Too Damn Hot!

Hi folks, Guided on the lower Lamoille yesterday afternoon for smallmouth bass.  Too damn hot.  Not a big fan of fishing late afternoon when the weather is hot and muggy.  Mornings are the way to go. Oh well, a fishing guide has to work with his guests.  The Lamoille was 80 degrees and low.  We could use some rain.  hard to believe after the spring we suffered through.  The fishing was tough.  We covered a lot of water walking in the river.  We did land two large smallmouth bass between 1.5lbs and 2lbs., but we earned them.  A perch colored floating rapala and a silver beetle spin drew the most interest as we did have several other fish follow as well.  At dusk we caught several fall fish and missed a couple of smallies, but the surface bite was slow.  I can only guess that the hot water makes the fish a little lethargic as well.  Looks like the hot humid weather will break this weekend.  I taking out a large party today in the middle of the day.  A fly fishing instruction.  The fishing will be difficult with the current conditions.  Small mountain streams, ponds and lakes in the morning are the way to go presently.  Saw lots of craw fish in the shallows yesterday and golden stone fly shucks on rocks.  Any #10 to #14 stone fly pattern nymphed under an indicator will work right now.  Fish them in heavy riffled water.  This technique works well on fussy small mouth.  A olive/black #10 to #12 wooly bugger will imitate the craw daddies well.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

heat, chantral mushrooms, and lots of brook trout

Hi Folks, Guided a couple of aspiring fly anglers this morning on a small mountain stream.  Started seeing a number of chantral mushrooms popping up. Very enjoyable outing for me to see a young kid who was probably born with a fly rod in his hand pick up the sport so quickly.  The brook we fished was 59 degrees at 6:30am.  Water levels are dropping quickly and we now could use some rain.  Approach is very important when the levels drop in these small streams in order to not spook the fish before you cast.  We worked up stream with light 3wt outfits and cast stimulator patterns into any potential holding water.  We landed 34 brook trout and probably missed another 20.  Pretty good steady action.  A tight line drift with very little slack made the hook set much easier.  Casting accuracy was important.  I have been hearing over the last few days of northern pike in the Lamoille below Cadys Falls.  It appears that the pike were in Lake Lamoille and during the high spring water they were flushed down stream into the river.  There goes the trout fishing in that stretch of river.  Never introduce a fish to a body of water.  Leave that to the biologist.  This is not a good thing and will certainly change the balance of things in the Lamoille.  Looks to stay hot for the next few days so trout fishing will be limited to small cold streams or fish for smallmouth bass.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

hot fun in the summer time

Hi folks, The really busy season is upon us.  Guided a small brook yesterday and just returned from bank fishing with kids and parents this morning.  Pretty hot and sunny out there, but we are still managing to get enough rain to keep the water levels in decent shape for mid summer. Water temperatures are getting high and the lake I was on this morning was 74 degrees on the surface.  The small brook I guided yesterday was 60 degrees.  Keep your thermometer handy.  The best fishing this time of the year is certainly early morning.  Especially if you want to catch trout.  Tugged on native brook trout yesterday with 3wts and dry flies.  Beautifully colored fish that just through themselves at the fly.  I love seeing fish come to the surface regardless of their size.  This morning we got fish to eat off the surface , except that they were smallmouth bass who have a love for the floating rapala.  Man is there some electricity in the rod when these fish are hooked.  Everyone jumped and we landed a few and missed a few.  Really important on the surface take with a bass to be patient in setting the hook and then really strike them. Had the kids working garden hackle on the bottom with a tight line.  We caught yellow perch, fall fish, pumpkin seed, and more smallmouth.  Kids do not care what they catch as long as they catch something.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

cool water on a hot summer day

Hi Folks, Just back from a Maine vacation with my wife.  Nice coastline and I like eating lobster.  Back in the saddle guiding today on a small stream.  Water temperature was a cool 59 degrees under the heavy tree canopy.  Really important to keep your thermometer handy this time of the year when trout fishing.  Our larger streams will become too warm to fish and your best option will be small mountain brooks for native and wild fish or lake and lower river fishing for smallmouth bass.  We worked this small brook upstream and cast #12 stimulators into larger pools and any water that was knee deep. I love watching brook trout aggressively smash dry flies.  Beautiful little creatures.  The trick in brookie fishing is to keep moving and cover water.  Not a bad morning of trout fishing on a hot summer day.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

lots of fishing

Hi Folks, Been all over the board the last few days.  Guided the Lamoille Friday and today for trout and then smallmouth bass.  River levels are finally are the seasonal average and they have certainly warmed up.  The Lamoille above Morrisville was 64 degrees Friday in the morning and down low this am was 72 degrees.  Trout fishing will not be option on the Lamoille if the water stays at 70 degrees or higher.  At least if you are going to fish the Lamoille currently, make sure you do it early in the morning.  Friday the trout fishing was decent as we landed 4 wild rainbows and a wild brown trout.  Nothing giant, but not bad for July.  We nymphed all of the fish on #12 prince and #18 caddis pupa dropper.  Golden stone flies are starting to show up and I have seen a few casings on rocks as well as winged adults.  Micro caddis are the soup of the day and a #18 and #20 tan bodied caddis seems to be the dominant hatching insect currently. Also, noticed a few #12 golden drakes hatching and their shucks in the some back eddies. Smallmouth fishing was okay this morning.  We landed 3 smallies who all ate poppers and we missed several fish.  Fished big slow pools that were lined with boulders.  Small chartruse poppers were the fly of the day.  In between this all, I visited Maine with a fishing guest I have become friends with.  We fly fished the Magalloway River for brook trout and landlocked salmon.  Pretty interesting fishery as we fish a tailwater, a freestone, and a spring influenced sections of the same river.  Very hatch friendly river with large brookies and fiesty salmon.  Good wildlife viewing as we saw black bear, antlered deer, bald eagles, otters, osprey, grouse, beaver, and, hare.  No moose.  Great experience that I would recommend to anyone.  We had good fishing and we were there at a slow time.  Really enjoyed the spring influenced part of the river fishing to rising brookies in slow water.  So lots of different fish the last few days.  Nice diversity in New England for fishing.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

little weather blip and lots of smallmouth

Hi folks, Had a huge cold front push through the area with a crazy thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon.  Dropped almost an inch of rain at my house in Stowe.  Needless to say it raised the level of our rivers.  I guided a river trip yesterday afternoon on a stream that drops pretty quickly after the level rises and clears fairly quickly.  Water temperature was 68 degrees and the clarity was okay.  We landed a dozen smallmouth bass between 9" and 18".  We found a "honey hole" that was loaded with hungry smallmouth.  I always like the fishing in a river when the level is dropping after a high water event.  The fish are always hungry in that situation after hunkering down behind or under cover when fighting heavy water.  Loads of fun battling river smallmouth in big current.  With the cooler weather our rivers should stay just below 70 degrees for trout fishing.  Carry your thermometer.  I am off to chase trout this morning with guests.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

bass and bald eagles

Hi Folks, Guided with my boat all day yesterday on a large body of water for smallmouth bass using spin tackle.  Beautiful weather day with air temperatures reaching the low 80's and big blue skies.  Water temperature on the surface was 70 degrees and the water clarity was a little off color.  Saw a large adult bald eagle in the morning take a yellow perch out of the water.  Pretty impressive.  We covered a lot of water and started the day working top water presentations.  Not a lot of big fish looking at the top water lures so we resorted to jigging crawfish colored tube jigs.  Drew a lot of interest below the surface.  The smallmouth probably did not want to rise to eat on such a bright day.  The largest bass landed of the day was 16.5" long.  We lost another smallmouth at the boat that spit the jig that was much larger.  Really important to get a good solid hook set when fishing with soft plastics.  A good day fishing with plenty of action.  The bite did slow significantly around noon.  We found most of our fish on a hard bottom holding just off shore in 15' of water.  Off to use the boat again this am for smallmouth.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

river and lake fishing for trout

Hi Folks, Been busy with the guiding every day going in the morning and evening for trout.  Guided the Lamoille yesterday and this morning.  Water temperature this morning at 5:30am was 65 degrees.  Nice heavy of the last couple of mornings and helps to keep the sun off the water and keep the fish a bit more active.  Saw a black bear yesterday on the way to fishing.  Always a bonus when outside getting to see wildlife.  The Lamoille is still above the seasonal average flow.  Have seen a few micro caddis hatching #18 to #20 olive and tan bodied as well as some #14 cahills.  Seen the light cahill duns at dusk and the spinners in the early am.  Found a few sporadic rising rainbows to caddis in the morning.  The fishing on the Lamoille this weekend has been decent with a mixed bag of wild trout and stocked trout.  Had a guest this morning land a measured 18" wild rainbow.  Great looking trout that ate a #12 tungsten prince nymph.  Most of our fish we have been catching are in the 7" to 12" range so when you get one over 15", pretty nice moment.  Had a few trout rise and take a #18 tan bodied x-caddis or a #18 olive caddis pupa drifted just below the surface.  Fly fished a north east kingdom lake last night for the Hex hatch.  We used my boat and set up where a brook dumped into the lake and had a soft bottom that abutted a sharp drop off into deeper water.  The Hex is a burrowing nymph and rises out of sediment ridden bottoms.  The hatch came off pretty well around 9:00pm.  Awful big fly!  The rainbows in this lake were not overly responsive last night.  We did get a few chances to cast to some cruising fish, but it was not easy.  Caught a few perch stripping back a Hex nymph, but no fish on the dry.  Casting distance and accuracy is a must on the Hex hatch and figuring out the direction the trout are moving can be tough when it gets dark.  We got pushed off the water by a massive thunderstorm.  Pretty interesting hatch to witness even when the fishing is tough.  Well, guiding out of the boat the next few days for smallmouth.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

mountain brook trout and lake fishing for smallies

Hi folks, Nice day out.  Not too often that we have seen the sun this spring and summer.  Heavy fog this morning on the lake I guided with my boat.  Surface temperature was in the high sixties with a slight breeze from the south.  Not much of surface bite for the bass today.  We had to work hard for 2 landed smallmouth between 1lb and 2lbs.  Both good strong fighters and jumpers.  We found each fish located in deeper water off islands.  Right at the end of points that slowly tapered into deeper water. Did see a few large fish in shallow, but they did not want to play.  Landed a ton of large yellow perch and 1 pickerel.  A deep diving crank bait that imitated a craw fish was the lure of the day.  Last night I guided two fly anglers on a small mountain brook where the water temperature was 57 degrees.  The water level was still above the seasonal average, but the clarity was fine.  Saw a number of #14 yellow sallies hatching.  We fished rubber legged stimulators and found brook trout in big primary pools.  Not many fish in secondary water.  We landed several 8" plus brookies and lost a few.  All upstream presentation with a high stick mend.  No fly line on the water.  Pretty consistent fishing and good to see all different size classes of brook trout.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

working upstream

Hi Folks, Guided a Lamoille tributary yesterday afternoon under gray damp skies.  Some on and off light showers.  Saw a decent hatch of #20 BWO's and actually some smaller wild rainbows eating off the top.  Water temperature was 63 degrees and the level was still slightly above the seasonal average.  We walked up stream through a wide variety of water types from deep swift plunge pools to long riffles to pools.  The rig of the day was a #12 tungsten prince nymph with a #18 BWO dropper and a #12 Black Copper John with a #18 olive caddis pupa.  We hooked fish on all of the fly patterns.  Landed wild rainbows up to 11" and wild and stocked brown trout up to 10".  No giant fish but good steady action.  The key to catching this trout was a good dead drift and quick response time when the strike indicator danced.  You have to trust the indicator in swift water and set the hook.  A pretty cool sensation when the indicator goes down and you feel the electricity of a trout on the other end of the line.  All up stream presentations in order to sink the flies and not spook the fish.  I will be guiding this afternoon and all weekend.  Looking busy and the weather looks good so fish on!  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

