Tag Archives: Farmington River guide

Farmington River Report early September: a wet fly lesson, broodstock sampling, challenging conditions

I guided — we’ll call him “Bob” because he’s in incognito mode — last Thursday. We did a little dry fly and a lot of wet fly. The Farmington can be a highly technical dry fly arena, and sometimes it comes down a perfect drift and a little luck. But a good starting place is a long leader. I was happy to see that Bob was using a 13-foot minimum line-to-fly leader/tippet length. We added a couple more feet of 6x and had at it. Unfortunately, we missed the Trico spinner fall, but we did manage some practice, and by the time we made the decision to go to wets, Bobs drifts were noticeably better.

We spent the next six hours on classroom, then banging around the PTMA, as well as above and below it. Like many people who take a wet fly lesson with me, Bob had to learn to wait a few beats — “Are you still there?” — after the hit to let the trout hook itself. We missed a handful of strikes, but stuck four and landed three, which was pretty darned good under some tough conditions. Low water/seasonal hint: all of our hookup came in fast, bubbling water.

A lovely wild brown from the PTMA, taken by Bob on my Drowned Ant soft hackle. And on the first cast! At first, Bob thought he was hung up on a boulder. But boulders don’t shake their heads…

Which brings us to the conditions. We’re out of meteorological summer, and the water is running clear and low. Because of the drought, the trees are behaving like it’s fall, turning color and especially shedding leaves. On windy days from now until the trees are bare, expect organic matter to be blowing into the river. Leaves were a constant challenge for us on this gusty day. The trout and bugs are also in a transition. Most of what’s hatching is very small (there are exceptions, like Isonychia). The trout are getting into pre-spawn mode. This adds up to more frequent windows where fish are much harder to catch. Bob was the only angler I saw land a fish on Thursday, and we encountered multiple anglers who were astonished by our success. Well done, Bob!

But wait, there’s more. Normally, the slug of rain we received over the weekend would mix things up a bit. However, Tuesday through Thursday this week, the CT DEEP will be drawing down the dam release to do their annual broodstock sampling. You can still fish the river, but vast stretches will be rendered as rock gardens. If you do fish, please give the sampling crews a wide berth. Things should be back to normal by Friday.

However, that normal will still mean challenging fishing — which makes every trout you land even sweeter. Catch ’em up!

First week of September Potpourri: Speaking, Guiding, Book, Flows….

Just when you think you’re going to have more time to do writing…you don’t. I have to confess that I didn’t take into account that I would be this busy with non-fishing pursuits, but here we are. It’s mostly yard-home-garden-kitchen — ’tis the season for drying hot peppers, and making tomato and hot sauces — like the tides, ripe fruits wait for no one — and that’s the current situation. Still, I have much to talk about.

If you’re the person in charge of booking speakers for your fly fishing club, I have openings this fall and winter. You can find my presentation menu here. Be advised that when the Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River is published next year, I will want to come out and speak to your group about the book and the river. Something to look forward to!

I’m booked for the rest of the month with guide trips. Thanks to everyone who reached out! We are in rainfall deficit, so they’ve dropped the flow out of the Hogback gate to 165cfs. Note the release temperatures, and how they increase during the day (these readings are in Riverton, not at the gate). Be aware of water temps downstream. You should be OK through the PTMA, but carry and use your thermometer.

I’m supposed to get copy galleys for the book — this will be what the publisher has edited, in document form — mid-month. After I make comments, it goes back to them. It’s all very exciting. I’ll be locked away in my lonely writer’s garret that week, but if you see me on the river the other weeks, please say hello.

Next up will be the Montana trip, Part 2.

Farmington River book timeline update

TGIF! I did a little fishing this week, and a lot of house- and yardkeeping, along with various other tasks. We got a wee slug of rain, which made a slight dent in our water deficit.

To the Fly Fishing Guide to the Farmington River book news. I should have copy edits for review in mid September. Fly photo review is next. Then the whole shebang goes into layout and typesetting, then back to me for review. That should happen by the end of October. Once final edits are made, we get into physical production. A revised target release date is June 2026! I know you’re excited and can’t wait — as am I — but like an angler resting a fussy fish, we’ll all just have to be patient.

No reason to be crabby! The book is moving along, and I’ll raise a glass (or a plastic cup) to that.

Meanwhile, I’ve started putting together my Montana report (no, really). Look for the first installment next week.

If you’re not doing so already, you should be following me on Instagram

Long-time currentseamsers already know this, but for the newer folks — or for the procrastinators among us (of which I’m one!) — it bears repeating. I have an Instagram account, and on it you’ll find unique material that you won’t see here. For example, in the last couple weeks I’ve posted two how-to videos, one wet fly, and one nymphing, for smallmouth bass. (Now that the book is “done,” I’m hoping to be doing more videos.) Hop to it. You can find and follow me on Instagram at stevecultonflyfishing.

Come see what you’ve been missing on Instagram at stevecultonflyfishing.

And, we’re back! (Plus some odds and ends.)

Hopefully, you noticed I didn’t post last week. Maybe you even missed me a little. I was way out west — Montana, Idaho, Wyoming — on a family vacation. Oh, you betcha there was fishing. I’ll get to that in greater detail later this week, but for now, I fished the Kootenay in NW Montana, Hebgen Lake in southern Montana, and the Madison and Henry’s Fork rivers in Montana and Idaho. We drove around Yellowstone and Grand Teton for a couple days, but (sadly) no fishing in either location for me.

I’ve never been to this part of the country, let alone fished it, so it was all new and wondrous. The water I fished was unlike anything we have back here.

You’re kidding, right? We stayed in a private cabin on the banks — really, as this is the view just a few feet from the back porch — of the Kootenay River in northwestern Montana, a ‘way up near Canada. That far north, and at the western edge of the Mountain Time Zone, it gets dark late. This photo was taken at 9:24PM!

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Before I left, I finished a piece for Surfcaster’s Journal on fishing small flies for striped bass. This will be essential reading for anyone who’s interested in fishing a three-fly team in marshes with small bait-imitating flies, or sight fishing with smaller patterns on beach fronts or flats. I’ll let you know when it comes out.

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I just received the first pass on rendered maps for the Farmington River book, and I think they look great! My goal was to have a graphically simple, eye-to-brain-friendly design for you, dear reader, and the artist hit it out of the park. There’s a large overview map, and then five detail maps that focus on the 22-mile stretch from Hogback to Farmington.

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On the home front, the Farmington is running at a fantastic, cool, trout-friendly summer level, reminiscent of yesteryear when the MDC wasn’t toying with the flows. Tricos are the big little hatch right now, which horrifies night owls like me. Get on it, early birds, while you can.

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Finally, I have some availability the rest of this month and through September for guide trips/lessons. If you’ve been hemming and hawing about getting out with me, this is best time to do it for the rest of the year. I used guides on my trip out west, and even I learned a ton — I’m a better angler than before I left. You know where to find me.

The best wet fly dropper material continues to be old reliable: Maxima Ultragreen

Part of my wet fly lessons includes leader construction. As we’re building a team of three flies, I tell students that the single best material I’ve found for dropper rigs is 4-lb. Maxima Ultragreen. In fact, I tell them, it’s the only stuff I use. But every once in a while, I try to cheat the process and make the tag with some other stuff, thinking it will be OK. And it usually isn’t.

The most recent incident came last week when I tied a simple two-fly wet fly team for smallmouth. I lazily decided to attach a piece of Maxima Ultragreen to the end of the tapered 3x leader. A few casts into my fishing, the non-Maxima tag section was already tangling. What do you know? I re-rigged the leader with Maxima Ultragreen 4lb for the dropper tag and point fly, and suddenly all was right with the world.

The one, the only. Accept no subsitutes.

How much do I love and use this stuff? I buy it in the One Shot spool size, which gets you 280 yards of glorious green dropper goodness. I just wrap 30 yards of it around a smaller spool, and it fits easily into my pack or on my tippet holder. It’s so true: confidence catches fish.

Extra! Extra! Read all about Terrestrials!

Holy mixed metaphors, Batman! Or would that be idioms? Either way, I wanted to talk about terrestrials today, specifically wet or sunken flies.

It’s prime terrestrial season in these parts. Hoppers, Stimulators, beetles, crickets, ants, flying ants — they’re all fair game. I believe most anglers think of terrestrials as dry flies, and that’s not surprising. Watching a trout stomp a hopper or sip an ant from the surface is one of the big bonuses of summer fishing. Terrestrials also make great floaters for dry-dropper combos, whether it’s a single wet or nymph dropped off a hook bend, or a classic three-fly rig like the hopper-copper-dropper. I like to wander the Farmington’s riffles, runs, and glides on a breezy summer afternoon and prospect with a terrestrial dry and dropper.

But sometimes, I’ll do my terrestrial fishing subsurface. Consider this: what happens to all those hapless land insects that fall into the river? They struggle, and some get eaten. I think most don’t — get eaten — at least not on the surface. All that unconsumed biomass eventually sinks, and becomes a new item on the subsurface menu. Drowned bugs are easier to eat, and require less risk for the trout to dine. Winner: you.

Was a big golden stone. Now, it’s a hapless hopper.

Here are a couple wet flies to get you started on your summer terrestrial wetstravaganza. The Drowned Ant is an old favorite, not too hard to tie, and can be completed with very easy-to get materials. It’s been one of my most consistent producers since I created it. If you’re a fan of the oddball and obscure, try the Hopper Hammerdown, which is based on a steelhead stonefly by Dave Hall. The hits are electric.

Just make sure you have plenty of 4lb. Maxima Ultragreen.

Getting better all the time

I tend to look at fly fishing as one big, fun, science project. Figuring things out, making new discoveries, trying a new fly or method that produces good results — these are just a few of the rewards that await the curious angler. As most of you know, I’m a teaching guide, and my guide trips are lesson-based. The guides I use when I fish for pleasure know the marching orders: tell me when I’m doing something wrong, show me how I could do it better, teach me things I don’t know (or have forgotten). No matter how good you think you are, we all have something to learn. That’s how you get better.

Since I’m a put your money where your mouth is kind of guy, on Monday I accepted 2025 Orvis Guide of the Year Antoine Bissieux’s gracious invitation to tag along and participate in his class with French world champion Bertrand Jaquemin. We won the weather lottery with a good flow and gorgeous weather. The class began at Orvis in Avon at 10am, and we were on the river about 12:30pm. It was gratifying to see that other people include off-the-water classroom as part of their lessons.

I can see this method working for pressured or skittish steelhead in low, clear water. Hmmmmmm……

The focus of the class was long-leader upstream presentations to pressured trout. Although the business end of the rig is a small nymph, the presentation and drift management was not unlike an upstream dry or wet fly drift. I’m guessing after the fact — I don’t have the leader with me — that the leader was about 15 feet long. It includes a sighter, which I had trouble seeing — that’s a problem with a sighter — until Bertrand ran it along a knife edge to curly pigtail it. Visual acquired! While I didn’t connect with a fish, I did see the benefits of this style of fishing. More practice time on the water is needed before I can render a better judgement on the method. (I prefer to be lazy and work downstream. This is upstream, and requires stealth and vigilance.) I’m not arguing that it’s not productive; I’m just not sure it’s right for me. And happiness and confidence catches fish.

I was dopey enough not to take pictures, so my bad. Many thanks to Bertrand and Antoine for sharing their knowledge.

The importance of keeping a log

Although I’ve been fishing for over five decades, I didn’t start keeping a fishing log until the summer of 2004. At this point in my life, I was seriously devoted to fly fishing. Being an autodidact, I reckoned that I’d learn more, quicker, and retain more if I could journal and reference my outings. I wasn’t wrong.

Since then, I have logged every fishing trip and every lesson I’ve given. I’ve filled six 192-page books with all kinds of data: place, time, date, water and air conditions, and then a journal-style description of the outing: what worked, what didn’t, what I think I could have done better, etc. What were the hatches/bait, and how strong were they? How were other people doing? What did I do well?

My O.G. log entry about a Farmington River outing with old pal Paul Kingsford. I didn’t even know some of the proper names of the pools; that’s Hawes, aka Bikini Rock, that I called “the big rock boulders/cliffs.” I haven’t changed the format all that much in the last 20+ years.

About 10 years ago, when life seemed to get exponentially busier, I got into a good/bad habit: voice recording my outings, then transcribing them into the journal. It was good because I didn’t have to write it all down immediately; the recording was made minutes after getting off the water, so everything was fresh in my memory. Later, during transcription, I might remember additional details. The bad habit part began when I would get lazy and not fill the pages with reports for weeks. I beg to report that my sloth has gotten so profound that I am now two years — you read that right — behind on my transcriptions. I’ll be getting to that shortly after I post this.

Some of you may wonder why, with today’s e-tech, I even bother handwriting it. Fair point. But I’m an analog guy at heart, and there’s something about my own script that adds humanity to what would otherwise be a cold, antiseptic printed document. Besides, I like my leather-bound hardcover books.

These books are more than a nostalgic preservation of memories. They’re a detailed roadmap to success. I can watch my progression as a fly fisher. I can observe how my best practices evolve. Not everyone’s a writer, but my journals were an invaluable resource when I was writing my Farmington River book. And these journals serve as a bittersweet reminder of what we’ve lost: the epic blitzes on Block Island, the prodigious power of the W/S Caddis hatch, the 50 smallmouth nights on the Housatonic. I still have it all at my fingertips.

I like to say during a lesson or a presentation that I’m not right. But I’ll stand by this statement: if you want to become a better angler — and catch more fish — you should be keeping a log.

Farmington River Report 7/8/25: Dodging thunderstorms, swinging wets, catching trout

John and Chris took a wet fly lesson with me on Tuesday, and we were having grand old time — a little streamside classroom action, a leader tying clinic, lots of fantastic Q&A (very inquisitive minds, these two, which I loved). When we finally got into the water, darkness fell across the land, and the thunder rumbles began.

This is good time to say this: get out of the water and seek shelter if there’s a threat of electrical storms. I am routinely astonished that some people still don’t do that. End of public service announcement.

We drove along the river trying in vain to find sunshine, which took about an hour. By then, the storm was over, and we had blue skies and hot weather. We headed north to fish above the PTMA. Finally able to wet a line, we got into some fish, although in the bright sunshine they didn’t come easy. It wasn’t until after the session ended that John and Chris were able to test their new wet fly skills. Both took multiple trout during the evening rise. Tremendous job, gentlemen. Your instructor couldn’t be prouder!

This brown fell for my Partridge and Light Cahill soft hackle. So simple and so effective! John Ryan photo