Sunday, August 22, 2010

Finally some rain

Hi folks, Guided the main stem of the Winooski yesterday morning where the water temperature was 66 degrees at 6:00am.  Pretty cool breezy morning with increasing cloud cover.  Raining here now and I have thus far received 1/2" of rain at my house in Stowe.  Supposed to rain for a couple of days which we could really use.  Been pretty dry and our streams and rivers need a drink.  The Winooski was about as low as it gets yesterday and we were down stream a ways from Bolton.  Did not see any rising fish and only a few sporadic hatching small caddis.  Lots of #12 isonychia shucks on rocks as well as #10 stoneflys.  We spin fished with beetle spins in silver and caught 4 wild rainbows between 10" and 14", 1 1.5lb smallmouth, 2 young landlocked salmon, and a few decent sized fall fish.  All of the fish were in deep pools that were fed by heavy riffles.  The rainbows looked like they had survived the heat of the summer but were a bit thin bodied with big heads.  Not surprised considering how warm our big rivers got this year.  Should be a good fishing week with the rain and some cooler air temperatures.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy