CT River, Windsor Vermont Area. Any advice?

[Sagamoron]

Looks like I might be spending a few days along the river with some friends next month and was looking for same basic info on the fishing.

I'm probably going to trailer up my 14' metal boat, I've got an outboard and a trolling motor on it so I can cover quite a bit of water and I can run shallow as well. Should I just drift along the banks and fish structure and gravel bars?

I've only got fly rods for this type of water so I was thinking I would rig one for top water and another for streamers. What should I be tying?

Any Advice would be really helpful.

[BigDaddy]

PM Bottleman, EarlyWood or TC

[akokskis]

I'm just a bit further north and the CT around here has some nice bass! Haven't fished it too much, as I don't have my own boat, but every time I've been out I've managed to get into some nice smallies on poppers. There's also definitely pike, walleye, and probably even a few browns around.

[Sagamoron]

Thanks for the info boys! I'll reach out.

[steved]

I hope you like fish other than native trout. VT has some terrific browns and rainbows, but they seek the chilly waters...(duh)....

[Sagamoron]

I hope you like fish other than native trout. VT has some terrific browns and rainbows, but they seek the chilly waters...

Yeah I get that, its going to be smallies and maybe some pike?

[steved]

However Sagamoron...if you have some spending cash, Hexagenias or Brown Drakes should still be good in Labrador... Would like to see if hoppers are as prevalent up there as down here in Maine in August...

[Sagamoron]

Didn't take any pictures but I figured I would post a quick report with info in case anyone is interested in a similar trip.

We camped at Wilgus State Park which is right on the CT river on the VT side of the river. Its a nice facility and has a small boat launch for canoes and kayaks. You can't launch a trailer boat, but there are plenty of boat ramps just a 5 minute drive away. Standard car camping, but lots of friendly people and the caretaker is super knowledgeable and fishes 5 days a week so he gave us a ton of info on what was working and a few areas worth fishing. He helped to shorten our learning curve and get us into fish.

We had two small metal boats with two anglers each and two canoes. We launched the canoes in Cornish NH and the boats a few miles south in Ashley Ferrry which was also in NH. If you have a small boat I would stick with Ashley Ferry, a much better ramp and tons of parking. We motored upstream to meet the canoe boys and caught up them just below the Ascutney Bridge. Pretty easy motoring, but that bridge is the farthest I would want to go upstream... Its a tad busy up there with tubers and other folks enjoying the river but not too bad. It gets pretty skinny up there and my buddy lost his skeg due to operator error.

We fished the whole way back down to Wilgus working both sides of the shore. We got tons of fish, all smallies and one walleye. I got my fish on Bunny Strip flies, mostly double bunnies with Chartruese over White being the top fish. I also got fish on clousers and a few on gurglers. Chart and White were the top colors for me. The guys on spin rods got fish on texas rigged worms with a small cone weight, rootbeer and red worked best for them. I think the walleye took a yellow mepps-type spinner...

The next day we Launched the Canoes from Wilgus and they went south and we again launched the boats from Ashley Ferry and motored back up to meet the canoes. This section fished much slower, which may have been as a result of the Super Moon, who knows... We all got into fish but the total number taken was much lower. This section was far quieter, we saw a other anglers and some other paddlers but overall it was quiet.

Its a beautiful piece of water, lots of fish to be taken and a very accessable and clean campground. Great trip for a group of guys or someone who wants to get a few kids into fishing and some outdoor stuff. Lots of places to get out of your boats to explore and swim, a few rope swings and no rapids or fast water to worry about.

Headed to Rhode Island this weekend for a wedding and heading out with an old friend, I'll bring the camera this time.

-Sags