CURRENT HATCHES Click on the insect images below for details.
Blue-Winged Olive Terrestrials: beetles, ants, hoppers, etc. Isonychia Flying Ant Photos by Thomas Ames, Jr. © Copyrighted images - Used by permission.
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Housatonic River Conditions Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut
Torrey on the roof checking weather conditions for the River Reports
Water Level
Water Temperature
Water Clarity
Release Schedule
Current Hatches
DRIES: SMALLMOUTH BASS:
We are offering a new service- we will sell your fishing equipment for you on eBay, and then we will give you a store gift certificate equal to the selling price, minus our actual selling costs (from eBay & PayPal), with no other charges taken out. Or, if you prefer cash, we take 30% out plus our eBay & PayPal costs. We all have equipment we don't use anymore, why not convert it into some new fishing gear you really want? This is win-win- we creat some business during a typically slow time of year, and you get some cool new gear without spending your hard earned money. We scored yet another very large collection of excellent fishing books - they are in our Used Book section & being slowly listed on our ebay store. check out our new ebay store - http://stores.ebay.com/newandusedfishingtackle_W0QQssPageNameZl2QQtZkm
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Purchase any new fly rod or reel this Winter & receive a free HRO fly line. Hardy/Greys promotion- buy any Hardy or Greys rod, and we will throw in a free Hardy fly line while the supply lasts. Free Fly Tying Clinics this Winter -2/13/10- Jim Plante- Guide Flies- some of HRO guide Jim's favorite go-to patterns he uses to get clients into fish. -2/20/10-George Kenna- Spey & Steelhead Flies-- local speycaster George Kenna will tie some of the patterns he likes to swing for Great Lakes Steelhead. -2/27/10- To be anounced- -Waterworks-Lamson Vanquish reel- All I have to say is "Wow!". In my opinion, this is the nicest heavy freshwater/saltwater/bluewater fly reel ever made. I think the Spey crowd will also take a liking to these. Clever integrated foot/frame design, which both keeps the mass of the reel closer to the rod (easing casting fatigue & increasing accuracy) and gives greater strength than a traditional fastened-on reel foot. Extra-large diameters & arbors give awesome retrieve rates, and the maintenance-free, sealed drag now has twice the torque and drag of their previous top end SW reels. To accomodate this increased torque, a new stiffer frame design was created that is both ultra strong & surprisingly light. Nobody else uses their proprietary Type III "Hard Alox" finish that is almost impossible to scratch. I think anyone from Great Lakes steelheaders, to striper fisherman, to Speycasters, and Bluewater anglers will all find this to be an exceptional piece of equipment, the absolute best in it's class. This reel has been 15 years in the making. -Greys new GRXi+ rods- New entry from them in the mid to upper $100 range. These rods cast almost as well as a high end premium rod at 1/4 of the price. Surprisingly nice looking rods with double locking reel seats, impressive cosmetics, rod tube & unconditional warrantee. Temple Fork Outfitters better watch out, they have some serious competition now! I think these rods are going to be big sellers, all of us who cast them in the Fall were literally shocked that an under $200 rod could cast so impressively. Two thumbs up, and the clear winner at that price point. -New DVD's-- High-quality fishing movies have come of age, with the Trout Bum/Fish Bum series opening the door for others to create some amazing "fish porn" on DVD. There are some new titles that joined the fray, and they make excellent gifts- or maybe get one for yourself. New titles we are carrying include: -Ross Reach Spey Rods- Looking to get into Spey fishing/casting without breaking the bank, but you want a good rod? This new series from Ross was designed by a group of hardcore Spey junkies. Powerful rods, but lightweight & easy to cast. These fast action rods will handle all sorts of casting styles & lines, from Skagit, to long belly Spey to AFS. The comfortable rod action can be cast by novices & experts alike. At under $400, these rods are a bargain, easily performing like rods costing twice as much. -10 foot Rods for Czech Nymphing by Greys- Check out (pun intended) the Streamflex series from Greys (a division of Hardy), these rods are perfect for Czech style nymphing. You don't have to spend $700 to get a nice 10' rod, at $299 the Streamflex are good looking with quality hardware, light in the hand, 4 pieces, come with a tube & an unconditional warrantee. Powerful butt sections with moderate tips make them the perfect action for Czech/Euro style nymphing- plenty of