Opening Day of bass season

Hi folks, Ran the motorboat yesterday morning with spin clients for some bass fishing.  Second Saturday in June is the official opening of bass season.  Meaning you can keep them and fish with bait.  Does not matter to me as I never fish them with bait, only flies and lures and not a big fan of eating largemouth and smallmouth bass.  Water temperature was 64 degrees and the clarity were we fished was very good.  Nice damp overcast morning with showers.  We have had a big low pressure system hunkered down over New England for a few days.  More rain on our rivers which did not need.  We landed 11 bass yesterday with 9 fish being smallmouth and 2 fish being largemouth.  We did land one small pike.  The bite was not aggressive and we really had to slow down our tactics.  Even though it was dead calm conditions for a bit, we could not induce a surface strike.  We did catch a couple of fish on a fire tiger rapala twitched below the surface but most of our action came with soft plastics.  The bass are now in post spawn mode and can be little tricky to catch and a little more widely dispersed through out the lake.  Pre-spawn and spawn time is easy fishing for bass.  We fished a 2/0 red offset hook with a 5" green red flake Senko and dragged it off the bottom.  That was the ticket.  Most of our smallmouth came from rocky areas at drop offs.  However, we landed our biggest bass of the day 17" and another 16" fish in a soft bottom area with lots of emerging weeds.  Largemouth habitat and matter of fact it was the area where we caught the 2 largemouth of the day.  Litterally in less than 2' of water that I would guess does not get fished too often.  The lake we were on has lots of good sized fish and all of the bass yesterday were really nice strong fish.  Good way to start the bass season off.  Looks like another damp cool week and if our rivers settle a bit more the trout fishing should be excellent.  Small streams are good to go today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  H

ave Fun, Willy

Lots of bugs

Hi folks, Just returned from the Lamoille tonight after an evening of guiding with the fly rods.  Man, we saw 4 different types of mayflies and 2 different types of caddis hatching.  Even found a few rising wild fish.  Water level is perfect, too bad we are about to receive another 1" or so of rain over the next couple of days.  Water temperature was 60 degrees.  Just a really nice damp, overcast , cool, day for trout fishing.  So, we saw a #16 olive bodied caddis and a #20 tan body caddis coming off in small numbers.  Good numbers of  #14 large and #16 small sulphurs hatching at dusk with fish responding to them.  Also, a tiny #18/#20 olive was launcing off. The best were the #10 Brown Drakes that came off at dark.  Big darn bug!  We only had 6 fish come to the fly, but we got every one of them to eat a dry fly.  The best fish of the day was really fat 14" wild Lamoille River rainbow that really fought hard.  Several magnificent jumps.  We got all of our fish to either eat a #14 Catskill style cdc sulphur dun and a #10 parachute emerging drake pattern.  Kind of fun for a change to actually cast dry flies to rising wild trout on a Vermont big river.  Not an every day event.  Good night of trout fishing and it looks like the river temperatures should hold their own for a bit as there is not any hot weather in near future forecast.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Pleasant Surprise

Hi Folks, Had a really nice day on the Lamoille today guiding fly anglers for trout.  Beautiful weather with cool air temperatures and a big blue sky.  Water conditions were good with high flows but decent clarity.  I have to assume that river flows will be above average for sometime to come due to all off the recent wet weather we have enjoyed.   Water temperature hovered between 58 degrees to 60 degrees.  The higher than average flows are fine as trout simply find the soft water to hang out in and it tends to make them a lot less wary.  We had well over 20 trout come to the fly.  A combination of stocked and wild rainbows.  We hooked every fish with nymphs.  Mostly dead drifted #12 pheasant tails with weight, #14 tungsten prince nymphs, and heavily weighted #10 olive/black wooly buggers.  Saw a good number of hatching insects.  Random #12 March Browns and #14 Grey Fox along with a consistent number of large #14 to #16 Sulphurs (dorothea).  Caddis really took off around mid morning and hatched for the rest of the day.  We only saw a couple of rising fish.  I would have to say that it was one of the better days I have seen for trout fishing on the Lamoille in awhile.  Nice fishing weather coming up if we do not receive too much rain.  Will be cool and damp. I am guiding trout for the next few days so hopefully we will be experiencing plenty of tight lines.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Always a challenge

Hi folks, Not to often that I scratch my head after guiding small trout streams, but that is how I feel after this weekends experiences.  I guided two different brooks for native brook trout, wild rainbows, and wild brown trout.  Nice brooks with good stability and shade.  Water temperatures had crept into the mid 60's which is awful warm for this time off the year.  Of course the weekend weather was hot, bright, and very humid.  Thunderstorms Saturday night made the water conditions a little off, but generally that scenario would produce some big fish who feel more comfortable in high off colored water.  We worked up stream and caught trout, just all little 4" to 6" dinks.  Caught all 3 species on dry flies, but I think I would have traded 4 little fellows for 1 decent sized trout.  We worked a variety of #14 wulff patterns with small #16/#18 caddis and pheasant tail droppers.  We hooked fish on both the dry and wet, but once again no big fish.  Nice fishing weather for the up coming week.  Cool and maybe a little cloudy and damp.  June is typically and excellent month to trout fish so lets see what happens.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

hot, humid, and french fries

Hi Folks, Put a full day in yesterday with fly anglers chasing trout.  Pretty incredible with the weather turn around from a week ago.  Yesterday was really bright, hot, and muggy.  Water temperatures were still very comfortable with temps. ranging from 58 degrees to 61 degrees.  Water levels were still up on the big rivers and the small streams are in excellent shape.  It is now time to fish either early in the morning or late in the day to avoid the bright sun and to enjoy some cooler water temperatures.  We did not see much for hatches yesterday.  In the early morning we fished some bigger water and tugged on stocked rainbows and even a decent smallmouth bass.  We got the fish to eat heavily weighted #10 olive/back wooly buggers and #12 olive bead headed leech patterns.  When the big river fishing slowed we moved to a shaded high elevation brook trout stream.  We fished big attractor patterns like #10 royal stimulator and some crazy looking foam flies.  Every pool we cast into held a brook trout.  Problem being you had to sort through 20 3" to 5" french fries in order to catch one decent 6" to 9" trout.  I like to level the playing field and use short 6' to 7' 2 weight and 3 weight rods fro this type of fishing.  Awful lot of fun watching the beautiful square tails engulf a dry fly.  Well, off to guide a small stream now and escape this damn heat.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Memorial Day and more

Hi Folks, Guided out of my motorboat with the fly the last two days.  Our rivers are coming down and there are a few small streams I know that could presently be fished.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is looking ugly and we are supposed to receive another inch of rain.  Lots of carnage from the weekend storms along the 15 corridor the parallels the Lamoille river on the western slope of the Green Mountains.  I feel for any farmers who already had planted corn that got drowned by the flooding. It seems that there has been no middle ground with the weather in May.  It has been either totally dry or rained cats and dogs.  So, nice weather the last few days with cold mornings, warm afternoons, and big bright sun.  The lake I have been on has maintained  surface temperatures from 53 degrees up to 56 degrees.  It was a little warmer today than yesterday.  The bass are in spawning mode.  I have seen occupied spawning and abandoned spawning  beds.  We leave the spawning fish alone.  Even with all of the rain, the lake I have guided has been gin clear.  We have been catching both largemouth and smallmouth bass.  Mostly taking them on large #4 and #2 poppers in chartreuse.  Lots of quality 1.5lb to 2.5lb bass.  We have been locating fish on sharp drop offs that are littered with large rocks and boulders along with emerging weeds.  I have seen several smallmouth take a surface fly in as much as 15' of water.  We have also been casting large deceiver and bunny flies for pike.  Using mostly sinking lines to keep the fly down in the water column.  Not a lot of success of the pike front with a few northern following our flies, but not sealing the deal.  All of the pike we have located have been in less than 10' of water.  Probably due to the cooler water temperatures and young weed growth.  Lots of young perch and bait fish balls in the shallow margins.  Well. we will see what the weather brings and go from there as I am guiding a bunch over the next few days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Persistence

Hi Folks, Crazy weekend of weather.  Lots of rain, big wind, and cool air temperatures.  I had to cancel a trip yesterday in the boat due to the harsh conditions.  I did manage guide today out of the boat with fly and spin gear.  Still pretty breezy out of the north/northwest and water temperatures had dropped on the surface by 6 degrees.  Surface temperature was 57 to 58 degrees. We had a some rain and an even saw glimpses of the sun at times.  Still pretty cold out there but I guess things are going warm and clear up over the next few days.  The water level where we fished had risen by almost 10' and the clarity was not very good.  We were literally casting into the trees. Chartreuse today was the color for spinning gear.  We had two smallmouth chase a yellow/red deceiver and but they did not seal the deal.  We landed 1 bass and lost another on a 1/8oz. jig with a chartreuse Mr. Twister.  Tough conditions with the weather, floating debris, super high water, and cooling water temperatures, but patience and persistence paid off with a nice smallmouth.  On the river front, water is high and will be for a few days.  Small streams certainly will be the best bet for a few days and they do tend to clear quickly.  The main stem of the Lamoille and Winooski will be high and dirty for a bit.  I will be chasing pike and bass with the fly the next few days on the lake front.  I would love to see the wind lay down.  Well, fishing is never perfect, but always fun.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Tight Lines and big water

