Water Clarity: Clear
Water Temperatures: 60s-70s
Hatches: Stoneflies, Caddis, Olive/Tan Caddis, Light Cahills, Hoppers, Tricos
Suggested Patterns: Pheasant Tails (#12-16) Prince Nymphs (#14-18) Hare’s Ears (#14-18) Yellow Sparkle Soft Hackles (#16) Joca’s Caddis Pupa (#14-16) Hotwire Caddis (Tan #16) Parachute Adams (#12-16) Light Cahills (#12-14) Blonde Wulfs (#12-16) Elk Hair Caddis #14-18) X Caddis (#14-18) RS2-Trico #20-22
Finally some cooler temps! We could still use a ton of rain but the cooler air temps will definitely help things out. We’ve still been spending most of our time targeting bass. A little trout fishing here and there on the smaller streams, had a few fantastic days last week right after the heavy rain but the water seemed to disappear faster than normal. The larger rivers are starting to cool down a bit but are ridiculously low, we’re forecasted to get some cooler nights along with some rain this afternoon into tomorrow. This should continue to cool things off as long as nothing drastic changes in the forecast. Water temps were still above 65 on both the Winooski and Lamoille this am but they’re improving. Hopefully there’s still some fish hanging out in them for the fall. If things continue to cool, there may even be some fishing opportunities on the upper parts of them by Wednesday or Thursday.
From a bug standpoint there hasn’t been a ton hatching over the past couple of weeks-which is to be expected this time of the year. We did see one flying ant hatch last week, over the next few months that’s a hatch you should be ready for. Quite often there’s not many great trout opportunities in our neck of the woods during an ant hatch but you can hit some sections of the Winooski and Lamoille for Bass as well as some stillwater bodies of water and run into some of the best days of fishing of the year. If temps are conducive to fishing, some of the mid sized rivers can also provide fantastic opportunities to catch some of the larger trout that reside in them on dries. We’ve also been seeing tricos on a few rivers as well. These tiny mayflies usually hatch in the early hours of the morning and by 8 or 9am begin to do their spinner fall. During the spinner fall is when you’re going to find the most bugs on the surface which should coincide with the most fish activity.
On the bass front, we’ve been having the most success with smaller crayfish imitations along with smaller wooly buggers and pats rubber legs. We have been getting fish on hoppers and poppers on the rivers, not quite as many but sometimes fewer bites when they’re on dries is ok with us.
Lastly, on a non fishing note we wanted to give people a heads up on the September Fly Fishing Festival. With COVID we’ve decided to just have a big Pandemic Sale. The majority of the stuff in the shop will be on sale to some degree, what’s going to be really awesome is anyone that swings by 9/11, 9/12 or 9/13 will get entered into a drawing for a variety of prizes. Winston and St. Croix have stepped up and thrown in a couple rods, a Winston Pure and a St Croix Imperial Salt will be going home to two lucky winners at the end of the day on Sunday.There will also be a Regal Vise heading home with someone!! Anyone that swings by will get one entry, additional entries will be given to customers who spend certain dollar amounts that weekend in the shop. There will also be fly lines, some flies and some other awesome stuff getting tossed around! Be sure to mark your calendars and swing by the weekend for a day!!
Good luck to everyone getting out on the water this week! Be sure to bring your thermometer!
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!
River: Winooski
Water Temp: 68am
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 8/17/20
USGS FI: 72
River: Dog
Water Temp: 66
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 8/17/20
USGS FI: 12.5
River: Lamoille
Water Temp: 67
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 8/17/20
USGS FI: 84.1