Water Clarity: Clear-Mud
Flies: Black Stoneflies (#6-12) Girdle Bugs (#6-12), Black Montana Prince (#12-16), Copper Johns (#12), Pheasant Tails (#12-14) San Juans-Pink, Otter’s Eggs, Wooly Buggers (White or Black #4-8) Zonkers, Montana Mouthwash, Marabou Muddlers, Headbanger Sculpins, White Fish Skull Baitfish
Hatches:
Opening weekend has come and gone although it feels like Mid March outside right now. We talked to some anglers that had a LITTLE success out there this past weekend. Primarily on the smaller sized streams that weren’t affected as much by the rain. I managed to get out for a few hours this weekend and found one 15-16ish inch brown willing to eat a stone fly. Was on a mid sized trib of the Winooski, water was pretty much crystal clear. Over the next few weeks the smaller sized streams are going to be where you’re going to want to spend most of your time. As air temps warm up later on this week a lot of the of the streams will become higher and a little dirtier on later on in the day as more snow melts. Fish mid day as later on in the afternoon things may get too dirty. Have two rods rigged and ready to go, one with a sink tip and a streamer and another with a nymph rig. If you know you’re in a section of river that has some larger fish don’t be afraid to run a big streamer, if a big fish is going to exert any energy they’re going to want it to be worth their effort. As far as nymphs go, Stoneflies, Copper Johns, Pheasant Tails and other similar patterns should all work. The fish aren’t going to be super selective when it comes to a specific fly, the real challenge is getting the fly in front of a fish.
Very little word on the Steelhead Run up north, talked to a couple guys that said the Willoughby was a ghost town this weekend when they went up. We really need some warmer weather to get those fish fired up. The runs coming up out of Champlain have been great, although they will need a few more days to settle down from the rain we got. Let us know how you’ve been doing! If you aren’t getting into fish right now don’t get discouraged, it isn’t easy… Another bet would be to head further south, even traveling 30-40 miles south from the Stowe area you’re going to find slightly warmer water with a little less snow run off. Good luck out there!
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, Redington, Loon Products, Montana Fly Company, Buff, Lamson Waterworks, Sage, Rio, Scientific Angler and more!