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!!

I fished with Tim today on Lake St-Francis. The weather was a mild temperature of about 40 degrees at the start of the day and warmed up to about 50 degrees by the end of the day. The water temp had remained stable since last week at 46.5 degrees. Light winds from the east allowed us to fish slowly & precisely, in selective areas. Spider grubs & tubes accounted for the more than 25 smallmouth bass caught. The largest weighed in at 5 pounds, 9 ounces! We had several that were between 4.5 & 4.75 ponds making for a great day of fishing. All in all a super day!!!

Another day off and Lake St-Francis bound! An incredibly humid and foggy day was what we encountered today. Thanks to the survival suits though, we were quite comfortable! Air temps were in the mid 40’s with no wind at all. The water temps were about the same as Monday, 46 to 47 degrees. Fishing was a bit slower than usual, but all in all quite good. There were about 25 smallmouth bass landed and plenty of others lost in the short time on the water again. I even managed to land another Musky on a spider grub. This one however, was over 15 pounds and lots of fun on lighter tackle. Thankfully, the weather is holding out and allowing us the pleasures of great fall fishing. Every day there are great numbers of huge smallies caught & released up to & over 5 pounds.