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Water Clarity: Clear to Muddy

Water Temperatures: Mid 40s to Low 50s

Hatches: Stoneflies, Caddis Flies, Light Cahils, BWOs, 

Suggested Patterns:  (#12-14) Pheasant Tails (#12-18) Hare’s Ears (#12-16) Prince Nymphs (#10-16) Taylors Gut Instinct (#14-16) Joca’s Caddis Pupa (#14-16) Bird of Prey-Brown or Olive (#12-16) Morrish Hotwire Caddis (#14-16) Copper Johns (Copper-#14-16) Wooly Buggers, Zonkers, Sculpin, Sex Dungeons, Complex Twist Buggers, Cheech Leeches

Fall is really in the air now. And, with under two weeks left in the VT trout season you better get out while you can. The fishing for us this past week had been hit or miss, I had one trip out on Monday and we landed 14, the following day, the fishing was way slowerrr. Still good getting out and the slower fishing can’t be blamed on lack of fish because they are there. 

The rain we’ve gotten over the past few days has really brought water levels up quite a bit. North of the shop didn’t get hit as hard and the lamoille could be in decent shape for tomorrow or sunday. The Winooski and a lot of the Winooski tribs aren’t in the same boat. The Mad was shot this am as was the main Winooski, high, dirty and full of leaves. My guess is this weekend there’s going to be a lot of streamer fishing given the higher flows. Be prepared to catch a leaf or two… For the fly tyers out there, tie up some trout streamers with mono weed guards, they’ll greatly reduce hook ups to leaves which can often be wicked frustrating this time of the year. A sink tip leader or sink tip line would also help get into some of those deeper pools. With temps dropping fish your streamers a bit slower, and a bit deeper than when the water was a bit warmer. It wouldn’t be a bad idea either to throw a couple flies at em. If you run one big dark fly, run a second, smaller light colored fly behind. Giving them a couple option that are quite different can often help you figure out what the fish want that particular day. Fish eating streamers don’t always seem to care about the fly color but on a slow day having a couple different flies can be the difference between catching a trophy brown and nothing.

As water levels drop, nymphs will be a lucrative option as well. We had good luck with smaller prince nymphs, bird of prey and hare’s ears earlier this week prior to the rain. Dry flies may still get the job done as well, just a matter of if we get some warmer weather. If you’re getting out, I’d head a little north and get on some of the mid sized tribs tomorrow with some big streamers. The dog should be in great shape for some fall fishing this weekend as well.

Good luck to those getting out this weekend!

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River: Winooski

Water Temp: N/A
Water Clarity: Muddy
Last Update: 10-18-2019
USGS FI: 947 @ Montpelier

River: Dog
Water Temp: N/A
Water Clarity: Slightly Off
Last Update: 10-18-2019
USGS FI:  224 @ Falls

River: Lamoille
Water Temp: N/A
Water Clarity: Dirty- might be fishable by tomorrow
Last Update: 10-18-2019
USGS FI: 920 @ Johnson