Fly Fishing Housatonic River This includes a Housatonic River Fishing Report
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Type of Stream
Freestone/Tailwater
Species
Brown Trout
Rainbow Trout
(Stocked with holdovers)
Size
Medium
Location
Western Connecticut
Nearest Towns
West Cornwall, Connecticut
Season
Year-round
Access:
Good
Non-Resident License
State of Connecticut
Special Regulations Areas:
There are two trout management
areas
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
4, 5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 to 12 ft., 5 or 6X Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Supreme Four, Superb Five
or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 4/5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2016 James Marsh
Housatonic River Fly Fishing Report – 04/26/24 Conditions are fairly good. The stream is flowing a little above a normal and the water is lightly stained. Blue-winged olives, Light Green midge and red, or blood midge hatches, are still taking place along with Little Brown stoneflies and Little Black Caddis. We update the Housatonic River fishing report often, so check back with us.
Stream Conditions:
Rate: 4440 cfs
Level: 6.75 Water Temperature: 50
Clarity: stained
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data at Stevenson
7 Day Weather Forecast: (click the link below for more detailed weather information)
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Light Green and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Little Brown Stoneflies: 12, nymphs and adults
Little Black Caddis, size 18, pupa and adults
Fly Fishing On The Housatonic River In Connecticut: The Housatonic River is called the Housy by local anglers. The river actually starts in the Green Mountains of Vermont and New York. It flows through the states of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The most popular section and the part that anglers mostly refer to when speaking of the trout fishing starts near West Cornwall. Fly fishing the Housatonic River in that area is a good as it gets anywhere in Connecticut for certain. There is a trout management area located at West Cornwall that extends downstream for over ten miles from the Route 112 and Route 7 bridge and extends downstream to Routes 7 and Route 4. Keep in mind that this trout stream is located in the middle of a very populated area of the country. If you could just magically be placed there to fish, you would never realize that you were near much of anything. The Housatonic River is a very good trout fishery. Some consider it one of the best streams in the East. It has a large number of holdover trout that range from 12 to over 18 inches.The northern part of the Housatonic River in Massachusetts consist of the East and Southwest branches. The Southwest Branch starts from Richmond Pond close to the town of Pittsfield. It’s mostly slow moving, smooth water that’s well stocked by the state.Access is limited. U.S. Route #20 is nearby. There’s also access points along Lebanon Avenue and Chapel Street. The East Branch of the Housatonic River begins near the town of Hinsdale. It is a very small, slow moving stream. It can be accessed from the Hinsdale Flats Wildlife Management Area. You can also access the stream from State Highway 8.The beginning of the Trout Magement Area above the famous covered bridge in West Cornwall consist mostly of large pools. There are some runs and riffles connecting them but most of the water is deeper pools with fairly slow moving flows. Most of the pools are too deep to wade.Nearer the Covered Bridge, the Housatonic River changes character and the flows become much faster. From there downstream, the river is more of a classic pool, run and riffle configuration. Most of the pools are named. The Trout Management Area ends at the Route 4 bridge. Below the TMA, the water get shallower and in the warm month of the year can get too warm for trout.Determine the flows before you fish the Housatonic River. Make sure you call the number given on the main page and check on them. The CFS numbers are best for wading anglers when they range from 400 to 800. That means that many cubic feet of water is flowing by each second. This also affect the water clarity.Creek is one of Pennsylvania’s best trout streams. Fishing Creek is the name of several trout streams in Pennsylvania but in the eyes of many anglers, there is only one Fishing Creek. It is the one in Chilton County near Interstate 80 less than an hour from State College. Many call it the finest trout stream in Pennsylvania. It has an excellent population of wild brown and brook trout. You can fish the river from a drift boat when it is higher but if it suddenly rises and is not stable, the fishing could be off. If you fish it when it is high, make certain it has been stable for a while. Fishing the pockets with large nymphs can be productive in times of higher water. Also streamers work well during this time or if the water is slightly stained or off color some. Keep in mind that this is a big river that can run very swift and be dangerous to wade at times. Water can suddenly rise. The discharges are controlled by the hydroelectric dam. Caution should be used anytime you are wading the Housatonic River Tailwater.
Fly Fishing Guide to the Housatonic River Connecticut: It is a good idea to check on the water releases before fishing the Housy. You can do that by calling 203-248-8616. Most anglers prefer rates of flow below 400 cfs.The upper end of the ten and one-half mile long Trout Management Area has long, slow moving pools with soft bottoms. That means the aquatic insect population is very different from the lower sections of the Housy. In the lower section, the water runs over a limestone rock bottom. This is an entirely different stream composition and type of water.The best part of the season starts about the first part of May and runs through October. We think the best fly fishing occurs when there are some larger hatches going on. The water temperature, discharges from the dam and other things affect this. It can be difficult to pinpoint the best times. Checking on the current conditions is always the best approach, especially on this river that changes can occur on fast. The trout will average from about ten to twenty inches and dry fly fishing can be great if you catch one of the better hatches.The entire TMA has a long list of named pools. It would be pointless to name them here. Local fly shop maps will show them and help you identify where you are if you receive local fishing information. It is a way of communicating locally so it may help.
Housatonic River Hatches and Trout Flies: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the Housatonic River and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else.1-800-594-4726 Please be sure to consult our “Perfect Fly” Hatch Chart. It will show you the estimated hatch times and flies to use for each insect for the entire season. As with most any trout stream, one of the most important and abundant aquatic insects are the Blue-winged Olives. They hatch during a long period in the early season and again later in the year. Brown and Green Drakes hatch the last couple weeks of May in the upper section of the river where the bottom is soft. They can provide some good action if you catch the hatch at the right time. Caddisflies start with the Little Black Caddis (Grannoms) in April and the first of May. Green Sedges, and Short-horned Sedges will hatch starting near the first of May. The Cinnamon Caddis species are the most important caddisflies. They together with their Little Sisters will hatch for a very long period of time.Starting in the middle of June and lasting until after the first frost, terrestrial insects become important. The beetles, ants, and hoppers are the most imitated insects. As with any tailwater, midges are always very important, especially when there are no other hatches taking place. You can always count of them. Don’t forget to have a good selection of streamers for the larger brown trout.As with many Eastern trout streams, the Hendrickson and Red Quills are a very important hatch. It takes place the last part of April and last into mid May. There are March Browns, Light and Cream Cahills in the fast water sections of the stream. Sulphurs can be important from mid May and most of the month of June. Tricos and the White Drakes hatch in July and August. Slate Drakes hatch in August and September. Thank you for viewing our Housatonic River fishing report.