Out With the Rain, In With the Heat

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