June!  Yes!  However, I am still in school.  We endured two major snow storms this past winter that added about two more weeks to our school year.  Yep, we are paying for it. Back in April it looked like we wouldn't get to fish the river until June.  However, mother nature threw us a bone and the rains held off.  As a result I have been able to guide the last three weekends and it has been out of this world.  The water is still off color, but it is slowly and I mean slowly clearning.  How does this affect the fishing?  Well, it is both good and bad. It is tougher for the fish to see your offering, especially if you like throwing the smaller stuff like zebra midges and pheasant tails.  It is also much tougher to sight fish.  Lately we have been fishing ledges and drop offs where there is a bedrock bottom followed by a scored out gravel hole.  It is tougher to pick out the hole, especially for the novice anglers, but man those fish are stacked in there big time.  The good news is that the fish can't see the boat as easily.  You don't have to make a 60 foot cast to catch fish and that is very nice for my newbies.  Egg patterns are pretty much my meat and potatoes go to fly.  I know, what is new there Dave?  Hey, if it isn't broken then don't mess with it!!!  If I have two anglers then I almost always start with two different colors such as peach and salmon.  Sometimes they prefer one color over another.  Brighter colors tend to work better on cloudy days, but that hasn't always been the case.  Cast, drift, mend, lift, drop and bam!!!

There are 3-4 days still open in late June, but I had a handful of calls that I need to respond to so there might not be much left after this evening.  I was saying that July was wide open, but I booked five trips last week so it won't be too long until both months are full.  If you want to go then you need to get on it soon.  Remember contact me on my cell at 502 432-5188.  Texting is the best for me.  You can always go to my Facebook page at DoubleDOutfitters to see daily updated reports and pictures.

I know.  I said that I wouldn't post a new report until next week, but I did a trip yesterday and just had to talk about it.  It was by far the best trip that I was able to put together this year in terms of quality.  We landed more fish in the slot than I could keep track of and that is fantastic.  With this wacky water release schedule I tried covering some new water and I think it is fair to say that I will be back in those areas this holiday weekend.  The highlight of the trip is when I was pulling in a small brookie and a 30 inch class brown engulfed it.  The fight was on!  Eventually the 5x broke, but boy was that exciting.  You might be asking, why is the guide fishing.  Every once in a while I take out return clients on a single trip and they want me to fish.  Can't turn down those opportunities.

This summer I will be updating reports daily on my Facebook page at DoubleDOutfitters.  I will try to include pictures and videos of trips to give people a visual of what is going on and just how good the fishing can be.  There are still some late June openings available, but they are just about all taken.

I really don't know why the Corps has to start running water at 5 or 6 in the morning, but that is what they did this past weekend.  If there is any good news then it is that they ran only one generator until the afternoon which led to some good fishing.  Just plain weird, but you just never know with the Corps.

Saturday was good, really good.  I took out Chris and his buddy Mike from the Lexington area.  We put in at Helms just as the water was rising so I motored down to the powerlines and began fishing ahead of the rising water.  We did this until right after noon, fishing with weighted egg patterns, bouncing the bottom and catching a bunch and I mean a bunch of trout that were in the 14-17 inch range.  Super fat healthy trout.  There were a few areas in which we had a strike or caught a fish on nearly every cast which is a guide's dream.  By about 2 in the afternoon Chris started throwing some cone headed buggers and began pulling browns off of the bank, nothing over 17 inches but a bunch of fat fish.  Thanks guys!!

Yesterday they began releasing water earlier than Saturday so the game plan was to stay within a couple miles of Helms.  Looking back on it I should have gone downstream like the previous day, but with water rising even earlier I fished the upper part.  We had to work to catch the fish, but Anna and her grandson Hunter were able to land quite a few fish.  Not the quality of the previous day, but it was still a decent day.

There are still a few open dates in late June and many are still available throughout July.  The water is starting to clear up and the temps are still in the 47-49 degree range.  When it bumps to over 50 then the caddis should wake up and begin emerging.  I will be back at it this next weekend so no reports until next Monday.  Remember, it is best to contact me via texting at 502 432-5188.

This is a real genuine fishing report.  The Corps cut back on water releases big time so I had the chance to get out.  Once I saw the Sunday schedule I sent a text to one of my regulars and he took it in about 5 minutes.  Had the chance to take out Erik and his buddy Christian from the Nashville area.  It wasn't a 50-100 fish day, but both anglers were able to boat 20 or more fish each throughout the day.  Erik landed a nice 18 inch bow and Christian was able to get in a 17 inch brown.  Those were the biggest fish of the day. 

Water temp was 48-49 degrees.  Once it gets close to 52 then ya better hang on because that is when the caddis really start to kick it up and fish appear out of nowhere.  Seriously, it can get crazy and it has been a rarity in the past several years due to high water.  Last year we were able to do a little dry fly action, but not to the extent of some of the trips 8-9 years ago before dam repairs.  The water is off color and it is going to take a few days or more to clear up.  The flood gates were open for a while and the results were some erosion problems on certain mud bank areas along the river.  I even saw a pontoon from a boat wrapped around a tree high above the water.  That is how violent it was this past month.  It will get better.

This Mother's Day weekend is open if anyone is interested.  I have a soccer trip planned to Columbus Ohio to see the Crew vs. the Sounders, but my wife gave me the go ahead to work if I can.  I will probably text a few of my regulars today so if you are interested then text me at 502 432-5188.  You can also check updated reports/pictures/videos on my Facebook page at DoubleDOutfitters. 

The lake is dropping about a half foot per day and that should really pick up to nearly a foot a day by the end of the week if the Corps continues to release water at over the 20,000 cfs point.  My guess is that they will ease up a bit once the lake level gets to the 720 mark.  It is currently 724 and change.

