Fish Short.

Water levels are dropping at this time of season and with it so should your approach. That skinny water on the edge of a riffle is a great place to prospect. Only ten inches deep? It's enough to cover a substantial fish. Stay out of the water and fish those skinny seams and edges well. We've picked up enough "Holy Crap! I never would have thought a fish that size would be there" bruisers over the seasons to remember that lesson. Get sneaky. Ninja sneaky. Fish catching sneaky.

The High Life.

Summer! We really like this season both for guiding and playing. Things like: Caddis hatches in the evening. Exploring small tribs for native brookies. Day hikes to those small alpine ponds. Tailgate b.s. sessions. Riverside lunches. Headlamp trips back to the truck. Wiffle Ball! Wildflowers in full bloom. Deer and moose sightings. 5X. Secret swimming holes. Drakes and Alder Flies. Macanudos and Herradura apres events. Farmers markets. Wet wading. Spey casting for trout. Evening lightning seen on the going home commute. New 4 weights. Double taper floating lines. Early morning's first light.

Those are just a few things so far this summer for us. How about you? Make a list. It's going to fly by. Fill it.

Shameless promo announcement: We have no more openings this month, what we do have are some openings for July. Spinner falls, caddis, alder flies, drakes and bwo's will be the special of the day. The dry fly game is alive and well next month. Don't miss out.

Summer Days.

Summer season has started. Wet wading is now standard. Days are long and evenings can be way fun. The dry is dominating the scene. Floatant, desiccant and chamois cloth are at the ready. As is 5x fluorocarbon. Cleaning and treating your floating line is a habit to obtain.

Hot flies this week included the following:

• Dry Fly: Sulphur Comparadun, Yellow Sally CDC size 16, Ant, black and cinnamon 10-14, X Caddis and X2 Caddis, olive,tan 12-16. Black caddis size 18, Rusty Spinner 12-14. BWO parachute 18. Lawson's Beetle, black, 10-12. The beetle has been the go to pattern on smaller streams this past week.

• Nymphs: Prince nymph 10-16, Yellow Stone 8-10, 20 Incher 10-12, Czech Caddis 12-16 in olive, cream and nuke green, $3 Dips 14-16.

• Wets: Partridge and orange and green are top dogs.

• Streamers: BIG sculpin patterns presented correctly from the drift boat are NOT being ignored. If your willing to put the work in, the fish are there. Not seeing the flash? Not getting the charge? Change your angle, strip or depth. Lazy ass casts followed by half hearted strips produce squat. Smaller rivers and streams are producing so well with a dry we didn't even open the streamer box.
  

It's time to grab your favorite presentation rod and crack the code. The top water game is a tough one. Go get better!

B&B.

Today's daily double winner.

Changes.

It was bound to happen. Hatches are a bit weaker, fish a little more educated and the water temps are on the rise. Caddis in the evening. Stones are inconsistent. Mayflies are still happening. Terrestrials are producing very well some days. Ant patterns to cover the occasional rise keeps you in the game. Large attractor patterns are getting hit, especially after the "twitch". Dropping a stonefly nymph off is always a good idea.

We site nymphed for a few browns last week. Pretty cool way to fish if you haven't tried it. Streamers from the boat are moving and catching some nice fish. The wet fly swing thing still getting it done. Wet wading this week. YAHOO! All said and done it's been a great month. It's not over yet. Far from it.

Over The Hump.

It's the middle of June. We are half way through our trips for this month. Somethings we look forward to in June are the following: Happy clients. DFO dudes are really smiling. The raccoon look. Calluses are becoming thicker each day. A clean Buff. The reach cast for dries. Super clear water. Losing the chest highs and changing to pant waders. Using more floatant than split shot. Caddis in the evening. Cold beer in the cooler. The travel coffee on the morning commute and listening to the Sox on ride home. Tan lines. New goslings. B.S. sessions at the take out/put in. Picky surface slurpers.

Stoneflies are coming on stronger everyday. Yellow/Golden stones are producing looks and takes. Drop a nymph or two off that rubber leg concoction. Ramp up on the tippet size and shorten the over all length of the leader. Don't forget to twitch that puppy once and awhile.

Top patterns: Cat Puke, Chubby Chernobyl and the old standby Kauffmann's Stimulator. 6-12. Get on it before they wise up. Enjoy the rest of the spring.

Right Now.

It's good. All good. Real good. How good? We haven't had to watch a bobber all day long good. It's been an option for clients. Most choose another method. Wet fly swing? Old school technique that can wreck a run. Dry/dropper. Super fun. Streamers from the drift boat. Oh yeah!
Break up your day and learn a new skill.

Here is the current "Hot Fly" list of past few days:

• DRY FLIES: Parachutes/Comparaduns, 12-18, Adams, Olive and Purple. Yes purple. March Brown Comparadun, 10-12. Great fly on the smaller streams and rivers. X and X2 Caddis, 12-16, Olive, Tan, Brown and Gray. Rusty Spinner 12-18. Beetle , Black, 10-16.

