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Journal: Jan. 27th 2010
Recently, i've been hitting the hard water chasing perch. It hasn't,t been anything to write about. Each time out, the fishing has been decent however not much in the way of size. No color of bibit or fly has really stood out as a fish favorite, so that part has been easy. The ice that got scaring with the recent thaw will quickly freeze up with the frigid air approaching for the weekend. Better fishing lies ahead.
Nov 5, 2009
The official end to the 2009 vermont trout season has come and gone. For those of you who don't hunt, fishing opportunities still exist and if you pick the right day you could be rewarded.
Reports I've received from my fish only friends are that, with the warm air temps last week, BWO hatches are still producing rising fish on the Winooski and big browns and rainbows have been caught on the Otter with weighted streamers and large Hare's Ears. As long as the water temp stays above 40 there will be opportunities to catch fish.
Flies make great socking stuffers...
A gift certificates for a fly fishing lesson in is a thoughtful gift...
A gift certificate for a day on the water with a guide....PRICELESS!
Oct 29, 2009
Only 2 days left in the regular 2009 fishing season. River around the area vary in conditions the Otter is out of the question while the lamoille and Winooski are high but fishable. Due to the more seasonable air temps and warm rains, water temps have come up to the low to mid 40's.
The Winooski is still giving fish on afternoon hatches of BWO's while some spawning trib's have been giving up some big Browns and Salmon if your willing to work for a couple fish. I'll be guiding in the Middlebury are tomorrow looking for Big Brown and Brookies, while Brian C. will be entertaining Lawrence Pyne and the VPT camera crew, on a hunt for big late season trout in the same area.
Oct. 17, 2009
It's been a long cold week and a half and the catching has tailed off. Getting out fishing has been beautiful, with snow on the mountain tops and peak foliage hasn't been to hard to take. Last week I spent a few of days with a couple good friend, Charlie, Blake, and Hal, in the Adirondacks. We stayed in the Gladstone House which gives us access to the Schroon, W.Br. Ausable River, Upper Hudson, Indian River, Mill creek. Everyday the high temp was 20 degrees below the season avg. The river temps were around 40. One day there was snow on the river banks and a wind chill of 10 above. We opted to have a COLD beer and watch football. We caught a couple of fish on BWO's one day, but the fly of the trip was a #12 Yellow Hornberg. Charlie did a stroke of business tossing it into the current and swinging into the soft edge. Fish hammered it as he "stripped and twitched" it back to him.
Two day's ago, I had return clients from a trip cut short last May due to high water. The men were eager to get out. The snow falling and air and water temps hovering around 40 could not dampen there spirit. Chris, Fin and Scott are business associates in the area, who decided to have a business trip on the river. We Fished the Winooski from Middlesex to Bolton and had a pretty good day given the crazy conditions. I set them out with my 3 favorite color woolly buggers. After a bit, Fin missed a fish then quickly had another on. He caught and released a beautiful 15" wild rainbow on the Olive Woolly bugger. He no sooner got back to fishing and he missed one and then hooked up on a hard fighting !6" wild bow. It wasn't long before all the men had olive buggers on and catching fish. All of this catching took place in 1 1/2 hours, then it was back to working hard in some great surrounding.
Yesterday I had another return tripper from earlier this year. Jim is another local man out to learn some new water and find out how tough fishing in the fall can be. We fished the Gihon and Lamoille with no luck. Water temp on the Gihon and other trib's where 39 and the Lamoille was 41. Jim worked hard bouncing streamers and nymphs in a rainbow of colors. We left a couple on the bottom as we tried to bonk fish on the head.
Conditions should remain the same until next week we might get back to more seasonal weather. Any day could produce a good BWO hatch. Look for damp, overcast, warm days.
Salmon fishing has been picking up and with the cold, the river banks are not so populated.
Oct 7, 2009
October is a month that I really struggle with my motto, "If you can't fish...HUNT, If you can't hunt...Fish!" I've been doing more hunting lately with two grouse to show. The significance of these two birds is that my Choc. Lab Hershey has finally "got it". Both birds were flushed and retrieved by her.
