Hi Folks, A real mixed bag of fishing. Fishing conditions have varied wildly over the last week. Hot muggy weather, cold fronts, and even rain. Nice to see the rain. We really needed it. Central Vermont trout streams seemed to receive more water than a little further north. Fortunately July has been somewhat cool and our streams are maintaining temperature. Prior to the rain on Thursday night, our brooks and streams were pretty low. The big water has had its moments with some opportunities early morning after cool nights. The Lamoille has had an abundance of micro caddis. Small #18/#20 tan caddis . Lots of #8#10 Golden Stone fly shucks on rocks. If you flip rocks, always lots of #16 to #20 olive caddis larvae and pupae. Caught trout on #12 stimulators and #16 Goddard caddis. Nymphing stonefly patterns (keep them on bottom) and small caddis is money in deep pools. In the small streams the trout fishing has been downright tough. In the low water conditions the fish hold tight to cover and are not always interested in moving to far to eat. Over casting can spook fish. Smaller dry fly patterns have worked like a #14 Royal Trude, #14/#16 Royal Wulff, #14/#16 Goddard caddis, #14 Cal Birds Pocket Water, and #14 stimulators with green bodies. We have worked to catch larger trout in the small streams. Low water sucks. Good to see levels increase. I guided a small Brook this morning that’s level was up considerably. We could not move a fish. We relocated and caught 1 small wild rainbow and a handful of native brookies. I wonder how the prolonged low water has impacted various small streams. I know of a brown trout stream that fished really well on Friday after the big rain. The trout fishing has not been consistent even though water temps. have stayed in the high fifties to low sixties. On the warm water front, the smallmouth fishing has been terrific. The top water bite was great yesterday afternoon. The surface temp. on the lake I guided was 70 degrees. Steady wind from the south. There were some #6 Hexagenias hatching at dark and I saw a number of empty mayfly shucks on the waters surface. We caught some big smallmouth looking up. Yellow bottomed poppers were the answer. A #8 Ms. Prissy was the fly of the night. All of the fish were on weed bed edges where there were large boulders in the water. We cast from 15’ to 20’ of water into about 7’ of water. All the fish were in close proximity to a small brooks entering the lake. Prime lake bottom real estate the big burrowing mayflies. We had explosive strikes but also some gentle sips. Never underestimate a take from a fish. The river bass fishing has been a little more tricky. Had a really nice trip a few days ago with young anglers spin fishing for river bass. We landed 34 bass dead drifting 3” and 4” brown and green Senkos. Slow presentations. With the fly rods, the river bass fishing has been a bit more tricky.Tough to mimic the slow offering of rubber with a spin rod to presenting a fly with a fly rod. However, it can always be done. I think cold fronts always makes smallmouth fishing tough. Plus weather that is unstable and inconsistent. I like the muggy cloudy days for top water bass fishing. The bass fishing has been pretty decent. Always lots of options, I am after it night and day. Love it! Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
