I drove by the river this past weekend and I swear I saw the fish flee for cover....they fear me!!!
Come hell or high water (literally) I am going to hit the water this weekend.
Dave and Keith
I can't wait for fishing to start, I do need to get my NH license but that is easy.
See Yah
Lee
To early for me to get excited....Trout season doesn't open here until
the 1st of May and it will be at least the 15th of May before I start serious fishing.
Old timers always said the trout fishing never begins until the alder leaves are the size
of a mouse's ear.
Quote by: stephenTo early for me to get excited....Trout season doesn't open here until
the 1st of May and it will be at least the 15th of May before I start serious fishing.
Old timers always said the trout fishing never begins until the alder leaves are the size
of a mouse's ear.
Here here No need to freeze ones ball bag in icy water. Patience my good felllows, patience
Well maybe mine have already been damaged Koda. LOL! I don't seem to mind the cold rivers much. Mr feet start to ache sometimes but that usually occurs when I step out of the river and into the snow.
I am currently enrolled in a 60 man fly fishing tournament in VT's Otter Creek with my litle brother. It seems as though this 60 man tournament covering a massive watershed will be an absolute blast! I just wish I knew more about trout fishing in that area. It includes a large portion of the Otter Creek from Pittsford to Vergennes, VT as well as the New Haven River, Middlebury River, and Neshobe River and Furnace Brook.
www.mmvt.com/content/5th-annual-otter-creek-classic-opening-day-fly-fishing-tournament
I've planned a day or two of scouting first. It seems the big old browns in the otter are usually the best bet. Lots of them are over 18 inches, and if you catch a few of them that is all it will take. The tournament is catch and release. Pictures of fish are taken with a clean measurement with an official tournament tape measure provided at registration with a score card, and a time and date stamp. Then the species and length is logged. total accumulative inches wins it. Anything under 7 inches is to be excluded from the registry. On a good year a cumulative total of 91 inches won it, on a bad year a single 20+ inch Brown Trout took the prize.
I don't care if we win a dam thing. Chance and I are going fishing and I have high hopes he'll catch his first trout on the fly. We attending the fly fisherman's film festival and then there is beer and BBQ when its over. So we intend to seriously have some fun!
If anybody has any experience on these waters, I would appreciate any available input, but I have researched the New England Fly Fisherman's guide which suggests Leeches and bait fish imitations during early april. I'm also going loaded with caddis pupae, san juans, eggs, and stone fly nymphs.
The way I figure it, it is just a matter of finding an adequate spot, and hoping spring is well on its way making water temps better.
Oh and I am also stoked about fishing at Eaton pond in the 27th with the gang here. Maybe I can finally hook with Lee and get that dam hat. LOL! I can't believe I have failed to get that done this long.
I hope you are all doing well and primed for another great year of trout fishing!
T~
Hey T-Bone. That sounds like a great tournament. I lived in Bristol and Brandon, VT and worked in East Middlebury a few years back. I didn't do much fishing in the area, but found it challenging and access at times a bit tricky. Fished the New Haven a couple times and had my best luck below Bristol where it crosses 116. I saw lots of folks fishing the falls above Bristol in the early spring and the stream in Lincoln is really pretty. I caught a few nice brookies just below the Ripton gorge in East Middlebury ( Middlebury river I think). You can only go up a short ways before it gets treacherous. My best luck for brookies and the most fun I had fishing there, if you like the small brookies type streams was above the gorge. If you are heading up from East Middlebury take the left in Ripton onto the road that heads north Into the national forest. Go a ways down this road and then bushwhack down over the hill to the brook. Bring bug dope.
I worked on a project in West Rutland and did some field work in October around the old marble quarries near the downtown. There is an old canal in there that runs into the marshy area near the Marble carving studio and then it flows into a stream running on the west side of West Rutland. Not sure what the stream is. Anyway I think the trout were spawning and that old canal was stacked with brook trout and many were quite large.
Wish I had more. I remember watching fish rise on Otter Creek right in Middlebury but never fished there.
Good luck!
Looked at the map briefly. The road in east Middlebury or Ripton was the Dugway off the road to Lincoln , if I remember correctly.
Beaton. I am greatful for what you have told me and I cannot believe it took moving to Concord before I took up fly fishing.
I grew up in Orwell, VT south of Middlebury and west of Brandon, about 20 to 30 min from each. Then I lived on Marble street in West Rutland where you were doing your project. I believe the stream you are talking about is called Whipplehollow. I never even knew there were fish out there.
I can close my eyes and picture trout sipping mayflies in the Otter as it passes through the marble and limestone rich pools that stretch through Proctor, VT. But that is just a little out of the contest's region. Not far though.
Last summer I tried to fly fish the Furnace brook that dumps into the Otter in Pittsford, but the water was low, and the fish wild enough to see me coming I think. As we moved towards the Otter the water was so low you could walk across it. That almost never happens. So I have very little experience fishing that region, as I mentioned.
My cousin lived very near the gorge you were refering to in East Middlebury when we were kids. It is infact the Middlebury River. They say it is a safe haven for huge trout that is very treacherous for fisherman.
Due to the manner of scoring this event, I am going to target browns, as they are usually the big boys (Judging by the photos that are posted online by the ocal fly shops.), and nothing below 7 inches is allowed to be entered. I'm thinking of trying to hit the middlebury river near route 7 where it sweeps through the farm land, (Between the Beefside conveinence store with the giant cow on the roof and the Giant Gorilla with the gold VW.) or I'm thinking of trying a bit north where the Middlebury river meets otter creek and where the Lemon Faire river meets the Otter. I figure this large confluence should be drawing fish that are looking to spawn or feed on those that are. The first area has long deep sweeping pools and is bridged by and runs along the side of the Vermont snowmobile association trails. I seriously doubt there will be any trouble getting to this water. But I intend to so some topo, and touring recon before committing to anything. I suspect the Neshbe river that flows down out of Brandon Gap and into goshen and forestdale before meeting the otter in Brandon must posses some great fish to. Access is allegedly horrible though. Maybe my uncle who partially own the golf coutry club that the river runs along can get me some access. We'll see soon enough.
There is all the possibility in the world I'll get hung up on a pike too. Which would be wild, but I'm not targeting them as they don't count towards the score, and I will not be using wire leader necesary to land one of them big nastys.
TBone, sounds like a great plan and some fun exploring. Hope you get a few. Funny that you lived there in West Rutland. I liked living in Brandon and found Rutland more my speed than up by Burlington. My wife found it too quiet though and when I was offered my old job back in Portsmouth, the ultimatum came down and we moved. I also liked it up in Goshen, Ripton and Lincoln and while the locals from VT didn't like it when I mentioned it, I liked it up there because it reminded me of NH and Maine.
Now that you mention that stream coming out of Brandon gap I recall fishing it where it crossed the road adjacent to some pasture. My brother in law and I fished upstream and the grass was really tall. We nearly stepped on a bedded deer and I remember being very startled when it jumped up and ran. Don't recall any fish though. I do seem to recall thinking that below Brandon the fishing looked like it could be promising.
Just think it's only a few days to opening day in the North East . You have to be getting pumped. Right ? Calling for 64 here tomorrow and almost 70 here on Fri. Sat I am hitting the stream with my friend Jay . Got my fly line cleaned up some new patterns tied up . Don't know about you folks but I am extremely eager for spring fishing. Come on guy's lets get ready to rumble !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was
cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time.
On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words,
and some of the words are theirs.