It has been a long time, like February long, since I have guided or even been on the river.  What does that mean.  Well, whenever the water is cut off the fish will be on.  Sometimes it takes a couple of days for the fish to acclimate to lesser flows, but they still gotta eat.  After long periods of high water I like to target trees.  For months our fish have been hugging the bottom or downstream from any obstruction and when they cut back on water releases those fish will still be there, sometimes for a couple of weeks!  I have seen fish downstream from a tree that had only a couple of feet of water and absolutely no current, but that fish wasn't about to give up their spot.  Yep, it is kind of like bass fishing.

If you want to get out this summer then please consider booking a trip within the next couple of weeks.  Yes, there are still openings, but once the catching begins the phone lights up big time.  Text/call me at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions pertaining to my services.  I will also be posting reports on Facebook at DoubleDOutfitters.  There haven't been too many postings in a long while, but I will start posting pics/videos once the fishing begins.

There is good news and there is bad news.  What do you want to hear first?  Ok, it really isn't all that bad so let's look at the situation as a glass half full.  Water, water, water!  Way too much water, but what do you expect when you have a couple of snowstorms that dump over two feet of snow and then it is followed up by torrential rains?  The Corps has reacted by dumping and I mean dumping massive amounts of water through the dam. Right now as I type this they are releasing 29,000 cfs!  The result is that the lake is now dropping nearly a foot a day, not quite but very close to it.  What does that mean to the fly fishing world that is just salivating at the chance to get out and land some trout?  Well, at this rate the river might be fishable by mid April.  I know that is a big maybe, but ya gotta have faith.  Typically the Corps will run it hard until the lake levels get close to the top of the SEPA curve on the yearly graph.  If we don't get any torrential rains and they keep running it at the current rate then it is possible that we might be able to wet a line in April.  I know, fingers crossed and everything else.

If you are interested in booking a trip during the summer then I would advise you to do it soon.  A lot of people have contacted me about fishing in April and May and that is always iffy with the water releases, but by June it is usually stable and safe to plan on a trip.  What I have done for April through mid May is built up a list of clients that want me to call them ASAP when it is fishable.  If you want to be added to that list then please contact me at 502 432-5188.  This is my cell and it is honestly best to text than call.  If you want to talk then give me a ring after 5PM or just leave a message.  Yes, I am tired of tying flies!!!

Uh, no fishing.  You are probably saying to yourself duh Dave if you live in the region.  We have endured two snow storms over the past three weeks and a lot of rain.  Folks it is going to be a while, like a month while until we can get out and do some fly fishing.

Please call or text me at 502 432-5188 if you are interested in scheduling a trip.  Believe it or not, but May and June dates are filling up and people will really start nabbing them when it warms up.  My policy as always is if it is good we go.  If the water or weather is terrible then we will reschedule.  Take care and I guess I will keep on tying flies.

Sorry, but no real reports.  I haven't been out in the last couple of weeks due to snow and cold.  If you are trying to contact me then please do so by calling or texting at 502 432-5188.  You call also follow me on Facebook by searching Double D Outfitters.

Pros and Cons of this cold weather:  Lots and lots of shad should be dying on the lake due to this past three weeks of extremely cold weather.  So what is so great about that?  Well, they get sucked through the turbines and the trout gorge on them big time.  Last year we had a colder January than this year and you could see alewives everywhere in the first few miles below the dam while power was being generated.  Some of the rainbows that we landed have been a bit on the thin side and this will fatten them up.  Another pro is that we should have plenty of cold water this summer and early fall.  The downside is that with all of the snow and rain they are running water 24/7.  This will continue until the levels are down to normal and that shouldn't be long unless we receive a lot of rain, like we did last weekend.

Hang in there and check out my pictures and videos on Facebook.  I guess I can tye another 100 or more flies this weekend.

If you are needing to schedule a trip then please contact me on my cell at 502 432-5188.  I have gone through so many internet providers that my e-mail keeps changing.  You can always check out my Facebook page at Double D Outfitters for updates, pictures, and videos.

I guided on Saturday and the fishing was decent.  Lots of small rainbows, but we did land a handful of browns that were 17-18 inches long.  On Facebook there is a video of my guy landing a fish right before we called it a day.  I am notorious for not taking pics and updating them so Facebook seems to be the way to go.  Heck, even a person technologically impaired such as myself can post stuff.  Towards the end of the day we went to a salmon colored egg pattern instead of the peach and it caught some of the larger fish.  Guess I should have tried it out earlier.  The biggest problem was that the Corps ran a lot of water in the morning and it took quite a while for it to drop.  The best fishing was from 3-6 while the water dropped.  It was nearly 60 degrees but the winds prevented much of a midge hatch from happening in the late day.  A few weeks ago the fish really turned on with the late afternoon midge hatch and honestly there are times when it doesn't even matter what you are offering them as long as you get a decent drift.

I will be back out on the water this Saturday and the weather looks colder much colder than the 60 degree temps this past Saturday. 

Remember to contact me via Facebook at Double D Outfitters or contact me on my cell at 502 432-5188 if you are interested in booking a trip.

This Saturday is open.  Just found out.  First come first serve and the water and weather look great!!!

As always, contact me by texting or calling my cell number at 502 432-5188 if you want to get out this winter. 

Sorry, but no fishing report.  However, there is good news.  The Corps has been shutting off the water all day long!  For whatever reason they run the water from late afternoon until before dawn then shut if off all day.  I was trying to get down there, but I just can't do it during the week due to jury duty and teaching.  Jury duty, man, don't even get me going about that topic!  A lot of times I would burn a sick day or two when the water is off, but that isn't the case due to my civic duty and starting a new job.  So you would think that the weekends would be great, but it looks like they are going to release more this weekend then go back to releasing less next week.  I really don't know what to say. 

I have two weeks off starting on the 20th of December and I want to get out on the water as much as possible during that time.  If you are interested then give me a ring.  As always, if it looks good then we go, but if there is too much water then we will try to do it in the future.  Let's be real, these fish haven't seen a whole lot thrown their way since early November and my bet is that they should be pretty willing to cooperate.

Sorry, but there isn't a fishing report because I haven't been fishing.  Right now the Corps is running over 17,000 cfs 24/7 and that makes it nearly impossible to fish.  No, it is impossible to fish as far as fly fishing is concerned.  November is usually a great month to fish, one of my favorite for sure, but not this year.  I have only been on the water three times this month and that is the slowest in a long long time.  For some reason the Corps didn't run a lot of water when the lake rose during October.  They kind of ran 1-2 generators in what seemed like forever.  Then last weekend it rained/snowed and they decided to bump it up to four.  I wish that they would crank it wide open until it dropped to levels within the curve then they could go to the more typical generation schedule.  Thinking of typical, this would be the first normal November since dam repairs.  Oh well.  So much for normal.

I had a few trips this next week/weekend during the holiday break, but those trips look to be in jeopardy of being cancelled/rescheduled.  There isn't much we can do about all of this.  All I know is that these fish haven't seen a whole lot of flies in a long time and whenever the levels get back to normal then it should be game time, fingers crossed!

This can be one of the best times of the year to be out on the water, but that isn't the case with two or more generators plus two sluice gates.  When will it get back to fishable levels?  My guess is about two weeks and that is as long as it doesn't rain much in those two weeks.  Sorry, but I didn't plan on fishing anyway due to deer hunting which was great opening weekend.  Lots and lots of deer were moving and the weather was just about perfect.  One doe in the freezer and I missed an opportunity at a buck of a lifetime and managed to screw that up.  Oh well, off to Missouri for the next hunt.

As always please contact me via text at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions about the river or my service as your potential guide.

As always, please contact me at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions about the river or my guide service.

Well, I finally got a chance to get back out on the water and the results weren't quite what we were looking for.  For starters, we had a lot of wind on Saturday then on Sunday morning we started out at a balmy 26 degrees!  Nothing like sleeping in a tent when it is below freezing, but honestly it wasn't that bad in my minus whatever jumbo sleeping bag.  Sounds like a testimonial to me.  Then the Corps ran one generator 24/7 which isn't all bad, but for some reason they were also running the sluice gates around 1500 cfs.  As a result the water had a darker stained appearance, but still pretty clear for 4500 plus cfs.  If I ever get their reasoning behind doing both then I will post my findings.

Fishing:  Hundreds of fish.  Really, we caught a lot on both days, especially on Saturday, but I don't think we caught one over 17 inches!  Lots and lots of stockers and others that had been in there only for a couple of months.  Kinda dissapointing for this time of year has the potential to produce some monsters.  The larger fish were absolutely beautiful, showing off their fall spawning colors.  Still kinda bummed about the quality, but I guess that is why we call it fishing.

I will not be on the water much over the next two weeks due to deer hunting.  I usually hunt both here in Kentucky and back in Missouri with my dad.  There are still a few openings between early December and the end of the year.

As always, text me at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions about the river or my services as a guide.

I know, it has been a while since I posted a report, but there really hasn't been anything to report! It rained a lot and I mean a lot during that second week of October and the Corps has been running water 24/7 for over two weeks.  The lake levels are going down and it looks like the predicted generation schedules this weekend will be fishable.  Yep, I will be out both days on two separate trips and will post a report when I return.

There are a few more openings in December, but I understand that type of fishing isn't for everyone.  If you have fished with me before and have asked about my best day or favorite time then it would have to be during late fall early winter.  The bigger bows are trying to spawn and can be quite aggressive, especially when an egg pattern comes bumping by!!!  I can remember a day before Christmas back in 2000 where it snowed several inches in a two day span and I was the only one out on the river. Did I catch any?  Never caught so many fish in my life and had about four inches of snow in the boat!  A little tricky getting the boat out, but it was well worth it.

Gotta go bow hunt this evening! 

As always, contact me at 502 432-5188 if you are interested in booking a trip or just have a question about the river. 

I have fished a handful of times since the last report and the results were anywhere from good to great.  We have been in an off and on rainy weather pattern for the past week and it forced me to cancel two trips last week.  I usually don't cancel trips due to rain unless it looks like a gully washer or heavy thunderstorms and it looked like we were going to get some of those.  That was the case on one of those days but not the other.  Oh well.

Several fish in the 19-21 inch range were landed during these trips and all of them were rainbows.  On one of the trips we lost a big brown that was in that range, but it pulled off after a long fight.  Some of them even took us into the backing and we had a couple of breakoffs that made us question what the heck was that?!  Most of these bows look to be some of those that were stocked last fall, but there were a couple that had been in there for a couple of years and those dudes could really fight.  One of the bows that we had on looked to be a 20 inch plus fish.  It took several long runs but never broke the water, typical of a larger bow.  Those bigger browns like to dig deep and pull hard and some bows do the same.  After fighting that fish what seemed like forever, it was a 15 incher!  I have never seen a fish of that length fight so hard, but what was so unique about it was she had to weigh over 2 pounds!  A lot of times anglers will refer to fish as hogs, pigs, toads, ect.  This fish was just plain bizarre in length to weight proportions.  Maybe it was one of those triploid rainbows?  Who knows, but it is still swimming in the river.

What is working?  Well, being fall time you all know the answer to that.  Eggs in peach, pink, champagne, salmon, and clown are all producing.  I have been experimenting with different jig sizes, anywhere from 1/64 to 1/100 and I like the 1/80 the best fitted with a B size shot under a larger toothpick pegged indicator.  Speaking of indicators, I saw a couple of decent sized fish come up and hit our yellow indicators.  I guess we should have rigged a yellow colored hopper, but the fish were just hitting too good.  I have been fishing downstream, way way downstream.  However on Saturday I fished near Helms due to the rain from the previous days and some slightly stained waters.  We could have stayed in that mile stretch from Blackfish to Helms and caught a 100, but most of those fish were 8-13 inchers, not what we really want to see on the end of the line.  I know it is fun and all, but it is nice to see a 20 incher every once in a while and that hasn't been the norm in that stretch.

