Hi folks, guided a double yesterday chasing trout in the morning with the fly rods and spin fishing from my canoe in the afternoon for smallmouth bass. Still very much summer out on the water and I am still fishing early and late in the day. The water temperature on the lower Winooski was 66 degrees at 6:30am. Water is low and yes, we really need some rain. A few #16 caddis hatching in the morning with some random rising fish and Cedar Waxwings working bugs over riffles. We landed 3 small wild rainbows and 1 stocked brown trout. We got the fish to at a dead drifted #16 olive wire caddis pupa and a #14 Klinkhammer. The fishing was decent until the early morning fog burned off. Every trout was located off heavy riffles that dumped into large primary pools. Once the sun rose the trout fishing really slowed. In the afternoon, the lake surface temperature was 74 degrees and pretty flat calm on the water. Good afternoon of bass fishing with 11 good sized smallmouth to the canoe as well as a robust 25" plus chain pickerel. We landed 7 of the fish on a 4" watermelon red magic Senko and 5 of the fish on a fire tiger popper. The popper accounted for the largest smallies of the day including two 3.5lb to 3.75lb hard pulling bronze backs. We caught bass in a variety of spots from weed edges to downed wood to open water that had large rocks. Really aggressive strikes on the surface. Only one fish missed and lost which is pretty impressive in an afternoon of fishing. Good job of capitalizing on opportunities. Off to chase river bass. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
