Reports

Guided Andy for a half day starting around 10:30 am.  He has done some trout/salmon casting and jigging trips (including one about a month ago) with me over the past 4 or 5 years and wanted to give lake fly-fishing a try.  His prior fly-fishing had mainly been on streams.  We had good conditions to start.  I saw one other boat on the lake and that was it.  The transition from casting small streams to casting in lakes with a good breeze was challenging today.  His casting improved markedly as the day went on.  We saw at least a half dozen decent salmon follow in his streamer and a couple took shots at it.  He had one solid hookup but unfortunately the fly broke off.  I am vigilant about checking connections and had been doing so regularly throughout the morning but unfortunately knot fatigue hit at the worst possible time.  After that he had a good brown or salmon follow in his fly again, but no more grabs.

I don’t mind offering casting tips while on the water, but it is much easier to work on casting on land as opposed to the boat.  Today was a learning trip and he is excited to try it again next season.  Surface temps were around 46 to 48 degrees today.  The lake is at full summer pool.  Gorgeous day to be out!  I typically will spend around 2 more weeks chasing salmon on the fly, then it’ll be time for other opportunities.