River Conditions: 5/13/16

Water Clarity: Clear

Water Temperatures:  Upper 40’s-Mid 50’s

Hatches: Brown/black Stoneflies, Hendricksons, Blue Quill, Quill Gordon, Caddis Flies

Suggested Patterns:  Two Tone Stones, Copper Johns (12-14) Pheasant Tail (12-16) Montana

The fishing has continued to pick up over this past week. We’ve been pretty successful over the past few days fishing both the bigger rivers and the smaller streams. Things are going to change a bit with the rain we’re going to be getting over the next few days. They are calling for quite a bit of rain which is going to bring up water levels on everything and stir up the rivers quite a bit. The Winooski will probably become unfishable until the mid-late next week and the Lamoille may be in the same position although it generally clears up and drops a bit quicker. All of the small streams will also come up but drop back down fairly quick. This will be a good time to swing streamers and drift bigger nymph patterns. Bring two rods, one with a stream and one with a nymph rig. We’re also going to see a cool off on most rivers which isn’t ideal for this time of the year but will overall help the streams for the year. Tons of streams and rivers have been stocked in the past two weeks and the rain we’re going to get over the next few days will definitely help spread those fish out which is a good thing. The Migratory fishing in Vermont has remained pretty good as well. We’ve heard reports of guys getting into Salmon in the NEK as well as Steelhead. The increased flows that will soon come will help keep these fish in the rivers for a bit longer, as long as there’s water the fish will stick around. I got out on the Upper Winooski yesterday and managed to catch one 16″ Wild brown on a #14 Red Copper John, the water was a little off colored up there so having a pattern with a little flash seemed to do the trick. I only hit three holes on the upper part and had to leave, I ended in the petting zoo and caught one wild rainbow, one stocked brown and lost one other wild bow. Wild Rainbows in that stretch of the Winooski is a good sign!! These fish generally seem to be in the 6-12″ range and tend to have a football like look to them as well as parr marks on them too. The most obvious sign though is as soon as you hook one of those wild fish they immediately start jumping, unlike the stockies which often just sit there shaking their head. After we start getting significant amounts of rain over the next five days plan on fishing the smaller streams. Today and tomorrow may not be bad days to get out on the bigger rivers as it looks like the heavier, larger amounts of rain won’t come until Sunday and Monday. Been seeing some good Hendrickson hatches as well as Olive and Black Caddis Flies in #10s and #12s. Goof luck to those getting out over the next few days! Give us a call if you want to book a trip!! Now’s the time.

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