power to set the hook & play the fish, but enough cushion to protect your tippet and keep the hook from popping out. The 10 footers come in #3, #4, and #5 to a suit almost all nymphing needs, from light tippets/long leaders/small nymphs in shallow riffles up to pitching 2-3 heavy flies in fast pocket water. They also make superb rods for indicator nymphing, the extra length is great for casting, hook-setting, playing fish, mending & keeping fly line off the water The #3 is the way to go for purely Euro nymphing, capable of turning over long leaders (for Spanish/French style) & lighter nymphs, and protecting lighter tippets (6x and even lighter), the #4 is the "all-around" choice and best-seller that can do both Euro-style & indicators (as well as dries & streamers when necessary), and the #5 is the way to go if you are doing strictly indicators, esp. on bigger streams & rivers where wind & distance are factors and heavier weights may be used. New Books: -Bugwater- Focusing on entomology, this book is full of spectacular photos of some of the famous bugs that hatch- Golden Stones, Olives, Grannom Caddis, Hexs, etc. Also covers topics such as "Winter Bugs", "A Fish-View of Insects & Flies", and why trout often go into a "feeding slump" in the late Summer. There are some great pix of how the fish see the real bugs & our flies. Each chapter on a bug includes his favorite patterns to imitate the important stages. If you find the bugs trout feed on to be interesting, I guarantee you will like this book, and the photography is truly superb. -Trout Flies for Rivers, by Skip & Carol Morris- The sub-title is "Patterns from the West that Work Everywhere". Very nice collection of all sorts of trout patterns, covering Mayflies, Caddis, Stones, Midges, Terestrials, "Miscellaneous", Multipurpose flies, Wets, Soft-hackles/Flymphs, Traditional Dries, Attractors, & Tiny Fish/Leeches. Thorough coverage of flies that cover all the bases, there are 500+ patterns with nice color photos & pattern dressings, nice mix of old favorites & new patterns. This would make an excellent reference if you are looking to add some different pattterns to your fly boxes. -Great Lakes Steelhead, Salmon & Trout, by Karl Weixlmann- Written by a veteran guide, Weixlmann takes you through a tour of his go-to techniques & flies he uses under various conditions & seasons to consistently get his clients into fish. Thorough coverage of the basic 4 presentation techniques- Indicator Nymphing, High-Sticking, Slinkies/Bottom-Bouncing, and Swinging. He also covers reading the water and tackle suggestions. This book is nicely done, and there are some cutting-edge fly patterns presented in it, 86 to be exact, with suggestions on fishing them. Nice rigging diagrams & photo sequences of techniques covered. Good book to up your game on the Great Lakes tribs, and it also covers fishing the surf off the river mouths. -Tying Catskill-Style Dry Flies- Well done book by Mike Valla, you will like it if you are a fan of this classic style of fly. Lots of history, including the rivers, fishermen & fly tyers that made these famous- the Dettes, the Darbees, Rube Cross, Roy Steenrod, Art Flick, the Beaverkill, the Willowemoc, the Esopus, the Neversink, John Atheron, Edward Hewitt, etc. There is also a discussion of modern Catskill fly tyers of note. Classic patterns are shown with great color pictures showing the entire tying procedures of many classic Catskill dries, as well as discussion of hackle, materials & hooks. This is a very interesting book, and one you will want if you have any interest at all in the subject mattter. Two thumbs up. -Modern Midges- Hot off the press, Midge fishing fanatics Rick Takahashi & Jerry Hubka have compiled a collection of the world's most effective Midge patterns (over 1,000!) and advice on how to fish & rig them in both streams & stillwaters. Larva, pupa, emeger, adult & cluster patterns are all covered. If you are a tyer, this book will give you lots of pattern ideas. The end of the book has advice from many well known experts such as Landon Mayer, Ed Engle, Jason Borger, etc. Lots of cool patterns for Midge fans. Favorite Books: Bestsellers: *********************************** HRO has a Facebook page now, sign up as a Friend & you can ask us your fishing questions on there. We will put a link to the page on our Homepage ASAP, or you can just go on Facebook & search for Housatonic River Outfitters. If you like catching the rainbow trout we privately put in the Housy over the past 3 seasons, then please come to the store and buy a raffle ticket or make a donation to support the stocking, it's expensive, we need your help to fund it. And who knows, if you purchase a raffle ticket to support the stocking you just might win a Sage rod, guided fishing trip, or a $1,000 store gift certificate.
