It was with great regret that I went fishing yesterday for the final time in 2011 – on the Clyde River in Vermont (which is open until 10/31).

Bill and I braved the cold (41 degrees as of 3 PM, and we started at 9:30 AM), and the flow was at a very good level. The fish in the picture is a rainbow, but probably having run out of Lake Memphremagog, the locals would really consider it a steelhead. He was very acrobatic in his fight (4 jumps), and fell victim to a carefully presented San Juan Worm. Not pictured, because the batteries in my camera froze, were three small salmon and a beauty of a brown (17″?) that took a beadhead Prince nymph and filled my net. Bill had a whopper of a salmon on that broke him off once it hit the current – but, that’s why they get big!

The Clyde was once one of the top salmon fisheries in the spring and fall in the nation, but then fell on hard times after a period of mismanagement and overharvesting. Fortunately, the dams that restricted fish passage are now gone (as of 1994), and the Clyde has been slowly on its way back ever since. While it hasn’t regained it’s previous status, it’s still very good fishing, especially for someone that needs to feel the rush of cold water leaking through his ancient waders …

Only 65 more days (or thereabouts) until the Connecticut River opens for business!