Green Mountain Troutfitters, Vermont Fly Shop, Vermont Fly Fishing Guides

Champ Sighting

2013-06-18T09:25:00.002-07:00

The "Champ" was recently sighted warming up for the DPC in an undisclosed location

Happy guest of Bass Fishing Vermont!

Finally just sitting down to the computer after a great Father's Day weekend! Hopefully everyone's getting out and enjoying the great conditions we have had. The above pic of The Champ was sent in over the weekend. It appears that even The Champ needs a little DPC prep-work ;-)

The Lamoille is really looking as good as I can remember seeing it this late in the season and it looks like that's not going to change much in the near future. The Lamoille is about 10-15 degrees cooler than we are used to this time of year and the trouts are certainly happy about that! Although running higher than it's average, the Lamoille has great clarity and fishes like a totally different river at these flows.

The tribs are maintaining much more seasonable flows, yet still on the high side. There's really no reason not to take advantage of the big river fishing we have right now since the trout fishing conditions are almost never this good in mid-June!

In many spots, bass are now post-spawn and very hungry! Matt A. had some guests out over the weekend and found most fish between 2-8' of water with temps around 64 degrees. No matter the conditions, Matt always puts fish in the boat and this weekend was no exception! If you want to fine tune your bassin' game with the spinning rod, drop us a line and book a trip with our bass pro, Matt Applebaum!

THE TROUTFITTERS WILL BE CLOSED WEDNESDAY (6/18) & THURSDAY (6/19)!!

Pickle Progress

2013-06-12T11:08:00.002-07:00

Vermont Fly Guys fresh ties

We took advantage of the crummy weather up here today to have a brief meeting about the upcoming Ditch Pickle Classic on Lake Champlain June 29/30. We've got just about 80 anglers currently registered and likely some scragglers will filter in up to the last minute. If you've yet to register for this amazing event, do it now! ditchpickleclassic@gmail.com

Another evening of steady rains last night has everything blown out. The Lamoille is a muddy mess and even the smallest tribs are looking like class IV whitewater! It'll take some time for this to settle out, so might as well get the boat, yak, canoe or whatever out and make the most of the really good bass fishing we have right now. We have fly and spin guides at the ready, so give a holler and let's go fishing!

I just had a visit from Brian Price of Vermont Fly Guys so we've got a fresh assortment of VFG Gliss'n'Glint Baitfish and Indiana James patterns in the shop. Get in here and get'em!

And Yet Again...More Rain

2013-06-11T11:42:00.001-07:00

Best Fishin' Buddy Ever!

Sorry it's been a few days between posts. This is the first time I've turned on the laptop since Friday, so I'm playing catch-up today.

Once the rain started falling last night, it really didn't let up all night, and things are really stuffed with brown water today. That will be the case likely over the next several days since we have another quarter - half inch forecasted for tonight and a tenth to a quarter inch every other night this week. The Lamoille is currently blown as are the major tribs and even most of the tiny stuff too!

Friday night, Mike and I floated a piece of water on the Lamoille and had a great time. Not a lot of fish, but enough action to keep things interesting. Once the season gets rolling, Mike and I don't get to fish a ton together, so it's always nice getting out when we can.

Bruce & Paul - These guys were great company!

Saturday, I woke to seemingly stabilized flows on the Lamoille and set out on a float with 2 great anglers in 800cfs. The river looked great that morning and I really thought the stars had aligned for these 2 guys. Whew...not the case! By the first hour, the river had gone up over 1200cfs and the fishing was absolutely piss-poor as a result. Rapidly rising flows are never a good thing in my book. We ended up absolutely pounding the water with big ugly streamers only to come up with a small'ish wild rainbow and a few exciting follows from some creamy looking fish ;-) Really 2 of the coolest guys I've fished with and Iook forward to getting them out again this Fall (which may be the next time we have fishable flows at this rate.)

On Sunday we had a float trip re-schedule and I had my youngest son at a birthday party. I took the opportunity to get my older son out for a little lake fishing and we had a blast! At 7 years old, that kid can really drop a 6" sluggo on a dime! Times like that will stay with us forever.

Yesterday Mike had a great father/son duo out and the trib they fished didn't fish very well. These heavier flows have really been shutting the fish down lately. Luckily they were able to move around and find a couple fish.

This little rainbow was one aggressive fish!

Drakes...Lot's of'em!

2013-06-06T11:47:00.005-07:00

Wild Brown ate a Brown Drake Cripple

Conditions don't always pan out for us on the Lamoille during Brown Drake time. Generally this hatch coincides with water temps that often excede 70 degrees and there have been several years that we would sit on the bank,watching the massive mayflies fill the air, hoping that the river will dip below 70 at least for a few casts. This year is a totally different ball game with cool, above average flows. Last night we snuck out by my house in Hyde Park and were welcomed by massive amounts of Brown Drake spinners. Some doing their spinner dance, some sailboating down the river and some random cripples that were unable to leave the surface of the water. For a while it was hard to dial in what the fish wanted. It seemed obvious with all the Drakes out and about, but very few were on the water and the fish looked as though they were keyed in on emerging caddis. I had one missed fish on a caddis pupa, but mostly we picked up fish on Brown Drake cripple imitations on the surface. Just before dark, the bug activity picked up and we had a variey of march browns, sulphurs, tan caddis and brown drakes buzzing about. Then like a light switch the air got a bit cooler, the bugs dissappeared and fish stopped feeding on top.

Today, I fished a small stream in the Lamoille Valley with a raw beginner. Although being a bit high, this stream was in prime condition but few fish were willing to play. We threw several different presentations into the mix, but a prince under an indicator was all that could draw strikes.

Fly Times

2013-06-05T11:02:00.000-07:00

"Mornin' Beautiful"

Aside from the bright sun today, conditions really couldn't be much better. The mainstem rivers are still a bit higher than average, but we'll take it! Tomorrow's rains look like they'll be in the latter part of the day and we shouldn't see any heavy downpours tomorrow, so take advantage before the rain blows it all up again over the weekend. We've seen some scattered Brown Drakes around the Lamoille, along with March Browns, Sulphurs, Caddis and Stoneflies in different sizes. For the most part, keep beaded princes, PT nymphs, copper johns handy in your nymph box. For dries, para adams, elk caddis and stimulators should be in the box. The recent hot spell also brought out the hoppers which we all look forward to!

Are you interested in learning to fly fish or improve on the basic skills? You should try our "Fly Fishing 201" class! For only $59, we'll give you a solid foundation for your fly fishing journey! This is the best value you'll find for such a well-rounded experience. Give it a try or tell a friend and get them hooked for life! Reach us at gmtvermont@gmail.com

Tribbin'

2013-06-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

Wild Rainbow (Winooski Trib)

After a short set of super hot summer-like weather, we're back into fall-like weather today. It was 50 degrees on my way to the shop this morning and it's only climbed into the mid 60's. With a pretty gusty wind out there, it's not a bad day to bust out the hoody! Starting Thursday, we have more rain coming that could drop several more inches of rain on our saturated area by the end of the weekend. Currently the Lamoille is thumping at over 700cfs at the Johnson gauge, but the clarity has come back, at least for the moment. The Lamoille tribs are a bit high, but still in great shape. This cooler weather pattern will do great things for trout fishing as long as the pending rains don't blow everything up. The major drainages were dangerously approaching lethal water temps last week and the Winooski even found it's way over the 70 degree mark so keep your stream thermometers handy just in case!

I fished a little gem of a trout stream in the Lamoille Valley yesterday and, whereas backcountry brookie fishin' isn't really my cup-o-tea, I had a great couple hours rock-hopping, bushwacking and tugging on Vermont's smallest trout wonders. The brookies were pouncing all over bushy dries like stimulators and elk hair caddis. It's great to see a 4" trout try and eat a big dry fly.

Spreadin' the Fly Fishing Love

2013-06-01T18:58:00.001-07:00

Our Brown Trout t-shirt image from our man, Damon
at Kind Designs. Damon is the man!

