Hi Folks, Been mixing it up with the guiding the last couple of days. Fly fishing small streams and brooks for native and wild trout as well as bigger water for smallmouth. The bass fishing had been tricky until yesterday morning when we had some nice low light. The difference between sun and low light was astronomical. In the bright sun the smallmouth would come to the fly and turn off. In the low the light they would come to the fly and commit to eating. We got smallmouth to eat a #8 chartreuse rubber legged popper on the surface and a #8 picket pin streamer below the surface. All of the fish were holding in deeper pools that had a mix of wood and rock for cover. The water temperature was 66 degrees and really low. The low water certainly has made the fishing challenging. Still seeing big numbers of #22 Tricos hatching in the morning with massive spinner clouds over riffles around 9am. Some #18-#20 micro caddis are hatching in the morning as well. On the trout front, I have been covering a lot of ground on small brooks to get fish to eat. The brooks we visited Monday and Tuesday were between 57 to 62 degrees. The water is so low that you really have to make more casts than usual to get the fish to eat. They simply do not want to move off their holding areas. Knee deep water up against large rocks that abut riffles have been consistent holding areas. My clients have been casting #12 green foam hoppers, #12 Royal Wulff, #14 green bodied stimulator, and #14 yellow humpy. Any terrestrial pattern would be productive currently. Still really need rain. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