• NYMPHS: Prince,10-16. P.T. 12-18. Copper Johns, 14-18, Copper,Black. Kauffman's Golden Stone, 6-8. Brassie, 14-16.
  

• WETS/SOFT HACKLES: Partridge and Orange, Olive, Pheasant, Hare's Ear, 12-16. March Brown Wet, 10-12.
  

• STREAMERS: Wade Trips: Buggers, all sizes and colors. Lawson's Sculpin, 2, Olive. Float trips are a little different. If a client has the skill to cast a large fly or flies (average size is a two) combined with a stout leader and a sink tip moving BIG fish isn't a problem. It is a skill dependent technique. This isn't the relaxing down and across swing method. This is the " I'm a hunter and I'm looking for a predator" method. The cast and strip are fatiguing. Accuracy with your cast and the ability to read water are paramount. The rewards are seeing many fish chasing, following and attacking the fly. Yesterday was a streamer day. The streamer bite was on and we took full advantage of it.

There are two more openings left for this month. When they are gone, they aren't coming back. Carpe Diam. This weeks weather forecast will extend our season. July will still fish well. Especially the first few weeks. Remember last winter? It's coming back. Build a memory.

Sleeper.

One highlight of our season is the diversity of water we guide on. Yesterday was a small river that flies under the radar for whatever reason. It has everything you would want as far as runs, hatches and access. The fish are a mix of browns and brook trout. Most come from a biannual stocking program. Holdover fish are present throughout the system. There are a few wild fish in the mix also. This is a great place to start for a novice angler.

After entering the river through a very lush fern patch, we were greeted by a few March Brown mayflies. March Browns are one of our favorite hatches and one that is easy to match. The rig held a March Brown Comparadun (size 10-12) as the lead fly. Behind that we rigged a dropper with either a Olsen's Guide Choice Hare's Ear or a Jacklin's March Brown in sizes 10-12. The nymphs cleaned house.

Watching for that flash under a dry is a fun and fast way to get new clients into fish without using the indicator rig. We are much more into teaching skills than racking up numbers. Though once you gain the skills your catch rate will increase. Not a bad thing to have happen.

BWOs.

Blue wings out and about today. Happy rising fish , happy fishermen, happy guides. Hell even the shuttle driver was happy. Sunny and bright. Not the standard blue wing weather. Who cares. If your fishing dries, does it matter? Dry fly fun had by all.

We have had a cancellation for this Friday (the 10th). One man's loss is another man's gain. Call in sick. Make it a three day weekend. Grab a buddy, your favorite dry fly rod, some sun screen and dump those responsibilities for a day. Things won't change that much at work while your away. But they will daily on the river.

Getting Good.

With two large rivers, two smaller rivers, three small streams and two lake outlets under our belt this past week, we can say that it's finally happening. Water temps are optimal. Clarity good to excellent. Levels are very fishable. Some will disagree with that last statement. That's o.k. Stay home and brood.

Smaller streams and rivers are rocking right now. Plenty of dry fly opportunities for the top water crew. All the usual suspects are around. March Browns, BWOs, Gray Foxes, etc. Sizes 10-16. Don't forget the spinner fall. Caddis in 12-18 in a rainbow of colors. Cranefly adults cruising around. A few Golden Stones on the larger rivers. Dragon flies are migrating to the shoreline in the slower waters. Midge flights in the early morning everywhere. All in all the buffet is open and it's all you can eat.

Top flies for this past week include: Adams Parachute, Mr. Rapidan, CDC BWO, Peacock Caddis, Disco Midge, P.T. Nymph, Prince Nymph, Fat Ass Dragon, SASH, P.T. Soft Hackle.

Dries. Yeah that's a great word. We like the top water game. The visual aspect of it all keeps your interest focused. That flash. That white mouth. Bring it.

Deep Trout.

High water can bring out the worst in people. Lots of complaining and whining. We don't like it anymore than you do. What we dislike even more is not going out at all. There are fish to be caught. Is it easy? No. Is it dry fly bliss? No. Is it "traditional"? No. As Mick and the boys say:

You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes you get what you need.

Get to know the 1" Thingambobber, BB shot, 10-12' nymph leaders, Funky high water nymphs like the San Juan Worm and Czech Nymphs are a great combo. When running that rig in high water, having Bruce Lee reaction speed increases hook ups. Pay attention to that bobber!

Positive attitude. Believe it's going to happen. Get that good juju vibe going down the rod.

Great time to learn to spey cast and fish. T8 material is way easy to use.

Seek out that boring/dull water that you wouldn't otherwise fish at normal flows. The slow stuff on the slow side of the seam.

To better understand what we are talking about our friend Mark Raisler at Head Hunters in Craig, Mt. recently made a great video explaining the high water nymph game. Check it out somewhere here at: Row back up!

Getting it done come hell or high water.