smallmouth bass

Hi Folks, Spent yesterday morning with guests on my boat chasing smallmouth bass on the fly.  Now in the dog days of August and the lake and river fishing for smallmouth has been a pretty good option.  Surface temperature of the lake we fished was 77 degrees under calm conditions.  Another warm sunny day and it seems like that has been the theme for August; bright and warm.  The consistent stable weather is a good thing for bass fishing and the top water bite has been dynamite.  We never changed flies yesterday as we cast a chartruse colored slider that made a nice subtle pop to shore line drop offs.  Water clarity was good and it enabled us to see the bass come to the fly or some instances turn off from the surface presentation.  We had a young angler aboard and who is learning the ways of fishing and we had him casting a small spin rod with a silver and black popper.  We landed 12 smallies, missed a few, and saw several very large bass look at the fly including one that appeared to want to eat a small hooked bass.  Patience once again with the presentation was important in giving the bass the chance to see the fly and respond to it.  So, the big water trout fishing has been slow as our water is still warm, but the bassing has been steady.  Did see some #12 isonychia shucks on rocks the other night and there are plenty of terrestrials around right now.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy