Hi all. Temperatures were not too bad this week. After a long stretch of very hot weather - heat indexes of 100-105- that lasted a couple of weeks, we finally had a bit of rain and a cold front that went through on Tuesday last. Wished that I could've gone out that morning before the rain, but had to wait it out and hope the hot weather held off 'til I could get to the water's edge.
Made it out there today -Saturday- and used my go-to-bluegill-fly (see fly swap board), a blue(wool) and red (furnace) woolly worm tied size 12 with black thread. It didn't let me down a bit. This particular fly was tied a little heavy by using 4-5 wraps of copper wire under the body to get down in the warm water.
The gills were holding a foot or two deep and 10-15 feet from shore. Casting on a WF4F line with about 9 feet of leader/tippet, the action was fair. In the 3-4 hours of fishing in one spot in a large cove, I C&R'ed about a dozen and a half 8-10 inch gills. All of them healthy, but certainly a bit sluggish from the heat.
They all took with a good tug and then shook fairly strongly. Most had small reddish spots/sores around the base of their dorsal and/or tail fins, likely from some parasite, though I couldn't guess what it would be.
I saw a couple of people watching from the swimming pool deck nearby and they seemed to be enjoying the action as much as I was. It's still amazing to be able to take up such a graceful sport that delights the fisher and spectator alike.
I had one guy walk over and say, "So, that's fly fishing, huh?"
"Yup, and great fun too." said I. And after a couple of casts he said, "Can I just see the rod a get a feel for it?"
"Sure." So there I was, giving impromtu casting lessons to him and babysitting a 2 yr old, this guy's little boy, who had taken a certain liking to the Cortland green fly line, as well as the water's edge.
After a few casts he handed it back and thanked me. He seemed to find the experience enjoyable enough and as quick as he came over, he chased off after his boy and I was left to harass a few more o' them gills.
Well, that's about all. I thought this would give some who couldn't get out a chance to feel as if they had.
Oh, lunch you ask? Bratwurst, beans and tater salad, and hand-cranked, vanilla ice cream. Ah, summertime!

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There's almost nothin' wrong with the first lie, it's the weight of all the others holdin' it up that gets ya'! - Tim