We are importing our own tungsten fly tying beads now, and we currently have a full selection of all standard colors, and have also added fluorescent orange & true jet-black (non-nickel) beads- see top of "New & Favorite Products" for more details. I've tied & fished the new black beads since we received them, and the black color seems to be quite durable (unlike most other black beads I've used), they retain the matte black finish nicely for quite some time.
Del Mazza, famous Catskill fly tyer & former breeder of hackle stopped by, and we bought a whole bunch of his high quality, hard to find feathers/hackle from him- all sorts of dry fly necks, saddles, and hen necks. They are of a quality you don't often see, and some superb & unusual colors too. The hen necks have nice, rounded tips for tying hackle point dry fly wings. Stop by and check 'em out while they last, first come, first served. This is the absolute last batch of his stock, there is no more after this.
Two new pages on the website-
Sunday Fishing Report: We've beefed up on the ice fishing equipment, so stop in if you need to gear up- Lou Kish placed the order to make sure we had the right stuff, and we are also stocking some ice fishing bait- Spikes & Mousies. HRO now has some Ross Spey rods in stock, reasonably priced but very nice. New promotion- buy any new fly rod or reel and we will throw in a free HRO fly line. Our Game Dinner & Raffle is this month- Sunday Feb. 28th, get your tickets before we sell out, see top of Comments for more details. A cool 10 degrees out at 8AM this morning. Slush is present, but should clear out by lunchtime/early afternoon after the temps rise up close to 30 and the sun has a chance to do it's thing for a few hours. Afternoons are the best time to head out fishing this time of year, rising temps and (hopefully) sunshine can melt the slush & get the trout feeding. However, depending upon overnight lows, daytime highs and sunshine (or lack thereof), it may or may not be fishable (due to slush) on any given afternoon. Ice fishing the local lakes & ponds is a great option right now, the ice is nice & thick, and we are carrying bait & equipment for that. Some nice trout have been caught in 2010, with both a brown and a rainbow over the 20" mark reported. When fishable, slow & deep with scuds, egg patterns, midges & stoneflies is the name of the game, and very slowly fished streamers can connect too. Look for trout in the major pools, that's where almost all of them are in the Winter. They tend to pod up, so where you catch one, there are usually others. Don't start too early, I'd recommend somewhere in the late morning to late afternoon time slot for the best fishing, conditions & comfort. The old trout fishing rule about the most comfortable time of day being the best applies here for sure. Ice fishing has been good at moments on the local lakes & ponds for a variety of species- remember we now stock some ice fishing equipment & bait (mousies & spikes). In the Winter, depending upon nightime lows, daytime highs, and the presence or lack of sunshine, there may or may not be slush present, and it may or may not clear out by lunchtime or so if it's sunny out & warm enough- call shop if you are unsure about conditions, and we will give you our best guess about afternoon fishability- no need to venture out earlier than that right now. Effective Winter nymphs vary but would include: egg patterns (yellow, pink, orange, etc.), San Juan Worms (red, brown, pink, orange), Scuds (olive, tan, grey, pink), Stoneflies (golden, brown, black), Midge Larva/Pupa (Zebra Midges, Brassies, Pure Midge Larva, Rojo Midges, WD-50/WD-40, etc.), and Princes. Effective colors for the Midges include red, black, olive, and other colors have their moments too- some people swear by blue Midges patterns in the Winter. If you catch one in a spot, fish it thoroughly, because chances are there are more in the same location, sometimes a lot more. The limiting factor in the Winter is slush, which occurs when you get really cold nights and the daytime temps don't get warm enough to melt it- sunny days help a lot with that. Midges are the only early to mid Winter hatch on the Housy, and Scuds are one of the few bugs that are active in ice-cold water. Caddis larva are worth a shot too, they seem to be a somewhat common food item for the trout- think olive or green patterns in #12-16, and maybe even some Cased Caddis patterns in the #8-14 range (medium to dark brown cases with a bright green or yellow "peeking" portion). No need to start fishing early in the Wintertime, I recommend wating until late morning/noonish. This does several things: 1. Puts you on the water when water temps are rising and/or at their highest, which gives you the best chance at actually catching trout, 2. Gives time for slush to melt if any formed during a cold night, and 3. Is the most comfortable time of day to fish. Just make sure to wear synthetic thermals, plenty of fleece, heavy socks (ideally with thin poly liner socks underneath), a warm hat, and fingerless gloves. And don't wade out past knee deep, it's not necessary & you will stay warmer. Water temps in the 30's moves most of the trout into the pools, where there is plenty of slow, deeper sanctuary water that they can hold in with little effort, and it gives them security from predators. Hardy/Greys promotion- buy any Hardy or Greys rod or reel, and we will throw in a free Hardy fly line. Harold is taking a group to Chile Feb 13 - Feb 20th 2010 - to a spectacular lodge with 800,000 acres of private waters, spring creeks, lakes and rivers - price $3750 - excluding airfare - we will put more info up shortly. Harold's Wyoming trip in 2009 went great, he said the fishing was silly - You can view some pics of the trip - go to the front page of dryflies.com and click on the link for wyoming 2009 - we are going back this year.
