Update: generation began at 1:03 today with 3 units. This water will take 2 1/2 hrs to get to white hole and another 45 minutes to the narrows. Fishing at cotter will give you another 2 1/2 hours fishing time and rim shoals another hour. Chernoble ants were working well as were Gonzo midges in #20 & 22.
Yesterday generation began at 1:00 pm with two units and quickly reached 4 units and was shut off at 8:00 pm. Looks like we are getting into a regular pattern here which is nice for the wade fisher and a very pleasant change for this guide. Today generation is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm again and run for 4 hours. The lake level is at 654.88 and the surface temps are at 81 F. Some years we get a shad kill at the end of the summer starting around or after labor day weekend. This year it does not look like it will be the case as the lake temps need to be much higher. On the bright side though we are less likely to have water quality issues with low D.O. levels (dissolved oxygen).
Yesterday I fished with Mike Davis (aka Maddog) whom I’ve known and fished with for a number of years. Mike is also a big help when Sow Bug comes around and helps me out at my table and this year was a life saver as my bead partner passed away a few weeks prior to the “BUG”
Mike and I fished low water yesterday and spent some time at the Magic Spot where we caught two brown trout with the biggest at 22 ” and right at 4 lbs. Mike alone hooked and landed 65 fish for the day. We did stay in front of the water for the afternoon. Since I’ve known Mike his casting and fishing abilities have mushroomed into an advanced state. I was spotting some big fish for mike and directing his cast in front of the fish. He quickly figured out how to handle an almost 20 foot leader with no tangles and his accuracy was superb. The takes were pretty subtle and the light conditions seeing his indicator were not the best at that time. Mike was double hauling like a pro. Many kudos to Maddog and his fishing abilities. He did learn a new technique yesterday so if you see Mike on the little red catching the CARP out of trout with a long leader he’ll show you how to do it.
I’m hoping a pattern of low water develops and stays that way through october. My favorite spot (Magic Spot) is very productive and I hope to get into it many more times this fall as there are some big fish stacked up there at this time. If a better than 50% chance of hooking a decent brown trout appeals to you give me a shout and book a day or a half day. I’ll be honest and say you’ll need to be able to cast a long leader 40 feet with a small indicator that is hard to see. Give me a shout at 870-404-8906. If the water comes up on us I can stay ahead of it and we can continue to wade fish.
Sorry for the bad pics was out of juice on my good camera and this is from the camera on my phone.
This is mikes 15 incher
Jimmy T.