Hi folks, Well, I have been saying we need rain and we finally got some and more.  Flash flooding problems right now as we have received substantial rain over the last couple of days.  Our rivers, big and small, are stuffed!  Matter of fact, not even safe to go near and think about fishing them.  I own a fishing boat for a reason, so I can still guide when we have high water events.  Guided from the boat this morning with 2 fly anglers.  Water temperature was 62 to 63 degrees and the clarity was way off.  Pretty dirty colored water and the level had risen several feet.  Lots of floating debris in the water.  We worked the shore line right up tight to the bank with our casts.  Still fished points, hard bottomed flats, and downed wood.  Landed 15 smallmouth bass and every fish took a popper off the top.  I think the fish are beginning to get on the beds.  We fished big #4 poppers in frog and chartreuse colors.  Pretty subtle takes for the most part though the fish wanted the popper worked aggressively.   Probably due to off colored water. The first couple of hours of fishing was really good as the wind was light and the rain not too over whelming.  Towards the end of the trip the fishing really turned off.  I think the cold front was settling in and the rain and wind really picked up.  Looks like cool damp weather for the weekend and I will be running my boat every day.  On a side note, looks like the Lamoille from Cadys Falls in Hyde Park downriver to Fairfax is now saturated with northern pike.  Several more large pike have been ccaught recently in locations that shocked me.  Not a good thing as the fragile wild trout fishery of the Lamoille is not going withstand the onslaught of apex predator like a pike.  Man if I were a northern, the stocked rainbows would be an awful nice easy meal.  Too bad that some dumb ass decided to stock pike into the drainage.  Oh well, guess I will be carrying a trout and pike rod for now on.  Stay dry over the weekend and look to fish lakes and ponds until our rivers clear.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Huh

Hi Folks, Guided the Lamoille watershed yesterday afternoon.  Pretty perplexing day.  Water levels are still low, but up a bit from previous days due to some shower activity.  Water temperatures were perfect at 60 degrees.  Pretty nice afternoon for fishing and with cloud cover and some humidity.  Not too many hatching insects.  Saw a few #10/#12 March Browns and Grey Fox or lets just say Stenonemas.  Sporadic caddis, but no responsive fish.  We covered some water yesterday nymphing  and even casting a muddler minnow.  We hooked 4 trout all afternoon and all in one hole.  What the F#**!  Not sure what was going on except it made me really wonder how many wild fish are swimming in the water we worked.  I am not interested in stocked trout.  The fly of the day was an #10 heavily weighted olive bugger under an indicator.  Looks like some substantial rain on the way which we really need.  Hopefully the trout fishing will improve, or else could be a lot of bass fishing this year.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have Fun, Willy

early action for smallmouth

Hi Folks, Guided with the boat yesterday for pre-spawn smallmouth bass with spin anglers.  Really nice fishing day with calm overcast conditions.  Water temperatures ranged from 60 degrees to 62 degrees on the surface.  We landed 20 smallmouths fishing in the shallow margins around rocky points and gravel laden shoreline.  I did not see any bass sitting in spawning beds.  I think the smallmouth are staging to spawn currently and I do not like to tug on bass that are on spawning beds.  The lure of the day was a blue and white J-7 rapala and black and white jointed rapala.  We did also have some success with a 4" crawfish colored Senko and several shallow running crawfish patterned crankbaits.  The trick yesterday was moving the lures slowly.  We drew a lot of strikes when the plugs just hit the water and sat still. A little movement and whammo from a smallmouth looking up.  We also landed a wild rainbow on a plug several huge yellow belly perch.  We kept moving and casting.  Today I am guiding trout on a local stream.  Should be really good with the rain we received last night and overcast, humid conditions today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

landlocked action

Hi Folks, Put  a full day on the water today guiding up north for landlocked salmon.  Beautiful weather day with a big blue sky and warm air temperatures.  Water temperature was 59 degrees and the levels were low.  We really need rain.  Saw a decent number of #16 olive bodied caddis hatching as well as a few sporadic #12 March Browns.  On a few different pools we witnessed a number of #14 Hendrickson spinners.  You could see the egg laden female spinners carry brightly colored egg sacs.  Only found a few rising fish and none that wanted to eat a dry fly.  The fishing was pretty darn good in the morning and really slowed midday as the sun shined brightly over head.  We landed 2 large landlocked salmon in the 18" to 20" class and another two salmon per.  We lost a really big submarine salmon that was easily in the 2 foot range.  In addition we tugged on couple of beautiful lake run rainbows that weighed around 2lbs. and lost another real bruiser.  We nymph fished all day with double rigs and an indicator.  Flies fished today were a #10 red thread Prince nymph with #14 and #16 olive wire caddis dropper.  We also had success with a #14 tungsten hare and copper.  Lots of fishing pressure today, so getting on the water early was bonus.  We did tug on a few fall fish and hooked a 4lb smallmouth.  We spotted some other smallies but left them be as we were after salmon.  I will be running the boat tomorrow for some lake fishing.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

weather

Hi Folks, Guided from my boat yesterday with a spin angler for northern pike.  Pretty wacky weather with a big cold front moving into town.  Shifting winds from the south west to then due north made for some interesting boat control.  Water temperatures ranged from 61 degrees to 63 degrees.  Well, we fished hard and certainly put forth a solid effort trying to catch fish.  The fish did not want to play.  We landed one small northern pike and had one a decent fish follow up to the boat prior to turning off.  I can only guess that the weather had the pike not in a feeding mode.  I have never found unstable weather to be ideal fishing conditions, but it does keep me from fishing.  The two fish we did see came from less than 5' of water in emerging weed beds with downed wood.  A double bladed spinner bait with a red skirt was the lure of the day.  We did try a variety of large plugs and soft plastic baits to no avail.  Will be cool over the next few days and we still really need some rain.  Remember to clean your gear keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

weird

Hi folks, Been guiding withe boat the last couple of days.  My 16' Grumman is running well and the bearings on the trailer are full of grease.  Boats are a pain!  Water temperatures have really warmed up.  I have been finding surface temperatures on the lakes I am guiding to be anywhere from 66 degrees to even 70 degrees yesterday afternoon.  I have been fishing skinny water so certainly the shallow water will warm more quickly. We have been casting big hair flies and deceiver patterns for northern pike.  Color combinations of yellow/red, chartreuse/white, and red/white.  A few darker colored patterns as well.  All of my pike flies have lots of flashabo incorporated into the body.  So, the pike fishing has been pretty slow.  Yesterday we did hook a really big northern and got it to the boat only to lose it, damn it! Besides that mostly small fish following or biting us off.  Really slamming large yellow perch and stupid rock bass, but they are not the intended target.  I will be running the boat again today for pike.  Nice cool wet day.  Our rivers are perfect for fishing right now with very low levels and water temperatures from the high fifties to mid sixties.  Too warm and low for this time of the year.  We need rain big time.  If do not receive some significant rain soon, trout fishing will have a short window of opportunity this season.  Hatching insects these days will #14/#16 Hendricksons, #16 apple caddis, and #16/#18 Blue Quills.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

river clean-up and Green Up Day

Hi Folks,  Been out of town for a few days fishing in the Catskills on the upper Delaware.  Great fisheries with strong wild trout that really pull back.  Saw a great #14/#16 Hendrickson hatch and rising trout.  Should start to happen around here any day.  Yesterday I floated a stretch of the Lamoille River with the Lamoille River Anglers Association for Green Up Day.  Always good picking up trash and tries and giving a little something back to the resource.  Man, we need some rain.  Awful dry and dusty out there and the Lamoille is pretty darn low for this time of the year.  Water temperatures are heating up and the river was in the 50's by midday yesterday.  We did see some #14 little brown stone flies hatching, but no responsive fish.  Not surprising as big bright sunny days are not always the best to fish trout in.  I do know that the fishing on the Willoughby River this spring was decent for the first time in a few years.  Also, large smallmouth bass has begun their ascent of Lewis Creek in Ferrisburgh for their annual spawning run.  I have been tinkering with the boat and will make my annual test run day today and cast some flies for northern pike.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

BBQ for LRAA after the river clean-up.  Young aspiring angler (my kid) looking for a dog with mustard. 