Back to fishing. Reports from our guides are that conditions have been changing from day to day. We have had a bunch of overcast skies and it has been raining about every other day. Rivers levels are a bit over average and the inch of rain we are expecting today will make conditions change for the worse short term. Good days have revolved around BWO's. Dunn's have been coming off around 1pm. SS Olives, Pheasant tails and copper johns have been productive flies before, during and after the hatch. This trend should continue over the next couple of days. The weekend will bring in some colder weather which means late afternoon fishing is advised. We are at peak for fall foliage, so another variable to your fishing will be the leaves in the water. They can shut your day down quick. Once the leaves are gone I'll be looking to get out after some salmon and big browns. I will be in the Adirondacks at the Gladstone house (info on house is below) with friends for the last few days of NY fishing season. I may have one more report before I go.
Sept.26, 2009
I had a hectic evening with shuttling the kids around to different events, however I was able to squeeze the last hour of light on the water. I dropped into one of my favorite spots in the trophy section on the Lamoille. As I approached I could see fish already crashing the surface. There were multiple hatches going on. Two different sulphur hatches #12 & #16.a #14 tan caddis, #18 BWO's, a few Iso's and what appeared to be a white fly spinner fall. What to throw? What to throw? I had an Adams parachute tied on already. I threw that at the closest fish to see if I could get a take, also to continue to look for a larger fish. I got nothing on the Adam's. As I was clipping the Adam off I observed the smaller sulphur's on the water not being eaten. I also observed a larger fish coming up about every 30 sec. on what I believed was the larger sulphur's. I switched up to a #14 SS Sulphur and made 4 progressively closer casts to him. He would not move from his lie to get the fly. The fifth cast I put right down the lane and he sucked it in much more subtle than his previous rises to the naturals. I strip set the hook and proceeded to have the best fight of the season and the best Brown of the season thus far. A big ugly buck of 18+ inches was caught and released after 3 bull dog like runs and a long stand off at the net. As I tried to gather myself, I saw another large fish launch itself from the water at the head of the pool. The sulphur hatches seamed to be waning along with the available light, the white fly spinners where still plentiful and that fish continued to leave the water to feed. I switched up to a #12 White Wulff and got myself into position. The fish moved to a different location while I was moving and was definitely on the spinners. I made one timed cast and FISH ON! This fish fought much differently than than 1st. It spent much time above the water at first and then thrashed around. It was another slender 18+ inch Hen. By the time I released her the bats had invaded and made fishing impossible. What a fantastic twilight on the river. Rivers around the state are in great shape right now, but we could be getting into a rainy week ahead starting tomorrow morning. If we do get a bunch of water this week look for the Clyde to start fishing well for salmon.
Sept. 25, 2009
With the change of the season comes changes in the fishing conditions. Over the past week , every day was different than the day before weather wise. Frosty mornings as well has balmy, sunny and cloudy, windy, rainy. Last weekend the Green Mountain Troutfitters had a large group of fly fishers visit Vermont for 2 days of fishing. We were fortunate enough to be able to help out on the 2nd day and took 4 of their guests to fish the Otter. The first day, the day before a cold front hit, the fishing was pretty. The group fished the Lamoille with the Troutfitters and did well with some rainbows. The next day, the front hit and made a river that had been on fire the previous week, difficult. We had to work for every fish, and it hasn't been easy ever since. We finally got a decent amount of rain around the state on Wednesday. Most of the state received about an inch, which made the Lamoille river come up and got a little cloudy yesterday, but it remained fishable and will be in great shape this weekend. Iso's, BWO's and Caddis of many colors have been the hatches. For the rest of the year white streamer's with pearl and pink flash are a good choice.
Sept. 14, 2009
I picked my client up at 6am for an early half day trip. He was a little tired from having great full day yesterday with John Synott. They caught a couple of nice rainbows and fall fish in the morning and then hit Lake Champlain for some fun with bowfin and bass. He also stayed up late last night watching his Bears loss to my Packers. I didn't hold it against him. I wanted to get him a larger bow than the day before. We hit the deeper holes that had good flows of the riffs and worked iso nymphs, red headed princes and tan caddis pupa, that only yielded a couple of small bows and fall fish. Our last spot, I switched up to ole' faithful, a black woolly bugger.Ten casts later Bill had a really nice fish on. Ten seconds later, the fish had come unbuttoned. Having no fear we went right back into the hole and in the same lie came a beautiful 16" bow. With the sun climbing we didn't do another fish.
