give em' some deer hair man

Hi Folks, Ran the boat all day yesterday with fly fishing clients chasing smallmouth on the first day of Autumn.  Still feels like summer out there to me.  Cool morning with fog, but once it burned off we had big blue bird sunny skies.  Surface temperature of the lake was 66 degrees at 8:00am and warmed to 70 degrees by days end.  Yes, we still still need rain and a cool down.  However, as the weather stays consistent like this the smallie fishing will continue to be excellent.  Very little wind yesterday with a slight south breeze.  We surface fished for most of the day using big deer hair bugs, old school.  The lake we fished was off color and is dirty looking most of the time.  We used bright colored deer hair flies in red and white and chartreuse and red.  Both bugs had inverted hooks so you could cast them up on to weed beds and drag them off.  Deer hair is a bit more wind resistant than the traditional cork and plastic poppers I like to use for smallmouth.  Hauling is important in casting them. We found pods of aggressive fish and then we would fish areas that were like the dead sea.  The common characteristic of each productive spot was sharp drop offs from 5' to 20' with rock shoreline and good over hanging tree cover. We landed 8 bass between 12" and 19".  Probably missed or lost twice that amount.  To all of you trout fisherman, when bass fishing you need to really stick the fish.  Big hook sets, especially since you are casting a 12lb. to 16lb. tippet.  It was fun watching the smallmouth and largemouth chase down the fly.  Good strong fighting fish.  I am off to chase river bass today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Bone Dry

Hi Folks, Guided a double yesterday mixing it up between small stream fly fishing for trout and large river fishing for smallmouth with spin gear.  We really need rain!!! Another dry fall.  Water temperatures in the brook we fished were 56 degrees and in the afternoon the bass river was 66 degrees.  We worked really hard for trout only landing 5 native brookies and we missed a few fish.  The low water has the trout tight and the spook factor is in full effect.  We got them to eat terrestrials, but ha to try a variety of flies.  The bass fishing was very good with us landing 16 smallmouth and 3 stocked rainbows on 3" and 4" Senkos.  All dead drifted.  The river fishing will remain consistent for smallmouth as long as the water temperature stay above 60 degrees.  I am off to chase bass ad pike out of the boat today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Connecticut Lakes

Hi Folks, Been away for a few days chasing trout and salmon in the furthest most northeast section of Vermont and into New Hampshire.   Mostly fly fished tail water streams.  The entire upper CT. river system is a wilderness place with thick woods and not a lot of people.  The rivers that run between the lakes hold rainbow, brown, and brook trout along with landlocked salmon.  Lots of the fishing is predicated by river flows and discharge from the tail water dams.  Lack of water means less big fish moving out of the lakes into the rivers for us river fly anglers.  The trout and salmon move back and forth to either chase bait fish or reproduce.  Water temperature has been consistent and holding between 60 degrees and 62 degrees.  Awful warm the last week with it finally cooling off on Sunday and becoming more Fall like.  We still need rain and our rivers are low all over the northeast.  Hard to get salmon and brown trout moving without water flow.  We fished a lot of heavy pocket water which was productive under bright sunny warm conditions.  Tough wading.  Small yellow caddis seemed to be the most effective sub surface fly.  A small #18 yellow caddis pupa caught rainbows and salmon.  A #16 Goddard caddis was extremely effective on the surface producing a nice male hook jawed brown and several rainbows.  The good old #14 yellow bodied and orange bodied stimulator was steady in the pocket water drawing trout to the surface in the heavy water.   We certainly worked for fish, but the low water allowed us access to spots we could not normally reach.  A high light of the last few days was a close encounter with a black bear at dusk.  Nothing like being 50' from a large bear crossing a river.  Pretty cool.  Looks like with the current weather that the best fishing will be afternoon as our nights are now cold.  Mid day to late afternoon will be the way to go.  As far as hatches, lots of #18 tan bodied caddis on rocks as well as #14/#16 olive caddis pupa.  Still some #12/#14 Isonychia, but the predominant may fly will be the #18-#22 BWO.  Don't rule out terrestrials and the streamer fly such as a ghost pattern, mickey finn, muddlers, and zonkers.  Bust week coming up for the catfish as I we be guiding all week for smallmouth and trout.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

