08/10/2026
I’ve been getting a lot of messages lately about conditions on the Upper CT River — mostly people asking about water temps. My answer is usually the same: it depends on where you are.
Most anglers use a 68-degree threshold for when to stop fishing. Personally, I’ll pull out of an area once I get any reading over 65 degrees. Anywhere at 68 or above, you should really be fishing elsewhere.
The water below 2nd CT Lake Dam has been warm for many weeks now, so we haven’t fished there in quite some time.
Most people have been asking about the fishing below 1st CT Lake Dam, and unfortunately the temps there have been hovering in the upper 60s and into the 70s for the last week or so in the afternoons and evenings. The video was taken this morning right below 1st CT Dam and showed a reading of 67-68 degrees — and this was one of the colder mornings we’ve had in a couple weeks. The river was still running hot, albeit one or two degrees cooler further downstream, but not cool enough to consider fishing it.
Luckily for us, we have one heck of a cold fishery below Lake Francis. Water temps there have been very slowly climbing over the last couple of weeks, but they’ve stayed well below 60 degrees even through this hot spell. That slight uptick has actually helped the hatches — if you time it right, you’ll see insects hatching up and down the river below the dam.
The good news: our extended forecast is looking much cooler. Mornings in the low 50s, maybe even dipping into the 40s some days, should help get water temps back down to where we want them.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you are planning on coming up.
Tall Timber Lodge
