Hi Folks, After a day and half off from guiding back at this morning chasing smallmouth bass from the boat. Nice to regenerate my batteries and take a break. Been a really busy summer. Pretty chilly out on the water this morning with air temperatures in the high forties and the surface water temperature was 69 degrees. The water temperature has cooled off 5 degrees from over the weekend. Dead calm on the water with heavy fog. Pretty interesting navigating in the fog as lights on and the use of electronics were certainly helpful. Fished top water this morning for awhile. The fish were on a blue/white popper. We located active smallmouth on a 15' deep flat that has sporadic boulders on it. As the top water bite slowed we jig fished in 20' to 30' of water. A 1/4oz shaky jig tipped with a Yamamoto spider jig in watermelon black magic was the ticket. Pretty subtle bite and line control was important to pick up the strikes. On the trout end our rivers have cooled off the fishing is good. Time to take advantage of fall like conditions. Fishing will still be best early and late as you want low light. Nice time of year to find rising trout as we have #22/#24 tricos still hatching in the morning, #18/#20 micro caddis hatching in the morning, #12/#14 Isonychia hatching throughout the day, a few #8/#10 remnant stone flies emerging still, and lots of terrestrials. Keep an eye for #14/#22 flying ants as they can pop up at anytime presently. Nice fishing weather. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