Wow!...what a scorcher out there! It's amazing how fast things can change from cold and dreary to hot and muggy. It looks like the heat has already taken it's toll on the Winooski River, which clocked in a reading of 71.2+ degrees in Montpelier today!! The Lamoille is much cooler but it won't be long with this kind of heat so get out there and get'r'done! It's been such a welcome change of pace here with multiple fishing options currently available from bassin' to brookies, and anglers out and about catching good numbers of fish. It's always great to turn new people on to fly fishing and today was a great day for spreading the love! I had an awesome couple from Essex this morning for a casting clinic that really proved to be naturals with the fly rod. After casting practice, we decided to move on to a Lamoille trib for some practice with the dry-dropper presentation, and my man Russ quickly went to work landing a wild brookie, brown and rainbow for the trifecta! These fish were all 6-8" and as beautiful as it gets. I think Russ is hooked for life! The fish were feisty and seemingly keyed in on caddis based on the slashy rises. We drew strikes dead drifting stimulator/prince rigs and stimulator/caddis pupa rigs. The fish were chasing the nymphs right back to our feet!
I took another very cool Vermonter to a trib this afternoon and he landed his very first fish on the fly! If I could bottle that excitement of the first fish on the fly and sell it, I'd be a millionaire. Way to go Dave and "Underhill Jim"!!...You guys are what it's all about!
Who knows what's going to happen tonight with the rain forecast... ?? We'll have to wait and see..
We have some days this week open with different options available depending on your taste. Depending on how much of rain we get, we can wade and float this week, so hit us up. Matt's also ready with the bass boat if you want to hit the lake with the spinning rod and "Mr. Bass!"...Over 25 fish with his last guests in a half day outing! Let's get out and fish and help you dial your conventional and/or fly fishing game! gmtvermont@gmail.com

Send in Those Comments!

2013-05-31T09:36:00.002-07:00

There's only a handful of days left to submit your comments to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Board regarding proposed changes to the current creel limits on brook trout. You can send an email that will reach all members of the board to fwboard@list.state.vt.us. We are encouraging the board to consider amending the law to allow a maximum daily limit of 6 trout, with no more than 3 each of browns and rainbows. Here's a copy of the message we sent to the board. Feel free to copy, paste and add your signature. Or, you can send your own message. Either way, make yourself heard!...

--------------------------------------------

Dear F&W Board Members,

I support the proposed changes to the Vermont Fish & Wildlife regulations regarding reducing the brook trout creel limit from 12 to 6. Reducing the daily bag limit from 12 to 6 is the least we can do for our state fish, however this isn't enough.

I'd like to ask the F&W Board to consider an amended proposal which would streamline the creel limits on trout across the board to 6 fish total with no more than 3 each of browns or rainbows. This amended proposal will offer a great umbrella of protection for our trout that need it the most.

I strongly urge you to consider this proposal as a catalyst to begin rebuilding what several years of droughts, heat waves and extreme flooding have destroyed on our precious trout streams.

Sincerely,

Green Mountain Troutfitters

Jeffersonville, VT

------------------------------------------------------------

We've got another hot day up here today and the tribs are currently in great shape, although still moving at a good push. The Lamoille is looking pretty good today all the way down thru Johnson, but it also is still flowing pretty hard. Mike got out yesterday for some fishing on a Lamoille trib and brought some nice wild rainbows and browns to hand on a crystal bugger. Still absolutely no sign of stocked fish in a tributary that was stocked before the high water event last week. Matt A. had some happy clients tugging on the smallies yesterday and, depending on where you are, some bass have finished their spawning while others are still in pre-spawn mode or on their nests.

Out With the Rain, In With the Heat

2013-05-30T10:58:00.002-07:00

Our new Brook Trout T-shirt artwork

This has been one of, if not, the craziest weather patterns I've seen. Drought...floods...cold snap...heat wave. It looks like the next couple days will be hotter than hell before more rain sets in on Saturday with potential for some big amounts. All I can say is to take advantage of any window of opportunity you can! We could get 2 feet of snow next week...you never know what we're gonna get dealt this season!

The Lamoille is running just over 1000cfs at the Johnson gauge and it's struggling to clear up below Hyde Park, while upstream really doesn't look half bad. The uppermost reaches should be fishable today while the mid-lower end will still need more time to clear up. The tribs are a different story and actually look great today, so get out and give'em a look!

I was dissappointed to not make the F&W Regulation meeting last night in Montpelier due to a nasty cold, but it sounds like my interests were certainly represented. There are 3 public hearings to gather input regarding the proposed reg changes. 2 hearings have already been held and the 3rd is tonight in Castleton. Last night saw about 20+ people that came out, mostly to support a proposed rule to lower brook trout creel limits from 12 to 6 fish per day. The first meeting had only 2 people show up from what I was told. Not a great turnout for a statewide regulation change proposal.

Whereas I feel that a reduction in brook trout creel limits is a great step in the right direction, we still allow a 12 fish daily limit and that is not good. I'm working on a form letter that we will be sending to the F&W Board, encouraging them to ammend the current trout limits to 6 fish aggregate with no more than 3 each of browns and rainbows. That means if you wanna kill 6 brookies, you're done for the day. Only kill 4, and you still have room in the creel for 2 more trout, be it a brown or rainbow. That sounds more like it to me!

If you'd like to copy and paste our letter to send to the F&W board, keep an eye on the site as I will post a copy tomorrow or Saturday.

If you'd like to write your own letter supporting a 6 fish aggregate limit, send it to the F&W Board at fwboard@list.state.vt.us

DPC Month is Right Around the Corner!

2013-05-28T10:29:00.001-07:00

It was great to see everyone come out of the woodwork yesterday after a week of pounding rains, floods and unseasonably cold weather! It seemed like every lawn mower in Lamoille County was running yesterday. I know mine was since it was a small window of opportunity between wet weather patterns to get some honey-do stuff done! After today, we will have yet a couple more days of rains which could drop over an inch of water on an already saturated area. Air temps are also supposed to jump up towards 90 by weeks end, so let's hope the trout window on the larger rivers doesn't close too quickly on us following all the rain. Currently, the smallest tribs are just clearing in our area and many should be fishable by later today or tomorrow. Things may clear up, but will still be running high and fast, so big streamers are a good choice until things settle a bit. Portions of Lake Champlain and some of our other local stillwater fisheries are pretty choked up with debris, so use caution out there and go easy on the throttle!

The 2013 Ditch Pickle Classic is just about a month away and we currently have 23 teams signed up! Please register your team soon to guarantee yourself an official DPC t-shirt! To register, send an email to ditchpickleclassic@gmail.com

Prepare the Ark

2013-05-24T13:29:00.001-07:00

A beautiful shot of the Lamoille in Johnson sent in last week by our friend, Benoit Laird

This is the craziest weather event we've seen since Irene and, in some cases, it's causing far more destruction than did Irene. This morning, the Lamoille had already caused some heavy flooding West of Johnson, with parts of Jericho, Underhill and essex in pretty bad shape. The crazy thing is this is not close to over yet and we could still see a couple more inches of rain in the valleys and several inches of snow at higher elevations! Every piece of moving water both big and small is now a raging torrent so use your heads out there!

If you noticed the F&W stocking trucks out in the Lamoille Valley yesterday you definitely were not hallucinating. They were actually out stocking the Lamoille yesterday even though the river was an absolute muddy mess! Not sure what's going on there, but we've had over a month of ideal stocking conditions leading up to this rain event. We here at the Troutfitters are 100% in support of expanding what little protection we have for our wild fish populatiuons in Vermont. However, a HUGE % of the fisheries budget goes directly into raising and stocking these fish, and I absolutely hate seeing $ wasted. So all in all, if we're going to dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into put'n'take fisheries vs. spending that money improving and protecting our wild trout fisheries, let's not wait until May 23rd to stock a major drainage like the Lamoille.

All the more reason to show up for next week's regulation hearings and ring in!

Up She Goes

2013-05-24T03:28:00.001-07:00

When it Rains it Pours

2013-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Insert Yourself Here...

We got an absolute pounding or rain and hail last night. The Lamoille this morning is now fully blown out and chocolate milky. Many tribs are also blown, less the smallest, steepest drainages. We're going to be looking at great float conditions after the water comes down a bit so drop us a line and let's set a date!

The Rooster Party Beard Chronicles 2013

2013-05-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

Surf's Up!

2013-05-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

Beauty of a Wild, Lamoille Brown! The river is that color today...

Things are rocking pretty good out there today following the heavy rains we got last night. The state got anywhere from 1-3" of rain, with the highest amounts in the southern part of the state. Rivers like the "Hoosie" are going bonkers today and we have quite a bit more rain and t-storms coming in tonight.

The Lamoille is high and muddy today and won't be fishable until this system clears out next week. Some of the smaller tribs are barely maintaining clarity, but that will probably not be the case tomorrow.

Our Jr. Guide is smokin'em this season!

It's a good time to get the boat uncovered and ready to roll! The bass fishing's really picking up steam and we've already got 20 teams signed up for the Ditch Pickle Classic on June 29/30! To sign up your team, send us an email to ditchpickleclassic@gmail.com with your teams name, contact info and t-shirt sizes. We have new sponsors jumping on board daily, so everyone is gonna go home with some great stuff!

Don't let the blown out rivers get you down! Our boats are fueled and ready to hit the lakes! Come fish with the Troutfitters <"((((((><

Lushness Ensues

2013-05-21T08:14:00.003-07:00

Wild Lamoille Rainbow

This week we'll be receiving some much needed rain with showers forecast just about every day! Reports of light to moderate bug activity keep flowing i n along with confusion as to why few fish are taking meals off the surface. Buggers and PT nymphs are still outproducing any other patterns on the trout water. We're still seeing proportionately more wild browns in the main stem Lamoille than rainbows, but we have seen some nice wild rainbows like the one pictured above.

Laundry Room Window of a Fly Fishing Guide

If you are lacking confidence in your nymphing skills, give us a shout. I've chatted with several of our customers lately that struggle with nymph presentation. We can take you down to the water for less than an hour and have you nymphing like pros!

I fished a lake up north yesterday after the morning rains tapered off. Water temps were 59-60 and it seemed like the bass were in spawn mode. We rigged for pike and had lots smaller fish chasing, with few bigguns that turned away at the boat. Only smaller fish landed and about a thousand and one short-strikes...that's fishin'!

Where's All the Zombies?

2013-05-18T07:30:00.001-07:00

Cast there...mend...mend...set, set, set!!!

Lot's of reds and oranges is never a good thing

Yesterday's father/son duo from Florida had a great outing on the Lamoille with Mike. Any hatchery fish dumped into the system this year are more than willing to eat, but the majority of our mainstem rivers have yet to be stocked and some of our Lamoille tribs that were reportedly stocked are seemingly void of stockies....very strange. Mike reported big Sulphurs (Invaria) and March Browns in the air and on the water. When they were leaving the water at around 4pm, the rising activity was getting a bit more consistent. The guys tugged on some fish and are pumped for their next fly fishing outing!

Somebody shut the water off!! We need some rain pronto! Thanks to these cold nights lately, we're maintaining good water temps and fishing remains steady. However, if we don't get any substantial rainfall as we approach the hot season, it won't be pretty.

Don't forget the upcoming Fishing Reg Hearings. Try to make it out and give your 2 cents! Now get out and fish!

Doug from FL and his first fly caught fish!

Water Please

2013-05-17T07:37:00.001-07:00

Ummm...we could use some water

Good Fishing Right Now!

2013-05-16T09:04:00.000-07:00

One more cast...

We had a great group of 4H kids yesterday for a fly tying session. The kids ranged from 6-13 and they whipped up some great little trout bugs! It's great to let the kids pick their own color combos and see what their little creative minds come up with. If you have a group that would like to do a tying session, just drop us a line at gmtvermont@gmail.com

Clearing after a brief rainstorm

I had started to write a post yesterday, but just got too busy and had to put computer stuff on the back burner. However, we have been trying to add fresh photos and content to the site as often as possible and I can see that reflected in our site visits! We are seeing close to 10,000 visitors to www.gmtrout.com each month! Thanks to all you that check in on a regular basis! We're also seeing lots of new faces in the shop this season. Remember that GMT is also on Facebook, so be sure to check in with us there as well. You can also bookmark our other endeavors, the Ditch Pickle Classic and Green Mountain Fly Fishing Camp.

A nice afternoon on a Lamoille tributary

Yesterday changed drastically from a bright, sunny day with a heafty breeze to a cloudy, damp rain bag in a matter of minutes. I had a short, instructional outing planned with a great local angler who wanted to improve on his nymphing skills. We fished a beat of water on the Lamoille that I had hoped would get us out of the wind and, luckily, it did. After the short downpours cleared out, it turned out to be a beautiful evening for fishing. I stuck around for just over an hour and he was able polish up his mending skills and nymph up a wild rainbow. Sometimes anglers that have all the skills struggle with the mental fishing game and just need reassurance that they're doin' it all right. Fish have a funny way of avoiding anglers that lack confidence, so stay confident out there and success will find you

Still Life With HDR

2013-05-14T07:45:00.003-07:00

The colors of this wild Lamoille brown really pop with the added HDR effect

It's amazing how far we've come in the world of digital photography. The possibilities are virtually endless as long as you have a decent smart phone and a handful of photo-editing apps. I've been discovering features on my phone that I never knew existed. The result is some pretty cool images.

HDR Smaille

We've been on the water just about every day lately and the local trout fishing really has picked up. We've still not seen a ton of rainbows, but when our guests are catching beautiful wild browns like the one pictured above, it's easy to leave the river with a smile on our faces. Crystal buggers in 8-10 and PT nymphs in a size 14 have still been turning heads for us.

This cold front will get moving out of here after tonight, but the theme remains the lack of water we currently have in the systems. The Lamoille in Johnson is almost 400cfs below its mean flow for this time of year!

I made the trek north to the Clyde looking for landlocks yesterday and found the river absolutely loaded with suckers, huge schools of yellow perch, rock bass and the occasional freight train smallie. The water was low and, given the mass of suckers, I didn't bother nymphing at all. Instead, I stripped big streamers hoping for a LLS to give chase. I saw no sign of salmon, but did see a few foul-hooked suckers from the anglers that were nymphing.

Rain!

2013-05-11T08:18:00.003-07:00

Our junior guide givin' a lesson

We got a nice soaking rain last night and everything looks so much greener and smells so much fresher this morning. The ground soaked up pretty much every bit of the rain, so river levels haven't budged much if at all. As I sat here yesterday writing reports of little rising fish activity, Mike was out with a first-time fly rodder and reported decent bug activity with plenty of fish slashing on the surface. Only Hendricksons were popping off, but an elk hair caddis was the meal they seemed most interested in. I think that after fighting a half dozen fish to the net, we have hooked yet another new angler on catching fish on the fly! Even the fallfish got some love yesterday and posed for a photo opp.

Many of our local bass are in full-on spawn mode and I'm aware that some primary spawning tribs have been getting hit very hard by anglers. We have so many fishing options right now that there is no need to repeatedly pound on spawning fish. Please just let these fish do their thing and make more fish which, after all, is really what we all want right?...more fish <"(((((><

Not what you wanna see rolling down river when you're fishing!

Upcoming Fishing Regs Hearings

2013-05-10T11:51:00.003-07:00

For Troutfitters junior guide Calvin, fishing just
runs in the family!

