River Conditions: 7/30/16

Water Clarity: Clear

Water Temperatures:  59-70

Hatches: Sallies, Light Cahils, Hoppers, Caddis Flies, Tricos, Flying Ants

Suggested Patterns: Iron Sally #14-16, Anderson’s Bird of Prey #16, Yellow Softy, Pheasant Tails #14-18, Copper Johns #14-18, Kyle’s BH C-N Sprflash #16-18, Bob’s Softy   Red and Copper, Hare’s Ears #14-18, Light Cahils #14-16, Elk Hair Caddis Olive #14-16, More of Less Hopper #6-10, VW Hopper #8-14, Bionic Ant #14-16, Black Ant #16-18 Zonkers #6, Montana Mouthwash #6,  Muddler Minnows #6-10, Wooly Buggers Olive #6-10.

We’ve got showers in the forecast over the next few days which is much needed. Cooler temps at night will also help cool everything off. Most of the larger rivers are pretty darn warm right now. It’s been a combination of small streams and bass for us for the most part lately. Some streams have been running a bit cooler and the Little River below the Reservoir is always a good option as well. Nymphs and dry flies have been the most productive, over the next few days as we get rain streamers may come back into the game as water levels increase. Tricos have become a bit more abundant over the past few days as well and it should only be a matter of time until we see some Flying Ants around. One customer did see some in southern Vermont the other day while driving on the interstate so it shouldn’t be long! The flying ant hatch can be one of the most exciting and productive hatches of the year if the water temps line up right. Our guides have been getting into plenty of fish over the past few days, primarily on small streams and the headwaters of the Lamoille River where the water has been cooler. We’ve also been doing some bass fishing and that has been pretty solid. Grasshoppers have continued to be productive as well as ants and beetles. One thing people don’t often do with ants that can be deadly is to nymph with them, you can fish them as a dropper off of a weighted nymph and hammer fish! The Bionic ant has been a killer pattern lately for both our clients and customers on all the small streams. It’s a pretty sweet fly, very simple but it floats well and gets the job done. Another place to check out this time of the year would be the Upper CT, from Colebrook upstream the water stays nice and cold throughout the entire day and there are tons of fish in there. Not a bad drive for even a day and a half of fishing. I got out for half an hour last night after work and found some cold water and one of the biggest Wild Browns I’ve caught. He taped out at 23.75″ and had to weigh between  5-6lbs. I got him on a heavily weighed Olive Caddis Pupa in a #12 which is way bigger than most of the bugs around right now, the only reason I even tied it on was because it was the heaviest fly I had with me and I was in a deep, fast hole and had to get down quick.

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