White River VT.

[fishypete]

Anyone out there fishing the White river in Vermont this spring? I've only fished the lower parts near Sharon but looking for some info about the Bethel area or even more upstream. Pete

[Jackie Chan]

Contact Brad Yoder at Troutonthefly.com

[dudley]

When I fish the White, I stay at the White River Valley Campground in Gaysville. Good central location.

[fishypete]

looking for someone to sharea float trip up there on the white......interested?

[Plastics Galore]

If you're up there anytime in late august around the Woodstock, Pomphret Vermont area I would love to share a trip. I am only 16 though and beginner fly fisherman, but I am planning on buying a float tube .

[fishypete]

Sure, I have a 2 man pontoon boat to float, so if you have your license to shuttle up and down the river it would help. Shoot me an e-mail before you are headed up at, pete@vtcondo.com.

[e-sea-e]

pete: thw white river is great, I fished it while I was in law school. vermont law school's campus borders the river. It is an excellent fishery for rainbows, browns and some salmon- I got one about 20 inches long one spring.

If I remember right, the areas I fished were above sharon, more near south royalton and royalton. Be sure to check out all the areas off of Rt 14. take exit 2 off of rt 89 in VT and follow 14 north. go past the bridge on the left that leads to south royalton center, drive 3 miles or so and pay close attention and look for an area called sinclair rocks, it is a huge pool that holds alot of fish and some very large fish. you cant miss it, you 'll see others there. all the areas above and below it also hold fish. go there at dusk and you'll see the fish hitting the top of the water.

also, most of the fish there are stocked fish and holdovers, so bring a fly that is small, round and yellow to imitate the feed the stocked fish were fed in the pens they grew up in. I used to use a small meps spinner with a gold blade and yellow tail and would catch as many trout as i wanted, and a few smallmouth as well.

good luck!

e-sea-e

[striperman13]

I have fished the White River between Sharon and Bethel each Spring for the past 6 years. It is a beautifull place to fish. I fish with 20 other guys for a weekend :-% (story for another day). We mostly fish by car in small groups. Pick a spot, Sharon or Bethel and work your way up or down river. Hit all the bridges and any spot with a combination of rocks, deep pools and fast moving water. There is generally parking along the road and the best spots have obvious parking. Spending more than 15 minutesin in a single spot is, IMHO, a waste of time. In other word move around alot. You might take one or two fish off a certain rock then move 50 yards down stream and take another, move another 25 yards and hit a couple more Don't be afraid to get in and wade down stream for 1/2 mile or so. You can always find a spot to climb out and walk back along the road. I usually average about 10-12 fish in a 8 hour day. Most are in the range of 11"-13" although an occasional 14" rainbow is caught. I have heard "STORIES" of trout over 20" but in all the years have never seen one over 16". There are also nice smallmouth. If you are fishing late May or after, shorts and old sneakers are all that you needed to wear, although you may want to bring along your waders. Check out this link http://gorp.away.com/gorp/publishers/countryman/fis_vtwr.htm

[e-sea-e]

striperman: swear to god, I caught two monster trout fishing the white river. one was a rainbow that was 22" and the other was monster brown that was just over 24". came out of the pool near the sinclair rocks I described in my last post.

I also took a 4-5 pound smallie on a noddle rod with 4 lb test in that pool. I was throwing a spinner for trout and wham! off to the races. luckily, that pool is big enough to play out larger fish.

do you know the area I'm talking about, if so, make sure you hit it if ou head up there this year.

e-sea-e

[fishypete]

Hey guys, thanks if you are interested there is a guy that guides the white and there is a pic on his web site of a huge brown. the web site is www.troutonthefly.com
check out the photo page

[fleshfly]

A Mepps usualy will pull the biggest fish, speaking of spinners what type of Hatches are there?

[Cuttbow]

