Connecticut River Fishing Report: 9/5

Fall fishing is here folks, and all of the good things that go with it: cooler, crisper days, dropping water temperatures, a noticeable lack of biting insects, and even some actively feeding fish. For a lot of us anglers, it’s the best time of year to be out there on the water.

The nights have certainly gotten colder, resulting in good water temps below First Lake Dam (62 degrees this morning) and below Murphy Dam at Lake Francis (58 degrees last night, and 275 CFS). I observed several different mayflies, predominantly BWO’s, coming off as well as a number of stoneflies below Murphy Dam last night and the fish were feeding wantonly.

We have heard the fishing’s been slow this week on the Trophy Stretch, but that usually depends on who you talk to. Some people are doing well, but remember that the flow is the same here (146 CFS) as it’s been for a few weeks now and the fish have been getting a fair amount of visitors to their water.

The flow at Second Lake Dam was increased this week to 146 CFS, so that could be drawing some of the larger salmon from First Lake in to the river system in the No Kill Stretch. It is also very dependent on the water temperature, and I unfortunately do not have any information on that. Still, this is a spectacular stretch of the Connecticut to fish and explore, even if it is only for the amazing scenery.

If you’re nymphing, all of the usual patterns are worth a try here, but I would also add in black stonefly patterns as well – any beadhead black stone pattern should work as well as Pat’s Rubber Legs, as they can be too tempting for the fish to resist. For dries, Stimulators and terrestrial patterns (hoppers and cinnamon ants) can give good results, but fall is also the time to concentrate on BWO dry patterns. There’s more than a few of them to pick from, so make sure your box is well stocked if you like to take your fish on top.

On the streamer front, olive and black woolybuggers have done very well for me lately, either swung or stripped. The rainbow in the net above fell prey to one of the olive variety. While these colors are producing, fall is also a time of year when gray and white colored streamers can produce very well. It’s all a matter of personal preference, but an assortment of patterns and colors while streamer fishing in the fall is recommended.

On Back Lake, a smattering of trout have been caught over the last 1-2 weeks. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s better than it was in July and most of August. The water temperature is cooling on the lake … slowly. It should be solid trout fishing again in another week or two if the weather keeps trending the way it has.

Only about five weeks left in our fishing season, so get back up here to ride it out …