Section 1: Goodwin Dam down to the old footbridge abutments
The river starts cold. Goodwin Dam, also called Hogback, is a 135-foot structure in Hartland that draws from the bottom of West Branch Reservoir, and DEEP's own description is that the water leaving it stays in trout range through a New England August and does not ice over in January. The Riverton gauge sits at the Route 20 bridge a short distance below, so the number on this page is the release itself before any tributary joins. DEEP labels the water from the dam down to the old footbridge abutments, about 1.4 miles below the Still River mouth in Barkhamsted, as Section 1 of the Farmington River Trout Management Area: two trout of 12 inches or better from 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April through August 31, then catch and release from September 1 until the next opener. Riverton village is the base for this top water, and UpCountry Sportfishing, a few miles downriver in New Hartford, writes the report everyone reads.
Section 2: the Permanent TMA to the Route 219 bridge
From those footbridge abutments downstream to the Route 219 bridge in New Hartford is Section 2, which DEEP notes takes in all of the former West Branch TMA. It is catch and release only, barbless hooks only, open every day of the year, and a trout and salmon stamp is required as it is throughout the TMA. This is the water UpCountry calls the Permanent TMA in its reports, with the Route 318 bridge and the campground and river road through Peoples State Forest in Barkhamsted as the reference points. Because the Still River has joined above it, UpCountry tells you to add the Still River gauge at Robertsville to the Riverton number to know what you are actually wading here; on September 21, 2026 that total was 225 cfs, which the shop called a normal medium-low level.
DEEP's September electrofishing for the Survivor Strain program happens on standard segments between the Route 219 bridge and Peoples State Forest, which tells you where the state thinks the best trout habitat is.
Section 3 and the river past Unionville
Section 3 runs from the Route 219 bridge to the Route 177 bridge in Unionville, back on the same rules as Section 1: two fish, 12-inch minimum, harvest from the April opener through August 31 and catch and release the rest of the year. The East Branch, the Nepaug and a string of smaller brooks come in through New Hartford, Canton and Collinsville, so UpCountry says the lower river is often high and off color when the top ten miles are perfect, and it points anglers on this reach to the Unionville gauge instead. Below Route 177 the state lists the river to Rainbow Reservoir under general rules, and from the Rainbow Brook confluence below Rainbow Dam to the Connecticut River it becomes a two-fish, 15-inch tidal trout water. Summer weekends bring tubes and kayaks to the whole valley; DIY Fly Fishing's advice to fish early is sound.
Riverton plus Still River: what the gauges mean
UpCountry's published guidance is that 200 to 600 cfs is ideal for most of the upper river, 600 to 900 is fishable but difficult wading, and 900 and up belongs to drift boats and experienced waders who know the bottom. The Farmington River Coordinating Committee gives a tighter optimum of 150 to 350 cfs. This page compares the live Riverton reading to 200 to 600. The long-term USGS record at Riverton has typical monthly flows around 230 cfs in winter, 390 in April, 240 to 280 from May through August and 130 to 140 in September and October, so the release rarely runs far outside the window on its own; it is the Still River after rain that pushes the TMA total up. Water temperatures in UpCountry's late September report ran mid 50s in Riverton in the morning to low 60s in Canton by afternoon.
Hendricksons in April, flying ants in September
Big Y's Farmington chart starts Blue Quills March 15, Hendricksons and Red Quills April 15 to May 15, green caddis through May, tan caddis May 10 to 31, March Browns and Gray Fox from mid May, Sulphurs May 15 to June 30, Light Cahills June through August, black caddis June and July, Tricos June and July, Slate Drakes June 1 to October 15, White Flies in August and terrestrials June to the end of October. DIY Fly Fishing agrees on Hendricksons and Red Quills in late April into May, Sulphurs mid May to the end of June, and calls midges the most important insect on the river because they are always present.
UpCountry's September 21, 2026 report is a good picture of the fall: size 8 to 10 stoneflies in the first hours, Trico spinners 22 to 26 from the campground up to Riverton, Isonychia 12 to 14 in the afternoon fast water, olives 18 to 24 and Hebes or Yellow Quills 16 to 18 from Peoples State Forest to Riverton, Summer Stenos and Light Cahills 12 to 14 at last light, and flying ants in every size from 16 to 24 on warm humid afternoons after rain. The shop's note that this tailwater often produces evening hatches in the morning and afternoon is worth taking literally.
Survivor Strain, and the rules by section
The browns that make this river are largely Survivors. Each September DEEP crews electrofish the segments between the Route 219 bridge and Peoples State Forest, pick 60 to 120 of the best wild and holdover browns, spawn them at the Burlington hatchery and return the breeders to the river within weeks. Their offspring go back into the West Branch each spring, on average about 1,000 two-year-olds of 14 to 18 inches in April plus 3,000 to 5,000 yearlings, each with a clipped adipose fin and a colored elastomer tag behind one eye that identifies the year class. DEEP says the yearlings, not the adults, grow into the biggest fish, and that the program has turned wild brown trout from rare to commonplace here.
The regulations, from the current DEEP river and stream table, with the season by section: Section 1 (Goodwin Dam to the footbridge abutments) and Section 3 (Route 219 to Route 177) allow two trout of at least 12 inches from 6 a.m. on the second Saturday in April through August 31 and are catch and release from September 1; Section 2 (footbridge abutments to Route 219) is barbless, catch and release, all year. A trout and salmon stamp is required in all three, and access is by posted rights of way; where the streambed is private, ask.