The TLC of the Winooski below Bolton was 62, on the low side, but good flows for drifting nymphs, and clear all morning. The rivers around the North East could really use and over night shower to freshen things up, however the forecast is mainly dry for the remainder of the week.
Isonychia's have been the fly to match. They seem to be smaller this year to me. Most years when this hatch comes off I'm throwing #10 nymphs and dries. This year #12 and many #14 patterns have been more productive.
Sept. 10, 2009
Rivers across New England will be running at half flow this week with passing of Fran Betters.
Fran is a legend in the Adirondacks and the West Branch of the Ausable River. Fran was an innovator in fly tying with the Ausable Wulff being his biggest claim to fame. He will be missed sitting at his desk spinning flies talking to everyone at the Adirondack Sport Shop that owned and operated for as long as I know. Fran has had the greatest influences on my fly tying with technique, which he took the time to show me some and with the materials he used. Heaven has a special place for Fran.
Sept. 8. 2009
I have been doing a bunch of guiding and fishing over the past few day in the southern part of the state and it's been as great as the weather. Even with bright sun sunshine during mid day.
Last even fellow guide John D. and I hit the lower part of the Lamoille to bend a rod on any thing that would take a dry. We were both treated to a couple browns in the 15" range as well as some fall fish and bass. A #14 Adams para did all the work for me. Temps on some sections of the the big river have been approaching the 70 degree mark, but with cool night they are dropping back nicely by morning. We have a few more nice days on tap and then some much needed precip by weeks end. There have been a number of different hatches coming off, but the the fly the fish have really been interested in is the Iso's. Parachutes, and nymphs to imitate have accounted for 90% of the fish caught, with black and green woolly buggers doing the rest of the damage.
Sept. 5, 2009
I spent yesterday afternoon with a good friend of mine and excellent fly fisher Lee Bangsan. We fished a bunch of different water in the Middlebury area. We did well fishing #10 Iso nymphs in fast pocket water. Lee did well to catch a bow and a brown in the 16" range. He spotted them rising in a deep hole behind a large bolder and hoohed them on an #14 Sparkle Dunn. There wasn't much of a hatch in the evening with some caddis and white flies, but the iso imitation nymphs and black stone nymphs continued to produce big fish with biggest being a beautiful 20" bow. Between the two of us we caught double digit trout over 16". The TLC varied for each body of water we fished. The New Haven was 64, low and crystal clear, the Otter was 65, perfect water level and stained. Weather continues to be beautiful. This is not a beautiful thing for some area river. Another friend did well on the Winooski below Bolton as flying ants showed showed up where he was fishing. The TLC in that section was 68, slow, and clear. Air temps will begin to cool over the next couple of day which will take the threat of hot water away, but levels will drop even farther to make fish more spooky. I'll be guiding in the middlebury area tomorrow.
Sept. 3, 2009
Yesterday I had the privilege to guide Jim Schweithelm, a local man, who's wife was kind enough to book a the trip for him. Jim wanted to sharpen his casting skills and learn small stream fishing strategies. Jim is left handed, but explained he thought he could cast better with his right. We started where the Dod Team Tavern used to be on the New Haven River to work on casting skills. After about a half hour of working on casting with his left hand he put the rod in his right hand and sure enough he could cast better with his right. We spent most of the day on the New Haven where the TLC was 60, low and clear at noon. The fish were not very active until we started swinging an 88 through the deeper pools. One fish that Jim landed was a beautiful 11" brown that had a store bought #6 Eagle Claw hook with the mono loop leader attached, buried deep in it's throat. The only thing I could do was to snip the leader and loop that was sticking out of his mouth. He was feeding when we caught him, so we set him back in great shape.
Sticking with the small stream experience we ventured up the Middlebury River for some brook trout fishing with dry flies. Jim noticed right a way that things were bit claustrophobic. We had fun watching 2 to 4 inch brookies smash and slash at our Stimulators and Ausable Wulff's. We also had fun getting flies out of trees, tangles un-done, and retrieving a hat that got blown in the water. I was surprised that we were unable to see any fish over 4 inches. Due to that, we decided to leave the small fish and small river to possibly catch a hatch and bigger fish. I knew the Otter was going to have plenty of water, however I also knew it would have good Clarity, so we would stand a good chance to get fish on inside the heavy flow and in eddies. Neither one happened...We did have a couple short strikes. When this river comes down it's going to be lights out fishing.
It's likely that the river is going to come down. We continue to have FANTASTIC weather and the forecast is the same for several days. While this is good for the Otter, some rivers will be needing a drink real soon. Temps will be great all over and should not be a problem for the rest of this season. I've had reports of Flying Ants on the Lamoille. This terrestrial fall should be show up consistently While the weather remains consistent. If you see that it's going to be windy, that will improve the fishing.
Aug 15, 2009
Out of the soup and into the fire. After dealing with high dirty water for most of the summer we are now faced with high and hot water. Summer has finally arrived with abundant sunshine and and air temps nearing 90. This has pushed water temps on the big river over 70 by noon. This trend doesn't look to change until the middle of next week. It's a good thing Vermont offers such a diverse water system. While the early morning fishing on these rivers has been good, the small stream brook trout fishing has been great as well as the bass fishing. This is also when fishing for non game Lake Champlain species is at it's best. Long nosed Gar, carp and sheepshead have been getting into there summer patterns and some nice fish have been caught during the hottest part of the day.
Aug 4th, 2009
My river reports have been more like a weather forecast this year and there really isn't much reason to change that today. I received close to 2 inches of rain over the weekend and the whole state of Vermont received similar amounts and in some cases much more. This has left big rivers high and dirty again! Depending on a quick moving front tonight, big rivers won't be fishable until Thursday. The next 10 days look good with cool and dry weather forecasted for most of the period. Small and mid sized streams are high but clear and fishing well. A good idea during high water is to fish the lower sections of mid sized trib's. Savvy trout will travel up into these waters to get out of the heavy flow of the main stream in search of a more friendly environment. I will be teaching a "Learn to Fly Fish" course the next two days in Middlebury. I love teaching this course when the big rivers are blown out..
July 30, 2009
I only received .3 inches of rain overnight here in Westford, so I got up early to go fish some of my big fish haunts on the Lamoille. The light rain that the river received did a good job of cooling the water. The water was 64 at 4:30am, clear and great flow. I was able to find water temps of 61/62 and it was these sections that I had my best luck. I didn't get any of the big ugly browns that I was in visioning while high sticking in the dark, but I did manage to bend my rod on a number of wild bows. There was a sparse caddis hatch with plenty of the adults in the foliage. I know it will shock any one who knows me, that I caught the majority of the fish on an X-caddis with a Lamoille River Muskrat as a dropper. The best fish was a 15" wild bow that took a badly eaten X-caddis as it hit the water.
Unfortunately, all water sheds south of the Lamoille got hammered with rain over night, as much as 3 inches around Rutland. The Otter and Winooski got hit the hardest and will be a long shot for fishing this weekend. Their trib's will be a great option. By the beginning of next week air temps will be dropping back into the low 70's with not to much in the way of rain. Keep your fly rods crossed...
July 26,2009
We are still in the midst of a bad weather pattern that has made river fishing hit or miss all season. One thing you can depend on is that you will probably get rained on while your out.
Other things you will probably see is high water, very little if anything hatching, and trout that you will have to work for. I had the pleasure of taking Dave Brown, a local from Fairfield and his friend Art Brantz from Virginia on a guided trip to the Lamoille in Johnson. The river was flowing and clearing with a temp of 63 at 6:30 am. Both men landed stocked rainbows in the 12 inch range early in the trip, then nothing for the second half. A Black Woolly bugger and 88 took fish on the swing. While giving the men a little entomology class, we saw many Isonychia nymphs. This sighting should put a big smile on your face and give you a bit of optimism for a great 2nd half of the season. There are plenty of fish still in our rivers, due to anglers inability to fish them for a large part of the season and therefore not bringing home dinner. There have been some good hatches of little green stone flies on the New Haven which was blown out yesterday.
July 19th,2009
Apparently Mother Nature doesn't like when I leave the state during fishing season. I have had business both person and professional since I last wrote, so I haven't been on the water at all. I had some knowledge of the rain Vermont was getting during the week leading up to July 4th. The realization was the chocolate water that I could see from the Airplane as I approached Burlington. According to my rain gauge we received 4.7 inches of rain during that week. We have already received that much this month. In general all waters are high and cool for this time of year. The clarity is what has been frustrating. It was just this kind of weather that inspired me to start fishing lakes and ponds. Speaking of which, I missed the Hexagenia hatch. From most accounts, I didn't miss much. Any one with a good story about this years hex hatch I would love to hear it.