really good afternoon of fishing

Hi Folks, Spent a nice afternoon on the Lamoille watershed yesterday chasing trout with the fly.  Nice weather for fishing with cool air temperatures and cloudy skies.  Water temperatures ranged from 61 degrees to 64 degrees.  Water levels were slightly above the seasonal average.  Had to nymph fish with an indicator for a good part of the afternoon.  A #14 tungsten red thread prince nymph with a #16 olive caddis pupa as a dropper was a productive rig.  Landed several 8" to 11" wild rainbows on that rig and the fish ate both fly patterns.  Fished some heavy pocket water and line control was very important.  No fly line on the water and a lot of high stick mending.  Strikes were unmistakable as the indicator went shooting up stream every time a fish took the fly.  Ventured into a few very large plunge pools and worked a #10 heavily weighted wooly bugger under an indicator.  I moved the indicator up the line as the plunge pools had a fair amount of water in them and I wanted the fly to get down.  I usually set the indicator about a arm's length away from the fly.  Anyway, it did not take long before a very large brown trout was all over the fly and hooked.  Unfortunately the fish came undone and spit the fly.  Still got a good look at the big boy and he will be there for my next visit.  Stopped at the main stem of the Lamoille on the way home at a large pool that has frequently rising fish at dusk.  Saw a pretty good hatch of #14 light cahills and the trout responding to the light colored fly.  Watched and attemtpted to catch a brown trout that was gulping the may fly in a giant back eddy.  The fish was moving around eating and it took awhile to figure out its feeding pattern.  There was at least 8" between the dorsal fin and the tail of this large brown trout.  I would have guessed it to be at least 18" long as I got a really good luck at it from above the river.  Never got into the stream as I could cast to it from the bank.  This trout consumed me and I did even attempt to cast to the other rising fish.  Unfortunately the brown was smarter than I and I was unable to get it to eat before daylight ran out.  It appeared to be eating emergers from the looks of the rise form.  I saw the dorsal and tail more than the nose sticking out of the water.  I have it marked and will try again.  Not every day a big fish like that eats off the surface.  Hex hatch is going on.  Really challenging fishing, but an awesome display of rising fish.  I will off to guide trout this afternoon.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

cranking smallmouth

small stream and big fish

Hi Folks, Water levels are dropping and our streams are looking pretty decent.  The Lamoille looked excellent this morning above Morrisville.  The Winooski is still high and will take a little time to settle down.  Guided a small stream last night that holds wild rainbows and native brook trout.  Water flow was above the seasonal average and the clarity was excellent.  Water temperature was 60 degrees.  This little brook is tree lined with some tricky fly casting involved.  You have to think about where you stand before casting due to the spook factor and the abundant trees and bushes.  We worked a #10 rubber legged stimulator dry fly on a 6'6" 3 wt. and a #12 black double tungsten stone fly under a white indicator on a 7'9" 3wt.  Most of the rainbows and brookies we caught were on the dry fly.  Did have a few fish take the stone fly in some of the deeper plunge pools.  Fish of the day was a wild 12" rainbow that jumped several times and I though it might jump right into a tree.  Also, landed a legitimate 10" native male brook trout.  The surface takes were all pretty explosive.  We landed another half a dozen bows and brookies and missed and lost a few.  Fun when you are using slow action 3wts. in a small brook.  Levels the playing field with the size of the fish you are catching and the wild rainbows in this brook are full of piss and vinegar.  Typically your larger small stream fish will show themselves after a high water event and the levels are dropping.  On a bad note, some outfitter who is using a drift boat is not respecting the land.  I noticed on the Lamoille this morning where a boat and trailer trampled down a hay filed and then flattened several trees that made up a shaky riparian buffer zone.  What irritates me is these tree where planted by the Lamoiile River Anglers Association a few years back and now that are pretty much killed.  I do not own a drift boat because there really is not a lot of water to float in these parts.  I use a motorboat on lakes and ponds where there are boat launches.  I do not approve of trashing a stream bank in order dump in a drift boat that scares more fish than you catch.  Sorry to rant and rave, but this action shows how someone just does not care about the state of our that the rivers they make money from.  Give something to back to the stream versus destroying the buffer areas!!!  Anywho, hopefully no rain in sight and the trout fishing will remain good as long as weather stays cool.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

wet weekend

Hi Folks, Man, it just keeps raining. Rained all weekend and puffed up our streams. Nice day today with sun and warmer air temperatures.  Lost a couple of trout trips this weekend due to the persistent rain and high water.  Guided this morning on a swollen brook that has clear, but higher than average water flows.  Water temperature was 56 degrees.  We fly fished with 2wt. and 3wt. outfits and big bushy dry flies.  A #10 royal rubber legged stimulator to be exact.  Not a matching the hatch stream.  We covered a lot of water to catch 7 brook trout.  Missed another half a dozen fish.  Where we found calm water off the main current we had trout rise to the fly.  Nothing huge, but nice to see trout eating off the top even in way high water.  Really important to fish a short line and keep line control in order to get a decent drift.  Short line is easier to mend and also easier setting the hook when the trout rose to eat.  I am off to guide again this afternoon and will be fly fishing in a small stream for brookies and brown trout.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

