Water Clarity: Clear
Water Temperatures: 40s-50s
Hatches: Stoneflies, BWOS, Caddis-Tan/Black, October Caddis (#8-12)
Suggested Patterns: Pheasant Tails (#12-16) Prince Nymphs (#14-18) Hare’s Ears (#14-18) Yellow Sparkle Soft Hackles (#16) Joca’s Caddis Pupa (#14-16) Hotwire Caddis (Tan #16) Parachute Adams (#12-16) Light Cahills (#12-14) Blonde Wulfs (#12-16) Elk Hair Caddis #14-18) X Caddis (#14-18)
Only 2 weeks left!! Hard to believe that the season is wrapping up so quickly. The fishing has definitely been on and off lately. Had some good days, but also had some painfully slow days. The trickier conditions this fall are definitely directly related to the hot dry summer we had.
The rain we’ve been receiving has definitely helped things out and it looks like we’re in for a pretty good soaking tomorrow into Saturday. Hopefully this push of water will get a few more fish moving up out of some of the lakes to give us a solid finish to the year. Along with lake run fish some of the bigger tribs of the Winooski, Lamoille and Otter should see some bigger fish moving around as well. Tomorrow may not be the most productive day given the rain forecast but by Saturday or Sunday at the latest I’d definitely be taking some big streamers out to see what biting. Sink tip leaders, big flies and heavier tippet will help out considerably, in the higher dirtier water don’t be afraid to go heavy. Leave the 3x at home, run 12-15lb maxima. This will give you more confidence, especially if you hook a big fish in fast flows that you can control the fish much better and land it quicker. Be prepared for a leaf hatch. Often when flows come up this time of the year every leaf on the bank or on a tree ends up in the water and somedays it seems like every leaf in the river ends up on your hook.
For those of you getting out this weekend, assuming we get the rain we’re supposed to you can probably count on leaving the dry fly rod at home. If the water’s high and dirty nymphing and streamer fishing will be the way to go. If you’re fishing with a buddy have one nymph and the other streamer fish, not every fish will take a streamer and the same applies to nymphing. For higher flows this time of the year we like using a bigger girdle bug or other stonefly nymph with either a san juan worm or an egg behind it. For streamers, brown, olive, black and orange tend to work. Zuddlers, Zonkers, Muddler Minnows, Complex Twist Buggers and other similar flies tend to get the job done. If you’re using a sink tip leader a 5 footer is going to be the most versatile although having a 7 footer can be helpful in the bigger/deeper pools. Remember to keep your tippet material off your sink-tip short. A 7.5 or 9ft leader have no place on the the end of a sink-tip. 3ft max on what’s on the end of your sink-tip. Keep an eye on CFS flows through USGS over the next few days. The ideal time to throw streamers is going to be as the water’s starting to drop, if you can barely see the tops of your boots in knee deep water you’re in business. Staying out of the water is super important when streamer fishing in higher water as often the fish will be sitting close to the bank or they’ll follow your fly right in to the bank before eating it.
Good luck to everyone getting out this weekend!! If you can, get out there today, it’s gorgeous right now!!
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River: Winooski
Water Temp: 52am
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 10/15/20
USGS FI: 219
River: Dog
Water Temp: 51
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 10/15/20
USGS FI: 52
River: Lamoille
Water Temp: 50
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 10/15/20
USGS FI: 297