Let it sit

Hi Folks, Ran a full day yesterday with a fly fishing client for smallmouth bass.  Wicked hot and humid  day for fishing.  Surface temperature was 75 degrees with a slight south breeze.  Really important to find shady areas to fish when the sun is beating down on the water.  We landed 7 smallmouth, a pickerel and several pan fish on a #6 frog popper.  We missed and lost several fish and a couple of good ones as well.  The key when the weather is hot is too let the fly really sit for a long time on the surface of the water before making it pop. In some instances you can let the fly sit for well over 30 seconds prior to moving it.  Incredible how many strikes happen after the fly has been sitting still on the water for some time.  Most of our strikes yesterday were pretty explosive.  Really important to give the fish the time to eat the fly but also really strike the bass on the hook set.  We were using a 16 lb. tippet so there is some room for really putting it to them on the hook set.   The theme of the day with locating fish was shade.  We found fish on sharp drop offs, downed wood, and the edges of weed beds.  I noticed a lot of smallmouth coming out of the water in various locations and it appeared that they were eating small bait fish.  You could see balls of bait suspended over rocks and boulders. I am pretty sure they were feeding on the minnows and the inertia from the acceleration onto the bait was propelling them out of the water.  Well, another hot one coming up today.  I am off to chase river smallmouth.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy