Water Clarity: Clear-Chocolate Milk
Water Temperatures: High 30s low 40s
Hatches: Black Stoneflies, Eggs
Suggested Patterns: Streamers! Conehead Bunny Muddlers, Zonkers, Wooly Buggers, Montana Mouthwash, Complex Twist Buggers, Grumpy Muppets, Gamechangers, Black Kaufman Stones, Girdle Bugs, Montana Prince Nymphs-Black, Copper Johns-Red, Sanjuan Worms-Pink, Otter’s Soft Milking Eggs
The conditions locally have still been kind of tricky. Lots of rain has made it difficult to find clear water. Those that have gotten into the clearer water have had success with both streamers and nymphs. In the clearer water nymphs have been the more productive fly and in the dirtier but still fishable water streamers that stand out a bit have worked. In the dirty water remember to fish darker flies, darker water darker flies. It seems counterintuitive but the darker flies that are black and brown will stand out a lot better than a brightly colored fly. Also be sure that you’ve got enough weight to keep your where it needs to be. With the water temps still on the lower side the fish will not be overly aggressive in most cases so keeping the fly down near the bottom is important.
The steelhead fishing in VT has picked up quite a bit this week as well. Good reports of fish starting to get a little more active in the Champlain Valley, seems like it still may be a little early in the NEK but there are fish around.
Given the rain we received today most of the mid sized and larger rivers are going to be shot for a while. The best thing to do right now is to find some of the smaller to mid sized streams just below where they turn into complete brook trout water. Most brook trout sized streams at some point begin to get a little slower, wider and don’t drop as much in elevation-this is where you may be able to find some larger fish in water conditions that are fishable. A lot of these sized streams hold some big surprises, especially early in the season. If they run into bigger rivers that hold browns and rainbows there’s a good chance that you’ll run into some fish that don’t inhabit those streams come mid summer, or at least don’t show themselves. We’ll be trying to get out a bunch over the next week so we’ll be sure to update conditions as we get out and fish. Good luck to anyone getting out there this week. Don’t be discouraged if you’re not crushing it, the conditions are a bit tricky!
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River: Winooski
Water Temp:
Water Clarity: Mud
Last Update: 04-27-2019
USGS FI: 5130 @ Montpelier
River: Dog
Water Temp:
Water Clarity: Mud
Last Update: 04-27-2019
USGS FI: 1430 @ Falls
River: Lamoille
Water Temp:
Water Clarity: Mud
Last Update: 04-27-2019
USGS FI: 4410 @ Johnson