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THE ATLAS · CT · TAILWATER

Farmington River

The best month to fish the Farmington River is January. The month to avoid is April. Right now, in September, it is worth going.

  1. January: 71 out of 100
  2. February: 71 out of 100
  3. March: 57 out of 100
  4. April: 44 out of 100
  5. May: 71 out of 100
  6. June: 71 out of 100
  7. July: 71 out of 100
  8. August: 71 out of 100
  9. September: 59 out of 100
  10. October: 70 out of 100
  11. November: 71 out of 100
  12. December: 49 out of 100
SEPTEMBER: GO, WITH CAVEATS59/100

This gauge does not report water temperature, so the check that would rule out water too warm to fight a fish in cannot run for this month. Treat the score as flow and season only, and ask a local shop about temperature before you travel in warm weather.

WHERE IT IS
LOADING THE MAP…

GAUGE 01188090 · COLOURED BY SEPTEMBER

THE NUMBERS

Month by month

MONTHTYPICAL FLOWRANGE (P20–P80)WATERAIR HIGHRAINSCORE
January684 cfs495–905———71
February630 cfs431–952———71
March829 cfs655–1,107———57
April1,103 cfs638–1,419———44
May669 cfs438–960———71
June508 cfs407–797———71
July415 cfs334–591———71
August381 cfs191–644———71
SeptemberNOW232 cfs153–790———59
October343 cfs211–706———70
November460 cfs369–768———71
December821 cfs400–988———49
WHERE THESE NUMBERS COME FROM

Flow and water temperature are medians of the monthly means reported by USGS gauge 01188090 over 2006-2025. Air temperature and precipitation are ten-year normals from Open-Meteo at this river’s gauge coordinates.

The window is deliberate. USGS’s own full-record statistics for a dammed river reach back before the dam — at Lees Ferry, to 1922, forty-one years before Glen Canyon closed — and describe a river that no longer exists.

Flow is scored against this river’s own fishable band of 415–684 cfs. There is no universal band: 8,000 cfs is low water on a big tailwater and a flood on a spring creek.

Water temperature is a ceiling rather than a weight. Above about 68°F a trout that is fought and released frequently dies anyway, so no month above that line is scored as worth booking, however good its flow.

IF THIS MONTH IS WRONG

The Farmington River is at its best in January, flows near 684 cfs.

← RIVERS GOING WELL IN SEPTEMBER

Regulations, licences and access change without notice and are not reproduced here as fact — check the state agency before you travel. A median describes twenty years; it does not forecast your week. Source: U.S. Geological Survey, National Water Information System.