Category Archives: General Ramblings

Back in the saddle, a Farmington first, and other Tuesday Tidbits

I just finished a yummy egg-and-cheese omelet with a side of bacon and a glass of my spicy tomato juice. And, I’m drinking a lovely cup of Columbian coffee with a tiny splash of milk as I write this. That’s right, folks, the colonoscopy is over and we’re eating with a vengeance for the rest of the day. I think perhaps pizza for lunch. Dinner is going to be leftover pulled pork and other trad BBQ sides. What?!? No beer after anesthesia? I’ll have to suffer through. Speaking of which, those of you who have suffered through the 24-hour pre-procedure prep know of which I speak. I mean, I eat five meals a day. For me, no solid food for 36 hours is a Greek tragedy. It’s hydration day, too, and then tomorrow we’re back on the program.

Last week, I guided Sheila and Nikki on the Farmington for a wet fly lesson. We fished the mid-to-lower PTMA. Hatches were light — this was mid afternoon. They both did very well with the method, and Nikki scored a gorgeous mid-teens wild brown on a Partridge and Orange (you can see the fish on my Instagram account @stevecultonflyfishing). This was her first Farmington River trout, and her first on a wet fly. We put one more in the hoop and called it a very successful outing. Great job, ladies! My spies tell me that the PTMA has been fishing well from evening into dark. It’s cornucopia bug season with Sulphurs, Isos, caddis, BWOs, midges, and more. Get on it while it’s hot.

I just finished an article for Surfcasters Journal on the importance — or not — of striper fly color. In addition to my perspective, you’ll glean insights from both surfcaster extraordinaire Toby Lapinski and sight fishing guru Alan Caolo. It’s called “Color Me Curious,” and I’ll let you know when it’s out.

I bought some new shake-and-dry product from UpCountry and will be testing it soon. I have been using Loon’s Top Ride, which I liked. This product is from TMC.

The finger is healing up nicely, as is the ankle. If you are ever in a slice-off-the-tip of your finger and the skin is hanging by a flap, the medical advice is to keep the flap on to cover the wound. Of course, you need to thoroughly clean the wound. While dead or soon to be dead, that skin is a fantastic natural bandage, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the way it healed.

Finally, with this heat dome setting up, please carry a thermometer, use it, and fish responsibly. Carry on. 🙂

Today’s lesson: Don’t be an unprepared idiot when you’re deep in the woods.

I fished the Rose River in Shenandoah National Park on Saturday, and I was a very bad Scout. You know, with the motto “Be Prepared.” I was not. I slipped on a wet rock — the substrate there, while looking very much like the substrate in CT, is far smoother, ergo less purchase — and fell hard. My first reaction in this situation is to protect my rod, which I held in my left hand. I landed hard on my right side, specifically my right outer thigh (where I’m sporting a ~most excellent~ bruise today). I clawed at something to latch onto with my right hand. (You’ll want to skip this part if you’re squeamish.) I got up, feeling the pain in my thigh, and numbness on the ring finger of my right hand. My hand was covered in blood. Great! I ripped off the tip of the finger skin, a good dime size, which was now hanging by a flap.

So, Idiot 1: I left my wading staff in the car. Idiot 2: I had no first aid kit with me. All had was a length of TP that I had had the foresight to bring along. I washed the wound in the creek, then applied some hand sanitizer to it, which was so staggeringly painful I’m getting skeeved just recalling it. I used the TP and pressure to stop the bleeding. But now what? I needed some kind of makeshift bandage. I rummaged through my back pack and was stoked to find a container of band-aids. Having them was sheer luck. This was my steelhead pack, and normally I wouldn’t have them.

Trust me: you don’t even want to see this.

Then, on the way out, as I was stepping out of the river, my right ankle bent at an odd angle. I felt a snap/crackle/pop on the inside of my ankle. This also really hurt, and I feared the worse. How the hell am I going to walk over a mile back to the car with no support (see Idiot#1). Fortunately, it was only some kind of sprain/strain. I was able, after a few minutes, to put weight on my foot. I hobbled back to the parking area. Today, I’m walking only with a slight limp.

I’m still mad at myself for not having some basics for the backcountry: staff, first aid kit, even bug spray, and some kind of signaling device. I’m working on fixing of all of this as you read this. I’ll be posting about what I find and buy in the future. Fishing trips are supposed to be fun, but there are always risks in the wild. There’s no excuse to be so unprepared. Thus chagrinned and self-admonished, here endeth the lesson.

