Vermont

So I got up to Vermont last Saturday.  I was in the Stratton area.  Lots of water up there, not all of it good.  You drive around on the local highways and say to yourself "that this looks like a good spot, I should pull over and try it."  I did just that in the river just down from the Stratton access road.  Cold water, little green sallies coming off, decent flow, nada for my efforts.

Now Im not a pro or a guide, but I do know how to get things done.  I tried yellow sallies (I didnt have green), streamers and nymphs.  All for nothing...probably just one of those things where the river just gets low at some point and all the fish move out and I hit when it looked decent, but was barren.

Or maybe I just suck.

Anyway, I tried the famed Battenkill twice.  The first time, I fished a stretch that had the slickest bottom Ive ever experienced.  I was sliding and splashing the whole way and came away with a crap attitude.  River one, Jim nada.

The second time, I hired a guide.  Tom from Battenkill Angler.

He knew the river well and we saw fish rising.  I managed three, and lost more than double that. They were taking #18 BWOs early on and then switched to Cahills #14.  

Now, these fish were tough.  I would see them taking BWOs and then I would roll a BWO parachute over their head with a good drift and they would ignore me.  They were more selective than a country club beauty queen.

It didnt help that Tom yelled for me to set the hook and threw me off my game with a few.  Ive really been trying to count to one before setting the hook with dries, as Ben Turpin tells me all the time that I'm too quick in that department.  

Whatever, Im up for the Battenkill challenge next Summer.  

I also fished the West River.  That was pretty decent.  Some stocked bows and a really nice holdover 16" brown came to net.  From what I understand, in a typical year, the West warms up by Summer, but this year, with the cool temps it was cold with a great flow.

I had such a nice getaway, I even considered buying a place up there to ski and fish out of.  The area is close to nice water and Stratton, Bromley and Magic for skiing.  

Anyone want to go in on a house?

Its been a while!

OK, I have been lazy.  I haven't posted in a while.  My wife was away, helping care for her mother and that left me at home with my daughters.  That was fun for sure, but it limited fishing.

Also, I stopped tying, because I had no read need to tie flies that I wouldn't be using for a while.

That changed last week.  I drove upstate and fished the Big D on 8/14 and 8/15 with my bud from work Eric.  We floated on Thursday with Ben Turpin.  It was slow in the morning, but picked up big time in the afternoon.  The biggest fish was a 16" brown I took on a nymph, but we had the numbers.  I think I boated 15 fish, most on dries.  It was whack a mole at dusk, with too many fish to throw to.

They were on #16 and #18 sulphers and #14 cahills. 

The next day we waded.  The morning was slow again.  But again, towards afternoon, things heated up.  I probably landed 10 fish in total where the riffles rolled into the pools.

On Saturday morning, I fished the East Branch by East Branch Outfitters before I had to hit the road.  I took two browns on nymphs and a bow on a sulpher comparadun.  Nothing of real size, but fat and healthy.  Ben Rinker says (and he had an article in the local paper about it) that the East Branch is fishing the best it has been in a decade due to the cool night temps out there. 

The best thing about the East Branch is that you just don't see any other fishermen.  That's worth it on its own.

Around 11am on Saturday, I left Hancock, headed to Vermont for the second leg of my vacation.  More on that later today.

Crap outing

I went to my favorite spot on the South Branch on Sunday.  There wasnt much surface activity, but I tried to fish a sulpher spinner.  As I was working my way up river to the best spot on the area, I see some guy park his car and walk towards the same area, spin rods, bobbers and worms in hand.  When he sees me, he speeds up his pace to beat me to the pool.

Then he has the audacity, after jumping right in front of me, to ask in his thick Russian accent, "Is ze feesh bitig?" after he knew he stole my spot.

He then proceeded to fish two rods on the same pool.  To top it off, he was luckier than me, catching a few, which he promptly threw on the bank.  Now remember, the South Branch wasnt stocked in this area, so these were either wild or holdover fish (I guess they could have come from Shannons-they did release some in this area and I didnt inspect them).

He threw me into a crappy frame of mind.

That and the impending darkness sent me home to ruminate on the gas I wasted on the trip.

Oh well.  I guess I need to go deeper into the woods next time i head out for some solitude.

Trip to the Beaverkill

We had 12 members buck up for the trip and a few stragglers show up as well.  Renting Tight Lines North put us right on a great stretch of water.  A long pool, with a nice, deep run through the center.  The channel was as green as in my dreams.  I personally got up late Friday night and only was able to fish Saturday, but some of the more fortunate guys got two good cracks at the spinner fall.  Let me tell you that one day wasn't enough, as there were sporadic March Browns coming up all day long and there was too much water to try.  Just nirvana.  I managed two nice wild rainbows (one in a picture below).  One took a PT and one a spinner at dusk.  Mike Russo got a 20" brown on Friday night and I think Cliff was equally successful on Friday with a great fish.

Jeff Kurt was like the Tasmanian Devil, fishing here, there and everywhere.  He had the numbers on everyone.

What a great trip.  I cant wait to get up there again, and will find myself speeding up rt 17 as soon as time allows. 

Next time, think about joining us yourself, you slacker!

Thanks to John Eng for the photographic record.

John Eng at the right place and time.  Me with a 19" bow and the new Simms Hacklebarney hat for sale at the next meeting for $15.  Like my shameless plug?

Success comes in many different sizes.  One of many slot browns on the hook.

Jeff "Tasmanian Devil" Kurt working them nymphs

Cliff working a promising run.