I have a couple of openings during my Thanksgiving break and a few on weekends in December.  Gotta get back into school mode!

As always, if you are trying to contact me in regards to fishing then please text/call me at 502 432-5188. 

Early this past week I had a cancellation and was going to just take off Sunday but instead decided to call a couple of my return clients and the first one nabbed it.  I am booked solid until the week of Thanksgiving.  There are a couple of dates open that weekend if anyone is interested.  Also, if you would like to be on a list for a last minute trip due to to a cancellation then I can make that happen.

I tried something yesterday that I have only attempted two other times this year and it paid off big time.  Well, let's just say I fished where I used to before the Corps began the repair project on the dam.  I saw three boats, two that were putting in and only saw one actually fishing.  With that being said, we pretty much had the entire 5 mile stretch to ourselves.  Did we catch any?  Uh, only one fish.  No, I can't lie.  We caught more fish yesterday than any trip since July.  It was that good.  Scary good.  There were some areas where you could literally cast out any fly and get a hit.  It would not be a lie to say that we caught over twenty fish in the slot and most of those were 18-20 inchers.  We had one that got into the backing and just couldn't slow it down before it broke off.  Most of the fish were rainbows mixed with a handful of browns and brookies. 

It is 6:30 in the morning and I have to get ready for school.  Gosh, I wish that I was on the water again today!!!

I made myself post a report before going to school this morning.  Sometimes I don't post one for a couple of days after a trip or two and then the texts start popping up wondering why there isn't an updated report.  Hey, it is a good thing to feel wanted.

On Saturday and Sunday I guided Ed P. and his son Andy.  They are from the St. Louis area and fished with me a couple of times in the past.  Back in June they absolutely slammed 'em in the rainbow run area.  I mean every other fish was an 18-20 incher.  Well, it wasn't quite that good, but the guys were able to land some quality fish.  On Saturday the water was low, very low and gin clear.  Can you say finesse fishing?  The key was finding some moving water with some depth.  We fished a zebra and caught a decent amount of fish, but the take was just so subtle and I mean subtle.  We stayed with the water as It came up and went to the egg patterns and caught some larger fish close to the 20 inch mark.  We had a couple of breakoffs, one which I saw and it was well over twenty inches long!  On Sunday they pulsed one generator for two hours and we pretty much egged it all day and caught a lot more fish.  Again, the largest was very close to that prized 20 inch mark.  Thanks for a great time guys and the steak was just fabulous!

I will be at it on Sunday this next weekend.  I know that there are some openings from Thanksgiving time to Christmas.  The larger fish are starting to show up near the shoal areas, kind of like a staging area before they try to spawn.  The great thing about this past weekend is that I only saw a handful of folks out on the water.  And I would also like to say thanks to officer Mills and his companion for they were out on the water Sunday checking on boaters/anglers.  Keep up the good work for the word gets out when they start writing citations for violations.

As always, text me at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions regarding my services.

Guided on Sunday and the results were fair.  We caught fish, but the numbers just weren't there.  Took out a client who has been out with me a handful of times this year and he knows how to fish, so it can't be blamed on operator error or lack of experience.  We went upstream from Helms and caught several, including a bow that was near 18 inches, but usually we can catch 20-30 fish up there between two people in an hour to two hours.  The good news is that we had a rookie guest who never caught a fish on a fly rod and he was able to land several.  He even had one on momentarily that was over the twenty inch mark, but it pulled off.  Really the indicator was under for a while and we were both kind of day dreaming before he set the hook.  I saw this big flash and was like what the heck is.. oh shoot set it.  We were able to land a couple of other 18 inch bows throughout the day, but nothing larger.  We saw some nice fish throughout the day, including a couple of browns in the 5-6 pound range that were in the shallows.  Yep, it is getting closer to that time of the year.  Longer nights and shorter days equals more aggressive fish. 

The water is clear, really clear.  I usually fish 5x Mirage tippett, but have gone down to 6x, especially when fishing the zebras and smaller nymphs.  On the downside you are going to have more breakoffs, but that is something you just have to deal with if you want to get more hits.  On some days the fish want nothing more than an absolute dead drift with the roach/zebra rig, but lately a little twitch, twitch, pull does the trick.  What I mean by that is fish it down and across, let the rig drift for about 5 seconds, then twitch it twice and pull it about a foot.  When I say twitch, I mean nothing more that an inch.  Many of our hits the past few trips have occurred right after the pull and those strikes are much more aggressive than the average dead drift.  Many of you are probably asking if I have abandoned the egg.  Heck no!  I gotta have at least one rod rigged with that, especially in deeper faster moving water.  Yesterday they pulsed one generator for an hour and the egg caught a few nice fish during that time.  When these browns start to make their false spawn then the bows will really begin keying in on those eggs.  Late October through early December is when some of our larger fish are taken on these patterns and this year has the potential to be something special.

There are still a few openings in late November through December. 

As always, if you are trying to contact me it is best to text at 502 432-5188.

I was able to get out and guide on Sunday.  The Corps has not been too kind lately in regards to water releases.  You gotta get out on the water early, very early to get in a full day.  I also have to cover a lot of water, which is nothing new this year.  There were a couple of areas yesterday where we caught a few slot bows and we would have liked to have hit it again but just couldn't due to rising water.  We caught a few in the 17 to 19 inch range, but no monsters.  Early on the fish were just nailing egg patterns and then it stopped after about an hour.  So, I handed Charlie a zebra midge dropper below a 1/80 oz brown jig and bam, we were back in business.  It all boils down to water flow.  When we first put in there was a decent current.  Later the water began to slow down and so did the fishing.  The key was downsizing to the midge.  Later in the day when the water began to rise or we hit certain areas that were deeper we went back to the egg pattern.  It was kind of back and forth throughout the day depending on the areas that we fished.  I tried some hoppers later in the afternoon as the water was rising but failed to have any takers.  It wasn't the best of days, but we still landed a good number of fish.  I talked to a handful of anglers and they too commented on how slow it was.  The weather was perfect, not even 80!  Maybe it was that mini cold front that put them down.  What I enjoyed most about the fish that we landed were their colors.  At this time of the year the fish, especially the browns, begin to brighten up.  Their colors that is.  A few of the browns were fire engine red along the sides and I caught a brookie that looked like someone air brushed it.  That fish would have to be in one of my top tens in regards to beauty!  The female browns that we caught were showing signs of egg development, even the smaller ones that were just over a foot in length.  It will not be long before we start seeing larger browns showing up in shoal areas, Christmas for the anglers.

