CT Freshwater Report as of 9/21/2026

CT Freshwater Report as of 9/21/2026

Brent Mastromarino with a stud pre-spawn brown trout caught during yesterday's rain. Great work man! 

REMINDER: As of 9/1, the entire river from the Goodwin Dam in Riverton to the Rt. 177 bridge in Unionville is now catch and release only. 

The Farmington:

The leaves are starting to change and the fishing continues to be productive! As of late, dry fly fishing has been very productive for most anglers. Although we got received some rain on Sunday, the overall flow was not affected much. The USGS gauge in Riverton reads 184 cfs, and the Still River USGS reads 38 cfs for a combined total flow around 222 cfs through the Permanent TMA. The current conditions offer a lot of diversity in fishable water; you can pick apart fast pocket water, fish pools and hunt heads, and everything in between. While less of a concern with current conditions, it is still important to keep a thermometer on you while fishing and practice taking water temperatures, especially in the afternoons if you are planning to fish from New Hartford into the lower river. The HOBO unit in New Hartford is currently under maintenance, meaning all readings are currently down until further notice. We will update as soon as this changes. 

Current Hatches:

Throughout the day you can see sporadic Light Cahill's (#12-18), and Isonychia (#12-14). These become more prevalent into late afternoon/evening, along with Hebe's (#14-18). Especially on days of cooler, cloudy weather, Blue Winged Olives (#22-26) have been on the menu as well. Small olives are a common bug hatching well into the late fall on the Farmington. For evening fishing, a great trick is to employ flies like a cream Usual, cream Spinner, or White Wulff in larger sizes (#8-14). They work well at fooling fish in those last few moments of daylight into darkness. Spinners in various sizes (#12-26) are important to have in your box, especially in the evening when various mayfly species return to mate and fall spent on the water. Also, be sure to have flying ants (#16-24) on you in the afternoons, especially on days with high humidity after a rain. Areas of best hatches for ants are around fields near the river, as the ants emerge from open areas and end up in the river. 

Below the Surface:

Nymphing windows have been short, but productive. In general, smaller nymphs are your best tools for success this time of year. An outlier to this is a large stonefly nymph (#8-12), which have been working well. Overall this is the time of year more generic patterns that cover lots of bases tend to be more successful than specific, hatch matching patterns. Just a handful of patterns can cover a wide subset of important bugs to imitate. Go-to's include Pheasant Tail/Frenchies #16-22, Walts Worms #16-22, and Perdigon style nymphs #18-22 in various body/bead colors. Higa's SOS in black or olive #18-20 is a current shop favorite small attractor nymph, along with #18-20 Egan's Rainbow Warrior's in pearl or black. Some whacky patterns with attractor elements can work very well when the bite window opens up. 

With trout in pre-spawn, windows for productive streamer fishing will present themselves. Although this is not always a sure bet, I suggest trying a larger jig streamers or articulated streamers when conditions make sense or if you see trout snapping at one another. Brighter, brown trout based colors such as yellows, tans, or whites, I find work best at getting fish to react in this state. 

Around CT

This is an excellent time of year for small streams and freestone rivers. Both native brook trout and wild browns in these rivers will mostly be in pre-spawn mode, as well as actively feeding on anything they can get their mouths on. Fish in these systems tend to feed more opportunistically, especially since spawn is now right around the corner. Some streams may have some small hatches of various mayflies or caddis, but overall most will lack strong bug life. However, prospecting with terrestrials or attractor dries, along with small streamer patterns are very productive and a great way to approach these rivers. A dry dropper setup is also effective. It is important to stay stealthy and try your best to approach each piece of water with a game plan so you spook less fish before you even make a cast. I strongly suggest if you're after the largest fish in the creek, focus on a small streamer pattern in various colors and cover as many likely pools as you can. I've caught some of the biggest trout in small river systems this time of year with this approach. 

Warm Water

September is a fantastic month to catch Smallmouth! For most rivers they reside in, these fish have put the feed bag on. Water temps are cooling, and the Smallmouth take notice. Smallmouth are very migratory, and will focus on finding the best areas to concentrate baitfish and other prey this time of year. A variety of tactics work well in the fall. In general, I find baitfish are the main attraction. On cloudy days, poppers and gurgles work well. Overall though,  streamer patterns fished on an intermediate or sinking line are the play. Try various sizes and colors, and mix up your retrieve styles. Areas with structure, such as log jams, boulders, transition lines, weed edges, and drop offs adjacent to cover, are high percentage holding spots. They are often tight to structure so getting your fly as close to structure as you can and keeping it there is important. Smallmouth love to hang in pods, so if you find one you may find a pile of them together. Smallmouth often regurgitate recently eaten prey when caught, which can help you clue in to their current feeding patterns and aid in your fly selection. 

If you're looking for a more technical, but very rewarding large fish to target this fall, carp are a great option. September is one of my favorite months to target carp as they put the feed bag on before winter. For many watersheds, fall rains raising water levels allow these fish to access feeding grounds not accessible since the spring. Sight fishing is the name of the game here, with success heavily relying on stealth and accurate presentations. You must have some sort of sight of the fish; at least enough to tell its positioning so you can accurately place your fly in front of it and "see" the take. The reward is encapsulated by a hard fought battle and a fish potentially in the 15-20lb range! We have a great selection of some specific carp flies, as well as great materials to tie some for yourself! 

Have further questions or need more advice/tips before your next outing? Please feel free to call or stop by the shop! We are more than happy to help you have success on your next fishing adventure! Tightlines! 

Location: 37 Greenwoods Rd, Unit 407, New Hartford, CT (4th Floor) 

Phone Number: (203) 343-0775

Fall Store Hours:

Monday - Sunday: 8AM - 5PM