most of the outing, but what was interested showed a clear preference for the dry. But, funny thing! The only one I landed came on a micro streamer.

Skunk cabbage leafing out near the banks of a trout stream in Connecticut in April takes me back to my youth, Opening Day, Salmon River. They kinda look like tobacco plants, don’t they?

Farmington River Report 4/23/26: One-half of Bob and Andy, Hendricksons galore, but where were the trout?

I fished the lower end of PTMA yesterday from noon to 3:30pm. Once got to the river, I ran into a group of wonderfully chill gentlemanly anglers, and we had a short gab-fest before I decided to head into the river for some pre-hatch prospecting. Bob, of Bob-and-Andy fame, was also there. I’d met Bob-and-Andy at this mark many years ago, and since then, it’s really not April unless we cross paths on the river.

The wind made it an unfavorable day for casting a team of three wets, but I managed to go almost the entire session without a fouled-up leader. After an hour that produced one lonely bump, I declared to the group that one or more of three things was true: there are not a lot of fish here; the hatch is going to be underwhelming; the trout are content to feed on the bottom. It turns out that options A and C were likely in play. When the hatch finally got going, around 2:15pm, there were bugs everywhere: in the air, on the surface — and precious few trout rising to them. I’d give this hatch volume an 8 out of 10; when you can count the rises per minute on a few fingers (instead of dozens) that’s not going to make for epic fishing. Normally, with this Hendrickson hatch volume, I’d bang up a good dozen fish or more fishing wets pre-hatch and during the emergence. Not today.

Hello, old friend. This would be a male Hendrickson; three tails, darker cast, large eyes.

What did follow script was the place in the water column where the fish were feeding. Pre- and during emergence, they took the wet, until the point where they didn’t, and then it was dry flies on the surface. This is a good time to talk about shadow hatches, which I do in the Farmington River book. In addition to Hendricksons, there were also caddis and BWOs in the mix. The savvy wet fly angler will want to have at least one of those other food groups represented. What do you know? Of the three trout I took on wet flies, two came on the caddis middle dropper (Hare’s Lug and Plover).

I managed two more on the surface, bringing my total to five. At the risk of sounding ungrateful, I was not impressed. Of course, I could have gone elsewhere. But with three anglers below me and five above me, real estate was scarce. So I stayed.

Today, writing about it, I have to scold myself for being so dour. It was a sunny, April day. The Hendricksons were out. There were some rising fish who wanted to eat. I got to reconnect with old friends and make some new ones. I didn’t put two dozen in the hoop or land a 20″ wild brown. But, yeah. That’s still a really good day of fishing.