Friday, May 09, 2008
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| walleye fishing |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi Folks, Guided for walleyes yesterday morning. Water in the river was still pretty darn high. Receding from flood level. The water temperature was 52 degrees and the clarity was okay. Fishing was pretty slow. I think the fish are still spawning. I would say that the best is yet to come. It seemed from the old sage's of the river who chase walleye every year that things are about a week behind. We worked a lot of water with green mountain grabbers, and bright orange and chartruse jigs in 1/8 oz. I saw one walleye caught that was a female loaded with eggs. That tells me that the fish are still moving to spawn and generally do not bite very well. I am off to guide trout for the next few days. Curious to see how things are. Walleye fishing again next week and chasing pike. Always changing directions to keep busy. Have Fun, Willy
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Wednesday, May 07, 2008
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| Pike fishing |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi Folks, Sorry I have been away. Bought a house, moved, and planning a wedding. Fishing is a lot easier. Anywho, guided in the kingdom today for pike on the fly. Water temperatures ranged from 52 degrees in the main lake to 56 degrees in the shallow bays we fished. Sunny morning with afternoon cloud cover provided for good conditions. Love the sun in the spring for warming up the water and amping up the fish. Pretty steady southwest breeze all day. I had very good fly caster so the wind was not an issue. We covered a lot of water, but primarily fished in 5' to 1' of water. All dark bottom bays with new emerging weed growth and lots of fallen timber. The flies of the day were bunny buggers. Black/white with a long flashabou tail and black/chartruse with a long falshabou tail were the best producers. A red and whit e bunny with copper flashbou also generated some interest. We saw 11 fish and landed 3. Nothing too big, but we did spot and spook several larger fish. Pike in shallow wate hold very still and look just like a piece of wood until you are on top of them and they spook. Stealth and good eyes help in shallow water fishing. We did have several follow and misses which is part of chasing northern. Keep the fly moving or do something different when the water wolf chases. Off to catch walleye tomorrow. Should be good. have fun, Willy
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Thursday, April 17, 2008
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| new season new hopes |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi Folks, Well fishing season is upon once again. Things are looking up for Catamount Fishing Adventures as the schedule is filling up. The fishing will start slowly this year due to the heavy duty winter we enjoyed. Lots of run off and frozen lakes. The current warm spell we are experiencing will help to warm things up a bit. Small streams are looking fairly clear and low but their water temps. are in the 30's. Larger rivers are high and dirty with runoff and also cold. Trout fishing right now is primarily for lake run rainbows. Some brook trout fishing can be found in open beaver ponds, valley streams, or any river that originates from a lake. Still the water is cold and needs to warm a bit. The river trout fishing does not become good until the water warms above 50 degrees. I like pike fishing this time of the year. Big fish in shallow. Any dark bottomed bay with new weed growth is a good bet. Midday is the time to fish. Let the water warm!!!! April is about patience. I cannot get to excited until May when things really begin to explode. I will be pike fishing and chasing. rainbow on the Willoughby river for the next couple of weeks. We still have issued in Vermont with non native species such as Didymo and VHS. Clean your gear and watch your waste water from your boat and especially pay attention if you fish with bait. Have Fun, Willy
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
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| End of ice fishing for trout |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi Folks, Spent the last week of the trout season on Waterbury Reservoir guiding and fishing at my shanty. Still plenty of ice as there was 20 plus inches of ice as of Friday. Fishing still remained steady with beautiful weather all week. Worked on my sun tan while ice fishing. The smelt fishing on Waterbury Reservoir was outstanding all season. Hali jigs tipped with maggots were the ticket. Chartruse was the most productive color with green/silver, blue/silver, and copper being also very productive. We landed several nice brown trout this week that were fat and silver. Caught one real nice looking male brown on a smelt. Tip-ups dressed with smelt seemed to attract the most attention from the salmonids in the reservoir. Now that trout season has ended I will be looking for the magical 20lb plus northern pike. The next 8 weeks might very well be the best time of the year to catch a trophy northern. Good luck and have fun, Willy
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Thursday, March 06, 2008
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| still chasing trout |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi folks, Spent Tuesday all day on the Waterbury Reservoir at my shanty ice fishing. The reservoir has now been lowered almost 40' from its original winter level. Very different looking landscape. It is a very good time to visit the Waterbury Reservoir to get a feel of the structure available to fish for summer angling. There are lots of humps and points that many folks do not know exist. The ice fishing was very good the other day. The ice thickness was 20" (combination of black and false ice). We spread our tip-ups out a considerable distance and landed 5 rainbows between 11" and 14" using small minnow right under the ice. In addition, we landed 50 smelt using Hali jigs tipped with maggots. The smelt were 4 turns off the bottom. Using Smelt Rite scent and chumming our holes kept the smelt around all day. Another week of trout fishing through the ice and then off to chase pike. Remember to follow the bait rules as VHS is now a real threat to our fisheries. Have Fun, Willy
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Monday, February 25, 2008
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| fishing the changing resevoir |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi Folks, Still been ice fishing and guiding on the Waterbury Reservoir. The water level has been dropped by at least 20 feet if not more. This is done by Green Mountain Power each winter for the spring thaw off of Mt. Mansfield in order to prevent a spring flood. Needless to say, the fishing changes as the water level drops. We had to move my shanty the other day into deeper water as it was sitting over 15' of water. 25' to 30' seems to be the ticket for jigging smelt and perch. The ice is still plenty safe as there is a solid 12" of black ice that is covered by another 12" of false ice. The smelt fishing is still red hot and we have even started to catch some nice jumbo yellow perch from the shanty. I have noticed that the smelt have been holding just off the bottom (2 turns of the reel) and then moving up in the water column as the day progresses. We have been catching fish using Hali jig in chartruse and green and silver tipped with maggots. Trout fishing was slow this last week but the jigging action was steady. There are a few weeks left of trout season on the ice and then I will be chasing northern pike. Remember to pay attention to the new bait restrictions as we do not want our waters to become infected with VHS. Have Fun, Willy
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Thursday, February 07, 2008
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| smelt fishing |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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Hi Folks, Spent the entire day fishing from my shanty on Waterbury Reservoir yesterday. Snowed hard for most of the day. It was pretty sloppy on the ice with newly fallen snow and water on top of the ice. It was like walking in mud. The water level has been dropping on the Reservoir gradually for a couple of weeks. Green Mountain power lowers the level throughout the winter to account for the spring runoff from Mt. Mansfield. During the annual winter draw down a lot of water will seep onto the ice from the edges. Still safe with 12" of black ice, but you need good water proof boots to get around. The fishing was steady once again as we jigged over 50 smelt in the 4" to 7" range from 30' of water. We used some of the smelt for bait on our tip-ups and did land a beautiful deep bodied brown trout that measured 17". We caught the brown in 8' of water right under the ice. When I arrived at the flag the line was peeling off at a good rate and I set the hook instantly. Pretty good fight. We caught the smelt on Hali jigs in silver and green tipped with maggots. Going skiing today as we just received another 18" of snow over night. Good luck and have fun. Willy
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
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| shanty |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| ice fishing for trout |
| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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| Hi Folks, I have been guiding and fishing the Waterbury Reservoir for trout the past 2 days. We have been experiencing a wide variety of weather conditions. The ice conditions are pretty good on the reservoir currently. We have 10" of solid black ice with a several inches of slush and snow on top. The edges can be unsafe as Green Mountain Power lowers the level for spring run off throughout the winter. The fishing has been very good over the last 2 days as we have landed over a dozen brown trout and rainbow trout with the largest fish measuring 18". We have had very good success jigging smelt and perch. Most of the trout have been caught on tip-ups baited with smelt, medium golden shiners, and fathead minnows. However, we have had some success catching trout on small jigs tipped with maggots under my shanty. Most of the smelt have come off the bottom and the trout have been up in the water column just under the ice. Help prevent the spread of VHS by only purchasing certified bait from an authorized bait dealer or go old school and catch smelt or perch in the body of water you are fishing. Good luck and have fun! Willy
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Wednesday, January 23, 2008
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| Posted by: catfishwilly |
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Hi Folks, Happy New Year. Sorry I have been away. Recently updated my website and I hope everyone will enjoy the new blog. I have been ice fishing since the end of December. Ice conditions have been inconsistent. I have found anywhere from 6" to 8" of black ice on and off for the last month. Largely due to lots of snow pack and the giant January meltdown. I would not be driving on the ice and caution should be used. Lately I have been on the Waterbury Reservoir chasing trout. My shanty is on the reservoir and we have been catching some brown trout and rainbow trout in 5' to 30' of water with our sets right under the ice. The bait of choice has been small golden shiners and smelt. Remember that bait can only be purchased form an authorized dealer as there is the potential outbreak of an VHS (Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia) in our Vermont waters. VHS could wipe out our fisheries and it is up to us anglers to be proactive. You can only catch smelt and yellow perch for bait in waters you are fishing or purchase bait from a certified bait dealer. I will be ice fishing and guiding for the rest of the winter. Flag Up!
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