Two wild brook trout, taken last spring. Photo by Dennis Jensen
My favorite trout stream winds its way along a busy Vermont highway. There are a number of places where anglers can pull off, walk easily down to nearby stretches of water and cast their lines.
I pass these places, making my way several hundred yards downstream to where the narrow river begins to edge away from the highway and where the terrain grows very thick — where small, blown-down trees, briars and thick cover make access next to impossible.
It is a struggle to pass through these parts and the tip of my short casting rod, with the tiny lure snug up against the eye at the tip of the rod, nevertheless hooks itself all too often to a sapling or branch. Then, I pause, pull the hook free, re-tighten the line and move on.
At one point, I happen upon a beaver dam, where passage to the other side is offered. I make my way across but, despite the dam, I sink into the cold, clear water. It takes my breath away as it soaks my old sneakers and the bottom of my worn-out jeans.
A little bit further, I come to a place where the river takes a strong, 90-degree turn. Here, the water deepens and it is here where I will make my first casts.
It’s already a half-hour into daylight, but the sun’s direct rays will be held back by the ridgeline for at least another hour.
Keeping my profile as far back from the water as possible, I cast the tiny black-and-yellow lure so that it lands just afoot from the black-earth streambank. The deeper water allows the lure to sink, just a bit. Then, I jerk the rod tip, up and down, while slowly turning the handle of the reel. The idea is to tantalize a trout, waiting in the depths for breakfast to swim by, to make it come out and strike at the lure.
On the second cast, I see a sudden flash of color and then, the rod tip bends. It is a good fish. I step closer to the steep bank to better fight the fish and I consider climbing down the bank to land it.
I have only four-pound test line on and now I have the brook trout on the surface. The climb down the bank seems a bit dangerous; there’s little there to support me and the water drops off drastically, so I risk it by raising the fish, using nothing but line to lift the fish up the 6-foot-high riverbank.
The line holds and, moments later, I struggle to release a gorgeous, 11-inch Vermont native from the hook. It is all slime in my hands and, as it struggles to get free, I manage to remove the hook from its jaw.
The colors of this brookie are dazzling, with pink and orange spots coloring its thick body, and I strike the head of the fish several times against a nearby rock. Once dead, I slip it into my creel and move down stream.
The April 14 opening day of trout season approaches, but I will not be returning to my favorite trout stream. Tropical Storm Irene blasted its way through these parts last year and it would probably be pointless to fish here.
There are other streams and rivers, of course, but, like many other eager trout fishermen, I will have to change plans.
While Irene did a heck of a lot to negatively impact trout fishing, biologists with the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department say that, for the most part, history has shown that trout populations can and do recover, even in the worst of flooding and severe storms.
“In those areas that were hit hard by the storm, the flooding is likely to have an impact on trout populations for a few years,” says Eric Palmer, the director of fisheries at Fish & Wildlife.
The other bit of bad news is what occurred at the state fish hatchery in Roxbury, which was virtually wiped out by Irene.
The hatchery primarily raised brook trout, including those plus-18-inch trophy brookies that are so highly regarded by trout fishermen, Palmer says.
Irene’s impact
Every spring, Jeremy Baker looks forward to the opening day of trout season like a kid, waiting for Christmas morning.
While Baker, a Rutland resident, will fish a small brook on opening day that has not been affected by Irene, some of his best fishing spots — places that he has experienced a great deal of success in the past — have been devastated by the storm.
One particular stretch of water, the Big Branch in Mount Tabor, has been a longtime hotspot for Baker, who is an avid back-country trout angler.
A few years back, Baker hooked into and landed a spectacular, 23-inch brown trout from a very small tributary of the Otter Creek. Even biologists from Fish & Wildlife were astounded that such a big brown could end up — never mind getting caught — in a small, high-country trout stream.
Baker says he expects to find some discouraging signs upon his return to his old fishing haunts.
“I’ll be very interested to go back and to see what the Big Branch looks like now,” he says. “I haven’t been there since Irene, but it’s a place, I’m told, that is now unrecognizable.”
Meanwhile, Baker sees a genuine upside to this year’s opening day — unless we get a long period of heavy rainfall.
Colder water temperatures and high water, difficult fishing conditions that are often the case on the opening day of the trout season, should not be a factor this year, Baker says.
“By the time April 14 comes around, we’re going to see water levels that we haven’t experienced for a number of years,” he says. “People should be encouraged and get out on opening day because rivers will be more accessible, water temperatures will be higher so that, if the fish are there, they should be more active than they typically are on opening day.”
Tom Jones, another avid trout fisherman and a biologist with Fish & Wildlife, agrees with Baker that Tropical Storm Irene has changed the face of trout fishing for opening day.
“I think, in general, some of the rivers and streams in central Vermont will be impacted. To what extent, I don’t know,” the Northfield resident says. “I’m expecting that some nice deep runs and holes I fish might have changed. But that’s certainly not going to stop me from being out there.”
Like Baker, Jones says he believes that the warm temperatures of late winter and early spring could bode very well for opening day trout anglers.
“The scenario this year is this: Cross your fingers that Mother Nature is done with the snow. Water temperatures should be good. This is going to be a decent opportunity to catch a couple of trout,” he says.
Jones says he may very well head up to the Willoughby River in Orleans to fish for steelhead trout on opening day. (A steelhead trout is virtually the same species as a rainbow trout. The difference is that a steelhead trout is born in fresh water, then moves to the ocean for three to four years to grow, then returns to fresh water to spawn.)
Jones says Irene or no Irene, Vermont trout fishermen will be out in force on opening day to shake the gloom of the winter.
“I get super excited that the season’s coming in because I know all my friends and other anglers will be out to fish for wild trout and hatchery trout,” he says.
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