lazy summer afternoon

Hi folks, Guided for river smallmouth bass yesterday afternoon.  Chased smallmouth in the morning and the top water bite had been excellent.  Not much much of a top water bite in the afternoon.  Fairly warm muggy day with bright sun and clouds.  Water temperature was 75 degrees and the level was low and clear.  Lots of #14-#22 flying ants around in the afternoon and many of the smaller fish from bass to fall fish were sucking them in.  We could not prompt any bass to eat a surface popper.  The fish were coming up and looking the surface presentation and turning off.  Just the opposite of the morning when then were absolutely crushing the top water.  Anywho, we resorted to drifting 3" olive and craw fish colored Senkos on red hooks and caught a dozen smallmouth.  Looks like a rough couple of days coming up with thunderstorms and a weather front pushing through.  Would love to see it cool back down.  thge main stems of the Lamoille and Winooski are too warm for trout fishing right now and fishing should be for either bass or fish small trout streams.  I am off to chase river smallmouth this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have fun, Willy

top water bite

Hi Folks, Guided smallmouth bass with the fly this morning on the lower Lamoille.  Water temperature was a warm 73 degrees and the air was heavy.  Pretty decent morning fog and we had the place to ourselves.  We fished big pocket water with lots of boulders and rocks and every piece of water looks fishy.  We focued on big primary pools and kept our presentations just out of the main current in the slower parts of the pools and big eddies.  We fished several different style poppers but a frog pattern with rubber legs and a big concave face was the most productive.  We did catch one smaller bass nymphing a #8 stone fly nymph.  We had 14 fish come to the fly and landed 8 smallmouth. and of those fish 5 exceeded 2lbs in weight.  We had some really explosive strikes.  Good jumping rod benders!  We found that the popper moved in succession of two with a pause triggered a lot of the strikes.  With the warm water I am off to guide again this afternoon.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

hot humid and smallmouth

Hi Folks, Been chasing smallmouth bass with clients the last couple of days.  Summer heat and humidity has returned to the region.  I like the humid heavy air for bass fishing.  Always makes the top water bite better.  #14-#22 Flying Ants have been everywhere in the afternoon and in the morning lots of drowned ants in the surface film.  Interesting to watch large smallmouth sip ants off the surface.  Defies logic that a big fish would eat such a tiny morsel.  However. when food is overly abundant and easy to obtain, large predators will take advantage.  Love flying ants as they are a relevant food surface for some time and really get a wide variety of fish looking up.  Water temperature has returned to 70 degrees and the big trout water has once again become too warm to fish.  fish small brooks for trout and carry your thermometer.  Water is low and believe it or not we need rain.  We have been tugging on smallmouth with poppers on the surface and below the surface 3" and 4" Senkos in natural colors.   Looks too stay warm for a few days until the cold front comes crashing in this weekend.  Will bring some much needed precipitation.  Chasing bass the next few days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

yes sir

Hi Folks, Nice morning on the Lamoille yesterday with a client casting dry flies.  Water temperature was 64 to 65 degrees.  Nice over cast skies with the threat of rain.  Pretty decent hatch of #16 caddis and lots of drowned ants in the surface film.  The trout were eating both caddis and ants.  You could tell the difference between takes as the caddis eating fish made splashy rise forms and the ant eaters were subtle sips.  The trout were fussy and we had to use a 12' leader and make really good casts and drifts.  We had 9 fish eat the fly and the rising activity really slowed down as the morning progressed.  We landed two fish, one bow and 1 17" wild brown trout.  You new the brown trout was a good fish the moment it ate the #16 Henryville special.  Really fought hard and put a good bend in the 3wt.  Still awful tickled about the August fishing, though it looks like a warm spell on the way and the big waters will warm up.  Fly selection can range from #16/#18 olive caddis #18/#20 tan caddis, #10/#12 stone flies, #12/#14 Isonychia, and terrestrials.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy
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Working the big water

Hi Folks, Guided a large party of fly anglers yesterday morning on the lower Winooski.  Water temperature was 65 degrees.  Water level was right around the seasonal average though the level of the river did drop while we were fishing.  Always something to contend with when you fish anywhere below the Bolton Dam.  I think as the water is coming up or down it effects the fishing negatively until it settles out.  Morning fog until about 8:30 am and then it was a bright sunny day.  Started the morning off seeing a very large adult bald eagle.  Also encountered a hunting osprey and really big snapping turtle sunning itself on a rock.  Tons of #10 Stone fly shucks on the rocks that looked recently hatched.  Saw a fair amount of #12/#14 Isonychia beginning to hatch late morning and the ever present #16/#18 olive caddis.  We nymph fished most of the morning swinging #18 olive caddis pupa, #10 Montana Stone Fly, #12 flashback pheasant tail , a #14 tungsten prince nymph, and a #18 olive copper john.  The fish were tuned into the small flies.  We landed the Winooski tri-fecta catching a salmon, brown trout, and rainbow.  The rainbow was the best fish of the day.  In all we had over a dozen fish take the fly yesterday morning.  We worked for our fish and made lots of drifts.  Looks like wet weather to start the week and the trout fishing should be really good this morning.  Off to fish the Lamoille.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Not a cloud in the sky

Hi folks, Guided a small Lamoille tributary yesterday for native brook trout.  Beautiful sunny day with blue bird skies.  Water temperature was 61 degrees and the level was low and clear.  The spook factor was in full effect and moving slowly and fishing up stream was important.  Get in the brook and cast directly up stream to help avoid over hanging tree limbs and not give away your position to the fish.  We had over a dozen brookies eat our dry fly.  We cast a #14 foam ant on 7' 3wt. rod.  We landed some really nice looking brook trout that are starting to get colored up pretty nicely in anticipation of spawning here in a short while.  Almost all of our trout came out of deeper primary pools and not secondary water.  Off to fish the big water this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy

First fish

Hi Folks, Guided some young anglers yesterday morning for smallmouth bass.  Water levels were up slightly and off colored.  Water temperature was 68 degrees.  It was interesting that we did not catch a lot of fish yesterday morning but everyone we hooked was big.  I attribute it to the high and off colored water.  We fished big primary pools and focused on the slow water and any in stream structure.  Drifted 3" Senkos on Red Octopus Hooks that had glitter in the soft plastic.  Jumps out a bit more in the off colored water.  Anywho, looks like fall is right around the corner and with cool nights water temperature will remain nice after midweeks heat up.  Lots of morning fog this time of the year which is nice for keeping the sun off the water longer.  I am off to river fish this afternoon.  Looks like a nice weekend.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

mending the dry fly

Hi folks, Guided yesterday morning on the Lamoille and the fly fishing was fantastic.  The Lamoille was 64 to 65 degrees yesterday morning. Flow was just slightly above the seasonal average. I took out a repeat guest who wanted to improve on his dry fly fishing.  Lucky for us the fish have been rising like crazy on the Lamoille.  Under foggy skies and the sun did not really poke its head through until after 10:00am we cast to rising fish all morning.  We had 24 trout come to the dry fly yesterday morning.   Not much hatching except some #18 micro caddis after 9:00am.  I am pretty sure the fish were sipping #14/#16 drowned flying ants that have been coming off in droves lately in the afternoon.  We cast a #16 peacock caddis and a #14 hare's ear parachute.  We worked on up stream mending, down stream mending, a reach mend, a v-mend, and the old Catskill style down stream feed.  We fished slow water that was fed by gently riffles with lots of in stream boulders.  We landed 16 trout with them being a combination of stocked rainbows and wild rainbows.  Once again the wild rainbows really out fought the stocked fish.  Mending is always the key ingredient when trout fishing.  More often that not the fish are eating a good drift and the fly is irrelevant.  Awful lot of fun watching trout eat off the surface.  Just crazy good fishing for August.  Still lots of cased #16/#18 caddis on rocks and #12/#14 Isonychia shucks on rocks.  Looks like a return to summer this week so the big water might warm up.  Carry your thermometer.  Hot days ahead with not really cool nights.  Back to bass fishing and small streams.  I am off for a few days to attend a family wedding.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Etiquette and good fishing

Hi Folks, Guided on the Lamoille yesterday morning in a stretch of river I do not visit very often any longer.  I have lots of inventory to fish and simply do not need to guide water that gets pounded by other anglers.  Water level was just above season flows and the temperature was 64 degrees.  Pretty interesting morning as under heavy fog my client and I walked to an isolated pool that always holds fish.  Matter of face we stuck 7 fish in the pool before the drift boats moved through.  The first boat was two friends fishing together and we exchanged pleasantries and they moved on. I always thought with a drift boat that when you floated through someone who was fishing a piece of water that you were supposed to move quickly and quietly and have your clients stop casting.  The second drift boat was a guide with clients who ignored all of these rules.  Not only did he not row through quickly or quietly (stuck the boat on a rock shelf) he decided to tell us how to catch fish.  Also, his clients continued to fish over the water we were fishing.  I failed to tell him that I have been guiding and casting a fly rod probably since he was in diapers and his mommy was wiping his rear end.  Piss poor etiquette and a true lack of professionalism.  All the same we had 17 trout eat the fly yesterday morning and this small incident did not effect the fishing.  We caught a combination of wild rainbows and stocked rainbows.  I have to say a 10" wild bow certainly out pulls and jumps one of the 12" hatchery mutants.  We hooked fish swinging a #14 tungsten prince with a #18 olive wire caddis dropper and took fish as the sun came up on a #12 hare's ear parachute.  Lots of caddis pupa and larvae on the rocks in the riffles and I am seeing more and more #12/#14 Isonychia hatching and their shucks on rocks.  Great hatch of flying ants in Stowe yesterday afternoon.  Ants prompt lots of rising. We found a good pod of rising fish to end the morning.  We could see them rising and coming to the fly.  Very nice.  So, not to be difficult but I am a big fan of etiquette on a trout stream and I do not care how people fish.  Carry a thermometer and leave fish alone when the water exceeds 70 degrees, there is no reason to stand elbow to elbow fishing in Vermont (6,000 miles of trout streams) and do not disturb another anglers water when moving around the stream!  Off to tug on trout again this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

big water

Hi folks, Guided on the lower Winooski yesterday morning with a group of aspiring fly anglers.  I have not spent much time on the lower river this year as the water flows and conditions have not allowed it.  Pleasantly pleased with water temperatures of 64 degrees at 7:30am.  Water flows are still wacky on the lower Winooski as water was released while we were fishing and the level started to come up abruptly.  Big bright sunny day with not much for early morning fog.  We did spend a bit a of time with a large osprey that was perched in a tree checking us out.  Not much for rising fish.  Did see some sporadic caddis hatching and a few #12/#14 Isonychia coming off.  We nymph fished all morning with #16 and #18 wire olive caddis and #10 olive wooly buggers.  We had 11 fish come to the fly and landed 3 trout.  We caught 1 wild rainbow and 2 stocked brown trout.  Every fish took the fly on the swing.  Always let the fly swing out when nymphing and especially during Isonychia season as they are a swimming may fly and trout often  strike at the end of the drift.  I am off to chase trout again this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

working for it

Hi folks, Spent a nice morning with a client on a small Lamoille River tributary.  Really beautiful piece of water in an off the beaten path sort of place.  Big pocket water and not easy walking.  The water temperature was 57 degrees at 7:00am and it was a big bright sunny day.  The particular piece of water has really good tree cover and shade and is shadowed by a substantial mountain.  Water level was perfect and the stream was very well defined.  This stream is a wild brown trout stream with some rainbows and native brookies.  The state does stock a few token brown trout but not significant where I was fly fishing.  We had 9 trout eat the fly yesterday morning and landed 4 wild brown trout and 1 wild rainbow.  The challenge of this water is everything looks sexy and like it should hold fish.  What I found interesting yesterday was that none of the big fish wanted to eat.  All trout between 7" and 10" is what we had come to the fly.  Maybe the big front that cane through effected it? not sure.  Still good fun on a 2wt. and 3wt. outfit.  We did fish two different set ups with a #12 orange stimulator with a #18 olive cooper john dropper and a #12 rubber legged cooper john under an indicator for big plunge pools.  I can't say enough about how good the August fishing has been.  Really has made up for the wet June.  Best August I can remember in 25 years.  I am off to fish big water this morning for trout.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Crushed them

