Heating it up in the frozen north

At 7am in Averill, Vermont, it was 33 degrees fahrenheit. Brrr. As we drove out the driveway, our Pontiac Torrent flashed on screen, "Danger -- snow and slippery ice conditions exist." Perfect weather for standing around in frigid waters. It was a rather uneventful drive to Lopstick with the exception of my punctuated shriek as a young bull moose crossed Rte 114 just east of the NeverHomeBoys Camp. Upon arriving at Lopstick, we licensed up and Bill asked where we wanted to fish. I said, "Ledges or Meadows," and we were off. A car was parked at the Ledges so all Bill's careful work rigging our gear for nymphing was for naught and we headed north for the Meadows. No one there so we headed in.

The day tried to have some blue skies but couldn't escape the pull of winter and dark clouds and that wet cold that permeates your bones characterized the day. You have to remember that of the last six day we've been up here, it's rained five and Vermont/New Hampshire isn't known for its heat retaining capabilities. Nonetheless, we plunged into the Meadows, fishing on Adams with blue-wing olive emergers, size 22. Darn near invisible, in case you're wondering. It was a day for salmon and some big ones at that -- Alan pulled out a bunch of fish, the smallest being eight inches. I got three and the largest of the day at about 21 inches -- my largest ever. All in all, it was our most productive day at the Meadows ever. Previous fall visits resulted in...not much.

At the end of the day, the fish were feeding wildly, just jumping up all over the place, but not taking our flies. Bill tied on everything and they just were barely interested. So, finally at 1:30, we called it quits. Our feet were numb anyways--it was just frigging cold.

Only fishing day on the Connecticut this summer so it's fitting that it was special. The fish were beautiful and the company good -- really wouldn't have been summer without a fishing trip with Bill.

Tomorrow we head back to Georgia. Sad to think that the Vermont season is coming to an end, a short three months after it started.

Photos on flickr.