Water Clarity: Clear to Muddy
Water Temperatures: 60-72
Hatches: Caddis, Flying Ants, Tricos, ISOs, BWOs
Suggested Patterns: Parachute Adams #10-18) H and L Variant (#14-18) Adams Trude (#14-16) Elk Hair Caddis (#16-18 TAN) Bird of Prey (brown-#14-16) Pheasant Tails (#14-18) Zug Bugs (#14-16) Copper Johns (red $14-18) Stonefly Nymphs, Streamers…
The rain we got yesterday was exactly what we needed! Water flows came up a decent amount on the majority of the streamers in the area, the bigger rivers may be a bit too high, and too dirty to fish this evening or tomorrow am but should be great for the rest of the week. The Lamoille should be fishable before the Winooski, and may be good by tomorrow-above morrisville will clear up first. All of the mid sized tribs will be in great shape for the weekend as well. A little more water than the past few weeks should get the fish fired up-they’ll be less picky and way more willing to eat a fly. Over the past week, prior to yesterday we had been focusing on the bigger rivers with some good days and some slow days. The fish definitely seemed to be getting pretty fussy and spooky. Seemed like each spot we’d hit would give us the opportunity at a couple of fish and then it would be dead. Not a huge shock given the super low water. Those kinds of conditions should be behind us at this point! As far as insects go, still been seeing a few rogue ISOs flying around, but definitely seen more BWO activity than anything. Some sporadic caddis activity as well, just depends on the time of day and the pool. Between now and when temps cool off significantly towards the end of October BWOs will be the primary insect that’s active. Any day with cloud cover, or a little bit of rain they’ll be out from the middle of the day on, on the sunnier days you’ll be less likely to see them until the sun has dropped below the mountains.
Soft hackles on the swing have gotten quite a bit of love this past week. We’ve been running them solo on the swing, but also drifting them behind a dry, or with a nymph. #16 Brown bird of prey have also been working quite well, this is one of our favorite fall nymph patterns, both dead drifted and swung it’s a fly we almost always have on the end of our line.
Good luck to anyone getting out over the next few days! The fishing should have improved a lot than earlier this week! Don’t be afraid to throw a big streamer if you find yourself in some higher than normal water that’s got a little color, you never know what’s swimming around!
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River: Winooski:
Water Temp: 58am
Water Clarity: Dirty, should be good by sunday
Last Update: 9/27
USGS FI: 788
River: Dog
Water Temp: 56
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 9/27
USGS FI: 81
River: Lamoille
Water Temp 57
Water Clarity: Stained-should be good by Sat
Last Update: 9/27
USGS FI: 670