Share your catch
US

Farmington River Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

New England's year-round tailwater: cold Riverton releases, wild-and-holdover browns past 20 inches, and hatches that never take a month off.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Flow
145 cfs
Air / High
56 / 58 F
Wind
NE 7 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 01186000, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Farmington River is in its winter mode: slow, deep and deliberate. The river is running 145 cfs, steady over the week. Today brings clear skies, wind NE around 7 mph, rising pressure near 1027 hPa and a high of 58. Water sits around 47 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:54 PM-11:54 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rainbow troutExcellent

In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown troutExcellent

Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

Tomorrow: Similar at 58 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

Connecticut requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $28.00 for residents. What a Connecticut licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing rainbow trout here? Check the size and bag limits with CT DEEP before you keep anything. The season dates for Connecticut, read off the agency, are on the Connecticut seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings from West Branch Farmington at Riverton.

Flow, last 30 days

USGS gauge 01186000.

151172193145 cfs09/2310/0310/1310/23

Today’s flow against 71 years of October 23

At 145 cfs, the flow at USGS gauge 01186000 (West Branch Farmington at Riverton) is at the 53rd percentile for the date: normal. In half of the 71 years of approved record the daily mean on October 23 was below 132 cfs; the highest was 976 cfs and the lowest 33 cfs.

p10 60median 132p90 391

Percentiles of the daily mean flow for this date, from the USGS Water Data Statistics API for gauge 01186000; today’s reading is the latest instantaneous value. Classes follow the ones the USGS used on its WaterWatch maps (retired at the end of 2025): below 10th, much below normal; 10th–24th, below; 25th–75th, normal; 76th–90th, above; over 90th, much above.

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp56 F
High / Low58 / 40 F
WindNE 7-12 mph
Pressure1027.3 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset07:13 / 17:57
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (gauge)59 F USGS
Water temp (seasonal)~47 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Which day to fish Farmington River this week

The best day on Farmington River this week looks like Sunday Oct 25, at 4 out of 5, against 2 today.

Best day this week: Sunday, Oct 25 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Tough

Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Solunar majors
9:25 AM-11:25 AM and 9:54 PM-11:54 PM
Minor period
3:47 AM-4:47 AM
Sun
07:13 to 17:57
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Overcast, 12 mph
Rain chance
0%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Farmington River: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Spring and fall in most lakes; rivers fish year-round while the water stays cool

A cold-water trout native to Pacific drainages from Alaska to Baja California, now stocked in most states and fished in rivers, tailwaters and lakes. In cold water rainbows use the deepest pools in rivers (Vermont), so slow, deep drifts there are the usual approach; Michigan DNR notes lake rainbows are also taken with bait or by jigging through the ice.

Brown trout illustration

Brown trout

Spring along Great Lakes shorelines; low light and overcast days in rivers; fall spawning runs

A European trout first stocked in the US in 1883 and now fished in rivers and lakes nationwide; it tolerates warmer water than other trout, and mature stream fish feed mostly at night. Below 50Β°F, fish slowly through the deeper pools; in early spring on the Great Lakes, Michigan DNR notes browns are often caught inshore before other species start biting.

When to come: the Farmington River calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Rainbow trout
Brown trout
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 47 F (estimated, not a reading).

30405060JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~47 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Farmington River today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 66 F, wind to 13 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 58 F, wind to 12 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

2/5 Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing. Rainbow trout led the card at excellent. High of 65 F, wind to 12 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

Before you go

License

Connecticut requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Connecticut license. TMA: catch-and-release year-round; other reaches seasonal harvest: check CT DEEP.

Access

Riverton, Church Pool, Peoples Forest, Barkhamsted TMA pull-offs along 181/318.

About this water

21 tailwater miles of the West Branch, Litchfield/Hartford counties, CT. New England's most dependable trout river.

Fishing Farmington River: the full guide

The Farmington bargain

The West Branch below Colebrook's dams runs cold all year: 50s in August when every freestone in Connecticut simmers: and the trout answer accordingly. Wild browns, quality holdovers and a survivor-strain stocking program build a river where 18-20-inch fish are weekly events and the season never closes.

The TMA and the people's water

The catch-and-release trout management area (the 'permanent TMA' through Barkhamsted) holds the density and the pressure: educated browns in classic riffle-pool water. Above and below, harvest reaches spread the crowd. Access is pull-off easy along Route 181/318: the river's culture (UpCountry's boards, courteous rotations) is half its charm.

A hatch for every month

Winter midges and early stones, Hendricksons in April, the sulphur months (May-July: the river's signature evenings), Isonychia and tricos through summer, October caddis to close. When nothing shows, sowbug-and-pheasant-tail nymphing through the buckets never fails: the cold water keeps metabolisms honest.

Reading the releases

Riverton's dam controls the day: 150-400 CFS wades comfortably (our gauge panel tracks it), higher pushes fish to the soft edges. Summer heat makes the Farmington the region's refuge: fish it guilt-free while warm rivers rest. Winter mornings fish better than reputation claims: midges at noon, empty runs, wild fish.

Common questions

When is the sulphur hatch on the Farmington?

Mid-May through July, evenings: the river's defining event. The Church Pool's rises are the postcard: arrive early for space, stay past dusk for the spinners.

Can you fish the Farmington in winter?

Better than almost anywhere in New England: the tailwater stays open and midges hatch at midday. Nymph the slow buckets: the browns eat all winter.

Is fishing good at Farmington River right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Highland Lake7 miWestfield River17 miNaugatuck River20 miBantam Lake21 miLake Waramaug27 miHousatonic River34 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

River and reservoir readings
USGS 01186000 β€” West Branch Farmington at Riverton
Read from the USGS Water Data API (api.waterdata.usgs.gov). Latest value timestamped 2026-10-23 at 19:30 UTC.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 41.9600, -72.9650 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.