We really haven't gotten any rain to speak of as of yet and, whereas I thought today would be much wetter and damper, it's not the case. In fact, it's just as beautiful as previous days have been this week. Great for recreating, but really not ideal fishing weather for May! We do have a good chance of showers tonight and tomorrow according to NOAA, but we'll have to just wait and see what transpires. Aside from rain, Sunday and Monday night will get really cold, dropping into the low 30's Monday night...cover up those gardens! With the combination of little to no humidity and bright sunny days, we haven't seen many fish rising on the surface since the bugs don't need much time to dry off and take flight. A smart fish knows when to leave well enough alone and will instead key in on easier meals below the surface. We've seen handfuls of 9-11 inch wild rainbows in the mainstem Lamoille, but not promising numbers by any means. These fish need the help of all anglers in order for their numbers to rebound to healthier levels. Vermont Dept of Fish and Wildlife will be hosting public hearings later this month to gather input in regards to some proposed regulation changes that would open up several miles of water to fishing between 11/1 and the 2nd week of April each year. It is also being proposed to change the brook trout limit from the obsurd 12 fish limit to 6 fish. Please take a moment to read the proposed changes in their entirety here and please find the time to attend one of the hearings in St. Johnsbury, Montpelier or Castleton. You can also send your comments to the Fish and Wildlife Board here.
Public hearing dates and locations...

The "Petting Zoo" fish of the Lamoille and Winooski
have all been stocked

-Tuesday, May 28 – St. Johnsbury Elementary School Auditorium (6:30pm)

-Wednesday, May 29 – Pavilion Auditorium in the Pavilion Building, 109 State Street, Montpelier(6:30 pm)

-Thursday, May 30 – Kehoe Education Center, Castleton, VT(6:30 pm)

Love that Guitar Minnow!

2013-05-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

Wild Lamoille Brown Trout

Water levels are still dropping while temperatures continue to rise, but we do have a damp cool down coming in this weekend into early next week. That will likely put the warmwater bite in a bit of a flux while, at the same time, allow for our stocking trucks to get those hatchery fish in the rivers while they are still below 70 degrees! Our bass guide, Matt Applebaum has been putting up 100+ fish days on the lakes and we've got openings on the calendar, so get in on a bassin' tour on the fly or spinning rods!
We have seen some Hendricksons popping off in the Lamoille, but seemingly few fish are keyed into them since their emergence in this super dry weather happens very rapidly. Mike had some luck drifting PT nymphs under an indicator in the seams and was able to cash in on a few fish last night on the Lamoille.

The other day the bass were all over the "Guitar Minnow," which was created by Jim Bernstein of Eldridge Brothers Fly Shop in Maine. This fly was created for striped bass, but it works just fine on the freshwater bass too! Here's a video with tying instructions for this pattern.

My version of the "Guitar Minnow"

DPC Edits

2013-05-07T13:39:00.001-07:00

Don't Light A Match Out There!

2013-05-07T10:10:00.001-07:00

A few shades of brown on GreenUp Day

This has been an amazing stretch of beautiful weather we've had lately, but I have to keep reminding myself that it's still only early May and we're being dealt June conditions. The word on the local trout fisheries in this dry, sunny weather is that things have seemed right, but not many fish are being caught. We floated several miles of the Lamoille on GreenUp Day and had pretty slow fishing along the way. We did pick up a couple nice wild trout, but they were the result of many, many casts. On a positive note, there was very little trash along the stretch we floated. We still managed to pick up a bunch of garbage, but nothing like last year.

I know that most people reading this site care as much about their fisheries as we do. For as many of us that care, many that fish our local streams and lakes just don't give a damn. One very important person that does, in fact, care is our local game warden, Jason. Jason has a huge area to monitor himself and can't be everywhere at once. If you see anyone blatantly violating game laws, please don't hesitate to give Jason a call at 802-279-4875 and report the violation.

The lake fishing has been on fire lately with water temps rapidly heating up into the 60's. I haven't done any topwater bassin' yet, but they were all over clouser patterns yesterday and wanted little to do with the Rapalas my buddy was throwing. Many of our spawning bass are now fully in spawn mode and should be left alone to do their thing in peace. It's tempting to wan't to make a cast or two to the fish thrashing around in a couple feet of water, but resist that temptation and move on.