Hi folks, Man, yesterday was an awesome day of fishing.  I guided river smallmouth both in the morning and the evening.  Big weather from pushing through with cool air temperatures, afternoon showers, and wind.  Water temperature was 65 degrees.  Definitely feels like fall out there as things have really cooled off.  Water levels are perfect for fishing right now, though the clarity diminished a bit around dusk from rain in the mountains that dirtied things up. Both of my trips were with spin gear and we put the Senkos and light tackle to test.  Between my two trips yesterday we landed over 50 smallmouth bass. The fish were there for the taking and I think we were fishing water that has not been harassed by any other anglers.  We found bass in the slow sections of the river, big slow deep pools, and big eddies.  Lots of downed wood and rocks provided cover for the bass.  We drifted 3" crawfish and olive colored Senkos and the fish were gobbling them up.  In the afternoon my client hooked a fish on his first 12 casts.  We caught smallmouth from 6" to 18". Saw a lot of good sized fish yesterday and everyone wanted to jump and tail walk.  I think it was a product of the cooling water temperatures.  Reminded me of fall bass fishing.  Fishing should remain steady.  Seen a few #14/#22 flying ants, #22 tricos in the morning, and the ever present caddis.  We did catch a 13" rainbow yesterday on a Senko.  Not the norm.  There were some rising fish both in the morning and afternoon.  I am off to trout fish this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Broken Record Player

Hi folks, Guided several anglers yesterday on the upper Winooski yesterday for trout with the fly rods.  I know I am starting to sound like a broken record player, but the trout fishing was really good once again.  Incredible for August.  I would say that we experience these types of river fishing conditions in August maybe once every ten years.  Good morning for fishing with overcast skies and eventually some rain.  River flows were just slightly above the seasonal average flow and the temperature was 62 degrees.  Not a bad hatch of #16 olive bodied caddis with a few #18/#20 tan bodied micro caddis and even a few #20 olives.  There was some sporadic rising activity and we were able to get the fish to eat a #16 peacock caddis and a #16 Henryville Special.  We also had success drifting double nymphs under an indicator with a combination of a #14 tungsten red thread prince nymph with a #18 olive caddis pupa.  We hooked and caught fish everywhere we worked mostly tugging on the typical 7" to 12" wild rainbows.  A couple of larger rainbows were caught and the fish of the day was a very big brown trout we lost at our feet.  A real bruiser that buried his head down and puckered my clients bamboo rod in half.  A good old country club release.  Fishing should remain good for trout as water temperatures and levels will maintain.  I am off to chase smallmouth bass today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Keep it coming

Hi Folks, Back to the well yesterday morning guiding on the Lamoille for trout.  Water levels and flows are still above average for this time of the year.  Water temperatures have been great remaining in the low sixties.  Yesterday at 6:30am the water temperature was 62 degrees.  Not much for hatching insects yesterday but still finding some #10/#12 stone fly shucks on rocks and #12/#14 isonychia shucks and rocks.  Lots of olive caddis on rocks within the riffles.  I love it as a guide when your client catches a trout on the first drift of the day.  We landed a nice little wild brown trout on the first cast and drift in pretty skinny water.  We caught 8 trout for the morning with a combination of wild and stocked rainbows.  Never changed flies as we drifted a #14 tungsten prince nymph with a #16 olive caddis pupa under an indicator.  We hooked fish on the dead drift and on the swing.  We lost and missed another half dozen fish in addition to what we caught.  It was interesting that the fishing really slowed by 9:30am as the sun got high over head.  Looks like a wet one today with incoming rain.  Should be another good morning of trout fishing today as I am off to guide on the Winooski.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

nice on the river

Hi folks, Guided a new fly angler yesterday on the main stem of the Lamoille.  The water temperature on the Lamoille was 64 degrees yesterday morning at 6:30am and warmed to 66 degrees by the time we had left prior to lunch time.  Water level was up once again and it was like fishing the river in the spring.  Clarity was okay as there was still little dirty tinge to the water from the recent rain on Friday.  We found some #12/#14 Isonychia shucks on rocks and there were a few #16 olive caddis hatching as the sun broke through the morning fog.  No rising fish.  We nymph fished all morning with a double rig and an indicator.  We cast a #10 tungsten bead olive wooly bugger with a #16 olive caddis pupa dropper.  Lots of roll casting in order to prevent tangles.  I figure in the bigger flows you must use a larger fly that the fish can see.  We had 7 trout eat the fly and we landed 3 wild rainbows.  The best fish on the day was scrappy 14" silver rainbow that had some pull.  As the sun got high over head and it did so early yesterday morning we removed the indicator.  Tight line swinging the nymphs got the flies down and the fish responded.  Another pretty decent morning of trout fishing for August.  I am tickled as August is always the most difficult month of the season to catch trout typically due to warm water temperatures and low levels.  I am off to chase trout again this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Learning the art

