Hello everyone, first of all sorry for putting that fish on the ground, I don’t think its as bad for non-trout but still im not doing that anymore. But I was wondering if anyone has fished near middletown ct, but also if people have advice for warm/cold water. I went fishing 7 times for 1-3 hours on the coginchuag river from the height of summer to near the fall and never caught a trout, though the river is theoretically stocked. Is it possible that trout just dont do anything when it is too hot? Or do I need to just try another river. All I was able to catch was fallfish and sunfish, and im not really sure I saw any trout. So basically, is it worth going back to those places which had no trout (that I could catch lol) in the summer, or do I need to go elsewhere? Id love to catch trout, Thanks!
Posted by CourtOpposite5798
6 Comments
Greetings fellow Nutmegger. I haven’t fished in that part of the state so I can’t really help with your question. But, if you’re on FB, there is a pretty active community called Connecticut Catch and Release Fly Fishers. I’m sure someone on there will help you.
Height of summer to near fall is usually too hot for trout, though I’d recommend that you also switch up your river
I find spring and fall to be more troutfull than summer. Hit those same spots in April and your luck might change.
I can help here!
Lived in Middletown/Cromwell for a number of years and eventually figured out some productive trout fishing year-round. However, fair warning, I found no reliably trout fishing that wasn’t 30+ minutes in the car.
Like you said, plenty of places nearby to catch sunfish and little bass, the reservoir just south of middletown on 91 towards Meriden is a great sunfish area.
For trout, I was able to find a few little spots near town that had fish in early spring, but it was hit or miss.
For reliable trout fishing, I usually went one of two places.
Salmon River State Forest, East of Middletown about 20-30 minutes. Look for the Comstock Covered bridge and drive north along that road and there are a number of pullouts that front the river. Some good varied water with long-open connecticut style pools that have great hatches and rising trout at night/morning, but also some riffles and more broken water for warmer days or mid-day. This does tend to get a little hot by late-june/July, so watch water temps and think of it as an early season spot.
Farmington River – Maybe 45 minutes to an hour north of Middletown, just a little upriver from New Hartford, between the Drive-In Theater and to Children’s Forest/Scout area and beyond (Though you can definitely fish much further south, these are usually the areas I fished). This is a tailwater, so it can reasonably be fished all year if you can stand the cold. Fantastic Caddis and BWO hatches and dry-fly fishing, of course a lot of success on nymphs with small midges like any tailwater. The best nearby trout fishing I could find, and a top quality trout river in the state.
Hope that helps. Please go get a beer at Eli Cannon’s after you catch you first fish in either spot and we’ll call it even.
The state of CT also has very detailed stocking information. If you look at the details on the stocking page of the DEEP website it’ll tell you when/where/what they stocked. That should help you find some more productive times to go to a given location.
The Farmington River is not far from you. There is a fly-fishing-only section in Barkhamsted with tons of easy access to the river. The Housatonic is another good spot. From Cornwall to Canaan along Route 7 there are many good spots. Go to a fly shop and pick up a complete guide to fishing the Farmington River they have one for the Housatonic also. These guides will tell you great spots to fish.Both of these rivers are great for trout. Around early to mid-August, there is a big white fly hatch on the Housatonic. The Farmington river you can fish all year because cold water is pumped from the bottom of saville dam. The trout don’t get stressed because the water stays cold along the west branch of the Farmington.