Farmington River

New England's signature wild-trout tailwater.

The West Branch of the Farmington River below Hogback Dam in Riverton, CT is the most important wild brown trout tailwater in New England. Cold bottom-draw releases from the Goodwin Dam / Hogback Dam complex keep the water cold and oxygenated year-round, and decades of CT DEEP management have built a self-sustaining wild brown trout population.

The Permanent Trout Management Area between Riverton and New Hartford is the heart of the fishery — catch-and-release, single-barbless, open year-round, and arguably the most-fished stretch of trout water in the Northeast.