Small stream specializing

Hi Folks, The Fishing has been pretty good this last week. I’ve been guiding everyday and spending lots of time on small wild trout streams. We have been catching a lot of native brookies, wild browns and rainbows on dry flies. Water levels are up currently after big thunderstorms the last couple of days. The Lamoille and Winooski are unfishable. High and dirty and still a bit warm. The brooks I have been storming around are in perfect shape. Slightly high and water temperatures have ranged from 58 to 62 degrees. It looks like the next 10 days should be perfect for trout fishing. Cool nights in the high forties to low fifties with daytime temps. only in the mid 70’s. I like higher water when seeking out larger fish like Brown Trout. They seem more comfortable feeding and make themselves available to us fly anglers. Nothing-better than seeing an almond torpedo rise to eat a dry fly. We landed 6 browns today and a wind rainbow. Yesterday we landed at least 20 Brook Trout including a 12” specimen. That’s a trophy Brookie in a small brook in Vermont. Most of the fish caught were on #12 orange stimulator, a #12 green stimulator, a #12-#14 Royal Wulff, and a variety of #10-#12 green and yellow foam hopper patterns. Tight line drifts into heavy pocket water were essential. No fly line on the water. High stick mending and thinking about where you stand is awful important in getting a good presentation. There have been a ton of #18-#20 micro caddis along the banks of our streams. We nymphed up a nice wild brown this am on a #18 slaughter caddis pupa. Still seeing a lot of #6-#12 Golden Stonefly shucks on the rocks. I am still seeing #22-#26 Tricos hatching at sunrise and Spinner Falls around 10am. Unfortunately the wild trout have not seemed agreeable to eating the tiny mayfly. The nice thing about Vermont small stream fly fishing is that you can blind fish good habitat and have fish eat your dry fly. My clients catch a high percentage of trout on dry flys without ever seeing a fish rise. Our streams are nutrient poor and the fish have to eat when given the opportunity. There simply is not a lot food in the form of water born insects. The river smallmouth fishing has been steady. A good topwater bite for the first hour of the day. If the fish are not lookin up either 3”Senkos have caught them or a dead drifted and stripped #6-#8 olive wooly bugger with rubber legs has worked. I will be small streaming the next few days. If you like wild trout and peace and quiet, then walk a brook in Vermont with your fly rod. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy