Pete, one of my sons lives in Rutland, VT and I have been there in July and really looked forward to fishing the Battenkill. Boy, was I disappointed. July is NOT the time to fish the Battenkill and for that matter most of the streams in VT with the possible exception of some of the small brook trout streams that are not easily accessible. The Battenkill has a huge volume of canoeists in the summer and they play havoc with the fishing. I fished several other streams, the Metawee, Otter Creek and Roaring Brook. All were disappointing. Orvis's hype has decidedly hurt the Battenkill.
My other son lives in Cambridge, NY and the Battenkill there that flows from the VT line is a much better choice. Although July is still not the best time to go. The stocking program in NY is far better than the program in VT, which BTW does not stock the Battenkill in that state. I would suggest that you stay in Cambridge NY and fish the Battenkill there. It is about 20 miles from Manchester VT so you can enjoy the Southern VT atmosphere and much better fishing. There is a very nice place to stay in Cambridge - the Rice Mansion Inn (check them out on the internet). We have stayed there and it is very nice. It is entirely possible that I may be there at that time, because my son in VT is expecting a baby in July. BTW it is just a short hop from Rutland VT to Cambridge VT and we manage to visit both families when we visit and alternate which town we stay in. If you need more info, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me. George Vincent ----- Original Message ----- From: Peter Gramp To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2007 21:28 Subject: Re: Battenkill (was [VFB] Hi Pete Gramp) thank pete also thank toby later dave You betcha! oh, by the way, the "New Zealand" is actually the strain, like "Labrador Retriever" is to dogs or "Canada" is to a goose... this guy has never been out of the state, much less to New Zealand :) On a different topic, my wife and I are planning a 4- day vacation in southern VT (Vermont, USA) and I'm eying up the Battenkill for fly-fishing in the middle of July (I'd have preferred April and some more time, but it is the only time we both have away from work, so I'll take what I can get!)... Regardless, if anyone has had experience(s) or has recommendations, etc, please send any and all info off-list to pete (DOT) gramp (AT) gmail (DOT) com. I do have knowledge of the AuSable in NY and northern VT, but I doubt that the two rivers are that similar... Hopefully we'll be near the Manchester area. Thanks in advance and apologies if this isn't exactly fly- fishing related... Well, in an attempt to bring it even MORE towards the tying aspect, I'm hoping that I can fish during a Light Cahill hatch while on vacation - a close second favorite hatch to the sulfur hatch which I will likely miss by a week or so, if my guesses of climate relative to the AuSable are correct... So my question is twofold: First, what pattern do you use when in a "new" body of water known to hold trout? Second, if you know that a hatch (lt cahill in this case) is likely to happen in heavily fished waters, do you "match the hatch" with a like fly, or "un- match" with a totally different, if not larger, fly? Pros and cons of each would be interesting to hear, also... Just thought I'd see people's opinions on this. Tight wraps, Pete