Tuesday tidbits: Farmington River, Hatches, Articles, Book

I had a really weird session on the Farmington last Thursday. Despite a robust sulphur emergence — 8.5/10 — the wet fly bite stunk. Turns out it was due to a lack of fish. By my best estimate, this long time favorite pool was holding about 1/4 of the normal trout biomass. I had duns in the air, on the water, cripples galore, then mats of spinners. Instead of a boiling surface, I had….a rise here….and there… and then nothing…and then a lonely rise. It was incredibly discouraging. The feeding was over by 8:45pm, unheard of in these parts. I’m usually picking my way out of the river well after 9pm, crouched over, casting to trout sipping spinners. Not on this night.

On the plus side, I met some very nice anglers, and we shared the water with a most civil energy. Joe was trying to fool this wild brown, but just wasn’t able to connect. When he left, he offered me his spot. Second cast, bang! About 16″. Taken on a size 14 classic Catskills Light Cahill dry.

We are in prime sulphur time, which means you should have some soft hackles in your box. Here’s why:

Sulfurs take a good, long time to emerge from their shucks — and then sometimes, not at all. The trout get a good, long look at the food source as it drifts near the film. I fished this invaria cripple out of the water, and it was one of hundreds that never made it out of its nymphal case. Wet flies and soft hackles are a perfect match and method for this situation, as are dry fly cripple patterns.

I’m going to be writing an article for an upcoming issue of Surfcasters’ Journal. The subject will be the importance (or unimportance) of color in fly patterns. To the keyboard I go!

Finally, I hope to get on my horse and get some info out to everyone who requested a signed copy of the book. I’d like to do that by the end of the month. So stay tuned!

Angler Steve is Temporarily Farmer Steve

I love my fly fishing, but I have other interests, too. One of them is maintaining a 1,000 sq. ft. vegetable and herb garden. I also grow roses, and I do flower gardens and flowering shrubs. Did I mention my lawn?

Right now is planting time. I plant by the moon, so I have a week to work the earth and get my veggies off to a strong start. I spent the last two days digging and planting a large perennial flower garden, and replacing the eight roses that didn’t make it through the winter. I’m sure you don’t want to hear my problems, but my entire 65-year-old body is one great mass of stiff and sore. So today’s an inside day.

Why am I telling you this? Save for a guide trip next week, I’m not going fishing for a while. I may repost some oldies but goodies in the next 7-10 days, and then we’ll get back to more timely, original content. I just wanted to let you know. Of course, I appreciate your readership and your loyalty, so let me formally say thank you for that. Now, off to do all the desk chores I’ve been ignoring…

Breakfast of champions: composted cow manure, mushroom compost, planting mix, all-organic fertilizer — mix it with my native sandy clay, and you’ve got a lovely home for your plants. No chemicals in my vegetable and herb garden!

Steve Culton Interview on the Farmington River Book

In late winter I sat down with Carl Ochnio to talk about my upcoming book, Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River. (There’s still time to put your name in for a personalized signed copy.) This is part of a the “Hooking Up” interview series Carl has been doing for the CFFA. With his kind permission, I’m able to share a pdf of the entire interview. You can find it in the link below the photo.

Please note that publish date is now August 4. Sorry for any confusion!

Click to access steve_culton_cffa_interview.pdf

Here I am: book stuff, fishing stuff, schedule stuff…

A little random potpourri day on currentseams. I had written a post similar to this one, which was supposed to go live on Tuesday, but somehow WordPress ate my draft (don’t you just love when technology fails?). So here we are.

I received about two dozen requests for personalized copies of the book through me, and that’s enough for me to proceed. My next steps are to figure out how much all this will cost me (mailers, postage — probably media mail) so I can then pass the cost along to you. (How’s that for transparent business practice?) I’m hoping to have that information out by the end of the month, and if you want a signed copy from me, you still have plenty of time to let me know. I won’t ask for money until I get all those ducks in a row, and hopefully I can get books out to you before the official release day of August 4.

Fishing time has been scarce for me this spring, especially on the striper front. I didn’t go once from January through March. Normally, I’d go at least once a month in January and February. But every time I had a time and tide window, it was either sub-freezing cold front misery or a disgustingly high water. I’m really looking forward to being able to swing some flatwings in April. If the elements allow!

March can be a productive big-bass-on-the-fly-from-shore window. Not this year. At least, not for me.

On our local trout waters, it’s a tricky time of year. You basically have two options: targeting stocked trout or targeting wild and holdover trout. I must confess that playing the stocker game is fun for a while; however, I have a limited interest for that. Wild or stocked, the trout will tend to remain stacked up this time of year, even though it’s beginning to warm up and we’re seeing more bug activity. They’ll begin to spread out sometime in April. Bug-wise, think little dark stone flies and midges and caddis, which are plentiful food supplies. Of course, the Hendricksons will be the first big glamour hatch of the year, starting on the lower Farmington in about two weeks. But after last year‘s disappointing showing, that hatch remains a big question mark. We shall see.

Mrs. H, missing the middle fork of her tail.

I did get out to a small stream last week after the rains, but the water was high and cold. There were no bugs and the air temp in the 30s didn’t help. I went out this week in much warmer temperatures and a little bit lower water, and what a difference a week made. But I’ll give you more on that in a post next week.

As a newly minted member of the Regal Vise Pro-Staff, I’m working on a wet fly piece for their website (which is currently under reconstruction). I have no idea when it will post but I’ll let you know. Also look for a future blog post for me on the J. Stockard website, where I’m also a Pro Tyer.

Finally, many thanks to the Yale Fishing Club for hosting me on Tuesday night. It’s always a good time, and I’m a sucker for New Haven style pizza — well done, group! They’re going to fish the Salmon River in New York in a couple weeks, so we tied up some Blood Dot eggs which will serve them well.

The new official release date for the Farmington River book is…

August 2026. I know we were all hoping for June, but it is what it is. Believe me, I’m ready to have the Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River out right now, but I don’t get to make these decisions. So we’ll all have to be patient.

I do have a call scheduled tomorrow with the publicist, and if I learn anything new I will pass it on post haste. I’m still working on how to make a limited number of copies available on currentseams — the idea being to get you a personalized, signed copy of the book. I need to work out the numbers and then gauge interest. That’s all I have to share right now, other than Tom Petty being right (I you know, you know.)

I don’t know if it will be August 1, but I’ll try to find out tomorrow. Good thing we’ll have four months of prime fishing between now and then to keep us busy!

Thank you Cape Cod Flyrodders, an Instagram special, and news next week on the Farmington River book

A hale and heart thank you to the Cape Cod Flyrodders, who hosted me last night at their March Meeting. I was warmly greeted and treated to a ~most excellent~ meal at the Yarmouth House. (It’s always a pleasure to speak to a group that understands that a fed presenter is a happy presenter.) My Old-Fashioned Lobster Stuffed Sole was delicious, and washed down with a pint of Fiddlehead IPA. The talk, the OG “The Little Things” was similarly enjoyable — this is a dedicated, passionate group of anglers, and we had an engaging Q&A session afterward. I was also gifted some flies and a unique horseshoe crab bodkin, which was generous and also very much appreciated. I had fun. They had fun. Gentlemen, I say again: thank you very much!

Several of the group decided to follow me on Instagram — @stevecultonflyfishing — and that means that today, they get to see a Steve Culton Instagram exclusive, the Gummy Crane fly. I almost always post unique content on Instagram, like this fly pattern, so if you’re not already following me there, hop to it and you won’t miss out.

Finally, the teaser: I will have some better information for you next week on the publishing date for The Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River. So stay tuned!

Is it soup yet? Not quite. But it’s coming.

Steve Culton is officially a J.Stockard Pro Tyer!

I’ve been a long-time customer of the online fly tying supplier J.Stockard. As you know, I don’t endorse or represent anything that I’m not a big fan of, or enthusiastic user of, and that’s certainly the case with J.Stockard. In addition to being a customer, I’ve written a few articles for their site over the years, but this now means that I’ll be doing some more of that in the future. We’ll see what shape or form these contributions take; naturally, I’ll still be writing for my website! I’m honored to be a part of their Pro Tying Team — you’ll remember I recently joined the Regal Vise Pro-Staff — and I’ll do my best to represent well.

Now: this may seem like a wee bit of a dichotomy, because I’m also a firm advocate of the concept and practice of “support your local fly shop.” I happen to also be a long-time customer of UpCountry Sportfishing in New Hartford, not to mention the state’s two Orvis stores and the Compleat Angler in Darien. There’s also the new kid on the block, the Local Fly Company. My association with J.Stockard doesn’t change any of this, and I’ve been very upfront with J.Stockard on my thoughts about local fly shops. Can we all get along? I believe we can.

Either way, here I am.

New Guide Rates for 2026

I was so busy with the book in 2025 that I kept my previous year’s rates in place. But, times change. Travel distances get longer, my cost of doing business goes up, inflation is a thing, and my altruism extends only so far. So, we’ve got new rates for 2026. Some things haven’t changed: I’m still a teaching guide; still guiding part-time only; still almost never guiding on weekends; you still need to call or email me to book a date. And — I can’t emphasize this enough — I’m strongly pushing the 4-hour lesson. Anything longer than that, and people begin to fall apart, so 4 hours is the best bang for your buck. I appreciate everyone who’s already booked time with me this year, and I’m looking forward to spending time with you on the water, and helping you improve your angling skills.

You can find my general guiding information page here, and my rates/trip checklist here.