I will be back at it on both days this upcoming weekend.  Looks like the daily high temps aren't even going to hit the 70 degree mark with lows in the low 50s, maybe even 40s!  With that being said, maybe, just maybe, the Corps will hold back a bit on the water releases. 

No fishing this past week or weekend.  My kids had a soccer tourney in Indy and that was on the plate.  Trying to still understand this game: Put ball in net and don't use hands.  What is this offsides stuff?  Grrr.  It isn't my kind of football, but I sure do enjoy watching the kids play.

I will be back at it next weekend on Sunday.  I do not have any openings from now to mid November.  Sorry, anything that was available has been taken and there are just only so many days that I can put in.  I might have a Wednesday open during the second Wednesday of October which is our fall break.  I do have the day before and after Thanksgiving open if anyone wants it.  December is pretty much open too and we all know that will all depend on water releases.  Typically we start getting some good rains in November and if it is too much then the Corps will begin to run more water.  It could be some great late fall early winter fishing so reserve them before they are gone!!!

No fishing this past week or weekend.  My kids had a soccer tourney in Indy and that was on the plate.  Trying to still understand this game: Put ball in net and don't use hands.  What is this offsides stuff?  Grrr.  It isn't my kind of football, but I sure do enjoy watching the kids play.

I will be back at it next weekend on Sunday.  I do not have any openings from now to mid November.  Sorry, anything that was available has been taken and there are just only so many days that I can put in.  I might have a Wednesday open during the second Wednesday of October which is our fall break.  I do have the day before and after Thanksgiving open if anyone wants it.  December is pretty much open too and we all know that will all depend on water releases.  Typically we start getting some good rains in November and if it is too much then the Corps will begin to run more water.  It could be some great late fall early winter fishing so reserve them before they are gone!!!

As always, text me at 502 432-5188 or leave a message on my home phone at 502 538-8919 if interested in getting out on the river.

I learned something new yesterday: reba.  What is reba you might ask?  Well, it is Russian for the word fish.  I had the pleasure of taking out some newbies yesterday who just happened to be from Russia.  Alex and his son Leon decided to come on down and try their luck on the Cumberland.  We used egg patterns and caught fish here and there throughout the day.  We didn't wear them out, but the fish cooperated enough to keep their attention.  Alex lost a big one early on upstream from Helms and Leon caught the biggest one which was an 18 inch rainbow.  Not bad for a guy who never fished with a fly rod.  I know that we could have caught a lot more on zebras and nymphs, but the guys were having a tougher time getting a good drift with the nymph rigs so we just kept on eggin' it.

I know that November the 2nd is open and honestly, that might be it until deer season.  I might have a day in September and a wednesday in mid October open, but they are still up in the air.  My bet is that by Thanksgiving weekend I will be back to guiding.  Speaking of late fall and early winter fishing, those who have fished with me know how fond I am of that time of the year.  I have honestly had some of the best fishing of the year between mid November and New Years.  This might be the first year in a long time in which we don't have tons of water.  No hurricanes or tropical storms please!!!  About a dozen years ago I can remember getting slammed by a winter storm and catching fish on nearly every cast.  Had a heck of a time driving back in 5 inches of snow, but it was worth it!  Gotta tie up some hoppers.  The fish are starting to look up.

As always, text me at 502 432-5188 if interested in booking a trip.  Speaking of booking a trip, there are probably 2-3 openings between now and early November. 

Guided this past Saturday and Sunday and did well.  Each year I donate a couple of trips to Casting for Recovery through Dr. Anna Perry and Glenn Gorton was one of the winners.  With that being said, I took out Glenn and his son Kevin for a two day trip.  Both days could be rated as good as far as fish and numbers.  The guys caught a lot of fish early on, but most were on the small side. So we decided to cover some water and hit some of the areas that have been producing the larger fish.  We caught some bigger fish downstream from Helms.  Vague?  Yes, I know.  The biggest was a 20 inch bow landed on Sunday by Glenn, but Kevin caught a shorter fish on Saturday that looked like it had a softball stuffed down into its belly! We were lucky to dodge some of the storms.  Rockhouse has saved me more than once this year and Sunday was no exception.  It looked like we were going to get hammered so we took a break, ate some lunch, and got out of the rain.  Right after eating the rain stopped and we went up about a quarter of a mile and bam, Glenn caught an 18 incher on the first cast!  Not a bad dessert.  Thanks for a great time guys and I bet that they will be back for more in the future.

Same patterns are working.  However, you might want to have a blue wing olive in a size 18 ready from late morning on.  The trout were slamming them in certain areas, but we weren't able to connect on top so we just stuck to nymphing.  It is tough to stop fishing different patterns that produce 20 inch fish on nearly every trip.  Like I said in the intro, not many available dates left and I got a couple of return clients that will most likely nab 'em in a few.  If you are going to be out this weekend then bring lots of liquids for it looks to be a scorcher! 

Remember that it is best to call my home phone or text at 502 432-5188 when trying to contact me.

