Small mountain stream fishing in VT

Remember that hot July 4th Week? Too hot to fish the regular waters, so what is an anxious fly angler going to do? A few years back a local guide pointed me in the right direction, and I started exploring the blue lines for high mountain streams with cooler waters. 

 

I’ve had great success catching beautifully colored small stream brookies. Now I wanted to expand my search further and higher, but like so many of us, I have limited time. So, I strapped my soft flex 6 foot, 2 weight, glass fly rod to the handlebars of my mountain bike and started climbing some local trails with my red fox lab. 

 

At some point, the trail passes a small steam and it’s time to stash the bike in the woods, set up the rod and begin to explore cold pools in search of these beauties. One really needs to approach stealthily and search every possible holding spot -- these fish can hide in the smallest pockets of water and surprise you. 

 

These are small (4-8”) feisty fish, and there are a few larger, harder to catch fish hanging around too. Once the large fish spot you, it may be too late. To see a 10"-12” trout escaping upstream, splashing, leaping from one tiny pool to the next and disappearing is quite astonishing.  The rewards are in the up-close beauty and the release. Once caught, these fish get smarter and will grow larger and populate the steam with more offspring

So, get out and search the blue lines and have some fun!