Yesterday, I hit Lake Champlain scouting for Gar. The activity of these fish has been slowed this year due to high water levels and cool water temps. Again we were unable to locate any Gar and again we resorted to hunting Bowfin. This is the first year I have pursued these fish and they are quickly becoming a fav particularly when rivers are stuffed. Between 4 of us we caught and released close to 20 fish. Most of the fish were in the 3 -5 lbs. range and the biggest being 9 3/4 lbs.
For the upcoming week, expect river condition to remain the same as more rain is forecasted all week. The name of the game will be nymphs and streamers in the quiet section, eddies, banks and the inside edge of bends.
People waiting on their fly orders should expect them in the next 2 weeks. Sorry for the delay.
June 25th, 2009
Wow a long time has past since I last wrote and I have covered a bunch of water in that time. From the Conn. River in Canaan to the New Haven River, and I even fished 2 days of the LCI.
Over the last 10 days the river conditions have been great and the fishing has followed suite. The only down side has been the wind and the isolated 1/2 inch of rain that dirties some sections of the river. The Conn. River was on fire the three days I was there. All 3 species of trout were caught and released every day. The water temps stayed in the low 60's all day and there was significantly more water in Canaan than in Bloomfield. We caught fish on a number of different flies, but the 88 was the fly of the trip and a Royal Coachman, wet and dry, did a stoke of business on rising fish.
The LCI was a blast on board the Jus' Fishin'. This was the 1st time I have been able to get out for this event. The Capt. and crew had been catching many Lake Trout prior to the Tournament and that's what we decided could put us in the money. We caught many lakers in 2 days but couldn't put one on the leader board. Biggest fish for us was an 11lbs Laker. Blue and silver,black and purple where the color combo that took most fish. Most fish were caught right on the bottom in 60 - 80 feet of water.
We have been guiding on the New Haven quit a bit lately and with good reason. This river is in perfect condition and 20 fish a day has been common. Fish are coming on a wide variety of flies, however, a BH hare's ear or zug bug during the day and SS Sulphers, Usual's and Para Adams during the evening hatch have been the flies of choose.
River condition all over the state will be changing in the next couple days, We have had 3 days of 80+ degree air temps. This will put many sections of the big rivers over 70 degrees and with a good chance of T-Storms today we'll be back to checking the stream flows prospecting for fishable water. This is the time of year when pond and Lake fishing become a good option.
The Hexagenia hatch on many NE Kingdom still waters should start to kick off this weekend and continue into mid July. I have a few open dates from July 6th to the 15th if anyone is interesting in experiencing the "Hex Hatch".
June 14th, 2009
Not such a great day for "Free Fishing Day" yesterday. I received 1.1. inches of rain Thursday night into Friday morning. This was a state wide event and has big rivers dirty and high. The Lamoille this AM was clearing and lowering enough to fish. All of the Tribs I passed were in great shape, so I decided to hit some of my fav spots on the Gihon. I usually walk a good distance up or down this river before I make my first cast. The reason I do this, is to get away from the easy spots that fishermen hit and to observe the water conditions and insect activity. The river had great flow and 57 degrees, but only a few grey caddis hatching. All caddis imitations presented were ignored. All bushy high floating dries were ignored. A #12 muddler minnow rang the dinner bell. Fish where holding tight to the head of the pool under the heaviest riffle. Swinging the muddler and adding short quick strips triggered many takes. I landed over a dozen brookies with 2 of them being over 11 inches. Normally the wild brown trout in this river make up the majority of fish that are over 10 inches. I didn't touch a brown... The 10 day forecast is not pretty. Most of the rain forecasted is of the scattered afternoon T-storm variety which we do not need.
June 10, 2009
The Lamoille water shed received saw less than a 1/2 inch of rain yesterday which is exactly what it needed. The Brown Drake hatch has been drawing anglers to the slow pools at just before dusk to get in on the action. This hatch occurs in about a 10 day span and is hit or miss. Reports over the past two evening have been a hit, however fishing the sulphur and caddis hatch going on at the same time has been more successful.
June 9, 2009
Fishing has been outstanding since the water quality improved from the last wash out.
