Summer Gill'n

What a fun day today was. Fished a foam ant pattern and the gills couldn't leave it alone. The pond I fished doesn't have many big fish in it but the color of these gills is fantastic. Many of these fish have a lot of red and orange in them. A tip while fishing these surface flies is first pick your days. Days with little or no wind seem to work best as the fish don't seem to key into the fly as well when there is ripples on the water. The other is to shake your rod tip to add some life to the fly. You don't want to move the fly to much, just a few inches at a time and then let it sit still for 10-15 seconds before moving it again. And lastly listen for the fish, while actively feeding on the surface they will be making a popping sound as they suck terrestrials off of the surface film. Surface patterns work really well in ponds choked with vegetation that would leave you cleaning moss off subsurface flies on every cast. Got a few pictures of fish swirling on the ant pattern but they are quick and I don't think the camera I have has the shutter speed to capture the fish perfectly.