Not what I expected

My fishing vacation has pretty much been a bust so far.

I took a week off a bit earlier last season and did pretty well.  I've been at it for over a week now and the fishing has been unbelievably slow, while at the same time, I am seeing reports of lots of fish and big fish from around the state.  It's been very disappointing, to say the least.

We started just over a week ago - my wife and I - on a Saturday morning on the White River.  This has been a consistently good spot for me, but there was just nothing going on that morning.  We went through the standard flies for this time of year - Hare's Ear, Prince Nymph variations, BWO nymphs (small ju ju baetis, RS2's and tiny bead-head swimmers), pheasant tail, orange caddis pupa (the Northern Casemaker caddis is one of our latest hatches), etc.  I also tried an iso dry for a while with no luck.  Despite a sunny morning, we saw just a few BWOs and tricos in the air.  No surface action.  no strikes.

The next evening, we headed further downstream on the same river.  Same flies.  Same lack of luck.  Again, no bugs in the air, despite some warm sunlight.

The next day, we fished the Winooski in two different spots.  The first one almost always produces fish, especially when there are BWOs around.  There were just a few BWOs in the air, but neither wets nor dries produced fish.  Not one strike.

Now, to be honest, our water levels are low and the water is clear, especially on the White.  We have stayed away from big streamers so far, waiting for some water to cloud up the rivers and bit.

We moved downstream on the Winooski to a spot that doesn't give up many fish, but frequently gives up big fish.  Just before sunset, my wife and I each caught one fish on an iso nymph, while on the retrieve.  That is a funny thing about this hole; dead drifting and fishing on the swing seem to fail often, while fish will attack on the retrieve.  Hey, whatever works.

The next day, we headed to Addison County.  My son came along this day.  We started on the New Haven, just above Bristol, in some nice pocket water.  Absolutely nothing.  We got some lunch and stopped in at the local fly shop.  I picked up a few extra ju ju baetis and orange caddis pupa, and the guy at the shop said that our next destination was fishing as well as anywhere.  So, we headed to Belden Falls on the Otter Creek, fishing from the far side.  But, the water was low and the fishing was just plain slow.  I caught one smallmouth on a Montana Prince Nymph.  The takes were all very subtle.  At one point, my wife and I each hooked a brown at the same time.  I don't think she ever really set the hook and the fish was gone quickly.  For me, it was just bad luck.  I was fishing a double-nymph rig and the fish was on the upper fly.  I had him almost to the net when the trailing fly snagged for a moment and that allowed the fish to easily escape my barbless hook.

After that, we had a couple days of other obligations, including an expensive trip to Boston to see Bryan Ferry, who cancelled the show long after all of our gas, food and lodging money had been spent.  This was very disappointing.  I really wanted to see the show, but I also hated spending so much money to see nothing at all.

Last night, we got back out on the river.  We fished the White again, in some pocket water between our last two fishing spots.  We'd had some decent rain the night before, so I pulled out some streamers.  The best colors in that river are usually olive or black, so I concentrate on those, plus the normal nymphs.  I had one strike in 3 hours.  My wife had none.  Just as we'd started to fish, a local friend had sent me a text, asking if I wanted to join him and a friend in a river closer to home.  We passed, not wanting to create a group of 4 on a small river.  He later caught a 20" (or so - my best estimate from photo) rainbow, got half a dozen fish to net including one nice brown as well, and missed more than he caught.  The one difference in terms of flies was that he was using white streamers rather than dark.

My wife is back at work today.  After 5 days of fishing, we have each caught 1 trout.  I have three days of vacation left, and I'm leaving shortly for a long drive to northern Vermont to a river where I usually do well with small wild rainbows and occasionally a big brown downstream.  It's supposed to rain the next two days after today, so I'm not sure where I'll fish, but I'll be out there, I'm sure.

Compared to my vacation a year ago, this one has pretty much been a bust.  I caught 2 big rainbows last fall and I got fish almost every day out.  These days, it seems like a good day if I simply hook one fish.

Maybe I really do suck at this game.