First trout of the new season

Hi Folks, Guided my first trip of the new season yesterday afternoon.  Still pretty challenging conditions out there with high, dirty, and cold water.   A good percentage of the lakes I like to fish in the Stowe area are still locked up with ice.  They should break any day.  Water temperature was 37 degrees at the confluence of the Little River and Winooski River.  Very well known fishing spot as was evident from all of the trash, uggh.  Still not a bad spot this time of the year with clear warmer water merging with dirty colder water.  We kept in simple yesterday as I guided a young aspiring angler.  We fished spin gear with small red hooks dressed with garden hackle.  We focused on a big eddy and that where we landed a nice 11" wild rainbow.  Not a bad start for the year.  Conditions will only improve.  We witnessed a good hatch of #14/#16 little brown stone flies and a few hung up in the eddy we fished.  No trout responding to them on the surface.  Only a matter of time before we begin to see #14/#16 Quill Gordons, #16/#18 Blue Quills, and then the much awaited #14/#16 Hendrickson hatch.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun. Willy

opening day

Hi Folks, Trout season 2013 is upon us.  Still feels like winter out there with snow yesterday and last night.  I have the wood stove going this morning.  Anglers will run into cold water to start out the season.  Rivers in and around Stowe are at a nice level to fish, but just too darn cold.  Lake and pond fishing will be limited as most bodies of water still have a layer of ice on them.  Any pond with spring influence should be ice free but still very cold.  Edges, inlets, and outlets could be potential places to fish on still water.  Tail waters are not a bad bet for stream fishing.  You might find water temperatures in excess of 40 degrees.  If they hold brown trout, any stable pool could be a good bet as browns that spawned in the fall could still be hanging around.  Spawning rainbows are always an option.  Just make sure to leave the spawning beds alone.  Lake run rainbows can a blast in the spring if you are able to time when they are on the move.  Pike fishing is always a great early spring option.  Marshes, sloughs, creek channels, and back bays with dark bottoms are all potential spots for toothy Northerns.  Regardless of what you choose to pursue, slow down your approach with subsurface flies that are heavily weighted.  April is the big tease for fishing in Vermont.  The best is yet to come.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

lots of winter still

Hi folks, Been on the ice a couple of times over the last week.  Still feels like winter out there with it snowing just about every day in Stowe and a good 18" of ice under my shanty.  There is a fair amount of snow on the ice presently and snow shoes are not a bad way for getting around.  Been slow on the trout front and mainly catching yellow perch and a handful of smelt each time.  We have been having more success catching perch on tip ups dressed with small fat head minnows or small golden shiners than jigging.  The perch have been suspended over 50' of water down about 20'.  I put clothes buttons on my tip up lines so I can see exactly what depth my bait was set at.  Very effective when fishing in different parts of the water column.  Still chumming for smelt and small Hali jigs have been the ticket.  Most of the smelt are also suspended and I have been locating them in 25' of water down about 15'.  Only a few weeks to trout fish so I will try to get my licks in before now and then.  have fun, Willy

getting my perch on

Hi Folks, Been guiding the hard water the last few days.  Lots of ice out there now with over 18" where we fished yesterday afternoon.  Decent snow pack on the ice and snow shoes are not a bad bet.  Pretty mild on the ice the last few days but a steady west wind makes thing a bit more chilly.  Not much luck catching game fish as we have been pursuing northern pike on one lake and trout on another.  However, the pan fish have been fairly cooperative.  Chumming chopped on live bait seems to be very effective in keeping schools of perch and smelt in close proximity to our holes.  I have noticed with the yellow perch that small minnows are producing bigger fish and maggots mainly get interest from the little dinky perch.  Also, brightly colored lures and glow in the dark lures have been the ticket.  Hali jigs in fire tiger, chartreuse, and orange have all been effective.  For the smelt anything in silver/ gold/bronze complimented with green or blue have been consistent.  Tip up fishing for me has been slow, but then again ice fishing is all about patience.  We did get broken off yesterday jig fishing by a pike.  Will be guiding this weekend and not sure what direction I will be heading.  Stay and warm and have, Willy

jig fishing for pike

Light line pike fishing

Hi Folks, Guided on the hard water yesterday for northern pike and yellow perch.  A good solid 14" of ice and we drove my truck on the ice.  Nice winter day with air temperatures hovering just above zero and a slight wind from the south.  We had my heated portable shanty yesterday and it was pretty comfortable inside.   We fished on dead weed beds in 10' to 12' of water. We set 15 tip-ups with large dead suckers and smelt.  We did not have one flag.  The folks fishing next to us did catch two small pike on tip-ups and they were using live bait.  All of our action came with the jig sticks.  We chummed our holes with fat head minnows and chunks of yellow perch.  It brought in the pike.  We missed a couple of fish, lost a good pike at the hole, and landed a solid 24" northern on 2lb test.  We were using light jig sticks spooled with light line and fire tiger Hali jigs.  Really exciting.  Another group of folks fishing did catch a large smallmouth bass.  Lots of action yesterday jigging and especially with little perch.  We caught a few decent perch but to avoid the small ones we had to resort to tipping our jigs with minnows and not maggots.  Fun morning.  Remember to not move water around and spread non-native species.  Have Fun, Willy