Our clients have have been catching all species of fish and in some case catching the largest trout they will catch all year, thanks to the Trophy sections VT Fish and Wildlife have established all over the state. I had a young couple down in the Quechee Gorge on Sunday evening. Josh and Alli have had world class fly fishing experiences, but Alli had yet to catch a trout on a fly. She tried the fly in the beginning, but went quickly to the spinner after watching Josh nymphing up a couple bows on BH orange and partridge. She caught a trout and two small perch on the spinner. Determined to get a trout on a fly, she picked the fly rod at the next stop on our way up the gorge. She was quickly hooked up on two fish, then landed the 3rd which was the fish of the day. A nice 14" rainbow. When it came time to take a picture of this momentous occasion and releasing the fish. I found out out that Alli has some issue with touching fish. She eventually addressed her fears and allowed me to place the fish into her hands. I blew the picture somehow, but witnessed a quick release and a good laugh.
We haven't had any measurable amount of rain since May 28th and have had plenty of sun shine. This has made the fishing a bit tougher. Productive Hatches have been occurring mostly in the morning consisting mostly of March Brown's and Grey Caddis. The water has become low and crystal clear, so a stealthy presentation of both fly and angler has been helpful. Water temps have remained consistent with AM temps in the low to mid 50's and evening temps in the low 60's. Today we get some moisture that could total an inch by this evening. This should only benefit the rivers, but the rain coming later this week could set us back. Keep your eye on reports and stream flows on USGS.
May 29, 2009
It has been raining on and off for the last 3 days. Here in Westford,me I received 1.4 inches of rain which has only stained the Brown's river and the Lamoille below Fairfax dam. However, the stream flow data for the Lamoille at the Johnson gage leads to believe that they got more. The cfs has gone from 250 wednesday afternoon to 1,340 today at 2:30pm. That could be slug of water that will make Fairfax a mess tomorrow and we are not really out of the woods yet with the moisture. Finding fishable water over the weekend will involve going thru your check down list of which waters clean up fastest and reading river reports to see where the guides have been. Better yet, book a trip with a guide and have him show you. There are also plenty of ponds and lakes fishing well.
May 25, 2009
This truly was a Memorial weekend. Not only remembering our fallen hero's, but the fish our guides where putting clients onto. There were very few species of fish that did not come to hand or net. From steelhead and small mouth to brookes and bowfin. All were caught on flies and all released back to the water quickly and safely. I had the opportunity to get away to Adirondacks and fish with some old and new friends. I fished Putnam creek and the Schroon river with new friend Jim Hubert and got into some nice browns on Putnam and smallish bows on the Schroon. I also fished with old friends Chip and Maureen who were staying at the Gladstone House. We spent the day meticulously casting #12 Stimulators and Ausable Wulff's into every bath tub size pocket on the Mill Creek in Chestertown. This time of year can be bad with black flies biting, but they left us alone enough to enjoy some pretty decent dry fly action by some aggressive stocked brown and brook trout. We have a rainy forecast on tap for the second half of this week. A front with a string of low pressure systems will be impacting the region begging tonight and sticking around until Friday. This event looks like it will be enough rain to effect river fishing this coming weekend.
May 21, 2009
We've got a real scorcher on tap for today, which should get some good bug action going. The only rivers still struggling from last weekends rains are the Winooski below Montpelier and the lower stretches of the Otter. Everything is in great shape and will remain that way through Memorial Day weekend. Grey Caddis, Sulphurs and a few March Browns are the hatch's you should look for. I am heading to the Adirondacks for the holiday weekend. I will report on that upon my return. Enjoy the weekend and Best Fishes.
May 15, 2009
Most rivers are back in good shape today. There is a chance for T-storms tomorrow evening/night that hopefully won't do what the last on did. Yesterday, I finally got the chance to go fishing with John Doty. John is a neighborhood friend, and we've have been talking about getting out for many years. John had never fly fished before, so I told him to leave is spinning rod home. I took him to Lewis Creek to see if we could hook up on some small mouth bass.
There isn't too much to fishing these Bass if they are there. A simple across stream cast with a weighted woolly bugger(change colors until you figure out what they like), let it swing deep into a hole and retrieve the fly in different ways until you figure how they are going to take it. After a 30 min. casting lessen which wasn't very fun with the high winds. John was doing everything well enough to catch fish but he only managed a couple of follows and I landed a 3 pounder to start. It started to rain so John said let me bag up my camera...I said thats probably our problem. John is a very good photographer and we where hopeing to get some pictures, but we didn't see many fish and where wern't very successful blind casting, so with the rain increasing John decided to put the camera in the truck. We proceeded to fish and wouldn't you know it...we started picking up fish. We had a great time picking up fish from 2 to 5lbs. until about 2pm. I always say I need to bring a scale to the river while catching these bass and wish I had one yesterday or at least that camera. I caught one yeasterday that when I handed it to John he said "that is easily over 6 lbs". We also observsed the 1st March Brown in a size 10. If you need anything to match that hatch. I've got you covered.
May 12,2009
When the Streams and Brook are unfishable due to heavy rain, there are still many options for fishing in VT. Normally, on days like today, I would go to a pond or lake to fish trout, however today I decided to do something different. Today I went on my 1st "Big Game" fishing experience with one of my partners at Stream and Brook, Drew Price. What a different experience it was... Right from the start we paddled a 14 foot canoe around Shelburn Bay standing up. We weren't casting, we glassing the water for for Carp and Bowfin in shallow water and flooded timber. The goal was to spot a fish and slowly approach to within a rods lenght to drop a heavily weighted woolly bugger or large nymph to the nose of the fish and jig it. We failed to spot any carp and I hooked up with 2 bowfin only landed one, and Drew missed one. Catching one of these fish is so exciting, manly because it all happens right next to the canoe. Also because these fish
explode on a fly, and then fight like a pit bull. They only make short runs, but they give visious head shakes and splash and twist. I plan on spending more time with Drew to learn more about catching these odd ball species on a fly.
My 1st Male Bowfin 3 1/2lbs.
photo Drew Price
May 10, 2009
Happy Mothers Day! I hope all of you Mom's that where planning on doing some stream fishing to relax today don't live in Northern VT. In Westford VT I received 2.4 inches of rain this week. Almost 2 inches of that fell yesterday in the form of Hail T-storms with periods of heavy down pours. The time is now 8am and it is still showering. This is more rain than we ever need, but we need it just the same. Big rivers above and including the Winooski will be shut down for awhile as more rain is predicted for the upcoming week. If we can stay away from the T-storms, small streams will be back in shape by Tuesday morning. Prior to this rain event the fishing was excellent with hatches of Hendrickson and green caddis bringing fish to the surface and more and more waters being stocked. Keep an eye on the stream flow on my resource page before venturing out.
May 5, 2009
I have been spending most of my free time a field hunting turkey and I've only produced a 14lbs. jake. Any other time is spent trying to get my girls more interested in either hunting or fishing. We have been having our way with the freshly stocked fish in the Browns and Lamoille in the trophy section, but it's never a willing endeavor. On the other hand our clients have been treated to awesome fishing due to awesome fishing conditions. Rivers are running lower than normal with great clarity and water temps between 45 and 55 depending. Hatches of Hendrickson have been coming off like clock work and have been taking dries below Fairfax Dam. 2pm is when they have been starting with fish rising from 2:45 until it shuts off at 4pm.
Early Quill Emerger's and Hare's Ears before, during and after the Hatch, Catskill Hendrickson's when fish begin to rise have had modest productivity. Look for conditions to continue to be great as we can expect more seasonal temps, and on again off again showers through Sunday though out the state. Thursdays rain event could effect clarity in some locations. Everything else should just help our flows down the road.
April 27,2009
Just got back from Lake Ontario where I had another great time with Capt. Mike Smith, Scott Baker, and Vic and Sean Giard. I also had the pleasure of spending a 1/2 day on board the Sportsmen with Capt. Mike Dostie and Chad Wawrzyniak. No trip to the Big O is the same and this year was no different. We've had years where a rod would break or some how jump over board, but we never had 4 rods break and have 2 people go over board. Another odd occurrence was the amount of fish we had on, only to lose them during the fight. We had a couple of good days, however we never caught the boats limit. For the 2nd year in a row we did not boat a double digit fish. For the 3rd year in a row I had a couple different flies produce fish which puts the icing on the cake for me.
On the home front, I have received reports of great river fishing mostly due to the TLC (temp, level,clarity) on most water ways resembling that of late May. This is only good short term. We need rain and cooler temps to get things back to normal and mother nature should be hooking us up over the next 5 days.
