Hi Folks, Starting to have a feel to Autumn in the air. Nice time of year to be on the water. The hill sides become more colorful by the day. The trout fishing has still be tricky. The water is cooling off slowly. Levels are still low or about at seasonal levels. I find the trout fishing has been slow. Catching some nice brook trout in small streams. The males are very colorful this time of year as they prepare to spawn in a few weeks. Mostly casting dry fly patterns to the Brookies. #14 Green Bodied Stimulators, the #12 GFA in green, #12 rubber legged Royal Trudes, #16 foam ants, and #12 Royal Wulffs. The takes have been methodical. The fish have been rising slowly and deliberately to the dry fly and you must be patient on the hook set. I am fixing to get back on the big water as it cools down. Lots of #12 Isonychia casings on rocks as well as #8-#10 Stone fly shucks. Seeing a fair amount #16 caddis along the banks of streams. Not a bad time of the year to swing streamers like #8-#10 olive, white, and black wooly buggers, #8 Mickey Finn, #6-#10 Muddler minnows, and a variety of #6-#8 olive sculpin patterns. The bass fishing continues to be lights out. Surface lake temperatures are cooling down. Yesterday the water was 70 degrees. The wind has been steady from the NW with it laying down at dusk. The smallmouth and largemouth are looking healthy. Big and fat and full of energy. We have been locating fish on weed edges that are on a hard bottom. Sharp drop offs in the bottom contour have been key. All of the takes has been subtle. Covering lots of water has been productive in producing fish. We have found hungry smallmouth in rivers holding in big eddies. The fish are stacked up.Eddies are big refrigerators to fish. The bass fishing should continue to be solid for the next few weeks. Nice time of the year to fish. Remember to clean your gear and keep the non-native species at home. Have Fun, Willy