We stock all the materials available to tie the infamous "Vladi Worm" for sale in the store (pink "latex", pre-bent Daiichi 1870 hooks, lead wire, Maxima Chameleon tippet & proper threads).
We are trying to get the DEP to extend the TMA to include the section of the Housy from the Rt 7/Rt 4 Cornwall bridge down to at least North Kent, if not all the way down to the center of Kent. It's going to take a lot of angler support to accomplish this, the DEP has had mixed feeling about this in the past, but they seem to be starting to warm up to the idea. There is a trememdous amount of ideal trout water in that section, and it would be awesome to see it managed & stocked to it's potential.
Poachers have been active the past few seasons, both in & out of the TMA. They have been keeping fish in the TMA (esp. in Horse Hole) & spin fishing in the Fly Fishing Only section (esp. in Cellar Hole & the Park), as well as fishing down below the TMA without licenses and keeping more than their limit of fish. We need all of you to be proactive and call in violations, the DEP needs to receive calls from people other than us calling all the time from the shop. The TIPS (Turn in Poacher) hotline # is 1-800-842-4357, the last 4 digits spell out the word "HELP" in case you forget the number. And for the record, all calls made to the hotline are logged and they look at the data each year to see where they need to beef up enforcement. While they are way underfunded & understaffed in terms of Conservation Officers, they will make every effort to dispatch one if at all possible. Get as much info as possible- number of people, general description, vehicle & plate #. Take a pic of them & their car if possible with a digital camera or even cell phone. If we get some more of them nailed, the word will get out that you don't want to poach on the Housy. This is a problem we can all help to improve with a simple phone call.
A note on etiquette. In recent seasons, we are seeing more and more fishermen who crowd others and do not seem to be aware of proper etiquette. Nobody likes it when they have a big chunk of water to themselves and somebody steps in 20-30 feet away, and starts casting to the fish they are working on. When you approach a piece of water that another fisherman is occupying, ask yourself how far you would want someone to stay away if you were there first- try to stay at least a cast and a half away if possible. And DO NOT EVER throw to the same fish or water that another person is fishing, even if you can reach it. That is a HUGE no-no, do not be surprised if you get yelled at or get your ass kicked if you do that to someone- I'll have no sympathy for you. The Housy is a big river, and there is plenty of water for people to fish, even on a popular weekend. If the spot you want to fish is occupied, don't crowd that person, just go elsewhere. Believe me, there are TONS of fish (and big ones) all over the upper and lower TMA's, and outside of them also. Don't fish Corner Hole, Sand Hole, Cellar Hole, etc. on a busy Saturday at prime time and expect to have solitude- the easy access spots almost always hold the most fishermen. The Upper TMA is somewhere in the vicinity of 10 miles or so, and the lower one is about 2.5 miles, giving us all plenty of water to spread the pressure out in. Just make sure to practice courtesy and common sense, and treat other fishermen as you would like to be treated, and it will be a better experience for everyone. Housatonic River Outfitters- Donates more than 1% of Gross Sales to Environmental Causes, Youth Organizations,Women's Groups, Local Charities and other Non-profit agencies
Housatonic River Outfitters
E-Mail:hflyshop@aol.com
Orders/Info (860) 672-1010
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