Water Clarity: Muddy to Clear
Water Temperatures: 60s- Mid 70s
Hatches: Golden Stoneflies, Caddis Flies, Light Cahils, Sulfurs, Tricos, Hoppers
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) More or Less Hoppers, Project Hopper, Hog Call Hopper, KK Henberry’s Hopper Wooly Buggers-Olive (#8-10) Zonkers-Olive and Natural (#4-8) Sculpin Olive or Tan, El Sculpito-Tan (#1)
The fishing has been pretty good this week! With cooler temps during the day and at night water temps have dropped a bit. We could use some rain which it looks like we’ll get this coming week, even tonight. The Lamoille had been running pretty cool all week above Morrisville. AM temps had been ranging from 59-62 depending on the section. The Winooski was considerably warmer, I checked the temp yesterday morning at 5:15am and it was 69 degrees.
We have been finding fish eager to take bigger hoppers in the slightly more turbid, quicker moving water, half way down the runs where the water becomes a bit softer we had better luck with smaller dries like cahils and pmds. Productive nymphs for us have included smaller pheasant tails, hare’s ears and smaller caddis pupa. Not a bad idea to run 5 or 6x when using #18 nymphs especially when the waters a little bit lower. As far as other fishing, the Little below the reservoir has been fishing pretty well despite the super dirty water. It’s had about 6 inches of visibility since the beginning of June but the fish don’t seem to mind. We’ve been getting some nice fish on bigger black stoneflies and wooly buggers. Dead drifting and being very thorough while working the water has proved to be beneficial down there. Given the lack of clarity, it makes sense that you’ve really gotta work the water hard. Temps down there have been between 55-60.
The brook trout streams are currently super low, the fish have been pretty spooky but with the rain we’ll be seeing over the next couple of days levels should come back up and the fishing should be better.
For those getting out this weekend keep an eye on water levels. If some of the mid sized streams such as the Dog come up any significant amount fishing big streamers could be a very good option. Otherwise going after bass on a local lake or pond wouldn’t be a bad idea. If you’re thinking trout, the Upper CT would be a great option as that water will be cold along with heading over to the Rangley area of Maine to target Brook Trout and Salmon. Neither spot is too far of a drive for anyone in the north-central part of VT and they’re definitely worth the trip, even if it’s just for a day.
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River: Winooski
Water Temp: 69am
Water Clarity: Muddy
Last Update: 08-14-2019
USGS FI: 164 @ Montpelier
River: Dog
Water Temp: 64
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 08-9-2019
USGS FI: 37 @ Falls
River: Lamoille
Water Temp: 64am
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 08-9-2019
USGS FI: 136 @ Johnson