Monday 1/5/14 Report: Check out this 30 second video showing a bug sampling from Sunday, kindly provided by customer Wade, its pretty darn cool. Make sure you have a new license before you fish in 2015. Rain & snowmelt Sunday bumped up the Still River by about 140cfs, bringing total flow in permanent C&R section up to a very fishable 492cfs, it is peaked and now dropping. Saturday saw a good Winter Caddis hatch, Sunday almost none (probably due to water temp drop from snow melting into river). Sun & clouds today with a high in the upper 30s. Minus 4 degrees forecasted for Wednesday night, so if you head out fishing Thursday, wait until at least late morning so things can thaw out. Next weekend should be mid/upper 20s with a mix of sunshine & clouds. Water temps have been averaging in the mid 30s, and depending upon air temps, sunshine, time of day, and where you are in relation the dam- they can be higher or lower than that, with sunny days seeing the biggest temp increases. If you want to try to catch the Winter Caddis hatch, we recommend starting relatively early (most days). Other than that, and especially on colder days, the better & more comfortable fishing is late morning through late afternoon when air temps are higher- this gives the water a chance to warm a degree or two, which gets both the trout & the bugs more active. I personally look forward to winter/cold weather fishing on the Farmington, as there are less fishermen out most days, and when present in greater numbers on milder weekends they usually focus on Church Pool & Greenwoods- if you stay away from the super popular spots, you will likely have some elbow room. The Catch 22 is that those are two of the best dry fly pools this time of year. Ahh, decisions, decisions.... In terms of dry fly action, mornings will typically see Winter Caddis (sz 20-24), and Midges (sz 22-28) will normally hatch in the afternoons throughout the winter, and can provide good fishing on the surface, especially on milder days without too much wind. These are both GENERAL rules, and often you will see the caddis continue into the afternoons, and sometimes the midges will start hatching in the late morning. Nymphers overall have been getting the best results lately, especially on windy days that have been so common so far this winter (significant wind causes less rising activity, and makes it tough to fish small dries). Dont be afraid to fish some some gaudier/flashy/attractor-type nymphs in the winter, the trout often show a preference for them in cold water. If you are fishing streamers, remember that a slower presentation (swinging and/or slow stripping & twitching) matches up with the slower trout metabolism due to colder water temps- but as always, play with your presentation and let the trout tell you how they prefer it, they may still want a bit faster strip at moments. Try using a floating line and bouncing/hopping a Fishskull Skulpin Bunny on the bottom- use a 0x-2x tippet with this pattern & method, that fly is heavily front-weighted and rides hook point up. The one MAJOR exception to the general winter rule of the best fishing being late morning through late afternoon is the Winter Caddis hatch, which often starts up not long after first light after milder nights, and is typically an AM deal (although some days it continues well into the afternoon). We have the specialized fly patterns you need to match this somewhat unique hatch- the females are wingless and run on the waters surface. Midges normally mostly hatch in the afternoons. Subsurface, egg flies (sz 10-18) are still hot most days, along with medium to large stones (8-12), caddis larva (sz 12-18 ), midge larva/pupa (sz 16-22, especially in red), and attractor nymphs (sz 12-18 in Red Headed Stepchild, Copper Johns, blue Lightning Bugs, Yellow Prince, Rainbow Warrior, etc.)- a little flash in your pattern seems to help with the smaller nymphs, we have some great new patterns to check out. Some days the streamer bite has been good, and others not so much- its important to experiment with colors (white has been above average) & retrieves and let the trout tell you what they prefer- it can very from day to day, and even during the day as light conditions change. -Torrey
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:13:29 +0000