River Conditions: 10/27/17

Water Clarity: Muddy-Clear

Water Temperatures:42-54ish

Hatches: Golden and Black Stoneflies, Olive and Tan Caddis, BWOs

Suggested Patterns: Copper Johns, Pheasant Tails, Montana Prince Nymphs., Zug Bugs, Bird of Prey, Streamers! Sculpin, Wooly Buggers Black (#4-6) Zonkers, Montana Mouthwash, Rubber Buggers, Muddler Minnows (#4-6) San Juan Worms

The additional rain we received yesterday really hit a lot of the rivers pretty hard. Both the Winooski and Lamoille are shot with both clarity and water level. Looks like it may be over for the regular trout season on the larger rivers. There’s still plenty of fishable water, you’re just going to have to hit the smaller to mid sized tribs to find the right conditions. Streamers and nymphs will both be good options. The biggest fish of the year may show themselves over the next few days! Bring a 6 or 7wt rigged with a sink tip and a big streamer and a 4 or 5wt with a nymph rig. In the higher flows in lots of spots the fish are going to be tight to the bank. Stay out of the water and start fishing right at your feet and work your way out from there. You never know where a giant may be. As for the Salmon in some of the tribs around, most of the larger champlain tribs are going to be shot for a while, luckily those are open through the fall and winter so there’s still going to be shots at those fish. As for the run in the NEK the water is pretty darn high but should be clear enough to fish. Often this higher water may get Lakers and Browns into the river, these fish generally run after the season has closed but when we get high water right at the end of the year it’s usually a pretty good sign that you may stumble into some of these fish. Again for the salmon, fish close, with the high water those fish are gonna be in the soft water and right up against the bank, be careful when wading as to not spook fish and better yet stay out of the water when possible. These fish will be looking for the normal Salmon nymphs, with the higher flows fishing streamers will be a productive way to find the most aggressive salmon as well as lakers and steelhead. Other patterns to consider while nymphing for salmon would be to run an egg or a san juan worm in hopes of possibly getting a steelhead to take one of those patterns! Good luck to everyone getting out this weekend, make sure you do as the season ends on tuesday! Also, a reminder that once the rivers close to fishing that doesn’t mean that you can still fish them if you’re not keeping fish. When a river in VT is closed to fishing it means you CANNOT fish it regardless of what you’re using for lures/bait or if you’re not keeping fish! That seems to be a pretty common mis conception with people coming into the shop so just a friendly reminder!

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