I had a window of oppertunity today and took advantage of it! Max & Ben were about to experience the best salmon fishing of their lives. The air was a chilly low 50’s and the water temps dropped as well to 39 degrees since last week. With all the rain and cool temps we had lately, I knew I had my work cut out for me today! Less than 5 minutes into the troll however, the first salmon was on and landed by Ben, while checking the lines. Great start, but it would be close to an hour before the next one was to arrive. The water level had risen almost 18 inches since last week and really cooled off as well, making the activity level of the fish rather non existant. No particular pattern or location accounted for the 8 salmon caught, as we trolled all over looking for the warmer water. Ben managed to get into a real beauty in the afternoon while once again, checking the lines. The fish hit about 10 feet off the side of the boat while he was stripping the line in. Talk about a chinese fire drill! The fish gave him a battle that he’ll never forget as he stripped all the line off the deck of the boat and plenty more, on the first run. Definately one of the largest salmon that I have ever seen from this area. The fish measured 22 inches and was in the 4.5 pound range. What a beauty! It was also the last one we saw as we trolled for about another hour without any luck. Great Day!!

I fished with Keith today on Lake Champlain for Landlocked Salmon and had an incredible day! The weather couldn’t have been any better with the air temps reaching into the upper 70’s with sunny skies. Water temps climbed during the day up to about 42 degrees in the shallows. Trolling with fly rods and streamers accounted for the 15 salmon & 2 brown trout caught in an 8 hour period. All but a few were released to bite another day! Too bad I forgot the camera. No pictures today! An amazing day to be remembered by both of us.

Well, the fishing season is finally upon us and the lakes are beginning to thaw. That can mean only one thing, « Fishing Fever ». May & June are two of the best months to persue the smallmouth bass in Vermont and May is almost fully booked up. I still have a few open days left for those of you that would like to get into unbelievable numbers of football like smallies up to & over five pounds. Last year there were a few taken over six & I expect to see a possible seven this year. The trout season is about to begin as well and trolling with fly rods & tandem streamers is truly the way to go when the ice clears. Average days can see numbers of fish and they are excellent eating! I still have plenty of choice dates left for the month of June and the topwater action is second to none! Catching 50 or more bass in a day can really jump start your year! If you would like to experience some of the most incredible springtime action, book now! You won’t be disappointed! Tight Lines to All!!

I took a road trip with Mark today to upstate New York to fish the Oswego River. “Kevin Davis”, (Catch The Drift Charters) was our fishing guide and we were going to fish from his drift boat. The 6:30 meeting time was almost delayed when I was given a speeding ticket for 47mph in a 30 mph zone, entering the town of Oswego. Be aware that there is zero tolerance from the officers there and that the “Arby’s” restaurant is where they like to hide. Nice start to the day! The weather was spectacular for the last day of November as we had temperatures over 50 degrees and sunshine. Unbelievably, we were the only ones on the river! Due to the high water & clarity it was difficult to drift fresh egg sacs properly. We found that they preferred the back trolled lures when we hooked doubles immediately. By days end, Mark & I were both 6 for 6 and had a 100% score. Eight browns, two rainbows and 2 steelhead were the final total for us. I even managed to land the last lake brown on a center pin float rod, on my last cast. Kevin showed us that we were on fish as he popped 3 or 4 when we just couldn’t hook up too! Check him out at www.catch-the-drift.com and give him a call if you’d like to experience this incredible fishing. By the way, “All Fish Released” for this day!

I fished with Tim again, today on St-Francis. The conditions were a little different than last week when we got together. The air never got above freezing and we had ice forming on our guides, all day. The water was over 45 degrees with sunshine & blue skies and the wind was from the west at 15 to 20 knots. We dragged tubes & spider grubs for very lethargic smallmouth bass along deep weed edges & caught about 15 fish in a 6-hour period. There were a few over 5 pounds but most were in the 3 to 4 pound range. These fish were definitely in a negative mood as we missed plenty of light hits and lost many more. Overall, a rather tough day with us working hard for every fish we caught!!