Hi Folks, I changed directions yesterday morning and visited the local ski resort for a casting clinic and instructional fly fishing program.  Man, was the wind howling as a cold front had moved in across Vermont.  Nice big bright sunny ski and with it cool nights which will keep water temperatures down. Pretty darn nice weather for August and our streams are puffed up a bit again after prolonged rain on Friday.  I always like to tell people learning to fly fish that they "have to learn to walk before they can run."  Meaning you have to be able to cast the fly before you can even think about the fishing end of it.  Fly fishing is not easy and is an activity that is a life long pursuit.  One of the things that really appeals to me about it.  So, after running the clinic, I decided I wanted to catch some fish so I walked on one of my local brooks to fish some hole I had not visited in sometime.  Water temperature was 60 degrees and the clarity was excellent.  I had to focus on shady areas.  I worked up stream with a #12 yellow stimulator and was rewarded with a measured 11" brook trout and several 7" to 12" wild brown trout.  Nicely colored fish who slammed the dry fly.  Nice experience for an hour of fishing. I am off to chase trout with clients this morning on the Lamoille.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

All to ourselves

Hi folks, Ran the boat with clients yesterday morning for smallmouth bass on a local lake.  Not another boat on the water and we had the entire place to ourselves. Fantastic.  Surface temperature was 72 degrees and the air was heavy.  Pretty humid day with very little breeze.  We fished an assortment of different colored Senkos from watermelon red magic to baby bass to crawfish.  We varied sizes from 4" and 5" .  The bass seemed to be neutral yesterday morning so we really had to finesse them. Line control as usual was imperative and we had a lot of fish take the Senko on the drop after being cast.  Really watching the line is important when the fish are not taking the soft plastic aggressively.  We landed 11 smallmouth all together and missed and lost a number of fish as well.  The most productive areas were adjacent to deep water.  Often I had the boat positioned in 30' of water as we cast into 10' of water.  Nice morning of fishing and extremely peaceful.  Looks like a big weather front on the way to day with rain and thunderstorms.  I am supposed to bass fish, we will see.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

fly fishing the big water

Hi folks,  Guided a double yesterday with the fly rods with experienced fly anglers in the morning and beginners in the afternoon.  Really good day of fishing and especially for August.  Fished the upper Winooski in the morning for the first time this year.  Water conditions had limited my ability to get on the Winooski.  Water temperature was 62 degrees.  Not a bad hatch of #16 olive bodied caddis and we found rising fish.  There was also a hatch of small #20 olives.  Started the morning nymphing and fishing dry dropper rigs.  A #14 tungsten prince nymph with a #18 olive caddis pupa.  We caught fish on both flies.  As the fish begin to rise we switched to a #16 Henryville Special and a #16 The Usual.  We had over 20 fish come to the fly and landed 11 wild rainbows.  Some really nice looking strong fish.  It appeared that the water we fished has been pretty free of angling pressure this year.  In the afternoon I ventured to the Lamoille with my clients where the water temperature was 67 degrees.  Not terrible for an August afternoon.  Nice cloud cover made for some decent dry fly fishing.  We found a pod of subtle rising rainbows.  There more hatching caddis and a few #14 light cahills.  The fish were on the caddis.  We cast #16 Henryville special and a #16 x-caddis.  We landed 3 rainbows with 1 fish being wild and 2 being stocked fish.  Missed several fish but still pretty darn good for anglers learning to fly fish.  Looks like humid unstable weather for the next couple of days.  I am off from trout fishing and will be chasing smallmouth next couple of days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Lamoille

Hi Folks, I had the pleasure of guiding aspiring fly anglers yesterday morning on the Lamoille River.  The Lamoille is in excellent shape for August.  Water levels are still high and will probably remain that way for some time to come.   Clarity was excellent.  The best part is that the water temperatures have cooled right off.  The main stem water temperature for August 6 was 61 degrees is incredible.  Typically this time of the year the Lamoille is too warm to trout fish.  Saw a few hatching insects yesterday from #16 olive bodied caddis too some #14 light cahills, to some random #18/#20 micro caddis.  We even saw a few fish rise.  We fished both above and below the surface.  The dry of the day was a #16 orange the Usual.  We nymphed and swung #12 olive leeches and #12 heavily weighted wooly buggers.  We had 9 trout eat the fly and landed 3 solid wild rainbows that looked fantastic.  We dry fly fished until the sun got high in the sky and then resorted to fishing below the surface.  Line control is always critical in fly fishing and lots of slack line makes it more difficult to get a hook set when a fish rises.  Good controlled short drifts with good mending is always important.  I am off to take advantage of the cool weather and trout fishing again this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

call me the breeze

Hi folks, Guided from the boat yesterday morning for smallmouth bass with spin gear.  Pretty darn windy on the lake we fished.  Steady west wind that blew the entire morning and increased as the day progressed.  Always makes boat control fun and eliminates the top water.  No worries, we still caught some fish and did see a nice bald eagle soaring over head.  Pretty bright morning with the sun poking its head up early and often.  Water temperatures have cooled off and the surface temperature of the lake was 71 degrees.  We fished 5" Senkos in crawfish and watermelon red flake on red #2 off set worm hooks.  We landed 9 fish and missed a lost at least another 12 fish.  The wind and trying to control the boat impacted how well we could manage our line and detect any subtle strikes.  We found a good percentage of our fish around wood in 12' of water or more.  River fishing for trout should continue to improve with the cooling water temperatures and reasonable water levels in our rivers.  I am off to chase trout with the fly this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

cool down and fly fishing the cycle

Hi folks, Feels like autumn outside with air temperatures in the mid 40's and cooler than average weather forecast ed for the week.  I guided this last weekend and really mixed it up.  Fished for a wide variety of species with spin fishing on Saturday and fly fishing for trout on Sunday.  Water temperatures ranged from 65 degrees in the larger water to 61 degrees in the small stream I was on yesterday.  I took out a group of aspiring anglers on Saturday and we caught a little bit of everything that swims from bullhead to smallmouth and all the pan fish in between.  Young kids when learning to fish need action.  They do not care what they catch as long as they catch something. Keep it fun and simple.  Yesterday morning on a Lamoille tributary we landed brook trout, brown trout, and rainbow trout and all on dry flies.  We fished really heavy pocket water casting large #10 and #12 stimulators up stream.  In a few heavy plunge pools we dead drifted a heavily weighted olive/black wooly bugger under an indicator and had several nice takes.  We covered a lot of water yesterday.  Pretty darn good trout fishing for August and the all of the trout looked to be in excellent shape.  No hatching insects and I did not see any fish rising.  Still a few stone fly shucks on rocks.  If you have not figured out yet from my reports, where I live in Vermont we do not exactly have lots of hatches.  Off to chase smallmouth from the boat and it looks to be a bit windy.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have fun, Willy

Consistent

Hi folks, Been guiding for the bass the last few days and it has been really consistent.  I almost feel like it is a pretty sure bet that we will catch fish every single time out and numbers of fish.  Water temperatures have been hovering in our local lake in the mid to low seventies and the river I have been on has been 69 degrees.  Pretty big wind and sun the last few days.  The wind is a pain in the butt when trying to control the boat.  We have been catching a lot more smallmouth on the surface with poppers on the fly end and floating rapalas on the spin gear end.  In rivers we have been locating fish mostly in big pools that are loaded with structure like downed wood and big rocks.  Most of our lake smallmouths have been coming out of deeper water from 15' to 20'.  Incredible that fish holding in that deeper water will rise to the surface to eat.  Low light is the key and focusing on shady areas.  Man do the smallmouth pull back.  Trout fishing in the rivers should be hold up now with the cooler weather on top of us.  Nice cool nights and mild days will keep the river water temperatures in the mid 60's.  Terrestrials, stone fly patterns, and  micro caddis will all catch fish.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Nice one!

Hi Folks, Guided some long time clients yesterday with spin gear for smallmouth bass.  Man, the bass fishing has been excellent.  Water temperature yesterday was 70 degrees and the level was slightly up and off color.  We fished big deep pools and slow water that was littered with downed wood and rock.  Lots of fresh #8/#10 stone fly shucks on rocks.  We hooked fish everywhere we went.  Once again dead drifted 3" olive Senkos on #2 red octopus hooks.  Green or crawfish colors are the most consistent producers.  Green seemed to be the ticket yesterday.  We landed over 20 smallmouth with a wide variety in sizes.  Lots of good jumpers.  Looks like a good cool weather pattern coming up.  Feels like fall?  Off to chase bass from the boat.  remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have Fun, Willy