Tuesday, October 18, 2016

working a beat of water

Hi Folks, Another beautiful fall day on the river guiding.  Been a nice foliage season with unseasonably warm weather and lots of sun,  Still very dry.   The Lamoille was 56 degrees.  Not too many leaves in the water.  My strategy in river fishing has always been to have a beat of water to fish.  At least 3 to 4 riffles to pools that are 1/4 to 1/2 mile  from start to finish.  It was interesting in this dynamic yesterday how only 1 riffle to pool held all of the fish. The other 3 produced zero strikes while we had well over a dozen fish eat in one riffle.  All 4 spots were good water so it was interesting to me why the trout were concentrated.  Probably the low water.  Anywho, great hatch of #20 BWOs yesterday with rising fish.  Good rising activity in the late afternoon.  We landed 4 trout yesterday with the largest fish being jumping 14" silver sided wild rainbow.  Our nymph rig was a double fly set with a #14 prince and a #20 BWO dropper nymph.  The trout were all over the little dropper.  When the fish began rising we cast a #20 BWO Klinkhammer style fly.  The fish demanded a good drift. Nothing better than watching wild trout eat tiny dry flies.  The trout fishing for October has been consistent.  Primarily been catching wild rainbows and considering the water conditions the trout look great.  Looks like rain later this week, sure hope so.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy