June 2nd Fishing Report
June 2nd Fishing Report – Vermont
It’s been a wild spring, with water temps and flows bouncing all over the place. I was able to wet wade a stretch of the New Haven last week, but after the recent rains, I’m back in waders and a light puffy. Water temps in Addison County streams had been steadily climbing—we pulled a 58°F on the Middlebury and a 61.4°F on the New Haven last week—but this morning the New Haven cooled off dramatically to 49.6°F.
Unfortunately, we had to cancel a few float trips this past weekend following Saturday’s rain. Most rivers around the state were already running high, and now many are blown out. Reports from my guides: the Lamoille had around an inch of visibility yesterday, and the White was heavily stained below the Bethel bridge. The Otter has been unfishable for us but we hope to start running Pike trips in the next few weeks. The New Haven is also up but had close to 30 inches of visibility this morning.
Fishing started slow today. My go-to combo of a stonefly and jig streamer wasn’t producing. It wasn’t until Lorenzo made the call to downsize—tying on an olive GTI caddis and a size 14 jig prince, and dropping from 4x to 5x tippet—that we saw any action. His second cast hooked a very large brown that rocketed downstream. Lorenzo gave chase and even took a swim trying to cross. He fought hard, but the fish ultimately broke him off in a log jam. Tough loss, but he dried off and headed to school already thinking about the next encounter.
With air temps returning to seasonal norms and sunshine in the forecast, I’d say we’re officially entering prime time for Vermont trout fishing. Lower Addison County streams haven’t been stocked yet, so any fish you hook there are holdovers or wild. If you’re not moving fish, check your tippet—lighter is often better right now. We continue to trust Cortland’s Top Secret fluorocarbon for its strength and durability.
Before the rain, we were doing a lot of floating. Indicator nymphing had been solid, but the streamer bite picked up when we switched to sinking lines with olive or tan patterns. Fish were hitting on the dangle or a super slow strip—too much action seemed to turn them off.
Top Patterns:
- Joe Goodspeed’s Private Stock Stones
· Jig Princes sizes 12, 14
· GTI Caddis Olive and Tan
· Jig Buggers Olive and Black in size 8
· Peanut Envy Streamers in Tan and Black
As always, feel free to stop by the shop and share what you’re seeing around the state. Good luck out there, and enjoy this late-spring window—it’s go time.
Tight lines,
Steven Atocha
Previous Reports
Greetings Anglers! I hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy this beautiful state that we live in! Despite the dry summer it seems that the trees don’t really care and are putting on quite the display for us. And we are getting rain, which makes the trees and us happy right? The recent spell of rain seems to have got the fish (trout) kicked into feeding mode, especially on the tribs. After a couple slow days on the Creek, I had a productive few hours on the Middlebury today, with nicely stained water and a ton of leaves to catch!
Hello Folks! Happy Fall! We did pick up some much needed rain this week, some areas more than others, but after a long, dry summer every bit helps. Locally the Otter seemed to have been the big winner, compliments of some significant downpours in the Rutland and northern Rutland County areas. Levels have seemed to plateau, and despite the big bump in levels, clarity is pretty good. Tribs did see a bit of a bump in levels, but are still low. Water temps have settled back as well.
Greetings Anglers! While we are still in low water mode, the outlook looks promising. Cooler temps and shots of rain all next week should help the fishing out there. We were out today with a four person guide trip and found some low 60’s on the lower New Haven and upper 60’s on the Creek. We found many species other than trout on the Otter, but fun none the less. In my experience, once the Otter water temp gets in the lower 60’s, the trout become more active. Until we get really colder temps, they are usually found still in the faster water.
Howdy folks! With some well deserved relief from the heat and much needed rain on the way, things couldn’t be looking better on the local fishing scene. Many Otter tribs started the day in the low 60’s, but are still low and clear. The Otter itself was still a touch over 70 early this morning in the Middlebury area, but I found some mid 60’s further south on the Otter. Some Iso’s, and a few caddis were around. Fish seemed to like the standard Iron Lotus, rainbow warriors, and frenchies. Pretty much what has been producing fish for people the last few weeks.
Greetings out there anglers! As we turn the corner to September, we’ve got some very similar conditions out on the local rivers. Otter tributaries are low and clear, and although this morning was chilly, it looks like we have a bit more heat and humidity to deal with in the coming days. I was able to get out on the Middlebury River this morning and found a cool 62 degree water temperature in East Middlebury and was able to pick up a few fish from the faster pocket water in that stretch. Most fish came on size 14-16 frenchies.
Greetings out there anglers! Trout fishing continues to be mostly weather dependent, with cooler mornings and after rain events getting the most action. Who knows, we may have left the majority of the heat and humidity behind us with this last bout storms that rolled through. At least for this coming week, the nighttime lows are looking good, so it is a possibility that some more water could be fishable in the mornings. Please do take temperatures before you start fishing. It seems that most folks are still pickling up fish on nymphs, mostly in sizes 14-16 and of the mayfly variety.