It is Monday morning.  I am trying to get a lift in, write a report, and get ready for school.  Nothing like running around like crazy in the DeBold house.  What about fishing?  Yes, it was another solid weekend.  Fished both days and did well on both days, especially on Sunday.  On Saturday I took out Chris C. and his buddy Doug.  The two largest fish were right at that 20 inch mark:  One was a bow and the other a brown.  Peach colored eggs did the best, but the jig/blue iron dropper connected quite a few times as well.  Nice trip and we were able to avoid the rain which was a plus. On Sunday I had three people, which I usually don't do, but every once in a while I make an exception.  I took out Clark and his wife Denise from Nashville.  Denise is from Brazil and her brother Jaime was visiting from there and was wanting to catch some fish.  And catch they did.  Lots of fish, lots of different sizes.  Denise had the largest, which was a bow that was just shy of 22 inches.  I rigged up all three with light spin gear throwing eggs under a larger indicator.  It worked well, very well.  During the afternoon Clark wanted to fly fish and I had a jig/dropper with a Blue Iron and he caught some nice fish on it during the afternoon.  Actually, the largest fish that was hooked was by Clark, a huge brown that wouldn't come up.  I saw the yellow flash and no it wasn't a carp or buffalo!  Two footer and it just pulled off!  Dang!!!

I might have a Saturday opening in September, but don't quite know yet.  Trying to iron out the family calendar and it is chock full of activities and chaos! 

Remember text me at 502 432-5188 if you are interested in booking a trip.  You can still contact me at my home phone, 502 538-8919.

I've been out on the water a couple of times since the last report and had good to great success each time.  Like I said in earlier reports, there are two major factors to success:  skill and water releases.  I am still covering a lot of water on each trip, nearly 10 miles from Helm's to just upstream from Winfrey's, but I gotta do it in order to get in a full day.  Some days they have released water as early as 9 Eastern, while others it isn't until Noon which is a gift from the almighty Corps.  Speaking of the Corps, I wrote both of our Senators, complaining about sporadic water releases and how it affects fishing and the economy.  Rand Paul didn't return my e-mail.  He only sends me updates about what he has to say about different topics which I could care less about.  On the other hand, Mitch McConnell's office tried to call the house twice (I was fishing) and sent a letter stating that he had been in contact with the Nashville office and is looking into the issue. 

On the most recent trip I had John and his son Jay from Louisville.  This was Jay's first time out on the river, but dad had been working with him and it paid off big time.  It wasn't the best in terms of water releases this past Friday, but they generated one for three hours until bumping it up.  That is much better, for it allows for a gradual rise, not a Biblical flood!  Both caught a lot of fish, dad catching a few twenty inchers and Jay catching a 15 inch brookie that hadn't missed too many meals.  Great day!!!

What is working:  Salmon Egg colored and peach egg patterns early on and later as the water is rising.  Size 16 Blue Iron dropped below a dubbed 1/80 oz jig in either olive or brown is killin' 'em in certain areas.  Make sure you have some Zebra midges as well.  Hoppers?  Not yet, but it should be on within the next couple of weeks.  I will most likely rig up a rod with one for the next two trips next weekend.

Availability:  Not much of anything for the next two months.  I have a couple and I need to check on that with my wife.  She hasn't looked at my calendar for the next two months and it might get ugly.  But I took her out to a nice restaurant the other night after fishing and we went to look at new automobiles so that is worth something isn't it? 

Well, school starts on Wednesday, really Monday for teachers and it is time to get back into the real world.  The fishing this summer has been fantastic and I would like to thank everyone for the business.  If you are interested in open dates from now through November then act fast. 

Remember:  Text me at 502 432-5188 if you want to talk fishing.  I will be getting a new internet provider in a few days and will no longer be receiving e-mails via clicking the contact box on the site.  Yes, I know, I need to update my site.

Five days in a row of good to excellent fishing.  The only drawback was today.  I had to cancel today's trip due to all of the storms from yesterday.  Speaking of yesterday we endured a tornado warning while on the water.  Now you want to talk about some erie skies?  Good Lord were they spooky or what.  We were drifting right upstream from Snow Island when the tornado sirens throughout the valley went on.  I text one of my buddies and he said that there was rotation near Creelsboro.  Yikes!  Well, it passed and we kept fishing and catching.  I don't know about you all, but the catching element of fishing is the most enjoyable and we caught a bunch of fish of all sizes over the past several trips.

You all know how I like to use eggs so yes, we used eggs at times and caught some over 20 inches.  I love hearing from the naysayers about how you can't catch a big fish on a junk fly like that.  Yep, that is why we have landed some this year over 6 pounds on eggs!  My roach pattern with a size 16 Blue Iron is another combination that we use throughout the day and then you always have to have a zebra pattern when the skies are bright and the fish are skittish.  Get those hoppers ready!  Customers have started to notice fish rising to their indicators.  No big ones, but hopper time will soon be here.  The other day I walked along the bank to see what size/color the hoppers are right now.  Most are very small, but the colors vary from lime green to a slate gray.  Better tie up some hoppers!

Guys and gals, it has been a pleasure taking out so many unique people this summer.  I know it isn't over yet, but school starts for me in one more week.  I have a couple of trips later on this week, but the weekday trips are over.  Dang, it was fun.  There still are a few and I mean very few opportunities to book a trip with me until October.  If you want to go then please don't wait.  My client base is increasing more this year than any other year on the water and for that I am very grateful.  Thank you so much!!!

Remember, text me at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions about fishing the Cumberland or booking a trip.  I will get back with you later that day once I get off the water.  It is a lot easier for me to check texts than checking e-mails and we might be getting a new internet/phone provider.

Haven't fished since the last report, but I have a week of solid fishing coming up.  It is almost hopper time.  How do you know when it is time to fish a hopper?  Well, if the fish come up and hammer your indicator then it is best to have a hopper rigged and ready to go.  I know some fish a dropper below it and I do too, but smack it along the bank or structure, let it drift for no more than ten seconds, then do it again.  Honestly, the largest fish any client has ever hooked with me was on a hopper a couple of years ago.  Higher flows are better for hopper fishing, not all, but most of the time.

I will not have many openings left this fall.  I accepted a new teaching position at a middle school and my kids play a lot and I mean a lot of soccer. If you are remotely interested in a fall trip then now is the time to seriously think about booking one.  The wife and I need to sit down and look over the calendar.  Then I will post any remaining dates from August through December.  Gotta go make some more flies!!!

