fun in the sun

Hi folks, Just spent the last two days guiding full days on Lamoille watershed and the Winooski watershed.  The fishing has been great.  Water temperature was 64 degrees yesterday morning on the Lamoille at 5:30am.  Water level was slightly above the seasonal flow.  The were rising everywhere and eating a #18 tan bodied caddis.  Also a fair amount of #12 potamanthus or golden drake spinners hitting the water.  You had your choice of where to cast as fish eating in the riffles and pools.  We found rising trout  in less than a foot of water. A #18 tan x-caddis was the fly of the day.  We must of hooked well over 20 trout consisting mostly of wild and stocked rainbows.  The biggest fish of the day was 14" wild bow.  You could watch the caddis trying hatch off the water and see the rainbows launch out of the water to eat the newly winged adults.  As sun became very high in the sky and the water warmed up we moved to a small brook trout stream where was was clear and a cool 59 degrees.  Caught a lot of native brookies with a #12 rubber legged royal stimulator.  The largest brook trout was 9".  The theme of the day was dry fly fishing and working on aerial mending with the dry fly.  Thinking about our positioning prior to the cast and making a good drift in the trout feeding lane.  This morning the Winooski was 66 degrees at 6:00am and with some cloud cover that kept the sun off the water until 11:00am.  Not much for rising fish today though we did find some juvenille rainbows who were happy to eat a dry fly.  We nymphed a using a double rig consisting of #16 hare's ear nymph a #20 tan caddis pupa.  We landed 14 rainbows where all but two fish were wild.  Were a few hatching micro caddis and lots of caddis pupas on tops of rocks.  No real consistent rising fish.  Found a lot of fish holding in the heavy water due to the rising water temperatures.  Really good big water trout fishing for the 4th of July.  Probably will now be on hold for a while with the hot days and nights ahead.  We moved to a small tributary after lunch and found low clear water.  The water temperature was 59 degrees.  A real spook factor was in effect as we watched numerous brookies dart for cover as we approached pools.  Being stealth and cautious was important.  We landed a few brookies using a #14 green/tan stimulator but we spooked more fish than we caught.  Will be smallmouth fishing for the next few days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy