Summer Gill'n

Today yielded a lot of gills. I am afraid the water has warmed to the point the bigger fish have moved deep. The big gills will be a little more active at first and last light. Other than that the big fish bite will return when  water temps start cooling off in the fall. But I caught many nice 5-7" gills cast after cast today. The smaller fish always have the best coloring to them so I can't be to hard pleased.  

Summer Gill'n

Lets talk about flies. A fly that I use a lot is super simple to tie and only requires four materials; thread, hook, bead and marabou. You can add some flash if you like as well. This fly catches a lot of fish for me. Best colors seem to be olive followed by chartreuse and white. With marabou available in any color imaginable you can tie this fly in any color. I tie it on a 90 degree jig hook but it can easily be tied on a standard hook or some of the newer 60 degree jig hooks that seem to be the hot hook on the market lately.
 

This fly is tied on a size #10 Mustad jig hook (32833)

Slide on a bead of choice. 

Wrap you thread on the hook shank and make sure 

you build up the thread wraps to prevent

the bead from sliding down the hook. 

Tie in the marabou with a tail about 2/3 to 3/4 the

 length of the hook shank.

Snip off the loose marabou. 

You can add a couple strands of flash 

at this time if you'd like. 

Wrap the marabou up the hook shank and tie off. 

Whip finish and your done. 

KISS

Keep It Super Simple

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.

Summer Gill'n

Solid day fishing with some nice gills brought to hand. This pond will spoil you in a hurry with solid fish on every trip. These bigger gills seem to lose color with their size and start to become a blackish/purple. 

Summer Gill'n

Didn't have long to fish today but got a quick hour in this morning. Didn't catch many fish but did catch some quality gills and a really nice green sunfish. The green sunfish didn't allow me to get a good picture of him before he flopped out my hand and back in the water. Gills 2 & 3 had really nice coloring. It is starting to get hot and we will soon be among-st the dog days of summer.