Last fish of the ice fishing season

toothy critters

Hi Folks, Guided the hard water Saturday morning for northern pike.  20" of solid black ice on the lake we fished.  There wee some folks driving on, but not this fishing guide.  We set-up on the outside edge of a shallow bay where northern pike will be moving to spawn shortly if not already.  Beautiful day on the ice with no wind and sunny skies.  We set the tip ups with live and dead large golden shiners.  We had 2 flags all morning with fish on the line.  We did manage to land one large pike that was all of 32" and weighed in the 8lb plus class.  Big female who had a belly full of eggs.  She ate a dead bait off the bottom in 5' of water.  We released this fish as any pike over 30" is a female and why kill the future with a fish that will spawn?  Eat the smaller northerns and let the big hen fish go.  We did catch a small pike on a jig stick who ate a minnow on red hook.  Perch fishing was steady with perch from 4" to 10" caught all on jig sticks.  With the warm weather on the way, the ice fishing season will be coming to a close.  Once the ice breaks pike fishing with the fly can be outstanding.  I have guiding pike on the fly for almost 20 years and look forward each spring to catching some water wolfs on fur and feathers.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

reservoir brown

yeah man

Hi folks, Guided yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours at the Shanty.  Nice blanket of snow on top of 12.5" of black ice.  I like the snow pack on the ice to quiet things down.  Big in coming weather front I think really turned the fish on.   The fishing yesterday afternoon was completely different than a week ago when I last guided.  A week a go with a north wind and a glare ice surface we could not buy a bite except for a few small yellow perch.  It makes wonder about the snow on the ice and the weather.  We landed 4 wild rainbows yesterday and a 1 16" brown trout.  We caught all of the rainbows on jig sticks right below the shanty in 35' of water.  Hali jigs in gold and green tipped with maggots were the ticket.  The brown trout took a fat head minnow on tip up that was set 15' below the ice.  We also landed one of the biggest yellow perch I have sever seen.  It took a small golden shiner right under the ice.  Perch fishing off the bottom was also pretty darn good.  Lots of action.  A few weeks left in trout season so hopefully we can maintain some momentum and tug on some more trout.  Have fun, Willy

nice job

solid

Hi Folks, Guided the hard water yesterday with repeat guest who fish with me in the summer.  Beautiful day on the ice with very little wind and great walking conditions with sparse amount of snow on top of the 11.5" of ice.  Constant action yesterday as our tip-ups started popping the moment we set them under the ice.  We set up in a large basin over 30' to 50' of water.  Most of our set-ups were just below the ice to 15' down.  We used all but 2 of the 30 baits we brought onto the ice.  We landed a nice wild rainbow trout and 20 solid 9" to 12" yellow perch.  there was not much time for jigging.  The bait of the day were rosy red minnows.  The ice had receded a bit from the previous week and safe ice conditions might not last very long into March this year if we do not get some more cold weather.  Will be guiding again tomorrow.  Have Fun, Willy

lots of flags

Hi folks, Guided a large party over the weekend at my shanty.  Nice weather day prior to the Artic cold blast on Sunday.  Good solid 12" of black ice and very little snow cover. Creepers are a good idea as it is a little greasy walking around the ice.  We set up 20 tip ups tipped with rosy reds, small golden shiners, smelt, and crawlers.  We chased flags for most of the morning and caught lots of yellow perch and even a large bullhead.  Never caught a bullhead through the ice.  No trout, though there were a few flags where we missed the hook set.  Hard telling not knowing.  Most of our action came with the flags set between 10' and 20' below the ice.  Jig fishing stated off slow until we started chumming the water and then the perch bite really picked up.  Bright colored lures tipped with maggots and worms drew lots of interest.  Smelt fishing was pretty slow.  I will be back on the ice later in the week.  Have fun, Willy

trout fishing

Hi Folks, I had not been on the ice for a couple of weeks until yesterday. My daughter Lina Katherine Dietrich was born on 1/25/2012 at 1:44am in Burlington Vermont.  Not sure that new born infants and ice fishing go together.  However, I did manage with a friend to put out a 6' by 10' heated shanty a week ago on our local reservoir.  The shanty is pretty comfy and I think my daughter would like it. I guided yesterday afternoon into dusk.  There was a solid 10.5" of black ice and walking around was pretty easy if you have creepers on your feet.  Pretty slick out the hard water with the lack of snow.  We set up tip-ups for trout and jig fished for yellow perch and smelt.  The tip-ups were baited with worms in close to shore against rocks and right off sharp drop offs.  Looking for a big cruising brown trout.  Out in open water we set live smelt right under the ice and down through the water column.  We jigged several turns off the bottom with brightly colored Hali jigs tipped with maggots and caught perch and smelt.  the smelt fishing really picked up dusk.  The smelt moved up in the water column as the sun set.  Pretty typical.  The tip-ups only produce perch.  Pretty good action but not the target species.  Fun afternoon on the ice.  Trout season will run through the third Sunday in March.  I will be guiding again this weekend in between changing diapers and helping out my wife.  Have Fun, Willy

the new member of the catfish family

cold one on the ice

Hi Folks, Guided the hard water today and it was not for the faint of heart.  Visited a pike lake just south of Stowe for the day.  Wind was blowing really hard out of the west after a cold front just blasted into town.  Made setting up the shanty a challenge, but we managed.  Two of the anchor screw to the shanty were bent by the wind.  Air temperatures dropped throughout the day and it was full on winter outside of the shanty.  Nice having a heated shelter on cold winter day.  12" of solid black ice with a few inches of hard snow pack on top.  Pretty easy getting around.  We set tip-ups for pike baited with golden shiners and and live and dead yellow perch.  All of our sets were in 8' to 12' of water and just off the bottom.  We chummed and jigged in the shanty.  Lots and lots of little perch on fire tiger hali jigs tipped with maggots.  When we tipped the jigs with minnows we caught fewer but larger perch and even a pike.  Pretty exciting catching a northern on a light jig stick that is spooled with 2lb test.  We had 3 flags with pike and a few wind flags as well.  No monster fish today but pretty good action and a satisfying feeling of battling the elements on a hardy winter day.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

noisy ice

Hi Folks, Went up north last night with a long time guest to chase walleyes through the ice.  We had a solid 8" of black ice that was covered by an inch of snow.  Creepers would have been a good idea as it was slippery walking.  We set up late afternoon and fished into dark.  Our tip-ups were placed from 7' of water out to 25' of water.  Always a good idea to place tips ups in a line when fishing in the dark.  Much easier to find.  The ice was groaning, moaning , and cracking last night.  Pretty cool, but a little unnerving if you are not used to it.  Well, the fishing was slow.  We had one pike break us off on a tip up.  No steel leaders as we were targeting walleye and not northerns.  8lb fluorocarbon leaders do not stand much of a chance against a pike's set of teeth.  We did land one really big yellow perch and have a couple other flags.  Nothing jigging as we worked brightly colored 1/8oz. jig heads off the bottom that were tipped with shiners.  Never deterred and I will be back after it again shortly.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Ice Fishing

Hi Folks, Back on the water after an off season filled with walking around the woods chasing big and small game.  Guided guests yesterday morning for some northern pike and yellow perch on the hard water.  The lake we visited had a solid 5" blanket of black ice.  Due to the warm up prior to the big freeze last night the lake's surface was a bit  sloppy with water on top of the ice.  Good stiff north wind forced us to really anchor the shanty down well.  We set up in about 10' of water over weed beds.  The water was pretty off colored from the rain the night before.  Tip-ups were spread out and tipped with large golden shiners.  We jigged Hali jigs tipped with live maggots.  Hot colors like fire tiger worked the best of the perch.  We caught lots and lots of perch.  We had two flags with pike on and were unable to bring either fish through the hole.  The weather really got nasty as the day progressed and we picked up by late morning.  I will be chasing pike and walleye over the next few weeks.  Use extreme caution on the hard water as ice is still forming on many lakes and ponds and might not be safe to venture onto as of yet.  Bring all of the safety gear including rope, safety spikes, creepers, and let someone know where you are fishing.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

coming to a close

Hi Folks, Only a few days left in the trout fishing season for 2011.  Visited a northeast kingdom lake yesterday for some lake trout action.  Incredibly the surface temperature was 52 degrees.  Pretty warm for this time of the year.  Not much wind yesterday morning which was nice because it was a cold morning.  Need to be dressed really well this time of the year if you are on a boat.  We used fly rods converted into spin rods matched with 6lb braided line on spin reels.  A long 8' fluorocarbon leader was attached to the end of the braid.  We cast chartruse and orange 1/4 oz. jigs heads tipped with a soft plastic emerald shiner imitation over a mid lake shoal for lake trout.  Saw an incredible number of surface breaching fish.  It must be a spawning posture by the lake trout to readjust their internal organs.   All of their internal parts get a bit compressed this time of the year as roe and sperm build up in their bodies in preparation for spawning.  The surface activity we witnessed is not a feeding act.  We must of seen over a 100 fish roll on the surface and some rather large fish to boot.  We hammered the lake trout early and then the bite turned off like a light switch.  Landed 8 lakers with the largest being 24" and we lost and missed another dozen fish.  Awful lot of fun casting to lakers versus the trolling.  This type of fishing is an early morning activity and we were on the water at 6:30am and the bite turned off by 10am.  Get your licks in as we only have 5 days left of fishing.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Still Happening

Hi folks, Guided a fly angler yesterday on a Lamoille tributary and the fishing was excellent.  The fly fishing the last few days has been outstanding and there is no one on the water.  I have been working 3 different Lamoille tributaries for the last few weeks and the number of fish and wild fish has been really solid.  I try to not visit the same spot within a week of having fished it and the strategy seems to be working.  Water levels are still high and will remain that way for the last week of trout season.  Water temperature was 50 degrees under cloudy skies with occasional showers.  We nymph fished with a #12 prince and #20 copper john under an indicator.  My client landed 7 of the 9 trout that came to the fly.  All wild rainbows with the largest fish measuring 15".  It fought like a steelhead with multiple jumps and tail walks.  All of the trout were holding in the slower sections of the pools in front of and behind large boulders.  Saw some #22 BWO's hatching but no risers again.  Still the fish are eating the small nymph and half of our trout were hooked on the #20 BWO nymph.  Dead drifts with a long leader was the key to getting the fish to eat.  Well, going to finish strong this week and looks like the weather will be decent for fishing.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

a small warm up

Hi Folks, Guided a couple of fly anglers yesterday on a Lamoille tributary.  The water temperature had warmed up almost 5 degrees from when I had fished on Wednesday.  Water temperature was between 50 and 51 degrees.  Probably due to the previous day being unseasonably warm.  Looks like pretty decent weather for the last 9 days of fishing season with the no frost or snow in the forecast and warmer than average day and night time temperatures predicted.  We nymph fished yesterday with double fly rigs under indicators.  A #10 prince with #20 BWO nymph and a #14 cooper john with a #20 copper john.  Had wild rainbows and wild brown trout eat both flies.  We 14 trout eat the fly with the best fish of the day being a brightly colored up 14" brown trout.  Pretty darn good turn around after really slow fishing on Wednesday.  Saw more #22 BWO duns drifting on big back eddies, but no takers off the surface.  Most of our takes were on the small dropper flies so the trout must be tuned into the hatch, but just the nymph and emerger stages. Water levels are still pretty high and I am sure that has something to do with the lack of rising fish.  Still have a few trips left and will be out chasing trout again today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

coming into stick season

Hi Folks, Starting to feel a little more like fall out there.  Coming into stick season as the leaves are really falling off the trees now.  Guided Wednesday on a Lamoille tributary where the water level was twice its seasonal average.  Clarity was fine and the water temperature was 46 degrees.  Pretty chilly for wading.  Saw a really good hatch of little #22 BWO's, but not a fish responding.  I suspect the high water level prevented any rising activity.  We looked at a few nice slow deep pools that I have witnessed fish rising in previously and it was not happening.  We nymph fished with indicators and an assortment of heavy flies.  A #10 tungsten bead olive and black wooly bugger drew some interest.  Had a few short strikes and actually watched a rather large brown trout come up on the fly and basically nip the tail.  Interesting to see as we lifted the fly out to cast this fish rose from the depths and was extremely tentative in eating.  We missed few other subtle strikes, but the fishing was not easy and a bit slow.  Cold weather fly fishing takes a lot of patience and many of the strikes are not as obvious as you would think.  Yesterday took the day off and went duck hunting late in the day.  Loads of fun.  Off to chase trout with guest today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

high water and season winding down

Hi Folks, Guided a river yesterday with spin anglers.  Water levels are still high around here and most our rivers are either twice to three times their average flow for this time of the year.  Looks like rain for the over night and that will not help the river fishing.  I do not think that our stream levels will subside by the end of the season.  The water table is full and the ground is saturated.  Trout season runs until Halloween so it is winding down quickly.  It is okay as I have already been transitioning into hunting birds and getting ready to stalk my Thanksgiving turkey.  Water temperature yesterday was 50 degrees and there was a lot junk in the river.  We fished a stream that is influenced by a lake and found an assortment of fish.   Landed a lethargic smallmouth bass off the get go and you could tell it was not too active in the cooler water.  Caught a few trophy fall fish and missed a few fish we never saw.  All in all the fishing was not bad considering the conditions.  Some of our strikes were tentative and subtle and I attribute that to the dropping water temperatures.  Most of the fish we encountered were holding in the slower parts of the pools and out of the heavy water.  We swung silver beetle spins across the tail outs to draw interest.  Careful wading these days as the water is cold and if you fall in you will be heading to the truck.  Off to guide trout today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

changing weather and yellow bellies

Hi Folks, Been the weather roller coaster around here lately.  Lots of rain and wind over the weekend made fishing a bit challenging.  Matter of fact I canceled trips and watched football.  Still will not guide when I think I cannot catch a fish.  Probably could have fished some small brooks, but I am leaving the brook trout alone to spawn.  Yesterday I guided a family shore fishing on a lake for pan fish and trout.  Kept it pretty simple and fished the bottom of the lake.  Surface temperature was 51 degrees and there was a real steady hard south wind.  Lots of leaves in the water now as a lot of the foliage is being brought down from the trees.  We caught a variety of fish.  Most notably a decent number of large yellow belly perch.  Really good eating and if it was winter I would brought them home for a fish fry.  An adult yellow perch is a good looking fish, too bad they do not fight a little harder.  Getting to eat was not too difficult as we dragged beetle spins and a baits along the bottom very slowly.  Good fun for me and today I am off to river fish for trout.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

still pleasant

Hi Folks, Been awful nice the last few days fishing.  Guided still water yesterday and a Lamoille tributary today with the foliage changing quickly.  Water temepratures have been pretty steady in the mid fifties.  The surface temperature was 54 degrees at 5pm and this morning on a small stream it was 54 degrees.  Still relatively warm and it looks like rain.  I had 2 young aspiring spin anglers yesterday afternoon and we fished the old fashioned way, garden hackle.  Right on the bottom in a deep drop off from the shore line.  Caught 4 different species of fish.  Good fun for the kids and entertaining for me.  Young anglers do not care what they catch, they just want to pull on something and learn the basics.  Today back to the fly rods and catching wild brown trout.  Worked up stream with a double nymph rig and a dry dropper rig.  Do not over look any spot that you suspect holds a fish, with the current water temperatures fish are holding in a lot more area of the stream.  Had trout eat the #14 yellow foam spider dry fly, the #18 prince, and the #20 BWO nymph.  Landed 2 really pretty wild brown with beautiful cherry dots.  Love trout fishing this time of the year when the weather stays mild.  Get nasty in November for rifle season for deer.  Well, going pike fishing next.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

peak foliage and salmon

Hi Folks, Been really enjoying the summer like weather the last week.  Too bad it is all going to change with rain coming in.  the leaves are at peak right now and just spectacular.  Late foliage this year, probably due to all of the rain we have received.  Guided the Lamoille watershed on Monday under sunny skies.  Started fishing a little later in the day due to the bright sun.  Water temperatures were 55 degrees and the levels are prefect for fishing.  Saw a few #16 caddis hatch and actually found a few rising fish.  Only in the shade and the rising activity improved as the sun went down.  Did land any huge fish, but had a lot of action with a #16 Goddard caddis dead drifted over the rise forms.  Yesterday I went and chased salmon up north.  Level there was perfect and the fish are in town.  Worked all of the usual holding spots with a  #8 Mickey finn and a double nymph rig under an indicator.  Dead see several large black salmon porpoise out of the water.  It is my understanding that they are shifting their body weight around due the large build up off eggs in their bellies that compress other internal organs.  Landed 5 salmon yesterday and lost another 3 fish.  The largest landed fish was a 20" 3lb silver male that took a #18 copper john.  Caught all of the salmon on the little cooper john and every salmon landed had a hook jaw.  Good fun on a 5wt. and these fish really pull back.  I think the nymph rig works well on sunny days and the streamer and wet flies are more effective on over cast days.  All of the fish landed were hooked in the top of the mouth.  Seems to me that the silver fish are still eating and the fishtthat darken up and not so interested.  Off to river fish this afternoon and hopefully the rain holds off.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have fun, Willy