Healthy Watershed, Healthy Fish

One of several tree plantings Chris is spearheading along the Lamoille River in Hyde Park

Vermont has been a roller coaster of weather lately! Mid 80's and bright sun yesterday...mid 50's and heavy wind today. We've had some spitting rain showers, but we really could use a good downpour to fluff things up a bit. Although river flows don't seem terribly low, many are running well below their average for this time of year so get out and do your rain dance! Luckily a big cool down this weekend will keep water temps in check for the time being. 

We're expanding our tying materials selection weekly! Get in here and see what we have!

The Winooski has been fully stocked, but the Lamoille (other than the N. Branch) hasn't seen any hatchery stockings as of yet. I really wish we didn't need to rely on hatchery fish but, unfortunately as many of you are aware, our larger freestone rivers lack the habitat that wild trout need to thrive and reproduce. Much of the habitat degradation that we've seen for centuries in Vermont is largely due to poor land management practices and a lack of education and funding to encourage acceptable land use practices. I'm constantly surprised by members of the local angling community that don't understand what a sustainable fishery is. Many of us think that simply practicing catch & release is enough. What good is it to release a fish that you just laid out on jagged rocks to get that perspective shot of the rod laying next to the fish so all in social media land know just how big it was? It's almost as good as lipping that lunker bass in front of the camera with one hand or beating up on the same piece of water every day. I see and hear of a lot of this kinda stuff going on and it's a shame that some of us have missed the point. Vermont's fisheries need ego-free assistance. Drop us a line to inquire about upcoming conservation projects that need your help within the Lamoille Watershed.

This weekend is the official kick off to tourist season and it also tends to be the time that several different types of fishing opportunities come into throughout New England. Get in here and stock up on tackle and a great selection of locally-tied flies!
The 2015 Ditch Pickle Classic has already seen over 4o teams register, which means that we will more than likely be exceeding our 54 teams from 2014! The deadline to register in time for a custom Tunaskin is 5/25, so get on it!

This week's tying video...Boehm's Gurgler...