fishing by ourselves

Hi folks, I guess the wet weather scares anglers off and away from the water.  No one fishing on the lake I guided this morning with the boat.  Pretty peaceful and quiet.  Water was pretty calm and the surface temperature was in the high 60's.  Low light with heavy clouds and a couple of light brief showers.  We spin fished the surface for smallmouth bass with a jointed blue and silver floating rapala.  Worked rocky points and ledge rock areas.  The bass were holding off the deeper parts of the points and very well could have been suspended.  The first fish of the day was 16".  Caught 5 more smallmouth in the 6" to 12" range and then the big boy.  The top water bite slowed a bit by mid morning so we changed to a deep diving craw fish pattern crank bait and immediately hooked and landed a 19" smallmouth.  Really nice strong looking fish that was full of piss and vinegar.  Not a bad morning of smallie fishing.  Really important to be dialed in when fishing the surface as you just never know when a strike will occur.  More rain today has my range gauge in Stowe measuring close to an 1" over the last 24 hours.  Our streams are high and dirty again.  Will be fishing small streams this weekend as the Lamoille and Winooski will take a few days to calm down.  Remember to clean you gear

wet again

Hi Folks, Looks like rain for the next couple of days.  Showers on and off and nice cool air temperatures.  If we avoid thunderstorms, our streams and brooks should stay fine.  Guided the Lamoille this morning and fished on a Winooski tributary yesterday afternoon.  I have found water temperatures between 58 degrees on the small stream to 62 degrees on the main stem of the Lamoille.  Not too much for insect activity.  A few random #14 yellow sallies yesterday and this morning a few #18 Blue Winged Olives.  Lots of #16 to #18 olive bodied caddis and tan bodied caddis encased on large boulders.  No rising fish.  Last night a #14 light green stimulator drew a fair amount of attention from 4" to 8" wild rainbows and brook trout.  A lot of walking between knee deep holding water, but good fun watching the fish come to the fly.  Really enjoy seeing the fish eat.  This morning we nymphed with a #16 olive caddis and #18 peacock herl soft hackle as a dropper.  Rigged the the two flies under indicators and dead drifted several pools.  We tried a blindly fished #12 ausable wulff and #16 usual, but no takers.  We had 11 trout eat the fly and we landed 2 fiesty wild rainbows on dropper fly.  Saw no stocked fish.  They must have really taken a beating on the Lamoille during the high water.  Well, I fine by the weather as long our streams do not get too high or dirty.  Off to fish smallies in the am from the boat.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

longest day of the year and great fishing

Hi folks, Really nice weather pattern for fly fishing our trout streams currently.  Cool nights into the 50's and cool mornings with bright sunny days warming into the high 70's.  The morning trout fishing has been outstanding.  I guided a Lamoille tributary yesterday morning where the water temperature was 60 degrees at 6:00am.  Nice #16 tan bodied caddis hatch all morning as well as some #18 caddis hatching and #14 rusty mayfly spinner was egg laying.  We found fish rising subtly to the spinner and good splashy rise forms to the caddis.  The rig of the day was a #16 parachute caddis with a #16 caddis pupa dropper.  We landed 5 stocked brown trout and 3 wild rainbows.  Probably hooked and lost another 7 fish.  We found adult fish rising in big primary pools and younger smaller trout rising in the riffles.  I was introduced to an interesting method of fishing yesterday by my guest.  He had a Tenkara rod which is a  form of fishing used in Japan.  A long telescoping rod without a reel with a fluorocarbon leader attached to the tip of the rod.  No reel what so ever.  The rod was 11' and the leader was slightly longer.  You could false cast this rig and it was really slick for short drifts and casts.  Reminded me of a bamboo cane pole I used as a kid to catch bream and crappie. We did land a couple of fish using it and and lost a few.  Pretty interesting and I think I will be looking into the Tenkara set-up.  With the bright days, I prefer fishing in the morning as the afternoon has a limited window of opportunity when it is so bright.  Right at dusk basically.  Will be chasing trout in the morning tomorrow.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

Father's Day weekend

Hi Folks, Spent the last two days guiding for trout and smallmouth bass.  Nice weather front has cooled things off, but also presented some wind issues yesterday.  River water temperatures have remained in the low sixties and levels are still slightly higher than the seasonal average.  The lake I was on yesterday morning with the boat was 68 degrees on the surface.  Saturday the trout fishing was pretty decent as we fished a river that holds lake run fish.  We landed 3 rainbows with 2 of the fish being wild trout.  The largest of the bunch made some spectacular leaps out of the water.  Streamer fishing was in order with no bug activity and the fish unwilling to eat nymphs.  A crawfish pattern seemed to be the ticket. All of the fish were holding in deeper pools and rose to eat the streamer fly.  The smallmouth fishing was pretty darn good yesterday morning before the wind really began to blow.  We were on the water fishing by 5:30am and fished surface flies the entire time.  We found smallmouth in usual places like big rock points and humps.  The fish were holding on the deeper sides of the points.  Also, fished some old wood that was abutted by random large boulders on a drop off.  You could see the smallmouth come up in the water column and eat the fly.  A blue and white foam slider was the most productive fly and most of the strikes came when the fly hit the water or after the first movement of the fly on the surface.  Good surface takes with lots of jumping.  We landed 9 smallies and missed or lost another 7 fish.  No monsters yesterday, buts lots of action.  I am taking today off from fishing after a week straight and will be back after the trout tomorrow am.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

working for trout

Hi folks, Guided a double yesterday starting on the upper Winooski in the morning and then finished the day on the Lamoille.  Yes, I did change wading gear and make sure that I did not move anything from one watershed to another.  Water temperature on the Winooski was 60 degrees and the water was almost twice the seasonal flow average.  The color of the water was slightly off or even say dingy.  Not much for insects hatching and no rising fish.  We nymphed and worked a few streamers.  We covered a fair amount of water were able to land 5 wild rainbows all under 12".  Even at a young age the rainbows all got air time.  A #10 olive and black heavily weighted wooly bugger accounted for one fish.  A #12 tungsten prince and a #16 olive caddis pupa accounted for the other trout. We did not find any consistency in the fishing and the trout were holding in heavy water as well as slow pools. Last night on the Lamoille the water temperature was 65 degrees and the water level was above the seasonal average.  Saw a number of #16 to #18 caddis hatching at dusk as well as #16 sulphers.  We found a few rising fish, but they were all young rainbows.  Nymphing a #16olive caddis pupa with #18 pheasant tail under an indicator produced 1 landed wild rainbow and several missed or lost fish.  We were able to get the rising trout at dusk to eat a #16 the usual and #16 parachute sulpher.  Still no larger fish showing their face.   Considering the conditions, the fishing was not fast and furious.  Nice overcast day with cool air temperatures, you would have thought we would have caught a ton of fish.  We did have the rivers to ourselves, that is always a bonus.  I think the higher than average flows had an impact on the fishing yesterday, but who knows.  You can only catch them if your fly is in the water.  Off to tug on trout today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  have fun, Willy

dusk and dawn

Hi folks, Nice weather finally.  Really enjoying the dry spell with the sun.  Of course these big bright sunny days change the prime fishing times, but who cares about getting up at 4:30am to go fishing?  Been guiding in the morning and evenings.  Right now you want to fish either very early or late in the day to dusk due to light levels and water temperatures.  This morning we chased smallmouth bass from my boat with the fly rod and spin rod.  Surface temperature was 64 degrees with no wind.  We worked large rocky points that dropped into deeper water with a surface popper that looked like a frog and a floating rapala.  Both the fly and lure were equally productive and we landed 15 smallmouth bass between 6" and 16".  We covered a lot of water and made lots of casts.  The trout fishing has been crazy right at dark.  Fish rising everywhere eating sulphers, egg laying caddis, and even saw a few drakes.  The last hour of dark seems to be the magic hour for rising fish.  Trout fishing in the morning has been steady as well, just not as much rising activity.  Flies right now, olive and tan bodied caddis between #16 and #18, sulphers between #14 and #18, and drakes between #10 and #12.  I have been mostly using an #16 x-caddis, #16 pheasant tails, and #12 white wulff.  The fish have not seemed overly fussy.  Make a good drift and good things happen.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have fun, Willy