Maple CountryAnglers
  • Home
  • Guided Fishing Trips
    • Important Info
    • Drift Boat Trips
    • Walk and Wade Trips
    • Fish With a USA Fly Fishing Team Member
    • Maine Wilderness Book Trout and Salmon Trips
    • Area Info/ Waters
    • Photo Gallery
    • Equipment
    • Liability Release Form
    • Client Testimonials
  • Fly Fishing Articles
  • Videos
  • Fishing Report
  • Who We Are
  • Contact

On The Water Video Fishing Reports,Good Fishing, and Otter Creek Classic Win

4/24/2023

0 Comments

 
Above are some wild VT trout I've landed from early and mid April. It has been a great start to the season.

I was able to finish up my sugaring season and join the Otter Creek Classic Fly Fishing Tournament down in Middlebury, VT in Mid April.  The tournament was great fun and the weather was incredible.  I was able to win the tournament by consistently catching fish both Saturday and Sunday, despite the cold water and lethargic trout, and I did it in entirely new water I'd  never fished before.  Generally, early season is not a numbers game, and the results of the Otter Creek Classic usually is one of quality over quantity.  That was the case for most of the anglers who scored a fish, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.  While April is not a time to catch lots of trout, it is a time to catch the biggest one of the season and a real solid number of large trout were caught.  My approach was a bit different.  Based on the warm weather and a couple of successful outings the week prior I knew there was a small portion of fish that were actively feeding in shallow flat water.  Knowing this, I targeted specific water types, which meant a lot of walking and exploring new sections of rivers.  My approach was to quickly fish pools and likely holding water looking for a big fish laying deep, which I eventually found on Sunday,  (see picture above) and then slowly and methodically fish the slow, sunny, flat water where I was hoping to find a feeding fish.  This method worked well for me and I was able to catch 10 wild trout during the event, and even got to sight fish to a  rainbow actively feeding at the tailout of a pool.  By covering lots of water and being very stealthy when I got the the water type I was looking for I was able to capitalize on the few feeding fish and take the win.  

I am going to try doing some more on the water video reports that I will post up to YouTube and the website.  These will give you similar info as I write on the report, but also some more visuals.  Let me know if you like the format.  

As I said, the fishing had been good for the calendar date thanks to that crazy warm weather last week.  Things have retuned to normal this week with cooler weather and a big slug of rain over the weekend.  The rivers are high and muddy today but smaller sized streams will be fishable by today or tomorrow.  The big rivers will take some time to come down.  Keep grinding away and eventually you'll find a trout or two.  I would still stick with early season patterns and tactics until the water warms up and the bugs get to hatching.  Good luck out there!
0 Comments

    Author

    Ben Wilcox Owner/Guide Maple Country Anglers

    Archives

    February 2025
    September 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    February 2023
    June 2022
    May 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

 ©2023 Maple Country Anglers
258 Jericho Road
​Essex, VT      

Phone: 802-318-0091   

email: [email protected]
Member: Trout Unlimited
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers
Picture
Picture
Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Guided Fishing Trips
    • Important Info
    • Drift Boat Trips
    • Walk and Wade Trips
    • Fish With a USA Fly Fishing Team Member
    • Maine Wilderness Book Trout and Salmon Trips
    • Area Info/ Waters
    • Photo Gallery
    • Equipment
    • Liability Release Form
    • Client Testimonials
  • Fly Fishing Articles
  • Videos
  • Fishing Report
  • Who We Are
  • Contact