As a fellow VLS alum, I got to know the White quite well during my stay (1989-1992 JD/MSL). It throws planters out regularly, as you noted. A Hares ear will do almost any time of year. Dorotheas at dusk/night in June is a site to behold. I had concerns about the stocked salmon parr eating the rainbows and browns out of the river. It used to be nothing to get 75-100 of those parr a night in the riffles. The trout never stood a chance! As noted, some nice smallies too (even walleyes down towards WRJ in the early spring). A few nights I even drifted frozen mice on the surface through the deep pools for smallies and HUGE browns on a steelhead stick with an Abu 5500! A few tricks to that water, learned over time and with some help. I had about a 2 mile stretch of "home waters" below the school that I waded with a thermometer. There are some great stream bed springs that hold larger fish, and more fish later into the summer warm season. They're not always where you expect them. Also, don't be afraid to cast onto the shallow gravel flats that are only inches deep and "can't possibly hold fish," especially at dusk. That lesson was taught to me by an "old timer" who watched from the bank as I caught many stockers from a pool head during a Dorothea hatch. Smug as I graciously relinquished the water to him, he fished behind where I was standing, and caught 2 of the biggest trout I'd ever seen within 30 minutes. I still fish the White, and it changes seasonally with the ice/flood damage, but it always gives up decent fish. Ever fished McIntosh Pond? That's a tough still water to figure out on flies, but I think we've figured it out and my kids love it early season when the White's still too high for them to wade safely!!

[fleshfly]

Nice info on White, I have always been meaning to spend more time on it, when I am up in Adirondacks/Lake George region with family. Salmon, Walleye, Bass, the BROOKIES don't stand a chance!That troutonthefly site had some nice photos. Perhaps, some nice Wild fish in a few I briefly met an oldtimer in Lake George that prefered fishing the White over the Ausable......Cuttbow- Your thoughts on the Mettawee in VT? Fish much of it on NY side?

[Jackie Chan]

Cuttbow- Where is macintosh pond? I have a place up that way and have been teaching my 10 + 7 year old to flyfish. What town and road to get to it?

[Cuttbow]

McIntosh Pond is in Sharon, right up next to the Joseph Smith place. There's a state maintained access with a small boat ramp, but I've never dropped a boat in there. (Good grouse hunting above the pond up to the ridge too in the fall!)

[e-sea-e]

cutbow, are you still up in VT? I was at vls from 97-00, JD only. Have you been back to see the new classroom building? It opened my second year, they were building it during my first year. Nothing like being in torts class, hearing a loud explosion feeling the school shake as they blasted out next door to put in the new building's foundation.

that area below the school is great, as is the water above it. I had a great time fishing the white while I was there, but I only spent one summer up there and drove to boston every weekend to chase stripers, so hit it early spring and fall mostly. I also stopped my trout fishing once the waters warmed up enough to start bass fishing.

always good to hear from a fellow VLS alum!

e-sea-e

[Jackie Chan]

Cutbow'
I'm up in Rochester, so not familiar with the Joseph Smith place. Is there a street or road name you can give me, form that I can look it up on the gazzeteer. ALso, is it wadeable along the shoreline for fly backcasting?
Would be greatly appreciated as I'm looking for smehwere to take the kids in the spring to improve their casting skills and hopefully hookup on a few.

Also, isn't there a pond in Bethel somewhere off 107 near Christian Hill Road?

[Pauper Piscator]

The pools at the bottom of Queechee Gorge is very very productive in Late June. If the water level is low enough, wade out to where the flow spills into the channel that flowa areound the back part of the island.

Lovely river. Look for a large cornfield nearby and fish a hopper for some explosive takes.

Lastly, give the pools behind the Otter Creek Brewery near Middlebury a shot.

[fishypete]

Wow, this is my first time using this forum and you guys have had some great input. I just got a two man pontoon boat and think that i will start a couple of miles above the law school and float to a couple of miles down from it.. sound about right? anyone interested in joining sometime this spring or summer, before the water heats up? does anyone know of specific put in -take out points? thanks again, pete

[Cuttbow]

Not so much still in Vermont as back again! After school I went west for about 10 years, then moved back to VT with my family in June '01. Using the license with a firm in Burlington, and I'm getting to learn a few new (closer) waters almost as well as the White! Your direction to Sinclair is a little surprising to me, as all I ever caught through that section were huge smallmouth and smaller rockbass. It doesn't surprise me that it holds some bigger trout too, but they're tough. I canoed it for awhile, but I found that I preferred the lower sections and kept going back, or farther upstream well above exit 3. Someone was asking about put in/out access. The river runs largely along 14, so there are many spots that provide access. When I canoed it, I usually took out at the maintenance yard in Sharon. Just N of Exit 2. You could put in anywhere above the school, depending on how much time you wanted to spend. The only fast water of any consequence most years is just below the bridge to SoRo and the school, and it shouldn't be a problem (though it flips some canoes every year!)

[e-sea-e]

pete- parts of the river, especially near the school, have some good chutes and drops- be careful or you may flip and loose some gear!

good luck!

e-sea-e

[fishypete]

thanks alot, I will scope it out well before I launch. Can't wait to get out there