Well it’s winter again in the mountains and 9 degrees as I’m writing this! 10”-20” of snow has fallen in the VT hills since St Patrick’s Day and we are expecting the about that much this weekend!
So don’t put away your snowboard or skis just yet.
The rivers and lakes remain ice free but snow melt and some recent rain storms had the streams high the past 10 days.
In March I’ve gotten out a few times and was able to land 3 nice Browns. Two were on big streamers and one on a BZ Black Stonefly. This time of year it’s very common to see tiny Stoneflies crawling around the snow on riverbanks and the fish definitely are eating them.
In high water I use a 6wt or 7wt to help
land the fish quickly in the swollen rivers. I’m often using a two streamer setup or dropping a large Stonefly off from a streamer.
The Otter is very high but as soon as it drops a little I’ll be targeting Pike. My buddy caught a nice one two weeks ago before the Otter became flooded. He was bottom bouncing heavy flies that were in bright colors and about 6” long. No need for the XXL flies in the Spring. The water is cold and all the bait fish are small. Pike are often eating mouthfuls of minnows of instead of 14” fish this time of year. Of course like any apex predator they can eat anything they want up to a third of there size. I’ve seen 42” Pike attack 30” Pike many times over the years for example.
This is a great time of year to target Lake Trout, Steelhead and LL Salmon as well! Some go up tributaries which makes it easier to catch with flies. Some go to just certain shorelines or rivers mounts. Either way it’s fun targeting them!
Lots of great fishing opportunities right now. Book a trip with one of our guides soon!
Don’t forget to get a 2024 Vt fishing license!
Thanks BC