You know, just as we started landing some trophy sized fish, BAM!!!  There was a 60% chance of rain early this past week, but when did a 60% chance constitute for four inches of rain?   The lake is at 686 and they are only releasing water through the sluices at 6,000 plus cfs.  At that rate it is going to take a couple of weeks to drop.  Maybe the corps will run a generator or two to speed up the pace, but right now that isn't the case.

I will keep everybody updated, but there is a good chance that I won't be fishing much in the next couple of weeks. 

Sorry gals and guys, but there will not be a fishing report this weekend.  I had a trip planned with some clients that are older and we cancelled due to the predicted forecast of 100 degrees.  Last weekend was a beautiful break from the heat and humidity, but this week it seemed like the high temps set a record high day after day.  Water is still being released through the sluice gate at 2010 cfs, like it has for the last couple weeks and water temps have been up to 56-57 degrees in the afternoons.  The fish have gotta be loving those temps.  I noticed a few weeks ago that the temps were in the low 50s and the bite was so subtle.  Last week it was into the mid 50s and the bite was much better, especially last Saturday.  Read my last report if you forgot just how good the fishing was last Saturday.  I almost went down to fish by myself today, but with school already starting I have a lot to do.  Plus there are a ton of chores to do around the house that have been put off due to all of the fishing.  My plan is to be out on the water this next Saturday and I will have a report posted by next Sunday evening.

Off to the chores...

Hey everybody.  Guided the past two days and the weather was fantastic.  It was super nice not to have upper nineties and high humidity. What a relief.  As for the fishing, not bad and we caught a monster bow earlier today.  Let me tell you the story.

Ok, on Friday I guided Ken and Bernie from Louisville.  It was slow in the morning, we picked up a few fish here and there and a few nice browns that were about fifteen inches long.  Then the water came up a bit, something that made fishing even tougher.  So we went up to the dam and caught some more here and there.  Bernie landed a nice 17 inch bow that was pretty thick and Ken started picking up some more fish as we drifted.  Then the water began to drop and the fish started biting a bit more.  The late afternoon bite really helped out, but these guys fished hard to land twenty fish each.  Thanks for the good times guys.

Now, today was interesting.  I fished with Kevin Beck and his son Eli.  Now I have known Kevin since my playing days back at UofL and he is just one great guy to say the least.  When he said he wanted to take his son I was excited, but when he said he was only seven I was somewhat worried.  Usually seven year old kids have the attention span of super hyper puppy.  Not Eli he was a trooper.  This kid could flat out fly fish.  I made sure to fish some deep slow water that would be easy to drift and hook up with some fish.  Both dad and Eli caught a bunch of fish throughout the day, but it was Eli who stole the show.  About three o'clock Eli had just landed a thick 16 inch bow and was super pumped.  We took a few pics then he threw out his rig and bam!!!  That indicator surged below the surface, Eli set the hook, and the fight was on.  We were drifting through swift water and that fish took off like a rocket.  Now, remember guys,  This is a seven year old kid that weighs about fifty pounds.  He played it off the reel, releasing the handle when the fish ran then reeling like crazy when it came at us.  I really thought that it was a brown by the way it hugged the bottom, but as it rolled to the top I saw that it was a bow, a very big bow.  Finally we landed it, measured him, and took several pics.  How big you might ask?  Slightly over twenty inches without the tail lobes pinched together.  This fish weighed about four pounds and he is still swimming in the Mighty C.  Thanks for such a great time guys.

Still have the next two Saturdays available.  Get them before they are gone!

I don't know how hot it got yesterday, but it had to be flirting with the 100 degree mark.  In areas where the river runs East to West we were getting a nice breeze throughout the day, but it was darn right opressive in areas that ran North to South.  The good news is that the water was between 53-55 degrees throughout the day and we caught fish!  I don't know how many, but Jim caught over twenty and I bet that nearly half of those were in the slot.  Nice chunky rainbows and browns, with the largest brown between 17-18 inches in length, were caught throughout the day.  Again, the key is getting the fly/egg to bump along the bottom but not drag.  Another important tactic as many of you know is twitching the egg.  Some days they like some action and that has been the norm throughout the summer.  I have had people call and e-mail saying that the egg rig isn't working for them.  First, you have to be in areas where there are fish.  No fish no bite.  Next, get it down close to the bottom and then mend, pull, and twitch.  If you can master all three then you will catch some nice fish, even when it is 100 degrees.

Still have the 14th and 21st of this month open.  I will be back down on the river Friday and Saturday.  Looks like some cooler temps in the upper 80s so that is definately something to cheer about.  There will be another updated report on Sunday.

Hey guys and gals.  The Corps has cut back on the sluice release from 3,500 cfs to 2010 cfs and they might even cut back more starting tomorrow.  The 2010cfs will work for me.  Did well a couple times last week with the 3,500 but it gets even better with less water as we all know.

I will be out on the water at least three times this week and will have a report or two for you all by the end of the week.  I have only two openings left for the month of August and they are two Saturdays, the 14th and the 21st.  Grab one before they are gone!

Fished with Kevin A. from Louisville and his buddy Mike from Las Vegas.  The Corps was running water through the sluice gate at 3,000 plus cfs.  If you guys and gals have been watching the flow, it was at the 9,000 until just a couple of days ago and the water temps were right at the 60 degree mark.  Now the water temps are between 51-53 degrees.  The fish were hitting, but the take was oh so subtle.  There were so many times in which I swore the rig was bumping the bottom and there was a fish on it.  Now once the fish was hooked there was a great fight, but with the colder water and decent flow the fish weren't super interested in hitting.  We caught over thirty fish and a handful or more were in the slot.  Those slot fish really fought with some spunk and we hooked into a couple thick browns that seemed to hug the bottom forever.  Peach and yellow were the egg patterns that produced the most.  The "cheese" yellow is a light yellow that has really been producing a lot of fish over the past few weeks, even better than some of the tried and true colors.  Hope it still keeps on going and going...

School is starting soon and many of my August and September dates are being taken.  I do have next Thursday and Friday open if anyone is interested. 

Fished yesterday with Lou Komis from Crestwood, KY and his buddy Ron from Pittsburgh.  We put in at Helm's shortly after seven o'clock and heard the siren go off at the dam.  @$#*!!! I knew that the Corps was flirting with running some more water and they did.  They ran one generator plus the 2020 cfs from the sluice gates.  I really didn't know what to expect with the 5,000 cfs plus water, but these guys were troopers and we hit it.  On the first few casts I was showing Ron how to get a good drift with his egg rig and hooked into a small bow.  Not too long after that Ron hooked into a bow that was close the twenty inches that wrapped itself around a log and broke off.  We concentrated on the inside bends where there was not as much current and did well.  At the end of the day Ron said he had caught 18 and I know Lou landed over a dozen.  Not bad for the quick change in water levels.  Lou also landed a thick bow near the end of the day between 17 and 18 inches.  Good job!

Ok, enough of the rain.  The Cumberland watershead has received some much needed rainfall, but now it is receiving too much.  The Corps has just bumped up generation to two generators and will probably do so for the next several days.  I like it when the Corps is more proactive and releases water instead of allowing the lake to rise for a few days then blast it out with tons of water.  I still have some openings in early August before school starts.  My September and October available dates are being gobbled up and I think a lot of people are holding off on the fishing until the temps drop.  Folks, the fishing is still good during these hotter periods of time.  The water was in the low to mid 50s before this last bout of rain and the temps should remain in the mid 50s as long as we don't get too much rain.  Like I have always said, if you can go during the week then do it.  Yesterday we saw two boats and the river!!!

Guided Saturday and Sunday and it went like this ...

Saturday I guided Brian Bougher from Evansville and his buddy Jeremy from Huntington, West Virginia.  The first fish of the day was a 17 inch brown and it was on.  Brian said he estimated  that he caught over 50 fish and I bet Jeremy caught at least 30.  Most of the fish were 11 to 14 inches long, but we caught several in the slot. The day was overcast and it wasn't too hot, something that has been hard to come by over the past month!  Thanks for the great time guys.

Today I guided Mike Scheid and his buddy John from Louisville.  Again, a very nice day.  I don't think we caught as many as yesterday, but we caught more quality fish in the slot.  Many 13-15 inch rainbows plus several right at the 17 inch mark were landed throughout the day.  I believe this was John's first time fishing for trout with the fly rod and he is hooked for sure.  There were a half dozen or more areas that had a lot of fish and we kept hitting them time after time.  At around four in the afternoon we hit this one area of deep water and heavy timber.  Mike hooked into a 17-18 inch brown and it headed toward the bottom and just kind of hung there.  As he pulled towards the surface another brown, a huge brown that was in the 10 pound class followed it to the surface.  John tried to throw his fly in the general vacinity but no luck.  Man, that got our hearts pumping for sure.  People say that there aren't big fish like there used to be.  Well, that was the biggest fish that I have seen in the past few years for sure and I bet that there are more in there as well.  Exciting to say the least.

I experienced with a couple of new egg colors and one outperformed all others, even the ones that I have been using for years.  Hopefully it will keep bringing them in.

Gotta go.

Update:  Still have this Sunday open if anyone wants it.  Filled Saturday yesterday.  Obviously the daytime temps are hot, but it isn't that bad on the river.  Catching big bows and brownies always makes it better.

Four days in a row and smoked 'em big time.  And it goes like this...

Took out Ned Southwick and his wife Penny this past Friday.  Now, Ned fished with me last July with his brother and they slayed 'em.  He said he really wanted Penny to hook into a rainbow.  A rainbow, how about 20-30 rainbows?!  She did great and Ned smacked them as well.  Thanks for the great time guys!!!

On Saturday I took out Bruce, Jerry, and their buddy Jim.  Now these Illinois boys didn't fly fish and I wasn't about to let them use natural bait.  So, I rigged them up with some 7 ft light action spinning rods and tied on some egg patterns under a large indicator, just like we fly fish but larger.  These guys caught fish from start to finish and the action was pretty much non stop.  I didn't keep track of how many and I honestly couldn't make a ballpark figure guess.  Most of the fish were in the 10-15 inch range with some nice thick ones a tad over 17 inches.  Had a blast and I think these guys will be back for more. 

Sunday was pretty much the same.  Took out Jim Kinney from the Lexington area and he knocked 'em silly as well.  At lunch he asked how many I thought that he had landed.  I had no clue and he said 29.  Twenty nine before lunch is a good day and he too caught a few in the 17 inch range.  See you in August Jim.

This morning started off with less than stellar optimism.  I met Dennis Wright from Noblesville, Indiana early in the morning and before we could launch the boat it started to pour.  Dennis was a trooper and we said let's hit it.  Within a few minutes we had landed a couple of fish and it started to let off.  Most of the day remained cloudy and it helped out big time.  Dennis landed one bow over twenty inches, but the story doesn't end there.  I think I wore the guy out and took him to one more area that we didn't hit yet.   He caught a few then BAM!!! A brown over twenty inches took his offering and the fight was on.  Jim, if you are reading this, the fish was downstream from your tree!  We had it up to the boat then he pulled off, leaving a sliver of skin on the hook.  We ended it on that note.  Man was that fish big and my bet is that Dennis will be back again.

Back to the fly tying bench.  Well, not tonight but sometime in the next few days.  Folks, fishing is at its best and the time is now!!! Weekends are still available, but if you can go during the week then do it because the river is all yours.

UPDATE: The Corps has cut the generation and is now sluicing.  Hold on for some great fishing!!! 

Also I had a long time client cancel a Saturday Sunday trip for July 17th and 18th.  It is available, but that will not last long due to the excellent water conditions.  Call and leave a message with my wife Carrie and she will save the day or days for you.

Hope everyone enjoyed the 4th.  I guided last Friday and Saturday and I would rate it as fair at best.  The weather was nice, but fly fishing with the one generator 24/7 with the moss made it difficult.  Now for the good news:  The Corps is cutting back, looks like they will generate from 9-5 during the day which is much better.  A few weeks ago the Corps shut it down from midnight to around seven in the morning.  We stayed ahead of the water putting in at Helm's and fishing all the way to Rainbow Run and did well.  What is well?  I guess it is a relative question.  Some people are happy to catch a dozen fish a day.  That is my definition of a fair/poor day.  A decent day is boating over 30 fish and that is what will start happening tomorrow with the hold off on the releases.  I also noticed that the Corps had sluiced a little water around the middle of the day.  That should cool it off a bit and increase oxygen levels.

I will be out on the river from this Friday to Monday.  I have many openings over the next two weeks and I apologize for not returning the calls.  With my son playing football and baseball, wife a cheerleading coach, and me trying to be guide and father, it just gets a little crazy.  Ah, but it makes it fun!

Gotta go and tie more flies!!!