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Northeast Fishing Report 7/17/2026
Hello Compleat Angler Friends! Things have been hot, hazy, and quiet this week. With the freakishly poor air quality thanks to the fires up north, staying off the river might be wise. While trout are still being taken on local rivers, switching to species better equipped for the warm water conditions might be more ethical. Think smallmouth, largemouth, carp, and even panfish. Nothing fights harder than a solid bluegill on a butter stick! Striped bass are still playing hard to get in the Sound, not unusual for July, but hopefully the recent new moon cycle shook things up for the better.
Read on for more…
Connecticut
Local Rivers
Flows on the Saugatuck have dropped majorly over the last week, with the current CFS at around 11.6 CFS. Trout have been extremely picky with the low, clear water, so hopefully this should open up the bite a bit more. Local hatches are still consisting of Sulphurs and Caddis, and evening dry fly fishing has been productive ifyou can locate the trout, which have been very skittish with all the heat and weather changes we've had.
Dry Fly Hatches:
Nymphs:
General Mayfly Attractor 14-18
Streamers:
Krystal Bugger (Black, Chartreuse, Brown, Olive, White, Burnt Orange) 6-12
Naugatuck River
The Naugatuck has dropped as well, now at 104 CFS. With warmer water, seeking out trout during the early morning and late evenings will be better for the fish and for your chances of success. If you are itching to get on the water, focus on smallmouth or largemouth bass in the river during the sunlight hours of the day, and transition to trout once the light and temperatures have dropped.
Farmington River
The total flow below the Still River and in the Permanent TMA/C&R is 133 CFS (low but very fishable), with the Still contributing 17 CFS to the total. Riverton is 116 CFS (low and definitely fishable) at the USGS gauge by the Rt 20 bridge (Hitchcock/Riverton Self Storage). Historically the normal/median total flow in years with normal rainfall would be about 250-300cfs in mid July. The water is still coming out of the dam in the mid 40’s, which is amazing for the middle of July, and then it slowly rises as you move downstream and further from the dam.
Don’t forget about Terrestrials, especially Ants & Beetles, they are very active in the summer. If they are not rising (often the case), go subsurface with nymph & wet flies/soft hackles, blind fish an Attractor dry fly, or do a Dry/Dropper rig with a nymph 18-24” under a buoyant/visible dry. Don’t go too heavy if you are nymphing during low water conditions (often the case this time of year), or you will hang bottom constantly and not catch fish. Plus you don’t need to dredge bottom this time of year. Streamers are at their best during first and last light, and at their worst in the middle of a bright, sunny day. Mousing at night is a good option for big brown trout, keep your leader very short and heavy.
Sulfurs are a mix of #16 Invaria and #18 Dorothea- make sure you have BOTH sizes, trout can be picky on that. Sulfur hatches are trending more toward #18’s now. Typically an evening hatch, but the further upriver you are the more the chances you may see an early to mid afternoon hatch of them. Assorted Caddis going from #16-24 (tan, olive/green, black, gray) are major players. Most Caddis hatching occurs from about mid morning to early afternoon, and then the adults come out in the evening to egg-lay in riffly water. July is the peak Isonychia (“Iso”) month. Isonychia are a big #8-12 fast water bug that typically emerge between late afternoon and dark. You can even blind fish them over likely looking fast water. This is one of my absolute favorite hatches. Iso’s will continue right into the mid fall time period, but they get smaller as the season progresses, and the color changes from brownish to more of an olive color. #10 is about average for them currently, but some are bigger, some are smaller. Other bugs in the mix include #14 Light Cahills in the evenings, and #18-24 and smaller Blue Winged Olives (evenings, cloudy afternoons). Look also for #18-20 Attenuata in the eves, and Needhami #22-26 spinners & duns in the mornings, along with the Winter/Summer Caddis #18-24.
Dry/Dropper with a Caddis dry and a trailing weighted pupa 1-2’ below can be an effective combo during a Caddis emergence- they usually take the pupa, and the dry acts as a suspender/indicator, but sometimes they eat the dry. Frequently the better dry fly action for Caddis is when they come back later in the day to egg-lay, usually in the low light of evenings. And sometimes swinging wet flies/soft hackles is the way to go when Caddis are hatching and/or egg-laying. On average, they are much better/faster swimmers than Mayflies, which is why the takes to them are often violent and trout will sometimes jump out of the water. They also tend to be most active in faster, broken water like riffles, pool heads, pocket water, etc. When fishing Caddis dries, sometimes the fish want them dead-drift, but frequently they won’t eat it unle
Dry Fly Hatches:
Nymphs:
General Mayfly Attractor 14-18
Streamers:
Krystal Bugger (Black, Brown, Olive, White, Burnt Orange) 6-12
Larger Articulated Streamers on a sinking/sink tip line
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River at Falls Village is reading 251 CFS, which is much lower than where we were last week. Streamers have been working well with smallmouth in white and pink, and craw patterns are performing well. Certain sections of the river are quite pressured and warm, so hiking on foot between Cornwall and Kent is not a bad idea. Trout are hard to come by due to the warm weather, but sightcasting to big bronzebacks is an amazing way to switch up your approach during summer months, and helps give pressured trout a much deserved break. Craw flies, poppers, hoppers, and streamers will all be effective, and might even scare up a nice brown.
Dry Fly Hatches:
Nymphs:
General Mayfly Attractor 14-18
Streamers:
Krystal Bugger (Black, Brown, Olive, White, Burnt Orange) 6-12
Larger Articulated Streamers on a sinking/sink tip line
New York
Salmon River
No quality report this week, warm water and low catches.
Catskills
The release from Cannonsville is 500 cfs. So far today is way less smokey than yesterday. We may see some patches of smoke or haze move through but it should be nothing like we’ve had over the last two days. Sulphurs, Cahills, Isonychias, olives, and some caddis are all out on the water. There are some tiny olives mixed with the sulphurs in Deposit so keep an eye out for those. Stick to the lower West if you want to nymph. The algae has been bad up top making it a dry fly game.
Today will be 81 degrees and partly cloudy. Wind will be 5 – 10 mph from the North.
What’s Hatching:
Dark Blue Wing Olive – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Sulphur – 16 – 20 – Ephemerella dorothea
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydrosyche sp
Light Cahill – #14 – Epeorus vitreus, Ephemerella invaria, Stenacron spp.
Slate Drake – #12-2xl – 12 – Isonychia bicolor
CT Saltwater
Same as last week, the stripers are around, but they are deep. As most people have expressed, this season has been strange. While there has been a fine quantity of larger fish around, we have seen a distinct lack of schoolies, bluefish, including snappers, and even scup and sea robin. Hopefully the recent new moon shakes things up, and maybe the fall run will resemble something we have seen in the past, but as of right now, even experienced guides can't make heads or tails of the recent trends.