Thanks Rain

I wasn't sure what the water levels and clarity of Lewis Creek would be like after the rain that we got yesterday throughout the northeast. I knew we had gotten a decent amount of rain, but I haven't spent enough time on VT water to be able to tell what the conditions would be like. Nevertheless, Tom and I were out the door of my sisters house by 9 am and headed for the stream in search of some lake run steel.

View of the Adirondacks from VT



We got to the river around 10am and rigged up. I had my 7 wt. with me, equipped with my brand new power taper wonderline. This morning before we headed out, I tried casting the new line in the field. I managed to cast almost the entire line (appox. 80 ft). I was very excited to actually get the line in the water. I had my 7wt set up for nymphing and my other rod with a full sinking line for streamers. Tom also had his rod set up for swinging flies.

It was no surprise that the water was high and dirty when we reached the stream. We decided to fish a section that I haven't fished before and found a very nice pool immediately. Tom may have had one strike in the pool but he wasn't sure if it was a take or bottom. I headed downstream and couldn't find any nice water. We headed back up to the car and then to the falls.

Before I grabbed my chest pack to head down the bank to the falls, a Vermont Guide stopped his car and jokingly says to me "Man you must have some pretty high expectations today." Yeah you could say that. Truth was I really didn't have any expectations of even hooking into a fish today. I was very happy to just be out on the water.

I stood at the falls for a long time looking for any fish trying to pass. Nada. Tom fished the pool with a flashy streamer and I followed up with a different color. No fish, no strikes.

We drove upstream a ways and fished one more section for a little while with no results. Although conditions were pretty bad, it was still a beautiful day on the water. It was about 45 degrees and there was even some midges hatching here and there. I was somewhat disappointed that I couldn't get Tom hooked up with a fish from the Northeast. I think that if it hadn't rained, one of us would have hooked up with a fish.

I've had a nice couple days in VT and I look forward to coming back in the coming weeks. Hopefully water flows will be closer to normal when I return. As for NY, still no ice. Chris Stiles and I should be headed somewhere to fish very soon.