Water Clarity: Clear-will be muddy by tomorrow morning in lots of spots.
Water Temperatures: High 50s-70
Hatches: Stoneflies, Caddis, Hendricksons, Olive Caddis, Light Cahills
Suggested Patterns: Pheasant Tails (#12-16) Bird of Prey-Olive (#12-16) Kaufman Stones Flies in Black and Gold #8-14) Newburys Knuckle Dragger (#8-10) Morrish Hotwire Caddis #14-16) Red Copper Johns (#12-14) Hare’s Ears (#12-16) Parachute Adams (#10-12) Light Cahills (#10-14) Blond Wulf (#10-12) Olive Elk Hair (#14-16) Tan X-Caddis (#14-18) Wooly Buggers-Black (#4-10) Zonkers (#4-8) Bunny Muddlers White (#8) Sex Dungeons Black/Rust
Things have changed a ton over the past week! The fishing had been great then all of a sudden things got really low and warmed up super quick! Luckily by the end of today that should be taken care of. Looks like we’re going to be getting a good soaking tonight which will bring water levels up significantly and hopefully cool water temps off quite a bit. The forecast for next week is looking fantastic.
As far as the fishing goes, the second half of this week was a little trickier on the trout end mainly just due to water temps. The temps of the main rivers had hit 70 where we temped them by Wednesday which was a bummer to see, luckily it only lasted for a few days and by tomorrow they should be much cooler and by Monday of next week I’d expect to see them in the mid to upper 50s again. Prior to the warmup we had been seeing a good amount of Hendricksons still hatching along with Caddis and Cahills. Everyday last week I was on the water I noticed more and more Cahils and a few less Hendricksons which makes sense given the time line. More Caddis mid afternoon into early evening then more Mayflies coming off closer to dark. The Lamoille had been fishing pretty well with dries prior to the warmup, the Winooski still seemed to be void of rising fish but plenty of fish willing to eat. At least where we’ve been fishing it, we haven’t come across more than one rising fish in a pool. Let’s hope that changes this coming week.
The outlook for the weekend doesn’t look too bad, lots of rain tonight which may throw a curveball in plan A and plan B for tomorrow am but that’s why you should always have a plan C and D and maybe even a plan E. Depending on where we get rain and how much there could be some fantastic opportunities to fish streamers tomorrow am and mid day trying to find the big boys. A black, olive or brown articulated streamer like a sex dungeon is a great way to entice the big fish that you know are there but just never see. If throwing streamers tomorrow morning be sure to have a sink tip leader or sinking tip line, that will definitely help get your fly down a little deeper, also be sure to run a heavy piece of tippet material off the sink tip-10-15lb Maxima Ultragreen is what we typically use, in dirty water those fish generally won’t be leader shy and running something a little heavier will give you the confidence you need when fighting bigger fish.
With heavy rain in the forecast it would probably be a safe bet to rule out the main sections of both the Winooski and Lamoille, depending on how much rain we receive they should be fishable at some point early in the week-this is all banking on us actually getting rain… The Lamoille will be fishable sooner than the Winooski assuming both drainages receive equal amounts of rainfall. For the weekend, hit the mid sized tribs, if the waters high and dirty fish streamers and cover water. If one spot is blown out, head higher upstream or circle back in a few hours, a lot of the mid sized streamers will often go from mud brown to tea colored within a couple of hours.
Good luck to everyone getting out this weekend!!
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River: Winooski
Water Temp: 69am
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 5/28/20
USGS FI: 328
River: Dog
Water Temp: 65
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 5/28/20
USGS FI: 71
River: Lamoille
Water Temp: 68am
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 5/28/20
USGS FI: 247