Water Clarity: Clear
Water Temperatures: 55-65
Hatches: Stones, Caddis, ISOs, Tricos, Hoppers, BWOs
Suggested Patterns: Hoppers, Stimulators, Griffith Gnat, Adams, BWOs, Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns, Zug Bugs, BWO Nymphs, Bird of Prey, Small streamers
The fishing has been pretty great over the past few days! We’ve primarily been on the larger rivers and they’ve been great! The Winooski has finally cleared up and dropped and if full of fish! Running into a pile of wild fish along with the usual stockies. Always great to see lots of wild fish, been seeing a broader size range of the wild fish too! More than just the usual 6-8 inch fish which is encouraging to see!
We’ve been doing a lot of dry fly fishing in the afternoons, the cloudier days have provided steady BWO hatches from 11am on. On the sunnier days they’ve been a bit more sporadic and hatching more in the evenings which makes sense. Even during non hatch periods, on both the Lamoille and Winooski we’ve been able to get fish to come up for dries. The shallower riffles have been loaded with rainbows will to hit dries all day long! Small, sparse soft hackles have also been doing some damage lately, anything dark, olive or black has seemed to work the best in either a 14, 16 or 18. Swinging soft hackles is one of our favorite ways to get fish this time of the year! Nymphing has been super productive as well, lots of fish on p tails, bird of prey, bwo nymphs and copper johns! With the lower water and smaller flies we have been going a little lighter with the tippet, been using lots of the SA 5.5x for both the smaller dries and nymphs!
For anyone getting out over the next few days, the fishing should be great! No need to get up super early, the fish are definitely becoming a bit more active once the sun hits the water. Both the Winooski and Lamoille should be excellent, there are some salmon in the usual tribs, not a ton yet but there’s enough fish around to keep things interesting! Wherever you end up, good luck!
On one final note, mark your calendars for Sunday, October 15th! The Fly Fishing Film Tour (F3T) will be playing at the Spruce Peak Preforming Arts Center! Tickets are available for purchase by click HERE
See you 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, Lamson Waterworks, Winston, Sage, Rio, Scientific Angler, Thomas and Thomas and more
River: Winooski:
Water Temp: 62
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 9/28
USGS FI: 413
River: Dog
Water Temp: 56am
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 9/28/23
USGS FI: 75
River: Lamoille
Water Temp 60
Water Clarity: Clear
Last Update: 9/28/23
USGS FI: 183
Check out this sweet video Jake Leamon put together for us!!