River Conditions: 6/9/16

Water Clarity: Clear-Muddy-Small tribs are clear, Winooski is still muddy, Lamoille is Stained but fishable

Water Temperatures:  55-65

Hatches: Golden Stoneflies, Olive/Brown Caddis Flies, Hex, Sulphurs

Suggested Patterns:  Smethursts 20 Bomb, Chart. Copper Johns (#14-16) Pheasant Tails (#12-18) Hare’s Ears (#14-18) Bird of Prey Olive (#14-16) Hotwire Caddis (#14-16) Hare Copper-Golden Stone, Sparkle Minnows, Montana Mouthwash, Muddler Minnows (#4-8) Olive Wooly Buggers (#6-10)

Things have really cooled down quite a bit over the past few days. Air temps have dropped a ton which in turn has dropped the water temps. The rain we’ve been receiving has also helped quite a bit. Streamers and nymphs may still be the best options for river fishing over the next few days. On the stillwater front, we’ve gotten reports of Hex hatches starting up so keep that in mind if you’re hitting your local bass or trout lake. Everything is in pretty good shape but the Winooski. It looked like it was still pretty dirty when I drove over it today, by tomorrow or Saturday it should be good provided we don’t get any more substantial rains. If you’re going to fish streamers, fish with either a sink-tip leader or a sink-tip line and heavier flies to help get down. The other day Frank and I hit a smaller Winooski trib and got into some browns, the fish were all caught on a Sculpin Fly. One of the spots we hit, Frank had dibs on working the pool first with an Articulated bunny strip fly and came up empty, we worked it after with a sculpin pattern and within 5 casts we got a nice brown. All the other fish we hooked and caught were on that same fly. As far as nymphing goes, be sure you’re getting pretty close to the bottom. The fish will probably be sticking low in this cooler water and especially in the high water the fish often stay on the bottom. Up your size in nymphs if where you’re fishing is dirty, larger brighter patterns like Chart. Copper Johns in a #12 is a great fly to fish in stained water. It stands out and often will get a fish’s attention when a smaller more naturally colored fly doesn’t. Dry flies aren’t out of the question on the rivers either, Sulphurs, Elk Hair Caddis and Stoneflies will be out and about. It shouldn’t be long until we start seeing light cahills in the mix too.  The Weather should remain good over the next four or five days for trout fishing. Cool temperatures with scattered showers. You better get out there this weekend!!

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