Vintage

A Guide to Fishing the Farmington River

"This book reflects the hard work and dedication of many of the members of the FRAA as well as the freely donated expertise of individuals with specialized knowledge and skills."

This is a complete fishing guide to the Farmington River, from the tailwaters of the Hogback Dam north of Riverton, to the Tariffville Gorge where the river enters the Rainbow Resevoir in Windsor.

The book contains detailed descriptions of the major pools and how to fish them, details of access points, and guide maps. Sections included in the book are:

1. A Short History of the Farmington River
2. History of the FRAA
3. The Ecology of the Farmington River
4. Farmington River Salmon
5. Bait Fishing
6. Artificial Lures
7. Fishing with Flies
8. Mayfly Hatches
9. Mayfly Hatch Chart
10. Map of the Farmington River
11. Fishing the Farmington River - The Pools

Excerpt from the Preface

This booklet is fondly dedicated to the fish and fisherman of the Farmington River in Northwest Connecticut, on the premise that there will be more of the former if the latter are more informed.

. . . Simply put, if there were no fishermen, there would be little or no trout. Just as the salmon disappeared from the river, so could the trout as they did almost 100 years ago. . .

A typical fishing pool page

Ovation Pool gets it name from the factory which sits along the river. The water entering the pools is quite fast and forms a shelf in the center. Care should be used when wading as the shelf is made up of loose gravel and drops off into water which is quite deep. The pool narrows when it flows past a metal wall, the remnant of a dam which provided power to the factory at one time.

A typical guide map of a section of the river

This map page shows the Upper Trout Management Area (TMA) from above the Route 318 bridge in Pleasant Valley to the Route 219 bridge in New Hartford.