Fishing Season: January 1 - December 31 (Prime: April 1 - November 1)

Farmington River - CT

Fishing Outlook & Conditions

Water Temp:

60

Orvis Avon's Tip of the Week

Look for fish in all parts of the river this week. You will find trout in the faster water feeding on caddis pupae along with quite a few fish rising in runs and pools in the mornings and evenings primarily. Break out the dry fly rods if you haven't already and if you don't see any fish rising a dry dropper rig is an excellent choice right now with the low flows. Caddis (#14-20), Vitreus (#14), and March Browns (#10-12) are all hatching right now with mot of the activity occurring at night.

Directions open in app

Map of Farmington River

Water Flow Data

Orvis-Endorsed guides nearby

Antoine Bissieux

5-Day Outlook as of 5/18/26

Today (May 18th) the flow coming out of the dam in Riverton is 132cfs and the Still river is adding an additional 74cfs making for a medium-low flow of 206cfs in the TMA. Expect flows to stay consistent throughout the week with minimal rain in the forecast.

Techniques & Tips as of 5/18/26

Dries, nymphs, and streamers will all catch fish right now. The dry fly fishing in particular has been excellent some days with lots of fish rising in the evenings. Nymphing is good regardless of the time of day and there are plenty of ways to do it. Tightline nymphing is great but the dry-dropper fishing is excellent right now and you can still definitely run an indicator rig with plenty of success. With the flows being low and clear it's not a bad idea to downsize tippets to 6x for nymphs/dries unless you're throwing a larger fly like a March brown. If you are fishing streamers and want to throw some larger articulated patterns your best bet is after a strong rain which we will hopefully receive soon that will bump the flows up. Some of our smaller-medium sized patterns are working very well that we have in stock in the store tied locally by Rich Strolis.

Local Species Available January 1 - December 31 (Prime: April 1 - November 1)

  • Fish Icon

    Trout

Orvis Avon's Recommended Fly Patterns

"Must-have" fly fishing patterns in descending order of importance:

Name: Colors: Size(s):
Sparkle Dun Yellow 14-16
CDC Caddis Olive/Tan 14-18
Tunghead Soft Hackle Pheasant Tail Brown 12-16
Bead Head Brassie™ Black,Red,Olive 18-24
Jig Sculpin Olive 10
Croston's Micro Sculpin Tan/Olive 12
Quasimodo Pheasant Tail BROWN 16-20
Tungsten Twisted Tactical May Brown/Olive 16-20
Traditional nymphs(pheasant tails, princes) brown, olvie, white 16-22
BWO Nymphs Olive 16-20

Sparkle Dun

A must-have in every box of trout flies

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Item #749F

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Orvis Avon's Recommended Gear

Description: About Farmington River

The Farmington River is the premier trout fishery in the state. It is a bottom draw tailwater fishery that creates consistent water temperatures, water flows, and hatch activity. The river from Farmington to Riverton is the most consistent stretch. Down stream the river slows and becomes primarily a warm water fishery. The river is of moderate size. The bottom is consistently softball-sized cobble making wading fairly easy. Access is very good, many roads run along its banks through the best trout water. Encounters with large trout are most consistent within the trout management area. These fish are, however, difficult to catch due to consistent angling pressure. Accurate imitations and light tippets are typically required.

Nearest Airport:

Bradley International Airport

Hatches:

Caddis Vitreus Marc Browns Invaria (Large Sulphurs)

Best Time to Fish:

Afternoons

Best Stretch:

Riverton - Canton

Best Access:

Beaver Pool, Hitchcock Chair, Campground pool, Church pool, Ovation,