Hi Folks, It is the time in the season where I expand my fishing venues as water and weather conditions change. Had our first hot spell of the year and thank goodness it was followed by a cool down. Looks like an extended cool down which is ideal for the fishing conditions. We are desperate for rain. Rivers and lakes are crazy low for June. I am currently unable to float my drift boat due to the low water conditions. Water temps. have ranged widely. The Lamoille and Winooski both eclipsed 70 degrees earlier in the week and are now cooling back down slowly due to cold night time air temps. The small stream fly fishing has been decent. The spook factor is in play with the low clear water. I am finding that the low water is forcing the trout to hold tight to cover in tight spots. Brook temps.have been between 54 to 58 degrees. We have been working upstream casting a large #10 Goddard Caddis with a green body. Nice yellow sallie imitation. A #12 rubber legged royal trude has been very consistent catching native Brookies and wild Brown Trout. Lots of bug activity lately (not just the biting type) with caddis dominating the scene. Predominantly seeing #16 green bodied caddis hatching and egg laying. We have been imitating them with a #14 peacock bodied caddis and a #16 olive bodied x-caddis. A #16 peacock soft hackle as a dropper pattern has produced numerous fish. Still plenty of mayflies hatching. A fair number of #14 large Sulphurs have been coming off late day. A #14 parachute Sulphur has been a fine imitator. With the warming temps., I have started pursuing smallmouth bass. I am not fan of fishing bass on beds. Never made sense to me to that an angler would yank a fish off a spawning bed and feel good about it. Can’t imagine it helps the population for the long haul. All of my bass fishing has been in moving water. Dead drifting Senkos with spin gear. 3” and 4” crawfish colored Senkos have been the ticket. With the fly rods a #6 black tungsten bead white wooly bugger has crushed them. Landed several 16” to 18” hungry smallmouth. No top water action yet, but really have not given it a concerted effort. On the business front, I have an employee this season who will be running my young angler program. We will be offering fishing adventures for the young aspiring angler. It is now the time of year where the best fishing time will be early morning and late day. All about water temps. and light levels. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
