Thanks for all the input! I was so fixated on trout that I forgot smallmouth bass... this is great information and I appreciate everyone's comments.

Also thank you for the welcome to FAOL. I jumped right in without an introduction, so here goes in case anyone gets this far down in the thread...

I recently retired and now have time to pursue fly fishing which my father first instructed me in during college years in Ohio in the mid-1970's. Although I fished a lot for bass and other species back then I never really got the hang of fly fishing depsite Dad's instruction. He was quite accomplished and my older brother Tom did pick it up when he was taught by Dad in the 1950's. While living in Arizona I was able to take a fly fishing weekend course in the White Mountains in 2002 and did get it then - we fished a stretch of the Little Colorado River on the X-Diamond Ranch and I had a great time catching Rainbows. More work got in the way until retirement this past January and then I was able to devote myself to learning more and fishing more. It turns out my older brother lives in Boiling Springs, PA, which is next door to Carlisle and the LeTort, Yellow Breeches, etc. Our son lives in Farmington, CT on the river of the same name. Our youngest son lives in Colorado where my wife and I are headed as soon as our home sells here in Michigan. Our daughter and her family are moving to Charlotte, NC in a couple of months, so bouncing around all of these places will afford me some choice fishing - I just need to learn a lot more about presentation, etc.

This board is a big help.

Bob