Blend.

Ever wonder why rainbows are harder to spot then other trout? One of last weeks highlights. Blend baby blend.

DFO

Dry Fly Only. No nymphing, no streamers. The occasional small dropper. Double dry rigs producing chases and hook ups. Conditions are still good with mornings and evenings prime time. Clarity is excellent. Hatches are at their weakest point for the season. Break the code quickly.

Caddis from 14-18. Tan was the big producer this week. Trailing a size eighteen black caddis off a larger one ( say a size 14-16) kept us in the game. Float both high.

A few BWOs in size eighteen showed up nearly every outing. The big mayfly pattern was the spinner. Sizes 12-20 in rust. Clear in 14-16. The White Fly soon!

Yellow Sally patterns getting smacked. The big attractors have taken a back seat for now. Ants, inch worms and beetles are very prevalent right now. Sizes 12-16. More on the beetle later on.

Don't forget the midge. Yes, they are small. Yes, it's difficult. Midging fish don't put up with shitty presentations, bad pick ups and fat tippet. Keep the color selection basic along with the patterns.

Pretty damn good week for July. Over the last four seasons this has become one of our favorite months to fish. Most sessions are dry fly trips, the waters are uncrowded and we even get a bit of "research" time. Muy importante.

Back Cast Blues.

Reason number twelve to learn a few spey casts. Just one spey cast can elevate that above scenario. Keeping that fly away from the jungle behind you is good thing. Double handed casts transfer to one handed rods exceptionally well. Introduction spey lessons available. Save a fly. Use a spey cast.

Rangeley Boat.

For those who know the Rangeley/Kennebago area of Maine one boat stands alone. That boat is the Rangeley boat. Seventeen feet long. Clean lines. Stable as they come. Designed in the mid eighteen hundreds, these boats are deemed classics by many.

A fellow guide has one for sale. If your interested in owning a bit of history, feel free in contacting us for more information. Dog not included.

Happy Hour.

That time of year is here. The magic hour. Soft light and quiet rises. Long leaders and gentle presentations. The reach cast. Shake and Dry. Cripple caddis and spinners. 5X SuppleFlex. Four weights for still evenings and fives for the windy sessions. Quality headlamps. The "go to" secret beetle pattern. Micro dropper nymphs. Downstream deliveries. Water tension line sets. Short head hunting floats. That last fish at dark thirty.

This has been what's happening. It's still good. Rising fish every session. Staying for last call every night has it's rewards. Not like the last call of your youth. Although there were some times when it was worth it. First light can be pretty damn good also. Best option? Two sessions per day. One morning, one evening, same day. Big siesta midday. Works for us.

Back.

Sorry for the lack of posts. Hey it's summer. What did you expect? More text and photos later on. Stay cool, calm and collected.

Net Boy.

Take a kid fishing this summer. They may get so good at it they'll even net their own fish. If your really nice they may even net yours.

July Goodness.

Conditions are still good this week on a variety of waters we fish. Peak times are early mornings and late evenings. Though yesterday at the dreaded high noon mark we netted four fish within an hour. The most valuable tool in the arsenal is the stream thermometer. Or just wet wade. Small streams with canopy, altitude and smaller connecting cold tribs continue to fish well.

Dry Flies: Spent Spinner, Rust, Clear, 12-18. Woodchuck Caddis, 12. Foam Stone, Yellow, 8-10.

Nymphs: Kaufmann's Yellow Stone, 8-12. Czech Nymph, Olive, Hare's ear, 12-16. 20 Incher, 10-12. $3 Dips,16-18, Brown, Olive.

Wets: Orange & Partridge, 12-16.

Streamers: Zonkers, 4-8, White, Black, Olive. Hot fly this week. Slower, longer strip.

Those were the hot goodness for the big to medium size waters. For the smaller stuff, ants and beetles ruled. Don't think it's over because it's July. It's one of our favorite times of the season. Gin and tonic specials throughout the month! Get on it.

Sculpins.

If you've fished with us before you know we are huge fans of large streamers. Sculpin patterns dominate the meat locker throughout the season. One question we are asked frequently is why are the flies so big. The other is why do we use so many color variations. Do about an hour of stream survey/collection and you will answer that question. These samples were taken in a sixteen inch deep, clear riffle. We worked a ten foot by ten foot square section.

Finding sculpins can be tricky. They are incredibly quick and perfectly camouflaged within the stream bottom. What they don't have is endurance. They will dart into rocks and crevices a short distance from where they have spooked. Watch closely and you will gain an idea of what your strip should mimic. If you can spot a bottom dwelling sculpin, spotting trout is easy.

Using patterns in tan, olive, rust and yellow in sizes 2-8 would cover all these very well. Zoo Cougars, Woolly Headed Sculpins and Butt Monkeys are go to streamer junk. Years ago we caught an enormous brown trout with a brook trout in it's throat. After that experience we began digging up info on large streamers. One great resource for us has been Kelly Galloup. His fly designs and techniques opened up our mind up to larger predatory fish. Our catch numbers dropped but our size numbers doubled. You can find more info on Kelly's flies and films at: Galloup's Slide Inn

While taking samples in this run we came across dozens of Golden Stones. They are migrating and hatching now in many moving waters. The Golden Stone pictured below is about a size 8. That looks like a great combo streamer/nymph rig doesn't it? I'll let you know.

Pocket Water.

Golden Stones are still hatching and we are taking full advantage of it. How can you beat a combo of a short stout leader, a foamy rubber leg fly and willing fish? Fast takes. Faster than usual? It sure seams it when you miss one. Don't worry there are plenty of fish in that pocket water. If you cover it well, you will be rewarded.

Morning and evening sessions on the big to medium waters are in full order now. Smaller streams are fishing well all day. Especially those tight canopy covered waters that you ignore because they are tough to fish. Dry attractor patterns are ruling the small stream scene, followed closely by terrestrial patterns.

Grab some time and fish one of those small streams you've always wondered about now. Discovery is a huge part of this game. Somewhat overlooked in today's body count mentality. Just remember to stock the cooler with ice cold beer for the apres fishing session. It is summer after all.

Rubber Leg Junk.

July can be the best large dry fly attractor time of the season. Chernobyls , Cat Pukes, Hopped Up Hoppers, Fat Alberts and Steroid Ants all get a look or grab. Golden Stones are bouncing on the water's surface and the fish are keyed into these large clumsy bugs. Throw some ants, beetles and crickets into the mix for a side dish. Seek out that heavy pocket water, shorten the leader length and high stick your way to a really quick take. Don't forget to twitch the junk once in awhile. Set!

Day Off.

When to opportunity presents itself for some much needed river therapy I don't pass it up. I really wanted to throw big floating stonefly patterns. Which is what I did. What I really wanted was to throw big stonefly patterns and have fish actually eat them. While I had a few looks, the cold stick skunk was on. You know the routine. Change the fly, add a dropper or two, maybe some shot. One thing I won't do is indicator nymph now. I've watched that bobber enough for the time being. It was time to take a break and change techniques.

Rigged a five weight with an intermediate clear tip line. Added four feet of 2X fluorocarbon and tied on a size 2 olive wooly sculpin. Tie on eighteen inches of 2X to the bend of the sculpin. On went a size 2 yellow Zoo Cougar. This type of rig works very well out of the drift boat. It also works just as well wading.

With this type of fishing you need to have a big fish mentality. Since I wasn't doing squat in the morning I figured I may as well go big. We are NOT looking for fish in the sixteen and under range using this technique. We are looking for the Alpha Brown. After fishing a half mile long piece of river we found what we were looking for.

That was the only fish I caught all day. I'm alright with that. It was just what I was after. Recharged and stoked.

Karma.

There are somethings some guides don't do. One is view other guides as allies rather than enemies. We want to see really good, professional, conscientious guides. It's good for both clients and guides as a whole. With that said, we have a list of some guides we recommend for trips we don't offer. We don't and won't offer small mouth bass fly fishing trips. Why? There are many reasons for that decision. The short answer is we already have our own room in hell. We don't need an addition.

• Middle Androscoggin. Bob Dionne at Aardvark Outfitters and Bob Duport of Western Mountains Fly Fishing are two great guides that also happen to be excellent casting instructors.
  

• Lower Kennebec. Eric Nielson of Kennebec Drifters Guide Service offers small mouth trips in the Waterville area. Check out a section of river that goes unnoticed.

• Casco Bay, Eric Wallace. Looking for something different to do in the salt? How about something more challenging in the striper game? Coastal Fly Angler is the man. Actually he's the Captain.

• Lower Androscoggin. Tyler Cote and Scott Overbey are complete fish nerds and they have the lower Andro dialed. These are two dudes that will never say "uncle" until you do. Give a shout at Wild River Angler.

So give the crew above some consideration for a non trout trip. Help us keep the trout areas a little dumber for us summer trout geeks.

Summer Options.

There is a common misconception that fly fishing in Maine ends on June 30th. While we have past the peak of hatches and ideal conditions it is far from over. So what to do? Here's a list of what we offer for this month.

• Half day wade trips. Early morning or late evening. Working in some of the best conditions of the day.

• Full day small stream trips. Fishing two to three small streams during the day is a summer tradition. Grab a three weight and a box of dries.

• Evening drift boat floats. A condition dependent trip (lightning).
  

• Spey casting instruction. A informative introduction to basic two handed casts.

• Casting instruction. Gain good skills early on.

• Assisting clients with travel plans to other area guides and regions. More on that later.

• Skill trips. Work on fishing skills to gain more insight on what it takes to become more successful.

Change your seasonal outlook and fly that freak flag this weekend. Enjoy the fourth, eat a hot dog, drink some barley pops and blow something up.

July Fest.

This last week has marked the end of June with both a sigh of relief and regret. We are glad to slow down a bit, though we are going to miss the conditions of last month. Two drift boat floats, one wade trip, a spey casting introduction and a casting clinic rounded out the week. It's nice to offer options to clients and not work the same water/area all season long. That's the name of the game this month. Options. More on that later.

Here's this weeks menu selection. Caddis are out and about. Some Zebra/Alder flies about. The dreaded black caddis is prevalent right now. Small BWO's are out in one degree or another. Slate Drakes came out this week. Golden Stones out strong on sunny days. Yellow Sallies getting munched hard in certain rivers. Spinner falls in the evenings. Ants, beetles and cricket patterns are all working on the large and small rivers now. It's still a dry game for now. Don't let it pass you by. Throw in some new batteries for the headlamp, some new 5X tippet and dump the waders for shorts. Get out and enjoy summer fishing!