The art of fly casting and smallmouth bass

Hi folks, Ran the boat with a client yesterday afternoon chasing smallmouth bass with the fly rod.  Nice  80 degree day with big sun and a slight northwest wind.  Nice day to be outside though not a ton of traffic on the water.  The surface temperature was 74 degrees.  Still very much summer like out there.  My client wanted to learn to fly fish from a boat.  Can be a challenging environment to learn to cast from.  You handle larger fly rods and flies than you normally would trout fishing, you have to be able to cast for some distance, and most importantly handle the fly line.  Still water fishing is about covering water and making lots of casts.  My guest picked it up fairly quickly and we were able to catch some fish on a #6 chartreuse rubber legged popper.  Presentation is not quiet as critical bass fishing as it is in trout fishing.  However, the hook set and managing the line is more tricky.  We put 5 smallmouth in the boat and missed several others.  The fish were holding in deeper water from 15' to 20' off shoreline edges.  In particular, where a downed tree extended into deeper water.  Being patient with the popper is always necessary.  We stayed out of the sun which is always a good idea when surface fishing.  The recent rain puffed our streams up.  The Lamoille and Winooski are coming around the trib. streams are all in good shape.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Salmo trutta and much needed rain

Hi Folks, Been guiding the last couple of days with the fly rods chasing trout in tributary streams.  More specifically trying to catch some decent Brown Trout or Salmo trutta.  We finally got some significant rain.  I received almost 3/4" of rain at my house in Stowe.  The Lamoille and Winooski were high and dirty yesterday.  Good problem to have after all of warm dry weather we have experienced.  The stream I have been on is a very difficult wading stream that has excellent stabilty, tree canopy, and always maintains temperature.  The last couple of days it has been 57 degrees to 58 degrees.  Even with all of the rain this particular stream stays clear.  In large part due to the lack of run off of top soil, gradient, and its source.  We worked up stream in stealth mode and cast a number of different patterns such as a #14 green foam hopper, a #16 x-caddis, a #14 green bodied stimulator, and a #14 Hare's Ear parachute.  We had fish eat the parachute, caddis, and stimulator.  We did not land any giant trout but caught some very beautifully colored brown and brook trout.  Really important in this dynamic to make good drag free drifts.  Eliminating the fly line off the water helps to eliminate drag.  Short accurate casts are a necessity.  We also nymphed several heavy plunge pools with limited success. This is one of those  streams where you know that you could hang a trout of a life time on any cast.  The trout fishing should only get better as things really start to cool off.  I am off to chase bass out of my boat today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Cooling down, slowing it down

Hi Folks, Ran the boat yesterday with a client chasing smallmouth bass with spin gear.  Weather front moved in bring a increasingly steady east/northeast wind.  Wind blows from the east, the fish bite the least, maybe. I am a fishing guide my job is to figure out how to catch fish even in adverse conditions.  Surface temperature was 72 degrees and yes we still need rain.  Air temperatures have finally cooled of a bit and it does feel more like September.  We dragged 4" watermelon red magic Senkos off the bottom and picked up 7 smallmouth.  No really big fish, but enough steady action to keep the rod bent.  Had a lot of fish pick up the rubber and drop it.  Had to be a weather thing.  We did witness a few bass busting bait on the surface as you could see pods of small baitfish in open water that the fish were attacking from below.  We tried some swim baits over those areas without any response from smallmouth. When the fishing is slow, time to slow down the approach.  Looks like a some wet weather on the way.  I will be mixing it up the next few days between big and small water trout fishing.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

A sign of things to come

Hi Folks, Ran the boat yesterday afternoon with clients for some early fall fishing for smallmouth bass. We were not disappointed.   I love the month of September for smallmouth fishing.  A fine time of year to hang a real big smallie.  We had a nice afternoon with no wind and a surface temperature of 74 degrees.  All of our water levels are low and we still very much need some rain.  We fished in and around standing milfoil beds and found most of our fish in a little deeper water off the beds.  All of our big fish came out of 12' to 15' of water.  We worked the surface with minimal results.  Had half a dozen come to the surface to eat, but without questions the slowly fished Senko was the method.  We worked 4" and 5" Senkos in Red/Watermelon magic and Goby and landed 9 smallmouth bass and 1 largemouth bass.  We missed or lost just as many.  What was nice was the average size of the fish we caught was large.  We had 5 smallmouths over 15" all the way to 18.5".  Good strong fighting fish.  Still some #14-#22 flying ants around.  Looks like some cooler and maybe even damp weather on the way.  I am off to chase smallmouth and walleye from the boat today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

standing in a river

Hi folks, Been trying to keep cool the last couple of days guiding.  Been river fishing for smallmouth bass with the spin rods.  Record hot temperatures and high humidity have made it a bit on the uncomfortable side outdoors.  Perfect time to stand in a nice Vermont stream and tug on some fish.  The water temperature has been 72 degrees to 75 degrees.  The water is still low though we did get some heavy rain yesterday afternoon and last night.  The bass fishing on Monday was a little slow as we only landed two fish.  However we made up for it yesterday by landing 19 smallmouth and had a 12" stocked rainbow eat a 3" crawfish colored Senko.  Massive number of #14-#22 flying ants last night.  They covered the river and there were plenty of fish rising to eat them.  Mostly Fall Fish, small bass, and a few trout were gobbling up the ants.  We caught all of our smallmouth on 3" and 4" Senkos.  We had the fish take the rubber on a dead drift or even when the rubber was dropping after the cast.  We had half a dozen aggressive takes reeling back in the soft plastic bait.  We did fish a popper but the fish were not tuned in to it.  We missed a handful of fish on the surface but the best bite was below the surface.  We fished slow water and big eddy areas and we stood in the stream for most of the afternoon.  Pretty relaxing and comfortable.  We got off the water as the lightening and thunder moved in.  Will be running the boat the rest of the week.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Brothers bass

HI Folks, Guided with the fly rods for river smallmouth yesterday.  Took out 3 brothers who are all fine fly anglers and even finer gentlemen.  Could not have been with a better crew for a super fantastic day of fly fishing.  Man, it is still hot and muggy out there.  The water is incredibly low and I can't remember seeing the Lamoille so dry.  Once again, we need rain.  We got on the water at sun rise under heavy fog.  Lots of valley fog this time of the year.  Good for keeping the sun off the water.  Water temperature was 75 degrees and low and clear.  We were able to spot several fish eat the fly.  We begin the morning popping the bass and landed a 2lber within 5 minutes of fishing.  It just got better from there.  We landed well over 30 smallmouth casting a combination of #6 chartreuse rubber legged poppers and stripping back #4/#8 Clauser Minnows and cone headed olive bunny buggers.  Due to the water levels most of the fish are holding in slow deep pools.  One of the more enjoyable moments of the day was casting into a large foam covered eddy that had a large rock and stump. You would cast the fly into the foam and strip and wham!  We pulled 4 nice bass out of this dynamic.  We could see smallmouth emerge from large rocks to eat the fly.  Incredible how much water we could access due to the low water.  Looks to stay hot this week and I will be chasing bass starting with this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Lovely

Hi folks, guided a double yesterday chasing trout in the morning with the fly rods and spin fishing from my canoe in the afternoon for smallmouth bass.  Still very much summer out on the water and I am still fishing early and late in the day.  The water temperature on the lower Winooski was 66 degrees at 6:30am.  Water is low and yes, we really need some rain.  A few #16 caddis hatching in the morning with some random rising fish and Cedar Waxwings working bugs over riffles.  We landed 3 small wild rainbows and 1 stocked brown trout.  We got the fish to at a dead drifted #16 olive wire caddis pupa and a #14 Klinkhammer.  The fishing was decent until the early morning fog burned off.  Every trout was located off heavy riffles that dumped into large primary pools.  Once the sun rose the trout fishing really slowed.  In the afternoon, the lake surface temperature was 74 degrees and pretty flat calm on the water.  Good afternoon of bass fishing with 11 good sized smallmouth to the canoe as well as a robust 25" plus chain pickerel.  We landed 7 of the fish on a 4" watermelon red magic Senko and 5 of the fish on a fire tiger popper.  The popper accounted for the largest smallies of the day including two 3.5lb to 3.75lb hard pulling bronze backs.  We caught bass in a variety of spots from weed edges to downed wood to open water that had large rocks.  Really aggressive strikes on the surface.  Only one fish missed and lost which is pretty impressive in an afternoon of fishing.  Good job of capitalizing on opportunities.  Off to chase river bass.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Action Shot

still very much summer

Hi Folks, guided the last couple of morning chasing river smallmouth with spin gear and fly rods.  Our rivers are low.  However, the northern reaches of the state seem to have a bit more water than central to southern Vermont.  Certainly warmer than average air temperatures though it has been cooling off significantly at night into the low fifties.  Lots of heavy morning fog which is nice for keeping the sun off the water.  Mornings and late afternoon are the the times to fish presently.  I was leaving the water yesterday at lunch time when another outfit was just arriving.  Not an easy time of day to catch fish in big water in the middle of a hot sunny afternoon.  The bass fishing  has been very consistent.  I have been wading to water that is generally inaccessible due to flows.  Water temperatures have ranged from 67 degrees in the early morning to 72 degrees by midday.  We have been dead drifting 3" baby bass Senkos with the spin gear.  Landed 8 smallmouth yesterday morning and lost and missed twice that number.  With the low water the smallmouth have been a bit fussy.  Lots of pick ups on the rubber only to drop them with the slightest inclination of resistance from the angler.  Really important to recover slack when you draw a take from a smallmouth, but it must be accomplished without the fish sensing you.  The fly fishing for bass has been even better.  Popping was pretty darn good the other morning under early morning fog.  I have found that smaller poppers in #8/#6 have been most effective.  Poppers with yellow, chartreuse, and black bodies have all been effective.  When the surface bite slows streamers in olive, black and white have all worked.  Move them in short darting movements and work them in and around large rocks.  Fun watching a big bronze back emerge from a boulder and crush a streamer.   Trout fishing is currently relegated to early morning for the big rivers and small mountain brooks.  Be seeing lots of #22 male flying ants the last few afternoons.  A #14/#16 olive caddis pupa dead drifted or a #12/#14 Isonychia pattern will produce fish in the big rivers.  Smaller dry flies like #14 ant, #14/#16 yellow or green bodied humpy, #14/#16 adams/hare's ear parachute or a #14 Royal Wullf will catch small stream trout.  So, get up early and go fish or wait until late afternoon until our weather changes.  Really need rain.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

New and different

Hi Folks, Spent a really nice morning in the kingdom with a client fly fishing for native Brook trout.  Pretty magical place we fished on a high gradient stream in a thick tree canopy.  A whole another world.  The brook temperature was 57 degrees and the water was low and clear.  We landed 27 brook trout between 3" and 12".  All on the same dry fly, a #14 Klinkhammer.  I think there was a trout in every piece of water we fished.  All up stream fishing and the larger pools held the most fish and the big ones.  Fun experience for my Floridan client who ad never fished in such an environment.  Unique and out of the ordinary fro someone from down country.  The brook trout were lit up with color, really impressive.  Looks like some warmer than average weather for the next few days, but still cool at night.  I will be chasing smallmouth the next few days.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

contrasting worlds

Hi Folks, Spent a nice day guiding and fly fishing for small stream trout and still water smallmouth bass fishing.  On the trout front, the water is wicker low and we really need rain.  The spook factor is in full effect with the low clear water.  The water temperature of the brook was 59 degrees. We worked up stream with a variety of dry flies.  The smaller patterns were the most productive with a #16 x-caddis catching a beautiful wild 12" brown trout and a 10" plus native male brook trout.  We landed half a dozen brook trout on a #16 yellow bodied Humpy.  Due to the low water the fish were really holding tight to cover (i.e. large rocks).  Large pools seemed futile to fish in as the trout would get tight with the fly line flying over head each time you attempted to land the dry in the water.  Still a good morning with challenges and rain is really needed.  In the afternoon, went smallmouth fly fishing in a canoe on a body of water where the level can fluctuate.  The water was being dropped as we were fishing and it seemed to move the bass around a bit.  I think they were re-orientating themselves with the new water levels. We landed 6 really nice smallmouth with the largest fish pressing 4 plus pounds.  Lost and missed another 6 fish.  The flies of the afternoon were a deer hair mouse, #6 black hula popper fly, and #6 bright orange popper, and a #8 frog popper.  We found smallmouth in a variety of places and did not appear to be a pattern.  Looks like summer for the next few days.  Get on the water early and often.  Off to chase small stream trout.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy

Wading the Gnarly plus ski resort fishing

Hi Folks, I have guided in two completely different environments over the last couple of days. Spent yesterday on a small mountain stream fly fishing for native brook trout and wild brown trout.  I was not in Stowe and can't tell you whether I went north or south.  However, the tactics are the same regardless of where I small steam fish in Vermont.  High gradient streams coming off big elevation (i.e ski mountains) are nice cool places to be on hot summer days.  The water is low but the temperatures are perfect ranging from 56 degrees to 58 degrees.  All up stream fishing i the clear water.  Important if you do not want to spook too many fish.  We landed 17 brook trout yesterday on a #14 Royal Wulff and two wild Brown trout on a #16 X-caddis.  Interesting to watch the difference in how the brook trout aggressively engulf the dry while the brown trout rose more cautiously and sipped the fly.  Took patience in not sitting the hook prematurely when you knew and could see the fish elevate to the dry. Decent number of #14-#22 fly ants out and about this evening.  This morning we fly fished big water for smallmouth. The water is so low that you can wade to pools that probably almost never get fished. Still the wading in the big rocky rivers is gnarly.  Need to be on your game. We landed 18 smallmouth.  Nothing on a top water.  Nice foggy morning and the water temperature was 72 degrees.  Swinging #6/#8 olive cone headed bunny buggers, #8 white zonkers, and #6 white clauser minnows all drew interest.  Most of the takes were fairly subtle.  The smallies were holding in and around big rocks of main current seams in at least waist deep water.  Important to keep the fly moving but not too fast but not too slow.  Steering it around suspected holding areas.  Could use some rain.  Hopefully the night will stay cool and the fishing will continue to be steady.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

big nasty pocket water

Hi Folks, guided yesterday afternoon with the fly rods on the Winooski.  Beautiful weather afternoon with nice cool air temperatures and a slight northeast breeze.  The water temperature was 67 degrees.  Still a bit warm for my liking.  We waded a stretch of river that is all pocket water with huge rocks to negotiate.  Not easy wading and requires some caution in walking around.  We located wild rainbows in the primary pools as the water level was low enough that there did not appear to be any trout holding in secondary spots.  The low water allowed us to access areas that might not always be waded so easily.  For bugs, there were a few #12 Isonychia, some #18 micro caddis, a few remnant #8/#10 stone flies, and few #20 sulphurs that came off at dark.  We hooked 8 of the nine fish that ate our flies on a double nymph rig that consisted of a #12 flashback pheasant tail with a #18 caddis pupa dropper.  We found one rising fish and got it to eat a #16 x-caddis.  We missed a few fish due to rod positioning on the hook set.  It is important that the tip of the rod follows the flies in the drift.  The hook set needs to come straight up with a sweep of the rod.  Still the hardest part of river fly fishing is getting the trout to eat the fly.  I have to say that a percentage of the fish we landed looked summer stressed.  Big heads with skinny bodies.  A product of the warm water they had to survive in over the last few weeks.  I am off to chase small stream trout this morning.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Steady and consistent

Hi Folks, August is nearing an end and the I have to say the smallmouth bass fishing has been really good for most of the month.  Just consistent with my clients landing lots of fish over the last few weeks.  I guided a trip yesterday morning with a family and the spin rods.  We landed 13 smallmouth bass.  Nice cloudy morning with threatening rain showers and very little wind.  Water is still low and clear and the temperature was 69 degrees.  With the low light the fish were on.  Seemed a lot more active without the sun beating down on them.  I sound like a broken record, but the 3" crawfish and baby bass Senkos have just been really productive.  The trick with the Senkos is figuring out how long to wait before you set the hook.  The bass attempt to swallow them, but they carry them for a long time in their mouth like a cigar.  I am always amazed at how long an angler has to set up the hook set when fishing Senkos.  They work as well if not better than bait.  Even had some stocked rainbows and browns eat them.  Looks like a cool down is in order.  Cool days and cooler nights should turn the trout fishing back on.  Still tons of #22 Tricos hatching in the morning, along with random #12/#14 Isonychia showing up, and the ever present #14/#15 olive caddis.  Lots of #18 cased yellow bodied caddis on rocks in riffles currently.  Terrestrial patterns should be everyone's fly box right now.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Sitting down on the job

Hi Folks, Ran two trips yesterday with both focusing on young anglers fishing.  River fished for smallmouth bass in the morning and trout fished a small mountain brook in the afternoon with the fly rods.  Always fun introducing young anglers to fishing and watching the catch their first fish, priceless. The river temperature in the morning was 71 degrees and the brook temperature in the afternoon was 59 degrees.  Water is low and clear.  Spook factor is in full effect.  We caught 17 smallmouth in the morning dead drifting 3" crawfish colored and baby bass colored Senkos.  The funny moment oft he morning was when two of my young anglers decided they were tired and sat down to fish.  While casually sitting they proceeded to land 7 smallmouth.  The fish were stacked up under a log at the head of a pool and the kids kept dropping the Senko just up stream so it drifted right into place.  Good fun.  In the afternoon we cast #14 Royal Wulff into deep plunge pools and the brook trout were all over the fly.  I think we saw a fish in every piece of water we cast to.  The brookies are looking pretty colorful.  The water is so low that it is not very tough to figure out where the fish are holding.  Good definition in the streams.  With kids, fishing needs to be fun and kept light.  Very rewarding for me to see young boys and girls catching their first fish.  I am off t chase rive bass.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

Just about perfect

Hi Folks, Incredibly good day of river smallmouth bass fishing yesterday.  I had a morning trip and and afternoon trip and between the two we landed 37 smallmouth bass.   Warm day with the water temperatures well up into the high seventies by days end.  Flows are at a seasonal low and now below the average for this time of the year.  Tons of bait fish in the shallows along with crawfish and juvenile smallmouth.  The afternoon fly fishing for smallmouth was as good as I have seen in sometime.  We fished a stretch of river that is very big and the pools are spread out.  Due to this factor and the low water, the fish were concentrated in each large primary pool.  We found that a high percentage of smallmouth were holding on the up stream side of large rocks.  We cast a #6 tungsten red cone head olive bunny bugger and as the light got low we worked #8 frog poppers.  The takes on the popper were really aggressive.  Big splashy boils  on the fly! We hammered them on both flies.  We caught 1 small bass and the rest of the 23 fish landed were all in the 1 3/4 lb range to almost 3 lbs.  Healthy fat jumping smallmouth that looked like they had not see a hook all season.  Off to do it all over again today.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy

challenging

Hi Folks, Guided a fly angler yesterday morning on a very tricky tributary of the Lamoille River.  Nice consistent cold water temperatures in this particular stream. The water temperature was 61 degrees and the water clarity was good.  This stream is extremely rugged and the walking can be down right treacherous and the casting has to be creative due to the lay of the land.  Fly fishing for trout is not about our convenience, but more about the trouts.  In other word the fish hold in interesting spots at times and it is up to us to get the fly to them.  Interesting how much of difference having yellow lenses on polarized glasses makes.  I was able to spot most of the trout coming to the fly prior to them actually eating it.  My client had a brown lenses which is good in bright sun but not low light.  Being as Vermont is a pretty cloudy place, I have always preferred the yellow lenses for fishing in the Stowe area.  Pretty nice advantage being able to spot a trout coming to your dry fly.  We had 7 trout eat our #16 x-caddis including all 3 species.  Only landed 1 fish.  The most difficult part of fly fishing for trout in my opinion  is getting the fish to eat the fly.  Hooking and landing the fish comes with doing.  So, nice to see a cool down.  Should cool down our streams a bit.  I am off to chase smallmouth this morning and tonight.  Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home.  Have Fun, Willy