Water Clarity: Clear
Water Temperatures: 60s- Mid 70s
Hatches: Golden Stoneflies, Caddis Flies, PMDs, Light Cahils, Sulfurs, Hexs
Suggested Patterns: Olive and Yellow Soft Hackles, Pheasant Tails (#12-18) Hare’s Ear #14-18) Bird of Prey-Olive #14-16) Golden Stoneflies (#8-10) Elk Hair Caddis Olive and Tan (#14-16) Tan X Caddis (#14-18) Parachute Adams (#12-18) CDC Sulfur (#16-18) CDC PMDS (#14-18) Wooly Buggers-Olive (#8-10) Zonkers-Olive and Natural (#4-8) Sculpin Olive or Tan, El Sculpito-Tan (#1)
Sorry for the lack of updates over the past week. Been a little busy at the shop. Over the past few days we’ve been seeing a pretty solid amount of rainfall coming through in the evenings which has helped flush out a lot of the streams and cool them off. The fish should be much more aggressive and happier now that we’ve got some higher flows. Both the main Winooski and Lamoille are still not in good condition to trout fish although that’s not really a surprise. If you want to fish the bigger rivers, go further downstream on them and target bass. On the Winooski start around Richmond and go down as far as the Salmon Hole, on the Lamoille start around the falls in Fairfax and down to Peterson Dam. Poppers during low light periods and streams later on in the day along with some bigger nymphs like girdle bugs.
Been seeing a couple hoppers out already and should see the majority of them appear in the next week or so so be sure to have some in your box. We really like the More or Less Hoppers as they float like a cork and are super realistic looking, we got some others in this year that are pretty sweet too including the Hog Call Hopper and Project Hopper. Awesome flies to fish with some nymphs behind without worrying about them being sunk. As far active bugs go, still PMDs Sulfurs and Cahils. Still been getting some reports of Hex’s coming off as well so it’s not too late to give them a shot.
If you’re trying to get out today, or over the next few days focus on the smaller waters, you could even give the upper Winooski or Lamoille a shot, just be sure to bring your thermometer. A lot of the streams that are slightly bigger than what we’d classify as a “brook trout” stream are going to be fishing really well. It’s nice when you can get out on those as there’s always a shot at something over a foot which typically isn’t the case on the brook trout streams. Be sure to have a good variety of dries with you along with a good variety of nymphs. Keep in mind, the majority of the active insects in the river are going to be on the smaller side right now so make sure you’ve got some 16s and 18s. If the waters stained, fish a bigger stonefly pattern with a smaller fly behind it. Often something with a larger, darker profile can excel in tea colored water. Good luck to everyone getting out this week!
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River: Winooski
Water Temp: 73
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 07-14-2019
USGS FI: 202 @ Montpelier
River: Dog
Water Temp: 65
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 07-14-2019
USGS FI: 73 @ Falls
River: Lamoille
Water Temp: 71
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 07-14-2019
USGS FI: 410 @ Johnson