Farmington Upper and Lower TMA Morning Report 7/18/08 - S L O W

alanb_ct · 07-18-2008, 10:09 PM

Fished for about 4 hours this morning, in advance of the heat. I found the nymph fishing to be extremely slow. I am sure there was at least one good period during the day, but not for me this morning.

I started in the traditional upper TMA and worked the fast water hard. No fish. There has been a reliable evening spinner fall of late, as evidenced by this spider web:

so, if you are in to that style of fishing, it would be hard to beat a size 20-24 rusty spinner right now towards evening. Water temperature was 58 degrees, flow is still 400 cfs.

I went to the lower TMA for a bit. Nice conditions there for nymphing, but only parr to show for it. Water temperature there was a balmy 68 degrees.

This super warm weather has really pushed the issue towards night fishing. I only landed one brown trout this morning.

**talewaters** · 07-19-2008, 12:27 AM

Fished on JUly 15 and 16 On the upper C&R got only one on a isonychia nymph and one on a a cased caddis below the upper Cand R . Lost one above the upper Cand R on a 14 green caddis pupa. All this equals to about 12 hrs of nymphing. The 16th evening at American Legion Campground pool had about 7 fly fishermen and there was a sulphur hatch along with small cahills and a few olives. I got more than 15 rises using a #16 sulphur emerger with only one hit , something that has never happened to me before. Don't know if it was all the nymph fishing or being in the cold water for so long or the trout were drowning the fly and checking it out under the water. In the past I have counted before striking but for some reason I was shaking a little from being in the cold and could not time my strikes. Trout fly fishing never fails to challenge me !!!!!!!!!!!!. I saw one trout check a natural on the water, let it pass by, and then turn around and take the natural downstream.

**Troutbum from Griswold** · 07-24-2008, 07:11 AM

Alan,
I fished last Tuesday and there were fish rising the whole time I was there. I got some nice trout on top but we were making long casts....45-55 or so feet. Long leaders with 7x tippet. Flies the usual this time of year....#24-26. Had some BIG fish come up but miss the fly. I plan on heading back early Saturday am and fish until 1 or 2pm or so. The nymphing was slow that am. I also spoke with Torrey and he fished the same day and noticed the same thing with nymphing.

alanb_ct · 07-24-2008, 07:48 AM

Thanks, I know about the tiny fly 7X routine. My favorite is a size 22 black ant. After this report, I went out another time, I did fish dries, but only size 12s and only with 5X. I was able to land a bunch of nice holdovers. In fact, I did not have to make very long casts at all. It depends on where and how you fish. Thanks for the advice.

**Troutbum from Griswold** · 07-24-2008, 10:34 PM

Yeah, your right. All depends on what type of water your fishing. I go long leaders anywhere I go but the tippet size is dictated on how fast the water is moving. If I am fishing riffles, fast runs, pocket water, I use heavier tippets. If I am fishing calm, glassy water that is moving very slowly I am fishing lighter tippets. I was fishing the boneyard and the reason for the long distance casts was because the fish were all across at the other bank. Nothing in closer. Down where I was, I find lighter tippets are the way to go. Always one of my favorite hot spots for catching fish consistantly on top and big quality fish at that.

alanb_ct · 07-26-2008, 07:52 AM

Especially at this time of year, I'm not a big fan of the tiny tippets and flies. They do work to be sure, but they also cause unnecessary stress on the fish. For example, yesterday's Farmington water temperature was 68 degrees, due to the warm water influx from the Still River. There were certainly fish sipping ants here and there. Landing a big Farmington brown on the 8X will take a while. Last year, I watched a guy play a nice fish to exhaustion and death at Ovation. He was using a ~7ft bamboo rod and exclaimed "have to take my time on the 9X!" He fought this poor thing for almost 10 minutes. Even for a generally cool river like the Farmington, it is tough to revive a fish like that in the summer time. What's the point of doing that? Fish the fast water with bigger dries and 5X - you can land the fish fast and they will sprint off on release.

The second comment is that, the small stuff is not really necessary for a quality experience if you know how to nymph. I watched Aaron all day yesterday nymphing with 5X and catching fish all the dry fly guys would die for. I even caught a few myself!

**Troutbum from Griswold** · 07-27-2008, 08:29 AM

Yes and no. I agree that there are many guys that fish the Farmington that use very light rods and very, very light tippets and take forever to land the fish. I have always said that there is NO REASON to use 9x tippet and up. I go no lighter than 7x and most of the time I am using 6x even in calm water. Faster water I use 5x most of the time. Sometimes 6x. It's all about how you present the fly and cast. If you smack the hell out of the water, put the fly directly on top of the rising fish and don't cast upstream to present, or even think about where you should stand to present the fly, then your making up for the lack of presentation skills when you go to 9, 10,11x. Then, if you hook a big fish, like you said, you take forever to land it. I have hooked and landed many big fish on top at the Farmington on 7x and get them in quite quickly. It's how you play them and apply pressure properly with the rod. I do it with no problem. I have seen many guys nymphing who have played fish too long so it can worth both ways, on top and subsurface.
For me, I haven't caught any fish on top in some time because I have been nymphing so much. I wanted to target fish on top and target big fish. There are a few spots to do that on the Farmington so I have hunkered down the last two times I have gone up there and focused on that. I enjoy the challenge in those situations and it breaks up the fishing style as well. I love to nymph but I like hitting the fish with dries as well when the good opportunities call for it. Good fishing Alain and a good conversation.

**Nymphmeister** · 07-27-2008, 08:28 PM

A skilled angler can land a large trout quickly on a relatively light tippet, but I don't believe most anglers are on that level. IMHO, people use overly light tippets to compensate for poor presentational & casting skills. I lengthen my tippet out & use slack line casts instead of going ultra light & ultra unsporting.

7x is the lightest "practical" tippet in my opinion, although I think it's ridiculous that I see anglers on the Farmington throwing size 12 dries on 7x- 7x is for very small flies on flat water with tricky currents. It's the rare day I cannot catch trout on dry flies on 6x, and I can usually do it on 5x, even on the Farmington, even on Church Pool. Again, long tippets & George Harvey style leaders are key. I also try to present my fly ahead of my tippet when fishing dries on flat water.

When nymphing, I rarely go below 5x, with 6x my absolute lightest. On the Housy, I mostly nymph with 3-4x, on the Farmington it's 4-5x, almost never lighter than that. And with streamers, I reach for the heaviest tippet I have on me, unless I'm fishing smaller patterns.

For those who worry about tippet visibility, go with flouro- 5x mono has the same visibility as 1x flouro. Nobody will ever convince me that going down .001 of an inch will somehow make my tippet suddenly invisible to the trout. When you get more hook-ups by going lighter, it's almost always because the thinner line is limper and presents your fly or flies in a more natural, drag-free manner.

**Troutbum from Griswold** · 07-28-2008, 07:05 AM

I am with you. If I can, I almost always try to postion myself 3/4 the way up on an angle from the rising fish or almost directly above it and let the current take my fly after a short parachute cast. This way, all the fish sees is my fly. You can get away with larger tippet then. Again, I keep the 7x tippet to water such as the lower boneyard and maybe greenwoods. Majority of the time, I will use 6x on top.