Water Clarity: Muddy-Clear, South of the shop did not get the rain that north of the shop got last night.
Water Temperatures: 56-67
Hatches: Golden Stoneflies, Olive and Tan Caddis, BWOs, Sulfurs, Brown and Green Drakes, Light Cahils, Hex, Hoppers
Suggested Patterns: X-Caddis Tan (#16-18) Elk Hair Caddis (#14-18) Light Cahill (#14-18) More or Less Hopper (#8-12) Dave’s Hopper (#8-12) Blond Wulf (#12-16) Royal Wulf (#12-16) Morrish Hotwire Caddis (Olive #14-16) Bird of Prey (Brown or Olive #14-16) Pheasant Tail (#12-18) Copper Johns (#14-16) Hare’s Ears (#14-18) Tan/Gold Stoneflies (#8-10) Wooly Buggers (Brown #4-10) Zonkers-Black or Olive Montana Mouthwash, Mini Sex Dungeons,
The fishing has continued to be pretty good over the past few days. The bigger rivers are starting to get a little warmer but given the forecast that may not last for long. North of the shop last night got some good rain and the Lamoille came up and got pretty dirty. The Winooski wasn’t hit though so the water there is at a good, fishable level. The small stream fishing has been awesome. With all the high water it seems as though the brookies are a bit larger and fatter this year since there’s been more food in the streams. The flows are still decent on the smaller streams as well keeping the fish a bit more spread out. Pretty much any big, bushy dry fly has been getting fish. We’ve been doing well with Hoppers and Stimulators. Yesterday I was on a little Brooktrout stream and had a giant brown come out from under a bank in a bathtub sized hole and swirl on my hopper. After a couple more casts with nothing happening I put on a big ugly nymph and hooked him on my first cast, and after about 5 seconds I lost him. I’ll be back for him though… It looks like we’re in for some more rain over the next week. That should cool the water temps back down. If we get a lot of rain go throw big streamers. That’s been what we’ve been saying for what seems like the whole summer so far given the amount of rain we’ve gotten. We’ve had some awesome days on the Dog as well as some other streams that will remain nameless streamer fishing. The trick is to hit it shortly after the water has spiked and is slowly dropping. It’s important that the water level comes up relatively quick so the water stays dirty. If it’s a slow and steady rise sometimes the water will not become dirty and the streamer bite never turns on. On some streams you may only have an hour or two window of when the water is the right color and level before it drops too much or clears too quick so timing is important. You won’t always hit it right but when you do it can be pretty awesome. We’ve had days where every hole we fish we move a giant. Then other days when we might fish for 8 hours not see signs of a fish then when we’re least expecting it have a 20 plus inch brown crush a fly at our feet. You never know… When fishing in these conditions it’s important to cover water, we usually will fish through a hole in 10 minutes or so and keep on moving. Not every hole is going to have a fish willing to take a fly so you don’t want to waste time. We also fish our flies quick, the more pauses and undulation the fly has the better but you to do this quickly. An ideal rod set up for this type of fishing would be 6wt or 7wt with a sink tip line. We generally will run between 12 lb and 20lb maxima for our leader as well. Only about 3ft to make the casting easier. It’s nice to be able to really put the pressure on fish especially in high water or if there’s a log jam or other structure for the fish to get wrapped up in. Be sure to stay out of the water as much as possible and fish the fly right to your feet, you never know where the fish may be lurking. Good luck out there over the next few days!!
The Fly Rod Shop is Northern Vermont’s finest fly fishing guide service and fly fishing gear retailer. Visit our shop on Route 100 in Stowe, VT or shop our online store to find gear from Simms Fishing Products, Sitka, Redington, Loon Products, Montana Fly Company, Buff, Lamson Waterworks, Sage, Rio, Scientific Angler and more!
River | Water Temp | Water Clarity | Last Update | USGS Fl | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Winooski | 64 | Stained | 7/12/17 | 713 @ Montpelier | |
Dog | 60 | Clear | 7/12/17 | 149 @ Falls | |
Lamoille | Muddy | 7/12/17 | 750 @ Johnson |