wooly bugger

Hi Folks, Guided fly anglers yesterday afternoon on the Lamoille.  Water temperature has cooled down to 53 degrees which is still pretty darn good for the end of October.  Water level is up a bit and just slightly above the seasonal average.  Saw a few #22 BWO's hatching late in the day and there were also a fair amount of #20 flying ants buzzing about.  Not much for rising trout except for one very big rainbow that was cruising in a big back eddy sipping bugs without a worry.  We watched the trout for awhile and the moment we attempted to position ourselves for a cast the fish was put down.  We had more success dead drifting heavily weighted #12 olive/black wooly buggers.    We landed one 14" wild rainbow and lost 3 other fish.  All nice looking fish that fought pretty well.  Lots of craw fish in the Lamoille and the fish have to eat.  The Wooly bugger without question creates the illusion of a craw fish.  Not a glamorous way to catch trout but certainly effective.  It is important to keep the fly towards the bottom and using weight or a sinking line leader are all effective ways to present a bugger.  Trout season is winding down.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

change of pace

Hi Folks, Spent yesterday morning in the northeast kingdom of Vermont catching lake trout with a friend.  Water is still fairly warm for this time of the year as the surface temperature was 54 degrees.  Good west wind with partially cloudy skies.  We used long flexible fly rod blanks that are built with spin guides and are perfectly suited for casting braided lines off of a spinning reel.  We set up over mid lake humps that rise out of deep water.  Saw a fair amount of lake trout breaching the surface.  Pretty sure it is a spawning posture that allows the lakers to re-adjust their bodies that are full of eggs.  The breaching is like your pregnant wife rolling in bed when she is really uncomfortable.  The braided line allowed us to make really long casts so that we did not have to get too close to the humps with the boat.  We landed 7 lake trout, lost 3 fish, and missed another half a dozen fish.  We used 1/4oz. jigs in chartreuse tipped with a emerald shiner and smelt imitation swim bait.  Really subtle takes.  The trick to this style of fishing is to be on the water early. We had all of our action between 6:00am and 8:30am.  Once the light gets high over head the bite certainly slows.  Well, back to my world today and I will be guiding trout this afternoon on the Lamoille.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy. 

winding down

Hi Folks, Ran the boat yesterday afternoon with clients chasing pike with the spin gear.  Still pretty pleasant outside as the cool down down look to arrive until early this week.  The water temperature was 54 to 55 degrees.  Good steady wind from the southwest that pushed the boat around a bit.  We worked the deep edges of weed beds that plunged off into deeper water.  We cast a variety of large double bladed spinner baits as well as large spinners in fire tiger and bright colors (dirty water).  No pike but we managed to catch a nice smallmouth bass and several very large yellow belly perch.  Lots of casting.  I am off to chase lake trout this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

slowing down

Hi Folks, Been on the Lamoille guiding trout with the fly this week and the fishing is becoming more difficult by the day.  Water levels are still low and the temperatures are really beginning to drop.  Water temperature has been holding between 52 degrees and 54 degrees.  My clients and I have been stalking rising fish.  We have not had much success taking any trout with nymphs.  Occasional takes on dead drifted olive/black #10 heavily weighted wooly buggers.  The best fishing has been in the afternoon with fussy wild rainbows sipping tiny #22 BWO's.  I suspect that the fish have also been taking a tiny #22 midge as well.  All of the feeding has been in the foam line and lots of the fish have been cruising and eating.  Not holding steady and especially in big eddies where you can watch fish swimming in circles and eating.  All of the trout we are landing are quality wild rainbows that fight like crazy.  Patience fishing that requires selective casting and really good mending.  A couple of weeks left in the fishing season.  Get out there and enjoy before the weather turns nasty.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

Difficult

Hi Folks, Guided the Lamoille yesterday under cloudy and rainy condtions.  Nice low light for fishing and for rising trout.  Water temperature was 55 degrees and the level is still low.  Nice afternoon hatch of #22 BWOs with a fair amount of rising fish.  However, the trout were not easy to catch at all.  It required lots of patience and excellent casting and drifting.  A percentage of the fish were cruising and eating in skinny water.  Not necessarily holding station while sipping on the little may flies. All of the rising activity was in slow pools with big in stream rocks and boulders.  We had 7 fish eat the fly yesterday and we worked for every strike.  Fun fly fishing but difficult.  Off to do it all over again today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Quality expereince

Hi Folks, Guided on the Lamoille yesterday afternoon under bright sunny skies.  Water level is perfect for fishing currently with the flow right around the seasonal flow level.  Water temperature was 55 degrees.  Lots of junk in the water with leaves coming off the trees daily.  We nymph fished initially but spent most of the afternoon casting to fussy rising trout.  We did land right off the get go a really nice 15" male rainbow that about jumped in my clients waders.  Nice fish that fought very hard after eating a #14 rubber legged copper john nymph.  We located some very nice rising fish in slow deep pools that were littered with big in stream rocks and boulders.  Some really good pushes of water and the trout appeared to be moving around while eating.  Swimming back and forth in the pools sipping in bugs.  The rising activity got better as the light became lower and the rise forms were more steady.  The trout were not easy to catch.  We were casting #20 dry flies with a grey bodied compara dun and a #20 olive quill bodied emerger and then a #18 BWO spinner.  There were #20 BWO duns emerging as well as spinners landing back on the water.  Long accurate casting with good drag free drifts were important.  We landed 4 nice wild rainbows that all fought really well.  I will chasing trout over the next few days.  Might as well enjoy the beautiful weather and fishing while we can.  The season goes until Halloween.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

still rising

Hi Folks, Spent the afternoon guiding with the fly on the Lamoille.  Still pretty nice weather out there with air temperatures remaining in the 60's and maybe even reaching 70 today.  The foliage is pretty much gone by.  The Lamoille was up a bit yesterday from rain earlier in the week.  Water temperature's have dropped into the low to mid fifties with the cool nights and frost that are now upon us.  We found a pod of rising wild rainbow trout yesterday afternoon.  They were sipping tiny #22 BWO's off the surface and in the surface film.  We could could not get a fish to eat a nymph.  We cast a #20 BWO dry and had 4 trout eat the fly.  We landed two of the fish.  All of the rising activity has been taking place in the tail outs of slow pools.  Very subtle rise forms and not easily noticed.  As the water cools off the fish will move into slower sections of river that are lined with finger nail sized gravel.  The is the water type where the tiny olives hatch and the trout can sip them most easily.  Will be chasing trout over the weekend.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

foliage fishing

Hi Folks, Guided from my boat yesterday with spin anglers for bass and pike.  Foliage is peaked right now and looks fantastic.  Always a nice time of the year to be on the water.  We got on the water prior to the afternoon rain and fished under cloudy skies with calm conditions.  Water temperature ranged from 58 degrees to 60 degrees.  Where we found warmer water the fishing was better.  The lake we fished is influenced by a major river and the water level is down for this time of the year.  We still need rain even though we received approximately an quarter inch of wet stuff yesterday afternoon and last night.  Still could use some more rain.  We fished big weed beds and Lilly pad edges off the main channel in the lake.  Set up the boat in about 10' of water and cast to the edges of the junk.  We cast bright colored spinner baits in chartreuse and red and gold with double blades.  Water in this lake is not clear and you need to give the fish a lure that they can see.  We used a steady retrieve and the fish were following.  We caught one good sized smallmouth and numerous largemouth bass.  No pike and did not even have a follow from a northern.  We did have several small pickerel chase the lures.  Nice day on the water.  Looks like good week for fishing after the wind and rain move out today.  I will be boat and rive fishing this week.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

not easy

Hi Folks, Spent a full day on the Lamoille with aspiring fly anglers chasing trout.  The water is really low and we could use some rain.  Been awful dry for weeks now.  Maybe some rain coming in the near future.  Water temperature hovered in the high fifties all day.  A little bit of afternoon breeze seemed to keep rising activity down a bit.  There was a number of #20/#22 BWO's hatching and we found sipping trout. Earlier in the day we nymphed fished and produced a number of strikes with double nymph rigs.  The nymph of the day was a #18 BWO nymph and #20 copper john.  One of the wild rainbows we landed had a bite mark on it's body that look like it had been inflicted by a bird of prey.  We spent the afternoon casting to subtle rise forms.  You could see some larger trout cruising in back eddies sipping bugs in the surface film.  We could see their dorsal fins when they rose to eat.  Pretty cool.  Not easy fishing.  Requires long casts with long leaders and really good mending.  These fish will not eat a poorly presented fly!  Still I like the challenge.  Heard from a couple of friends that the salmon are in up north and have been for a couple of weeks.  However, sounds like the water is low and the river is getting pounded by anglers.  I am off to chase pike and walleye today in the boat.  Looks little cooler outside.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

enjoying the weather

Hi Folks, Been guiding the Lamoille the last couple of afternoons under beautiful skies and spectacular foliage.  The leaves are about peaked and looking very nice.  The water level is the Lamoille is still low and we could use some rain.  We have really enjoyed a nice stretch of weather over the last couple of weeks and it looks to continue for the next few days.  Water temperatures are remaining between 60 to 63 degrees.  Cool nights and warm days and the sun being in lower in the sky has helped maintain water temps. in our streams.  Lots of #18/#22 Olives hatching.  Pretty steady all afternoon.  If we had a cloudy damp day I can only imagine how good it could be.  So, The fishing has been good and very consistent with rising fish.  We have been fishing a lot of dry dropper rigs with a #14 olive grasshopper as the dry with a #18 olive dropper nymph.  Catching fish on both patterns.  Lots of rainbows between 7" and 12".  We did have a brown trout eat a #18 pheasant tail nymph.  We have been focusing our efforts on large primary pools and slow flats that have gravel bottom.  Rise forms have been very subtle and almost look like a drop of rain on the water.  You really have top pay attention as the fish do not work any harder than they have to when eating small flies.  Fun way to catch trout with small dry flies in slow water.  Will be chasing trout for the next few days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

Peaking

Hi Folks, Guided fly anglers yesterday afternoon on the Lamoille.  The foliage is spectacular right now and it appears that it is nearing peak.  Great afternoon of trout fishing.  Water temperature was 63 degrees and the level is low. We could use some rain.  We fished big primary pools with dry dropper rigs and double nymph rigs.  There were some rising fish.  It appeared that they were eating #20 BWO's which hatched throughout the afternoon.  We had 14 trout eat the fly and we landed 9 wild rainbows between 7" and 13".  Had several fish take a big #14 olive hopper with rubber legs.  The flies of the day were a #18 bead headed pheasant tail and a #18 olive wire caddis.  Amazingly, we had the entire place to ourselves on such a nice day. The weather is going to remain consistent and the fishing should stay the same.  I will be chasing trout all week.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

tough one

Hi folks, Ran my boat yesterday with a fly client chasing pike and bass.  Big bright sunny day with early morning fog.  I think we should have been on the water much earlier as the sunny conditions and slight east wind made fishing tough.  Water temperature ranged from 58 degrees in the morning to almost 65 degrees by mid afternoon.  It was summer like out on the water.  We managed to land one smallmouth bass and that was it.  A decent fish but we were hoping for more.   We cast from 15' of water into 2' of water and covered lots of the lake.  Had several pike chase a bright orange/yellow bunny bugger and a red/white bunny bugger but they tunred off each time.  We sighted several large smallmouth in shallow water who were not interested in eating. Pretty frustrating.  We cast a lot of different flies and in various shapes and sizes, no luck.  Oh well, not due to a lack of effort. Guiding trout today and I am wondering how it will be with all of the sun and warm air temperatures.  We still need rain.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Fesity Rainbows

Hi Folks, Spent the day with a client on the Winooski yesterday chasing trout with the fly rods.  The river trout fishing has been excellent over the last couple of weeks.  Water temperatures are maintaining from the high fifties to the low sixties.  Our rivers are getting a little low and we could use some rain.  Cloudy start to the day yesterday that was followed by big bright sun.  Lots of cased caddis on the rocks with green boded #16 caddis preparing to hatch.  Saw a lot of #20/#22 BWO's coming off, but no rising fish.  We did not have one trout eat a dry fly yesterday.  We nymph fished the entire day with great success.  Very different fishing from the previous day when we never tied on a nymph and only dry fly fished.  We had well over 20 wild rainbows come to the fly yesterday and we landed a good portion of them.  We fished a with a #16 olive caddis with a #18 bead headed pheasant tail nymph as the dropper.  The rainbows mostly ate the pheasant tail.  As the day became brighter and we focused on some heavier water we switched to a red threaded tungsten #14 prince nymph with the pheasant tail dropper.  The good old prince produced the 17" wild rainbow that really put up a tussle.  Incredibly strong fish.  The trout we encountered yesterday did a lot of jumping.  We had to be pretty thorough with our presentation in order to get the fish to eat.  Due to the sun they did not seem overly willing to mover very far from their holding to station to eat.  Really good day on the water.  Today I will be guiding from the boat with the fly rods for pike and bass. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

subtle

Hi Folks, Guided on the Lamoille yesterday afternoon with the fly rods.  The Lamoille has been fishing very well lately.  Water levels are still at the seasonal flow and level.  Water temperature was 58 degrees and the clarity was excellent.  Tons of bugs last night with #22 BWO's coming off as well as #14 olive bodied mayfly with a slate wing, and what appeared to be some #16/#18 sulphurs.  Also in the mix were #16 egg laying caddis and a #18 light bodied may fly spinner.  A fair amount of rising fish and we cast dry flies the entire afternoon into dark.  The rise forms were literally dimples on the surface that could have been over looked by many anglers as not a trout.  Occasionally there some more robust splashes on the surface that I think were trout taking egg laying caddis.  We cast a #22 BWO dun and #18 rusty spinner.  We caught fish on both fly patterns.  We had well over dozen fish come to the dry and we landed at least half of the trout.  All rainbows from 7" to 14".  These fish were fussy and demanded a well presented fly.  They were holding to their feeding station and not swinging much from that  position to eat.  Good long casts with a long leader and good mending was required.  The trout were rising in slow water and had a good look at everything coming their way in the water column.    Off to trout fish again today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

nice fish

Hi Folks, Guided the upper Winooski yesterday afternoon with the fly rods.  Nice fishing conditions with calm over cast conditions.  The water level and flow was at the seasonal average with the water temperature holding at 60 degrees.  We found rising fish yesterday afternoon.  A number of hatching insects from #18 caddis to #14 grey bodied may fly and a small #20 olive may fly.  We had trout eat a #18 Henryville special and a #14 foam ant.   It was interesting that on one pool we had half a dozen fish rising who all of sudden stopped rising.  We were drifting a double rig of the foam ant with a #18 pheasant tail when we saw the shape of a very large trout emerge under our rig and eat the nymph.  5 minutes later we landed the large 18" male brown trout.  Epic battle.  Love fall fishing and especially when you can catch a big trout on a little fly.  I rather catch the big boy on a small fly than swing a streamer for them.  Looks like nice weather for the next few days and the trout fishing will remain steady.  Nice fishing afternoon and I am going to do it all over again today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy 

nice float on the Lamoille

Hi folks, I spent a really nice day in my canoe floating down the Lamoille with a client yesterday spin fishing for trout.  Foliage is starting to look really beautiful.We had originally planned to fish from my motorboat but the stiff wind of 15mph to 25mph prevented that.  I do not float very often as I do not think drift boat are really not necessary on my Vermont trout streams.  The water is really too small to float more often than not and I think that you scare more fish than you catch when you are making tons of noise bumping into rocks.  Anywho, we did pass a few anglers and we showed respect and etiquette by not casting and moving through quickly and quietly.  We even got out of the canoe and walked it around one set of fishermen.  Water temps. ranged from 56 degrees in the morning to almost 59 degrees by late afternoon.  We did see some trout sipping small #20 BWO's late in the afternoon.  We landed a dozen wild and stocked rainbows and missed or had follow at least another dozen fish.  Pretty good day of trout fishing.  The lures of the day were Rapala husky jerks in blue and gold with an orange belly and brown and copper in with an orange belly.  Towards the end of the day I think we were as content watching fish chase the plugs instead of hooking them.  However, my client in good angling fashion caught a trout on the last cast of the day.  Good Mojo. We saw one large brown trout yesterday that chased our plug right to the canoe.  We ran out of room.  You know a brown is big when you can see the cherry dots on their flanks in the water.  We found most of our fish in slower water with in stream rocks and boulders.  Off to chase trout again today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

