Jumping into Fall Fishing

Hi Folks, what a great week of fly fishing. It really feels like fall is just around the corner and we just received some much needed rain. The trout fishing on the Lamoille watershed has been fantastic. Water temps are in the low sixties and the fish are active. Lots of bug activity over the last few days. #12 Isonychias’ are hatching steadily now. They come off throughout the day with big convergences of spinners st dusk. A #12-14 Grey Wulff, an Adams, or various grey bodied parachute patterns are excellent imitators of the dun. A crippled Dun pattern can be a wise choice as well. The big may fly is very clumsy during emergence and is often blown back into the water. Easy picking for a big trout. A #12 Zug bug or flashback pheasant tail are excellent imitators for below the surface. It is important when imitating an Isonychia nymph to let the fly swing out of the drift. The Leisering lift is an excellent technique to imitate the swimming may fly. Lots of #14-#22 flying ants around. I have been seeing lots of junk feeding by trout and I assume they are eating drowned ants. A #16 foam flying ant pattern has been very productive. Lots and lots of caddis from #18-#20 tan bodied micro caddis to #14-#16 bright green caddis pupa on rocks preparing to hatch. The last few days have also had a mix of #20 BWO’s and tiny #22 Sulphurs hatching at dusk. I have found rising fish late afternoon eating the tiny bugs. There is a nice variety of trout food currently for the trout to eat and depending on the time of day has determined which pattern to cast. I have not spent as much time on the Winooski watershed. I guided a trib. yesterday that fished okay. We had several decent browns chase a #8 white wooly bugger with a black bead out of big plunges. Several young trout ate an ant pattern that was blindly cast to fishy looking spots. On the bass front, spin fishing has been very good. Dead drifted 4” Senkos have been extremely effective on hooking lots of smallmouth. The smallies have been in big pools holding tight to large boulders. The top water bite has been better in the afternoon. I think the ants in the water and slightly warmer water temps. have helped the late day bassin. Black popping bugs have been the most consistent drawing interest. Lake fishing for smallmouth has also been good late afternoon. We have located hungry fish on the deep edges of milfoil beds in 10’-15’ of water. Really nice seeing a 2 to 3lb smallmouth come out of clear deep water to eat a surface fly! Well, fishing is good and the water has cooled off. The next 6 weeks are my favorite time to be on the water. Day off today for the catfish. 15 days straight of guiding and I need to regroup. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy