Housatonic River Fishing Report – Kent, CT – October 3, 2026
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Updated Saturday, October 3, 2026 at 5:00 PM · Housatonic River at Kent / Falls Village, CT
Dropping back into shape — a good window to get out.
Good wading flow — cross with care and cover the riffles and pocket water. The river's dropping back into shape after a bump — fish tend to settle and feed hard on falling, clearing water, so this is a window worth catching. Bright, bluebird skies — fish will tuck into shade and structure; your dry-fly window is the first and last hour of light.
- Flow: 288 cfs falling · wading yes
- Weather: 69°F sunny
- Last light: 6:31 p.m. first light 6:52 a.m.
- Hatch: BWO #16-22
- Spin: spinners smallmouth on
- Stocked: Sep 21 12 days ago
Conditions
| Reading | Now | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Flow | 288 cfs | ▼ falling (-15% vs yesterday) |
| Gauge height | 2.12 ft | flood reference: 7 ft |
| Barometer | 1004 hPa | ▬ steady (-0.4 hPa/6h) |
| Sky | 10% | daytime cloud cover — clear |
| Water temp | — | no nearby live gauge reports water temp |
| Condition | Ideal Wading | clarity not gauged here |
USGS 01199000 (Housatonic River at Falls Village, CT) · observed Oct 3, 4:15 PM · pressure & sky via Open-Meteo
Weather on the water
- This Afternoon: 69°F, Sunny (wind 3 mph N · precip 0%)
- Tonight: 42°F, Mostly Clear then Patchy Fog (wind 2 mph N · precip 0%)
Planning a trip? The next few days:
- Sunday: 65°F, Patchy Fog then Slight Chance Rain Showers (wind 0 to 5 mph E · precip 24%)
- Monday: 65°F, Mostly Sunny (wind 0 to 9 mph W · precip 5%)
- Tuesday: 60°F, Sunny (wind 3 to 7 mph NW · precip 0%)
- Wednesday: 66°F, Sunny (wind 0 to 7 mph SW · precip 0%)
Best times today
Best windows: First light around 6:52 a.m., last light near 6:31 p.m. — the low-light edges are prime. Blue-Winged Olive is the bug to watch — afternoons, best on cloudy or drizzly days. · Last Quarter (55% lit)
Solunar: Majors (peak feeding): 5:44–7:44 a.m., 6:17–8:17 p.m. Minors: 2:19–3:19 p.m., 11:14 p.m.–12:14 a.m. The major that lines up with first light is the one to be on the water for.
What's hatching
| Insect | Size | Try these |
|---|---|---|
| Blue-Winged Olive (Baetis) Afternoons, best on cloudy or drizzly days |
#16-22 | BWO Comparadun #18-20, Pheasant Tail Nymph #16-20, CDC Olive Emerger #18 |
| Isonychia (Slate Drake) Late afternoon and evening; nymphs migrate to slow shallows |
#10-12 | Isonychia Parachute #12, Zug Bug #10-12, Leadwing Coachman #12 |
| Flying Ants (terrestrial) Warm, humid afternoons after rain |
#14-20 | Cinnamon Flying Ant #16-18, Black Ant #16-20 |
From our shop hatch calendar — stop in for what’s working this week.
Spin fishing — what to throw
Good flow for covering water — fan 1/8–1/4 oz inline spinners and small spoons through the riffles, runs, and pocket water; cast across and let the current swing them through the seams. Bright sun pins fish tight to shade and structure — pick those spots apart, and your best shots come in the first and last hour of light. Trout are keyed on the Blue-Winged Olive right now — a small silver spinner swung just under the surface, or a casting bubble trailing a BWO Comparadun #18-20, can out-fish a bigger lure when they're locked on bugs.
On our wall today
- Blue Fox Vibrax Flash Spinner — 1/8 oz
- Rapala Husky Jerk
- Trout Magnet 50 pc Split-Tail Grub Pack
- Mepps Syclops Spoon
- Strike King Bitsy Spinner
- Rapala Shad Rap 07
Species: Trout are the main target on spinning gear. Smallmouth are active in the warmer water — work tubes, jerkbaits, and swimbaits through the faster rocky runs. Carp on the slow flats, plus the odd pickerel or fallfish, round out the warmwater options.
| Lure | Size | Colors & when |
|---|---|---|
| Inline spinners Mepps Aglia, Panther Martin, Rooster Tail |
1/16–1/4 oz (#0–#3) | silver/gold blade, natural or black-fur bodies; brighter in stain The workhorse for trout in moving water — riffles, runs, and pocket water. |
| Casting spoons Acme Little Cleo, Kastmaster, Phoebe |
1/12–3/8 oz | silver/gold; hammered or painted (chartreuse, firetiger) when water's up Cover water and reach deeper or faster flows; great flash for stained water. |
| Soft plastics & jigs Trout Magnet, small paddle-tails, tubes, Ned rigs |
1.5–3 in on 1/32–1/8 oz heads | natural/translucent in clear water, darker or chartreuse in stain Finesse for low, clear water and pressured stocked trout; also the go-to for smallmouth. |
| Jerkbaits & stickbaits Rapala Original & Countdown, small suspending jerkbaits |
2–4 in | silver/black or rainbow-trout in clear; gold or firetiger in stain Match baitfish for bigger trout and smallmouth; shines in higher, stained water. |
| Micro jig under a float Trout Magnet / micro jig below a casting bubble or float |
1/64–1/32 oz | pink, white, olive Dead-drift for stocked and clear-water trout when they won't chase. |
Our standard Housatonic spin box — stop in and we’ll match it to today’s water.
Much of the Housatonic is open to spin fishing with artificial lures. The marked Trout Management Areas — the long TMA between Falls Village and Cornwall Bridge, and the Bulls Bridge TMA at Kent — are year-round catch-and-release, artificial lures and flies only, single barbless hooks: spinning gear is welcome there as long as you pinch your barbs and release fish quickly. Other stretches allow bait and trout harvest in season. Regulations change year to year — check the current CT DEEP Angler's Guide or stop in and ask us before you fish.
Stocking
- Housatonic River Bulls Bridge TMA (Kent, New Milford) — last stocked 12 days ago (September 21)
- Housatonic River TMA (Salisbury, Canaan, Cornwall, Sharon) — last stocked 12 days ago (September 21)
CT DEEP stocking is in season — numbers update as trucks go out.
Questions about the water?
Sportsmen’s Connection · 15 N. Main Street, Kent, CT · 860-592-0130 Data: USGS 01199000 · CT DEEP trout stocking · National Weather Service. Conditions change fast — use your judgment on the water.