Hi Folks, Just completed my last day of guiding for the 2017 season. The state wide trout season runs until October 31. After that, for the hardy angler there are a variety of options. You can fish sections of the Lamoille and Winooski catch and release, pursue lake run salmon and trout on the lower sections of the rivers where they deposit into Champlain, and fish for pike and bass. Myself, I will put the fishing gear away and hunt for the next couple of months. I had a heck of a good season completing 146 trips since May 1. A record for Catamount Fishing Adventures. My body feels it. I am tickled that I got to conclude my season with a bang. Landlocked salmon fishing the last couple of days up north has been pretty good. Water temperature was 49 to 50 degrees and the water levels have been creeping up from the much needed rain we received on Thursday. It takes water flow to get lake run fishing moving and that is exactly what we got. Salmon fishing can be tricky and takes some patience. Lots of casting and a willingness to try different fly patterns as well as be really efficient in how you cast to the water. I like fishing for lake run fish either early am or late day unless it is a rainy cloudy day. Over the last two days we landed 4 fish in excess of 20" with the largest just short of 24". Also, caught a nice steelhead that jumped like crazy. We did catch a number of young salmon that are learning to eat at an early age. We swung streamers and dead drifted nymphs. Not a lot of luck swinging streamers. Nymphing seemed to be the method. A #12 tungsten red threaded prince nymph has been the fly. Really subtle takes with the indicator just stopping. Of course once the hook is set, all hell breaks loose when these fish get air born. You make countless numbers of casts to finally hook a big fish only to loose them in the battle. They can test your ability to fight a big fish in heavy water. I love it and these fish truly are Vermont Royalty. In the near future I will post a season ending recap. I hope everyone has had a great fishing season. I know I did! Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
