CT Freshwater Report as of 8/3/2026

CT Freshwater Report as of 8/3/2026

The Farmington

Pictured here is Brent Mastromarino with a good brown! The river has some good flow right now with the West Branch Farmington in Riverton is at 151 cfs with the Still coming down to 467 cfs for a combined flow of 618 cfs. Looks like some more rain in store for this week so we may get another bump to the still. Be safe when wading and keep an eye on how the upcoming rain effects flow. Have a thermometer on you when fishing still, water can still heat up and better safe then sorry. Here is the link to the hobo unit behind upcountry to check water temps as well: LI-COR Cloud

 

The sulphur hatch pretty much all upstream now, riverton area, (#18-20). Early morning caddis have been productive especially upriver. Try dry dropper with a pupa. While not very strong needhamis are happening in the morning church and down. BWO should strong in the evenings, especially with this weather (#18-24). The smaller the better for the most part, also look for their spinner that may fall especially if there is a break in the weather. For nymphs think small mayfly stuff, with caddis and stones in the morning. Lots of spinners in the evening (BWO and Sulphurs). Larger stones in the morning is also a productive bug right now.

The best fishing right now is the morning and the evening. Look to the edges of the river right now with the higher flows. Current breaks and side channels are gonna be good places to look for fish. Morning stonefly bite is good as of late. Prospecting with Iso’s is a good thing to try all day. Now is also a great time to fish the “junk” type flies and bigger streamers. High dirty water makes these flies great choices. Things like larger mops and squirmes are great.

Around CT

Please be mindful of water temps on small streams. Now is the time when they start to warm up so have a thermometer on you. With that being said, bugs off the Farmington are about the same. On smaller freestone rivers there aren’t as many bugs (typically) as there are on the Farmington so fish feed more opportunistically. Don’t be afraid to go a little bigger in fly choice on the smaller rivers. Dry dropper has been a great technique for the small stream as of late. Saty stealthy and try your best to approach from behind the fish.

Warm Water

Small mouth are in full swing. They are on frogs pretty good right now, fish them slower for smallmouth, they eat a lot better on a slow delicate retrieve. Mix in the “wigglies” which are just the insect like imitation’s, fish them slow with light movements. They will eat those pretty well. They are tight to structure so look for log jams or big rocky areas. Try to get your fly as close to structure as you can. We have some big flies from hooksetters in the shop.

Carp are also a hot fish right now to target. We have a good selection of some carpy flies as well as the materials you need to tie some up for yourself!

If you go out and have any questions, feel free to stop by the shop, we are more than happy to help you with whatever you need. As always, tight lines!

 

Location: 37 Greenwoods Rd, New Hartford, CT

Number: (203) 343-0775

Hours:

Monday - Thursday                    8AM – 6PM

Friday – Saturday                        6:30AM – 6PM

Sunday                                            6:30AM – 5PM