Saturday, August 16, 2014
cool down equals good fishing
Hi Folks, Been guiding like crazy with a full day boat trip yesterday for smallmouth bass and river fly fishing for trout this morning. After the big rain on Wednesday, everything has cooled with water temperatures dropping by several degrees. On the lake yesterday the surface temperature was 71 degrees and the main stem of the Lamoille this morning was 61 degrees. We cast poppers with the fly rod yesterday until mid morning when the wind picked up out of the west. Pretty good top water bite. We located all of our smallmouth off steep drop offs from rock walls and faces. Being patient when the fly landed was the trick. Generally, most of our takes were within a couple of feet as to where the fly landed. It is important to eliminate the slack when the fly lands and be patient prior to moving it. The bass will come from a long ways away to eat the surface presentation. Just have to be patient to let the fish find the fly. Once the top water bite slowed, we resorted to spin fishing with 3.5" crawfish tube jigs on 1/4 oz. jig heads. We fished in 15' to 30' of water. The larger fish were located in the deeper water. I lost track of the number of fish we caught, but the action was pretty steady. This morning the Lamoille fished pretty well. The water level has just dropped and the clarity was good. Rising fish today eating #18 micro caddis and some #12 Isonychia duns. Always fun when there is a hatch and rising fish. We caught wild trout on #14 hare's ear parachute. The best fish of the day was a nice fighting 14" wild rainbow. good looking fish. We hooked all of our fish in riffles as the rising fish in the pools were a bit more challenging to get to eat. Off to chase trout again this afternoon. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy