Pictured is yours truly (Torrey), the guy that writes these reports, with a colored up 19" wild brown I landed Tuesday evening on a #22 nymph. Minutes later I landed one only slightly smaller on a #14 nymph. There was a bite window for better fish from about 6:30pm to 7pm. Derrick was fishing downstream from me, and he landed an 18.5" wild brown on a nymph in the same time slot.  

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River Report:
The fishing has been good, and the hatches & dry fly fishing has been the best we have seen in years. I have been fishing the last couple of days and I've been seeing plenty of bugs. Hatches include Isonychia #10-14, Blue Winged Olives #18-24, assorted Caddis #16-24, Hebe's/Yellow Quills #16-18 (sort of a late season Sulfur), Summer Steno's/Light Cahills #12-14, Yellow Sally #12-16, Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24, Flying Ants #16-24, and plenty of tiny Midges. Still some Trico's #22-26 around, but mostly upriver and they are near the end. Yesterday morning I saw numerous large Stonefly nymph shucks on the rocks in/near fast water- they averaged #6-10 if you were using a 3xl hook. Don't sleep on big Stoneflies, especially if you like catching bigger fish.  

Total flow in the Permanent TMA/Catch & Release is 195cfs this morning, a normal, medium-low level, very nice for wading & fishing, especially dry fly fishing. The Riverton USGS flow gauge is reading 180cfs at the Rt 20 bridge, and the Still River is adding in 15cfs a little below that. Water temps have ranged from the mid 50's in the mornings in Riverton, to the mid 60's in the afternoons in New Hartford & Canton. Because we've maintained cold water temps, bug activity and fishing have both been well above average. Because the Farmington River is a cold tailwater, you will often see "evening hatches" in the mornings & afternoons. Bugs don't read hatch books lol.

Fishing has been good for me this week. Even got a 4" wild rainbow trout, an uncommon occurence on our river. Landed several wild browns in the 17-19" range, some 6-12" wild browns, some stocked and holdover browns, numerous fat rainbows (quite a few in the 15-17" class), salmon parr, and one very pretty brook trout. Those rainbows fight HARD, some of them were like small Steelhead and did multiple jumps and ripped line out. Fun stuff. While I did get some fish on larger nymphs (Iso's, Stoneflies, Hare's Ears), the lion's share (including my biggest fish) came on smaller ones in the #18-22 range. Small bugs are FAR more numerous than larger  ones currently. 

Nymphing remains a consistent producer when trout aren't rising. A lot of the best fishing currently is in riffly water with a bit of current and some chop to it, whether you are fishing nymphs or dry flies. Many bugs live and hatch in faster water, and the evening egg-laying/spinner falls occurs where the riffles are. Smaller, heavy jig streamers fished slow & deep are a great fly to fish after you are done nymphing a run, often producing a bonus fish or two or three. Junk Flies (Mops, Eggs, Worms) are also good "clean up batter" flies. 

Make sure you have Flying Ants with you. There have been a mix of sizes from #16's to #24's. Typically a mid/late afternoon to evening deal. Match the size, or you may be highly frustrated. Trout love ants and will often key on them to exclusion of anything else. The ideal scenario for flying ants is a warm/humid day with a little rain the day before to get them to do a mating swarm.

September often means using smaller nymphs in the #18-22 range- this can be the difference between a very slow outing and a banner day. Most nymphs are small to very small in late summer/early fall. A good strategy at our current flows is to use a heavier #16-18 nymph at the bottom of your rig, and a smaller lighter pattern on a dropper 18-24" above. On your top dropper, you can even use an unweighted fly, a brass bead nymph, or a soft hackle/wet fly if your anchor fly on point is heavy enough to get your rig down. Two nymphs that break the rules of smaller flies are Isonychia #12-14 in the afternoon & evening, and Stoneflies (black, brown or yellow) #8-10 in the mornings. Use 5x for the large nymphs, and 6x for the others. Look for areas of faster current with rocks and structure, plus places where the water is slowing into the heads of pools. Focus on deeper slots, which you can locate by the darker looking water. Look for water shaded by trees and hills, keeping an eye on the angle of the sun on bright days. Position yourself so you are not throwing a shadow on the water you are fishing- the low sun angle in the fall throws long shadows that can spook trout if they go over a trout. Euro nymphing is working well in fast water. Traditional indicator nymphing is better in slower water, when fishing at distance, or on really windy days. Dry/Dropper with a small weighted nymph 18-24" under a buoyant and visible dry fly is also effective and fun, especially in shallow water and also slower water. They normally eat the nymphs, but you do get some bonus dry fly eats.

Hatches: 

Dries: 

- Isonychia #10-14: Fast water bug, usually hatches mid-afternoon to dark. Even if you don't see any hatching and no trout are rising, you can successfully blind-fish these in riffly water that you would normally nymph. Hatch usually goes at least into November on our river, but the bugs get smaller over time.

- Blue Winged Olives/BWO’s #18-24: afternoon hatch on cloudy days and later in the day when the sun goes off the water on days with blue skies.

- Hebe #16-18 (Little Yellow Quill): a dull yellow Sulfur-type mayfly we see in August/September in the late afternoon & evenings. 

- Assorted Caddis (tan, olive/green #16-20, black, gray #18-22) 

- Tricos #22-26: the main event for this morning hatch is the spinner fall, which normally happens when the air temps hit 68 degrees. Mostly upriver and near the end of the hatch now.

- Hoppers, Crickets, Beetles & Ants #12-20: great option from late morning to late afternoon.

- Yellow Sally #12-18: A smaller Stonefly that lives in fast water, looks like a miniature Golden Stone. Trout have been eating them on the surface at dusk.

- Light Cahill/Summer Steno #12-14: evenings

- Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24: hatch is typically early to mid morning. Trout focus on the pupa first, and then as the morning progresses they normally switch to the winged adults when they return to egg-lay. Try both twitching & dead-drifting your fly, trout often key on movement with this bug. 

- Midges #20-28: 365 days a year, underrated and overlooked by many anglers. 

Nymphs:

- Caddis Pupa #16-18 (tan, olive, green)

- Caddis Larva (olive, green, tan cream) #14-16: tons of these in the river, good all year

- Pheasant Tails/Frenchies #12-22: imitates a wide range of Mayflies including Hebe's (Yellow Quill), Baetis/Blue Winged Olives, Isonychia, and small Stoneflies.

- Walt's Worm #14-20: great general purpose nymph that suggests many different bugs, especially Caddis on this river. 

- Isonychia Nymph #10-14: dead-drift, swing, twitch, and even strip them in. They are great swimmers, and some days trout prefer different presentations- you won't know until you experiment. Use B-MAR Isonichia, large Prince Nymphs & Pheasant Tails to represent them. 

- Baetis/BWO Nymphs #16-22

- Yellow Sally #14-18: small Stonefly that looks like a miniature Golden Stone. Lives under rocks in fast water. Active & hatching in September here. 

- Junk Flies (Eggs, Mops, Squirmy/San Juan Worms, Green Weenies): Often work when standard nymphs fail, especially when there aren’t many hatches.

 - Large Stonefly Nymphs #8-10: golden/yellow, brown, black, Stoneflies are a mouthful that can be hard for trout to pass up, and there are a surprising amount of them in the river. Good choice when flows are up. Some days when trout won’t move for a small nymph, it takes a bigger bite of food to get an eat. Often catches larger than average fish. Best in early morning during summer. Look for the empty shucks on top of rocks where they crawl out to emerge in fast water.

 - Midges #18-22 (black, olive, red): Zebra Midge, Flash Midge, Red Iris Midge, etc.

Streamers:

-Periods of higher/dirty water are a great time to fish big streamers and target big trout. Also early & late in the day during periods of low light. They are a good clean-up fly to try before right before you leave a spot. 

-Woolly Bugger #4-12: assorted colors, try also Don's Peach Bugger

-Zonker #4-6: a classic fish catcher! In white, natural

-BMAR Yellow Matuka #6: deadly fly! Also standard Matuka in olive, brown

-Zuddler #4-6: olive, brown, white, black, yellow-

-Articulated Streamers 4-6" long: various patterns to target the biggest trout in the river

-Muddler Minnow #6-10: and old classic that is still deadly

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