Photo Chad Wawrzyniak
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April 18, 2009
I'll be making my annual trip to Lake Ontario in quest for ice out, football shaped "Big O" browns and any other salmonoid that is lurking in the shallows. I'll be aboard the "Jus Fishin" where we troll stick baits behind planner boards in 10ft. to 30 ft of water. Over the years (10) I have tried to tie streamers to catch these fish. I started out with tying traditionally tied flies, flies of only feathers and a little tinsel for flash. I had no luck. Over the past 2 years I have gone with salt water techniques, same colors with lots of flash and eyes. I have been much more successful!
Fishing in vermont can't get much better, considering the time of year. The TLC (temperature, level, clarity) on every body of water is fantastic. Many waters in the area are getting there first stocking due to a week of no precipitation and not to much forecasted in the long range.
Check my resource page for current stocking info thru the Vermont Fish and Wildlife link.
9 1/2 lbs Lake Ontario Brown
April 17, 2009
A couple of pictures of some of the fish our guides and clients have been getting into thus far far this season.
April 15, 2009
We have had absolutely beautiful weather since the opener, not a drop of rain. This type of weather is great short term. It has allowed many water ways to lower, clear and warm by a couple of degrees by late afternoon. All of this has made it possible for some nice early season fishing. I have been receiving many reports of decent fish being caught up and down the Green Mountains. Yesterday, I got out with Matt Farnham and Drew Price to sight cast for big fish on the Dog. Between us, we were able to locate and castaway to 3 fish. The fish were holding in the deep eddies, and tight to the banks in slow current. Drew was the only one to succeed in hooking and landing a beautiful 21 inch Browny. Matt and I where both able to have fish on, but never got them to hand. Large drab nymphs and soft hackles allowed to swirl in the eddies were the ticket. Temps on the water went for 38 at noon to 40 by 4pm. Expect more of the same weather and improving fishing conditions through the weekend.
This is the time of year when many species are using small to mid sized streams to spawn. If you are getting out, please be careful not to disturb these fish or the stream bottom to much. These fish are the future to or wild fish populations. We where very carefull not to enter the water much and put the bulls eye on Browns rather that Bows.
April 10, 2009
One More Day !
One more day to get in on our Preseason special on full day trips for two or more anglers. 1st angler pays regular price $250, each additional angler is only $50, that's $100 savings on the day for 2 anglers! This is a great deal for Local Vermonters who want to better their skills and technique, as well as learn some new water. It's also a great chance for anglers in our neighboring states to see what Vermont waters have to offer. Go to Stream and Brook Fly Fishing or call my partner John Synott 802-989-0398 to get a trip booked.
Opening day is tomorrow and is looking like a nice day. Most big to medium sized rivers are up, however some of your favorite mid to small streams will be fishable. Check my resource page for latest conditions on stream flows. Large nymphs and Streamers bounced on the bottom will be the order of the day. Flies like a large Prince or Stonefly nymph, Woolly buggers, Mickey Finns and Muddler Minnows are all good flies to have. Good Luck.
Drew Price, one of our partners at Stream and Brook Fly Fishing, will be featured on VPT Outdoor Journal on April 21st, fishing for gar with host Lawrence Pyne. Be sure to check it out and if it interests you, we are offering gar, bowfin, pike trips this season.
Vermont Big Game Trips
April 7th 2009
I'm a river fisher man at heart. I'd rather be casting away to trout in a river system than on flat water, or trolling for them out of a boat. However, each is fun in it's own right, and this time of year trolling for ice out trout and salmon is the most fun you can have. Yesterday I had an opportunity to get out after those hungry shallow dwelling trout with a couple of good friends of mine Mike Dostie (Frenchmen) and Scott Baker on board Mikes new boat the "Trout Tracker". It was not the kind of day for fair weather fishermen Cold , damp and rainy, however there where a few other hearty soles out. We had a great day! We boated well over 30 fish, mostly brown's with the salmon coming later in the day. We also missed a number of fish. The best bite was when it was raining. We had doubles and triples on during these rain events. When the rain stop the action slowed with it. We had a tough time getting any fish with shoulders until Mike brought his young daughters out after school. We let them handle all the fish from the time they got on board and they both caught nice salmon. One was 4 3/4 lbs and the other was just under 4. We exclusively trolled spoons with some pretty interesting names, and color schemes, but Black and Silver was the hottest pattern.
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