breezy weekend

Hi Folks, Spent the weekend chasing trout with guests on small tributary streams of the Lamoille and Winooski. Big weather front moved in and brought with it cooler air temperatures, wind, and rain.  The main stem of the Lamoille and Winooski were stuffed for Sunday with the rain from the previous night.  One problem is the fall is all of the debris in the rivers from falling leaves and twigs.  I always wonder how it effects the fishing and I know that you hook a lot of crap with your fly during the drift.  Water temperatures were holding steady in the high fifties.  Not a good weekend for a boat with all the wind in Stowe.  We fished dry dropper rigs with 3wt. outfits into larger primary pools.  We caught almost all of our fish on the #18 copper john nymph.  Mostly hooked 7" to 11" wild rainbows with a few small brown trout and native brook trout.  Not much for hatching bugs with the exception of a few #18/#20 BWO's coming off and a few #14 caddis hatching and egg laying.  Fishing should remain consistent but the wind and weather do become a real factor in fall fishing. I will be mixing it up this week with trout fishing and lake fishing for pike.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

lazyafternoon

Hi Folks, Guided yesterday afternoon for trout on the Lamoille with spin gear.  Water temperature was 62 degrees.  The Lamoille is currently is at it's seasonal level for this of the year.  Another big bright sunny day and we found some shady water to fish.  Lots of craw fish all over the bottom off the river as you can see them darting about as we waded.  We fished rebel craw fish lure in natural colors and with orange bellies.  We had eight trout take the plugs.  A lot of jumping silver bullet rainbows.  The water is low and clear and enough that you can see the trout chase the lure right in.  We had several takes right at our feet.  Not much for hatching insects yesterday and no rising fish.  We fished right to dark and the water was pretty quiet.  Off chasing trout this weekend.  Looks like a change in the weather is on the way and will give way to some wet stuff.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

good fishing

Hi Folks, Guided on the upper Winooski yesterday afternoon with the fly rods.  My clients got to enjoy a beautiful sunny fall day.  Water temperature was 62 degrees and the flows were at their seasonal average.  A little bit of debris in the river like leaves and sticks which will happen this time of the year.  We caught 16 trout yesterday including all 3 species with 2 almost 10" male brook trout that were colored up nicely and 2 wild brown trout.  The rest were rainbows.  We missed another half a dozen fish.  All of our fish were between 8" and 14".  Jumping rainbows and browns.  Tons of cased caddis on tops of rocks that have been hatching and will hatch any day.  A size #14/#16 bug.  We took all our fish nymphing with double rigs of #16 olive caddis and a #18 peacock soft hackle as well as a #14 prince with a #18 olive wire caddis.  Most of the takes were dead drifting the flies.  We had to be thorough with our presentations due to the bright sun.  I do not think the fish wanted to move far to eat because of the lower water with bright conditions.  We found a lot of fish in heavy riffles and plunges.  Nice afternoon on the water and I expect the trout fishing to only stay consistent.  Off to chase trout on the Lamoille today. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Water is still warm

Hi Folks, Been guiding with my canoe lately for smallmouth bass.  Big bright blue skies out there with high pressure stalled in Vermont.  Foliage is beginning to look nice.  Nice cold nights and warm days make fall my favorite time to fish.  The surface temperature of the lakes I have been on has been 66 degrees to 67 degrees.  The water does not ever cool off as quickly as the air temperatures in lakes and ponds.  River temperatures tend to vary more widely and quickly.  The wind has been a pain in the butt in the canoe and makes it tough holding the boat in position to fish.  Steady from the NW lately with the  swirling effect.  No top water to bite to speak of and we have really worked to catch a handful of fish each time out.  Mostly jigging with soft plastics that imitate crawfish.  I have been finding smallies off downed wood that reaches into deeper water.  Still we have been covering a lot of water to get strikes and fighting the darn wind.  I think the big blue sky also makes the lake fishing a little tougher as the fish may be neutral to non-aggressive and you have to make it easier for them to eat.  Back to trout fishing with the fly today as I will be fishing the Winooski.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun , Willy