NEWPORT — Department fisheries biologist Pete Emerson who works in the St. Johnsbury office said landlocked Atlantic salmon fishing on the Clyde River should be picking up this week, as we’ve finally received enough rain to fill the waterbodies upstream.
Salmon are starting to show up in the Clyde River trap, so they’re on the move.
If you want to try some salmon viewing, check out the Clyde Street Bridge or the pool just downstream of the bridge, the so-called “Fair Chase Pool”.
Emerson says you can often see adult salmon and even walleye holding in the pool in both spring and fall.
The recent rains and falling temperatures in the Kingdom have also cued the brook trout, and Emerson says they’re moving upstream into the headwater spawning reaches now.
NEK bass and pike anglers have been reporting good fishing in the shallower waters of the Memphremagog main lake, Seymour Lake and Norton Pond.
As summer stratification and thermoclines break down in lakes and ponds across Vermont these species roam more freely, and aggressively feed in the cooler waters.
It’s also a time on some of these lakes when you have a real shot at a lake trout in shallow water, often in the same areas as you’re catching bass and pike.
St. Johnsbury fisheries biologist Jud Kratzer fished the Passumpsic River right in the Village of St. Johnsbury the other day, and he says the river has many deep pools where stocked trout can survive the summer.
Kratzer caught four rainbow trout and spotted a couple of fairly large brown trout but was unable to get them to bite.
He also said he fished West Mountain Pond for wild brook trout and reports that pond brook trout are starting to feed again.
He landed one 9-inch brookie and lost a nice 12-incher at the net.
Fishing on remote brook trout ponds can be very good in the fall.
Good ponds to try include Jobs, Martins, West Mountain, Unknown (Ferdinand), Unknown (Avery’s Gore), South America, and Notch.
Remember using fish as bait is prohibited at most of these ponds to prevent the introduction of other fish species that could be detrimental to wild brook trout populations.
