Hi Folks, Going non-stop guiding currently, Night and day on the water tangling with fish in different environments. Floated the Lamoille yesterday afternoon for smallmouth bass after a morning trout trip on the Winooski and then a kids trip yesterday morning and wrapped things up with an afternoon foray to the upper upper Wionooski. Water temperatures have warmed up. The Winooski was 66 to 68 degrees and the flow was lower than the seasonal average. The Lamoille was 76 degrees and right at its seasonal flow and the surface temp. of the lake I visited was 71 degrees. I had a client land a trophy smallmouth bass on Monday afternoon. The fish measured just shy of 21". A real beast that ate a jointed rapala. It did not come to the net easily. I will guide a couple of 20" plus smallmouth each season. Not an everyday fish especially in a river. Through the course of Monday afternoon we landed 50 fish with a combination of smallmouth bass and walleye. The fish were really on and a large number of 2lb. bass that ate off the top, chased lures, and really bent rods. Great day! Working a little harder for the trout. The fish were eating small stuff yesterday. A tan foam bodied #18 caddis with a /#20 spotlight emerger got a few fish to the surface along with a #14 adams parachute. Saw sporadic bugs hatching like a #20 Baetis, a few #10 adult stone flies laying eggs, and the ever present #18-#20 micro caddis. On the kids front, we pounded the big yellow belly perch yesterday. Lots of action which is critical when taking young anglers out. Good old garden hackle under floats and worked off the bottom. Fun for me to step back and do a simple trip with little kids. Well, I am off to float again. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
