Hello Compleat Angler Friends! If it's not blistering hot, it's dumping two inches of rain. Last night we saw a major storm roll through, and most of our local rivers like the Saugatuck, the Mianus, and the Norwalk River are completely washed out. Thankfully, the Farmington and Housatonic seem relatively unaffected for flows, so you should still be able to target trout and smallies!
In the Sound, its business as usual. More bait is arriving by the day in the Western Sound, with peanut bunker being the main forage, so small pop flies, clousers, snot bait will work in and around the river mouths and harbors. Deeper water will require an upgrade.
Read on for more…
Connecticut
Local Rivers
Flows on the Saugatuck have skyrocketed to 385 CFS. Rivers such as the Mianus, Mill, and Norwalk Rivers are in a similar state. Giving these rivers a few days to calm down is a good idea. If you choose to investigate the fishing this weekend, exercise caution.
The Naugatuck is now at 957 CFS but trending downward, so hopefully things should be much calmer by next week. If you choose to fish the river this weekend, exercise caution.
Farmington River
Water levels on the Farmington near Unionville are reading around 232 CFS, which is a fairly moderate water level despite the recent rain.
Getting good to excellent dry fly reports, especially from those fishing in the evenings, so don’t leave too early! Later in the day look for Isonychia #10-12, small Blue Winged Olives #20-24, Rusty Spinners in the same sizes, Cahills/Summer Steno’s #12-16, Attenuata #18-20, and egg-laying Caddis #18-22 (tan, black). Sulfurs are basically done in the Permanent TMA/C&R, we continue to see some hatching in Riverton. Morning bugs include Summer/Winter Caddis #18-24, Needhami Duns #22-26, Needhami Spinners #22-26, and Tan Caddis #18. Ants & Beetles are good dries to fish between late morning and early evening when there aren’t too many bugs hatching. Dry/Dropper combinations are working well for many anglers. Try combining an Isonychia Comparadun and a tiny nymph like #18-20 Baetis or a Zebra Midge to catch trout in fast water.
The Housatonic River at Falls Village is reading 350 CFS, unaffected by the recent rain. Streamers have been working well with smallmouth in white and pink, and craw patterns are also performing. Pike should be starting to shift into gear in the deeper sections of the river, so if you are after toothy critters, think longer, slower sections further south. Certain sections of the river have been pressured and subjected to warm water, so hiking on foot between Cornwall and Kent is not a bad idea, although the low humidity and increased flows might help shake things up. 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.
There were several anglers on the run this week, one angler landed a nice sized Largemouth Bass, a couple of Smallmouth and a Fallfish. No Salmon were sighted. The water temperature was between 67F and 69F.
The flow from the dam is 185 CFS. The Pineville gauge is currently at 232 CFS.
Catskills
The release from Cannonsville is 549 cfs. Yesterday’s rain soaked in to the ground and most of the river flows are starting off the same as yesterday. The cloud cover and cool night have helped the water temps on the Beaverkill, East Branch, and Mainstem. Some people have had some success blind casting Isonychias and Cahills too. There are some flying ants around so keep a few in your box just in case. The mid day sulphurs are getting a bit spotty as the hatch wanes but there still are some out there. There are some olives mixed in plus a few Isonychias and Cahills. Stick to the lower West if you want to nymph. The algae has been bad up top making it a dry fly only game.
Today will be 78 degrees with dense fog early. Once the fog burns off we’ll have sunshine. Wind will be 5 – 10 mph from the North.
Small bait is prevalent throughout the estuaries, river mouths, and bays of the Western Sound, while larger bunker can be found in deeper water and out East. The red hot bite near Montauk/Fishers/Block had a momentary pause the last week, but the fish that have been around were on tiny tiny bait. Snot bait flies and clousers are the best bet. This change in weather should hopefully turn things back on, but water temperatures are high across both the Eastern and Western Sound.
