#51 Moss Glen Brook, Vermont

After arriving the day before in Burlington, our vacation began with a day trip into the Green Mountains following highway 15 north to Jeffersonville where we stopped for coffee before heading up to Smugglers Notch en route to Stowe, our destination. Along the way we stopped at Green Mountain Troutfitters to buy a license and talk rivers, paying my dues before fishing the storied Vermont rivers. The advise might as well come from the Orvis shop in Grand Rapids this time of year. "Most of the major hatches are over, so be sure to have some foul weather Blue-Winged Olives handy along with the usual pheasant tail nymphs and streamers." We headed south on highway 108 along Brewster River, a tributary of the Lamoille River rushing down the mountainside begging to be fished. I was in luck, trout season was still open in Vermont and there seemed to be plenty of rivers with easy access.

To our surprise we were alone on our drive through the notch. There were a few cars parked at the top at the hiking turnouts, but that was it. The leaf peepers had come and gone, and we were left with peak viewing owing to the late color brought on by an unseasonably warm fall.

I have few regrets on this trip, but two of them occurred on this outing. It was a beautiful clear sunny day and we should have stopped at the summit to explore the footpaths to the 1,000 foot cliffs and scenic views. The other regret is that we didn't make it to the top of Moss Glen Falls. I had noticed the falls labeled on our map and inquired in Stowe about directions. After wondering around town for a few hours having lunch and doing some shopping, we decided to head up to the falls, just 3 miles north of town. I didn't go there with the intention of fishing, but upon arrival at the turnout two teenagers with fly rods came walking down the road away from the brook. They said the stream was full of little brook trout which were a lot of fun to catch. That was all I needed to hear, so Margie patiently waited while I unpacked my rod. This is a small stream about the size of Honey Creek, but it makes a very dramatic 125' fall into a narrow confined gorge, one of the largest drops in the state. I tried casting a small streamer into a few pools below the falls to no avail. We hiked up the falls to about the midpoint to sit and admire the cascade along with another couple, but this was as far as Margie wanted to go, height challenged as she is. So we headed back down to the car. As we were packing up another hiker pulled in, a local regular. He said the best fishing was on top. There is a big swimming hole just before the falls that holds brook trout, and further upstream there is a big beaver dam which looks interesting but he hasn't tried it yet. Perhaps I can give it a shot another day. We headed back to Burlington, stopping at Ben & Jerry's for a cone and a look at an interesting collection of old ice cream scoops. Getting a river in on the first day was a good start.

For more information on Smugglers Notch State Park and Moss Glen Falls:
http://www.vtstateparks.com/htm/smugglers.cfm and http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=253&p=0

Weather: Sunny, mid-fifties
Access: Moss Glen Falls Road (off of Randolph Rd)