Sunday, October 18, 2009

rising trout in skinny water

Hi Folks, Guided the Lamoille yesterday afternoon under partly sunny skies and cool air temperatures. 

We moved around as our first stop on the river we found 40 degrees water temperatures (ouch!!).  So we moved below a small tailwater influence and found 44 degree water temperatures and rising trout.  Water level is perfect and the clarity is outstanding.  Saw a pretty decent hatch of #20 BWO's and some #16 egg laying caddis.  The trout were eating mostly emergers though we did see a few large snouts stick up and suck in small mayfly duns.  We literally saw fish rising in less than a 1' of water.  No thermal issues this time of the year so the trout can be more widely dispersed though the do have to relate to the foam line for feeding purposes.  We saw a lot of dorsal tail rise forms which indicate trout eating in the film.  We cast a #20 BWO parachute with a #20 BWO emerger pattern.  We had fish eat both flies.  Had a 8 trout come to the fly and landed 2 wild rainbows.  So some pretty decent fish rising and I will be chasing this pod again.  It was imperative to make long casts and good drag free drifts in the slow glassy water.  Certainly not fly fishing for a beginning caster.  How we moved in the water was important as well as sending a wake onto the water would put the trout down.  A very different fishing day than the previous day.  Not bad fly fishing considering the water temperatures. 

Will be guiding trout the next couple of days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.

Have Fun, Willy