Hi Folks, Been raining an awful lot the last 3 days. Miraculously I pulled off 1 of two trips on Friday after the flooding rains and today rain the boat the is morning before it got ugly. Even more incredibly the fish being caught buy client whether with a fly for a brook trout or a Zara Spook for a bass, the bite has been in the surface. Our rivers are really big and saturated. I think big river fishing is out for a few days. The little brook I guided yesterday afternoon was 54 degrees and full of water. However, the high gradient streams might come quickly, but they come down just as fast and clear rapidly. I marched my fly clients as about high as we could go on this Winooski water shed brook and we proceeded to entice well over 2 dozen native brook trout to the dry fly. Large #10 orange bodied Stimulators, #12 Royal Wulff, and a #10 foam rubber legged tarantula pattern all caught brook trout. The water was heavy, but the fish hold in the soft pockets and seams. They are naturally greedy and live in an environment that does have lots of food. Big dry flies present opportunity and they gobble them up out of curiosity as easy pickings. Small two weight and three weight rods in the 6' to 7' range with a slow action taper are perfect for this type of fly fishing. On the still water front this morning we had perfect conditions with overcast, damp, humid, and slight breeze. We got after the bass with oldie but goodie, the Zara Spook. An active surface lure that is walked back to the boat steadily and produces some violent strikes. The bigger fish were holding right on the drop offs from 10' to 20' on the outside edges of big milfoil beds. Smallmouth and lots of young largemouth were chasing down the Spook into deep water We had a lot of fish come up and examine the lure and turn off. I think the constant movement was important in drawing a strike. We did fish the bottom a bit with some 5" rubber in order to keep my finesse fishing client tickled. A man named Top water who likes to work the down and dirty with the rubber. Anywho, the 5" watermelon red magic Senko did produce the largest bass of the day. Well, I'm ready for the rain to stop. Looks like a nice cool week ahead for fishing, perfect. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
