CT Freshwater Report as of 8/8/2026

CT Freshwater Report as of 8/8/2026

The Farmington

Pictured here is brothers Quincy and Gus with two tice fish recently guided by Stephen Hogan! The river has some good flow right now with the West Branch Farmington in Riverton being bumped up to 270 cfs with the Still coming down to 57 cfs for a combined flow of 327 cfs. This is a great flow and the increased flow from the dam will help keep things cool. While more water from the dam will help, 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

 

In the mornings you can expect trico spinner falls (#22-26) campground and down. You will also see some winter and summer caddis fairly small (#16-22) as well. The further upstream you go the more likely you are to find some Needhami’s (#20-22). Keep you eye out for spinners from other bugs too. Having rusty spinners #10-26 will cover a lot of bugs and can be seen at any point on the river. Through the day you can see sporadic Light Cahils (#12-14), Iso’s (#12-14), and caddis (#14-16). Keep an eye out for BWO’s with this overcast weather we are having too. Finally, don’t forget about terrestrials this is a great time for them. They can be used to prospect with or used with a dropper underneath.

The best fishing right now is still the morning and the evening. Morning stonefly bite is good as of late. This is the time of year for small thin bugs too. 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 especially after heavy rainfall. We have a slough of trout streamers by Rich Strolis in the shop currently.

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, They can still be fished as long as the water temps are safe (there aren’t many right now). On smaller freestone rivers there aren’t as many bugs (typically) as there are on the Farmington so fish feed more opportunistically. You will see mostly caddis and terrestrials. 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 a great option is the trout rivers are too warm. 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. A lot of the time when you first get them out of the water they will spit up what they’ve been eating so pay attention.

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