Brown troutBrown, rainbow and brook troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225–263
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
Housatonic River
Falls Village to Cornwall Bridge, Connecticut · USA
Right now
Loading current conditions…
Flow, last 7 days (cfs)Normal range for these dates
Weather forecast
Forecast data loads here when available. Official weather source ↗
Day ratings weigh rain first (it raises and colors the river), then wind.
Flow: USGS Housatonic River at Falls Village, USGS Housatonic River at Gaylordsville. Recent readings are provisional. Normal range: the middle half of past flows for these dates. Forecast: National Weather Service.
Recent changes
All changes →When to go
JFMAMJJASOND
Apr–Jun and Sep–Oct; summer water runs warm Wrong?
The water
The Trout Management Area from the Route 112 bridge down to Cornwall Bridge runs beside Route 7 and River Road, so access is easy, and its lower three miles are fly-fishing only. It is a big, warm-running river by New England standards, and summer trout fishing is poor.
- Target species
- Stocked and holdover browns, rainbows; smallmouth bass
- Trip style
- DIY-friendly
- Access
- Wade & float Wrong?
- Public access
- Good Wrong?
- Crowding
- Medium Wrong?
- Difficulty
- Intermediate Wrong?
- License and rules
- Fishing licenseRegulationsWrong?
What a trip costs
You came from a self-guided day-trip search. The calculator starts with one fishing day and no guide. Licence, permit, travel and any other costs still apply.
Flies by month
April
- Black stonefly nymph #12–18
- Prince nymph #14–18
- Scud and yellow stonefly nymphs, fished deep
- Tan/olive caddis dry #18–20
- Krystal Bugger #6–12 (black, brown, olive, white, burnt orange)
May
- Hendrickson dry (giving way to caddis by mid-May)
- Tan/olive caddis #18–20
- Sexy Walt's nymph #14–18
- Prince nymph #14–18
- Streamers (Krystal Bugger #6–12, Sculp Snack #8–10)
June
- March Brown dry
- Light Cahill #12–16
- Sulphur #16–18
- Isonychia #10–12 (evenings)
- Hoppers and ants
September
- Midge dry #18–24
- Small Blue-Winged Olive
- Tan/olive caddis #18–20 (late afternoon)
- Pheasant Tail #14–18 or Zebra Midge #18–20
- Streamers (Krystal Bugger #6–12) as flows rise
October
- Blue-Winged Olive #20–26
- Isonychia Sparkle Dun #12–14 (brown)
- Elk Wing Caddis #16–18 (tan)
- Fly Formerly Known As Prince #10–12
- Woolly Bugger #6–10 (black, brown, olive)
Source notes
The Compleat Angler (Darien, CT) reports on Falls Village flows weekly; the October picks come from Housatonic guide Bert Ouellette's Orvis report.
From local shops and guides: compleatangleronline.com (4 pages) · fishingreports.orvis.com. Ask the nearest shop what's working this week.
What to bring
- Rod
- 9 ft 4–5 wt
- Line
- WF floating; sink tip for streamers
- Leader and tippet
- Dries 9–12 ft 5X–6X; nymphs 3X–4X
- Wading
- Waders; spiked boots
- Also pack
- Wading staff
- Wader belt
- Polarized glasses
From fishingreports.orvis.com, perfectflystore.com. Guides usually supply rods and flies on a guided day; ask when you book.
Guides and fly shops
- housatonicanglers.com · guide rates
- The Compleat Angler · hatch chart or reports
These are the businesses this page's prices and fly lists come from. A listing isn't an endorsement, and nobody pays to be here.
Getting there
Getting there
Fly into BDL Hartford, then 1.25 hr. About 50 miles (80 km) by road.
Open in Google Maps · Directions from BDL
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Driving from Hartford about 1 hr 10 min, New Haven about 1 hr 20 min, Albany about 1 hr 50 min, New York City about 2 hr 30 min.
More sources
portal.ct.govSomething out of date?
Rates, seasons and access change. Tell us what's wrong and, if you can, where you saw it.
More trout rivers
Brown troutBrown, rainbow and brook trout
Rainbow troutStocked rainbows, browns and brook trout; some wild brook and brown troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $225
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium
The posted rate is one shop's New Jersey wade rate; it doesn't name the Flat Brook
Brown troutWild brown trout, rainbows, brook troutFish on your own. Guide prices are optional; check licence, permit and access requirements before going.
JFMAMJJASOND
- Guide, per angler
- $250
- Public access
- Good
- Crowding
- Medium