Sunday, August 7, 2011

rising trout in the middle of the day

Hi folks, Guided a full day on the lower Winooski yesterday with folks learning to fly fish.  Water temperature was 68 degrees in the early morning and moved to 70 degrees by midday.  I think there must of been a tail water release from the Littler River prior to our arrival that lowered the water temperatures.  So, a decent  number of #18 tan bodied caddis hatching in the morning and then some #14 isonychia sadleri during the middle of the day.  A large number of isonychia shukcs on rocks as well as #10 to #12 golden stone fly casings.  Interesting spot where we fished as you could catch smallmouth bass, stocked brown trout, wild rainbow trout, and fall fish.  We tussled with all 4 species.  What was really cool was eating lunch on a big rock above the water and looking down into a giant pool where we could see smallmouth and rainbow trout swimming around.  We watched one smallmouth come up in the water column over some rocks that was easily one of the largest bass I have sever seen in a river.  Certainly over 20" and could eaten the trout and smaller bass we saw in one bite.  A lot of fun for my guests to see a rainbow swimming in a big eddy eating just below the surface.  Always a good idea to find a high vantage point in a river a look into the water.  Good viewing with lessons to be learned.  Unfortunately, it was virtually impossible to cast to the fish we were watching as you would have spooked them while approaching and you could not get into the river and cast from the opposite side.  The fly pattern of the day was a #12 hare's ear parachute.  The stocked browns were all over it as well as the fall fish.  We nymphed with a #12 Montana stone fly, but most our work was with the dry fly.  Fun day on the water after all of the recent heat and it was nice to have over cast skies in the afternoon.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy