Hi Folks, Pounding away at the river fishing for trout. The guiding business has been brisk. I have mostly been on the Lamoille watershed. Water levels are right around seasonal average flows. Water temperatures are a bit warm for this time of the year. Weird weather for May. Lots of rain, hot days, cold days, and not a lot of stability with the weather. I have been getting temperature readings between 59 and 65 degrees. Tons of bugs hatching. I have been seeing remanent #14/#16 Hendrickson spinners at dusk, #10/#12 March Browns hatching from mid afternoon on, #14/#16 dark bodied caddis coming off early am with the bright sunny weather and egg laying at dusk. A few #16 Sulphurs at dusk as well as #12 egg laying stone fly adults. I have found #10 damsel nymph shucks on rivers edge. I have been struggling to locate rising fish. A few trout fishing here and there. My take is the bright sun, higher water levels (why rise to eat in heavy water if there is plenty to munch on subsurface?) and I question the number of wild adult trout in the main stem of the Lamoille. Our rivers are stocked now and the hatchery fish are beginning to acclimate. My guests have had their best success fishing nymph patterns. We have been tight line drifting and using indicators. Fly patterns have been a #12 Dave’s Red Fox Squirrel nymph, #12 red thread Prince nymph, #14 flashback pheasant tail, a #14/#16 peacock soft hackle, #14 ice caddis, #16 olive caddis pupa, and a #12 tunghead stonefly nymph. A #8/#10 olive and black wooly bugger dead drifted has drawn some interest as well. The bugger is a great crawfish imitation.Our rivers are loaded with craw daddies and adult fish do eat them. What trout I have seen rise have been at dusk. Mostly in deep big pools or giant eddies. Not a lot of consistency to the rising activity. I guided a salmon trip the other day. Great caddis hatch with small salmon rising. A #14 Goddard caddis worked well with a soft hackle dropper. We did not see any adult salmon. The river trout fishing is only getting better daily. I found May lacked consistency. May often makes me question how many wild trout are in our big rivers? June is prime time in Vermont. Great time to fish. I am running my boat for northern and bass later today. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
