Wet Week Ahead

Mike's first VT Steelhead of the 2014 season

We really are struggling to maintain a decent stretch of warm, dry weather here in N. Vermont.  We tick over to May tomorrow and, so far there's no sign of any "flowers" in the near future with rain in the forecast every day through at least the weekend and possibly into next week!  Daaaang!

Dave's first ever steelhead on the fly!

I got out the other day looking for steelhead and didn't find any despite some great looking conditions.  Mike's put in a few days of Vermont steelheading and was rewarded with a nice looking fish yesterday.  That just goes to show that persistence pays off!  Our buddy Dave that comes into the shop also had some steelheading success recently, landing his first ever steelie on the fly!  Way to go Dave!  

We've done quite a bit of steelheading in our time and, when it comes to bottom bouncing flies, we generally stick with the following setup.  For material, we like Seaguar Flourocarbon or Maxima monofilament.  This setup works with a strike indicator or with a tight-line drift on a fly and/or spinning rod.  For a spinning rod, just substitute high-vis mono for the Seaguar leader and run it right up to the swivel.  If fishing a strike indicator, adjust to depth your fishing.

*Note - I generally leave my shot tag on my tippet material, but it also works really well to leave the tag end off the heavier leader materiel vs. the tippet.  This could prolong the life of your shot for sure!

This method keeps the fly downstream and allows the fish to see the fly before anything else, increasing your hookups and making for a happier fisherman. 

We've been setting the shop up piece-by-piece for the season and things are coming along nicely!  We're replacing any Indonesian flies with our own or other local ties, expanding our tying room and prepping for a busy season of camps, guiding and tourist traffic!

 Give it a shot...we have flies and tackle to set you up!

Green Up Day is this Saturday, May 3rd, and we're doing our part as usual to keep our local fisheries clean and healthy!  In the past few years, we've floated different stretches of the Lamoille and collected all sorts of junk.  This year, we may be looking at high river flows which could make a float plan unsafe.  Instead, we will meet here at the shop at 9am on Saturday for a tributary cleanup on foot.  We sure could use all the help we can get, so drop a line at 644-2214 and offer a hand!  We'll have Green Up bags and waders if anyone needs.

We still have a few spots left in sessions 1 & 3 of Green Mountain Fly Fishing Camp at Seyon Lodge.  Session 1 goes 6/22-26 and session 3 is 7/26-30.  Inquire today and give your child a great experience this summer!

If you're not quite ready to send the kids to sleep-away camp, our new day camp is just the answer!  Several sessions to choose from, so email us for details!

A primary focus for us is to offer quality programs for kids, which is why we are steadily expanding our camp programming.  We get a great deal of excitement sharing our passion for fishing with younger generations.  Vermont is a great place for kids to explore the outdoors, and I'm excited to announce that I'll be sharing another passion of mine with kids this summer via a brand new 5-day camp called, Cady's Falls Mountain Bike Camp.  This camp teaches mountain biking fundamentals to young riders and is geared toward kids ages 8 & up that are confident on 2 wheels and ready to take their riding to the trails!  

Wow, already over 20 teams registered for the 2014 Ditch Pickle Classic on June 28-29!  This thing just gets better and better with great sponsors, a great crew of competitors and endless laughs!  Register your team HERE!