Remember to text me at 502 432-5188 if you are trying to book a trip.  I will get back with you by 7 PM that day.

Just got home after guiding seven days straight.  Yep, seven days and I am bushed.  Every day varied due to the generation schedule and the skill of the anglers.  Some days were better than others, but we always caught some fish.  The biggest was landed by a retired jockey named Jack.  He spin fished and I rigged him up with a 1/80 dubbed jig with a Blue Iron dropper.  The fish would have weighed about 6 pounds!  We took a few pics and let her go.  Other days we found fish just stacked up in some deeper water and just hammered them.  Went back to the same area the next day and didn't do half as good.  That is fishing.  What is working?  Eggs early or in deeper/fast water.  Blue irons and zebras below the dubbed jig are catching a lot of fish.  I haven't experimented with scuds yet, but that will most likely happen next week.  I am going to take a few days off then I got something like six days in a row next week.  Gotta get them in before school starts up.

Today I saw our fishery biologist Dave Dreves shocking fish on the Cumberland.  On our way up I saw some of his helpers holding up a 40 pound striper!!!  This cold water has prevented a lot of the fish working upstream and that is a good thing.  Every single striper except one that I have cleaned over the years had a a few trout in their bellies.  Eagles, herons, osprey, stripers, walleye, otters, and humans and I probably left out some others.  That is why we should keep enough for a dinner and not enough to feed our home town.

Still have some fall days open, but they too getting nabbed up.  Get them before they are gone!

Remember, text me at 502 432-5188 if you have any questions about booking a trip.  Here are the dates still available in July:  24th, 28th, and maybe the 29th.  The first Saturday and Sunday is open in August.  I just checked my school calendar and school begins on the 6th of August.  After that date it is weekends only and they are very limited from then until Christmas.  If you want to fish with me then you better act now because open dates are getting nabbed.

Fished yesterday with a client from Louisville and he caught two pigs at the 20 inch mark that had to weigh over four pounds.  Super fat and healthy if that contradicts itself then so be it, but these fish are doing very well.  Just throw them back and they grow!  Eggs were working in deeper fast water, but the brown roach style jig dubbed with Awesome possum and trailed by a Blue Iron caught the most.  We even caught a few browns in the 16-17 inch range.  Heck, I even fished a bit and landed a brook trout that was 17 inches and was blind in one eye and had a stab mark through his back from a Heron.  Now that is a tough fish and yes, I released him.  Wish I could have put a fish bandage or something on him.  Zebra midges worked well too, but the size 16 Blue Iron was on during late morning and early afternoon.

Gotta roll!

Remember, please text me at 502 432-5188.  A lot of time I don't have access to e-mail so this is the best way to book a trip.

Happy 4th.  Hope everyone is kicking back and enjoying this weather.  I think it was 55 degrees when I put the boat in this morning.  Is this really July.  Absolutely beautiful.

I was out on the river the past three days and we caught a lot of fish each day on Blue Irons, mini jigs, egg patterns, and zebra midges.  The generation schedule is a bit different each day and I always have 4-5 rods rigged with different appetizers for our trout.  There are some pigs in there!  Today Ralph had a monster on that snapped his line without him even having a chance.  These fish are growing like crazy and for that I am just so fired up.  I am going to get a day of rest then get back on the river.  Gotta get some rest and do some chores around the home.

I still have a handful of July dates available as well as late summer/fall dates that fall on weekends.  I haven't even looked at my fall break schedule yet, but I will post what 3 to 4 days are open. 

Reminder:  Text me at  502 432-5188 if you want to book a trip.  You can also call my home phone number at 502 538-8919, but it might be a couple of days before I get back with you.  Super busy!!!

Can someone tell me where June went?  Good Lord did that month fly by.  I was wrapping up school during the first week and then went all out on guiding since them.  Looking back on the calendar, I spent 16 days on the river last month and that is a good thing!  Thanks to all who have allowed me to be their Cumberland River guide.

I just returned last night from four solid days on the river.  Each day we are catching at least a handful of fish in the 17-20 inch range and turning and breaking off some that were truly trophy fish.  One of the largest was a fish turned by a young man from West Virginia that I know was two foot long!  Yesterday, one of my many time return customers, Mike S. hooked into a beast near some timber and that dude didn't even give him time to fight before the line snapped.  Huge!!!  The greatest appreciation I get is hearing from return customers about just how much better the fishing is this year.  Our fish are fat and I mean really fat and healthy.  Every once in a while you will hook into a 14 inch fish that you would swear would be pushing twenty inches only to fight it for a few and see that it isn't nearly anthing close to what it feels like.  Now that is awesome.

Generation flows change daily and my ability to go up or downstream really helps out.  Some days they pulse one for an hour or two then shut it off for a few more.  I really like that schedule, but you just never know what you are going to get. 

What is working:  Eggs as always in 1/64 or 1/80 oz, but some colors are working better than others.  In skinny water stick to a more subtle approach with pheasant tails, hares ears, or zebra midges.  The best thing is to have two anglers using two different flies to find just which ones the fish prefer.  Usually I have it down, but it can change from trip to trip.

There are about 4-5 days left in July that are still open and a couple of them are weekend dates.  Shoot me a text on the cell or leave a message on my home phone if you are interested in going.

Text me at 502 432-5188 if you are wanting to book a trip.  I am on the river more than I am at home so this is the best way to contact me.

Fished the past two days and did well.  The morning bite is still somewhat slow and I still believe the reason is the super cold water.  47 degrees!!!  Like I always say 52 degrees is that magic number and when it gets above 50 then the fish are more active.  Who would ever think that you could do better at two in the afternoon on a 92 degree day than early in the morning.  It kind of defies all traditional fishing logic, but that is what is going on right now.  The water is super clear and I have even downsized to 6X in areas where there is little flow.  Remember the good old days when you could sight fish?  Well, those are back.  Yesterday I had Marty and Kevin from New Albany and there was this one little cut in which the fish were just stacked up like crazy.  We were drifting egg patterns and Blue Irons through this area and it was cool to see the fish go for it.  You gotta be quick on the strike for these fish aren't going to hold on forever.  Each day we are still catching a handful or more of fish in the 18-20 inch range.  Most of these are the slot stockers from last fall, but not all of them.  We caught a bow last week that looked to be a wild fish that was 21 inches long.  How do you know it is wild?  Well, the fish don't have the spots like a stocker does and they look like a steelhead.  The tail is larger than a hatcher fish and when you hook into one it feels as if you have the new state record.  No kidding!

July is nearly booked and fall dates are filling up quickly.  Act fast before they are gone.

Text me at 502 432-5188 if you need to talk.  This is the best way to contact me if you are trying to book a trip.

Fishing is about the same since my last report.  However, one day I took my dad and cousin downstream from Winfrey's and didn't do so great, but from Helm's to Winfrey's has been consistently producing some very nice fish.  My son caught a rainbow just a tad under twenty inches.  I guess if we would have pressed the tail lobes together like you should then it would have been over that mark, but I talked him out of keeping it thank goodness.

What is working???  Well, it varies.  I always keep a rod rigged with a heavy egg pattern to rake the bottom in certain areas.  Then I have a double nymph rig.  Really it is a 1/80 oz brown headed jig dubbed with brown/olive/gray then I tie on a size 16 nymph.  Sometimes a pheasant tail works good while some days a simple hare's ear type will produce.  Since this water is really gettig clear I will also have a rod rigged with a zebra or wd40.  Gotta have the arsenal ready when you arrive at those so called fishy areas.

Thanks to all who have allowed me to be their guide on the Cumberland.  It keeps me busy through the summer and it sure beats teaching summer school!!!  There are still a few July dates open.  People are also beginning to book their Sept and Oct dates.  It should be interesting to see what the hopper fishing will be like this fall.  It could get very interesting.  I gotta tie more flies!!!

Contact me by texting 502 432-5188.  I will get back with you in the evening when I get off of the water.

Five days of guiding can wear you out, but I think the clients were more worn out than myself.  Fishing is great, but knowing where and when to fish as well as what to use are major factors.  It can change from day to day.  For example.  One day the Corps shut off water early in the evening.  The next morning the water was lower and the fish were more concentrated and the water temperatures were 49 degrees.  Easy fishing!  However, the next day the Corps ran water until midnight which led to higher levels the next morning and the water was 46 degrees.  On that particular day the catching didn't start until late morning.  So in a nutshell, it changes from day to day and you really need to be flexible.  With that being said, I usually have four rods rigged with multiple offerings which one can pick up at a moments notice.  Certain areas are just chock full of fish while others resemble the Dead Sea.  Find the fish and you will catch the fish.

I would like to thank the Fish and Wildlife Department for having the agents patrol the water more often.  These guys/gals work their tails off to protect this beautiful resource.  Thank them if they check you.  Remember, you need a fishing license as well as a trout permit to fish the river.

As I said in previous reports, there are no more June openings.  While I was guiding I booked three other July days so those too are becoming more scarce.

Attention:  Here is my cell if you need to contact me.  If you need to contact me then do it by texting.  The number is 502 432-5188.

I guided yesterday and did well.  It was slower at certain times and certain areas, but the last two hours of the day were crazy good!  Took out two return customers Al and Bob from the Louisville areas.  These guys fish with a striper guide down in Burkesville and then fish with me about this time each year.  Well, the guys didn't catch any stripers on Friday, but they did catch a good amount of trout yesterday.  The Corps had a weird schedule that kind of changed the game plan.  I am not going to go into great details about it for I would ramble on and on.  The key was to stay ahead of the generation, but then they shut off the water for three hours late morning early afternoon.  We caught some decent fish during the morning, but had a few bigger fish and break offs from noon to three in the afternoon.  I rigged an elk hair caddis on a standby rod just in case and we tried it once we started seeing the numbers and the fish coming up to nab them.  The problem was that the water was rising and it was tough to get a decent drift.  We had a couple on, but weren't able to get them to the boat.  The key is to let the fish go back down before setting the hook.  I know, it is too tempting to set the hook when you see the fish rise.  Usually you see smaller fish rise on the caddis, but I saw a few large slot fish and some flirting with the twenty inch mark that were rising to the caddis before the water came up.  I will be ready for them this week!

I will be on the water an average of 4-5 days each week for the next two months.  June is full, but there are still some openings in July and early August.

June has arrived and the fishing continues to be pretty darn good.  I had the pleasure of taking out return clients this weekend and they did well.  My only wish is that the Corps would cut back on water releases, especially this morning when they started releasing at 7 Eastern!!!  Not a clue as to why.  Maybe they are predicting some major precip or maybe it is to just get us all wound up.  Who knows, but one thing I know for sure is that you can still catch a lot of fish if you stay with or slightly ahead of the rising water.

Yesterday was fantastic.  Took out Brian B. and his dad Ken and we caught a bunch and I mean a bunch of fish.  Many were flirting with the twenty inch mark and a couple of them were candidates for Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers!  Man, were they thick!  I bet we had a handful of break offs that would have gone in the low twenties.  Tough to land some of these larger fish on 5X.  I have been using Orvis Mirage for years and can't remember having that many breakoffs in a single day.  Brian had one on for a split second downstream from Helms that looked like a 4-5 pound rainbow!  Today was a bit tougher due to the early release, but we hung in there and landed a lot of fish.  Took out Chris, his son Brendan, and Brendan's girl Madison.  All landed fish and like the previous day, many very healthy fish.  Chris hooked the first fish of the day which was a 19 inch rainbow!  Nice!!!  That fish nearly got into the backing and it seemed like forever to land the thing.  The best comments that I kept hearing both days were how much better the fishing is this year.  These fish are fighting harder than ever.  Sometimes it takes a while to wake up, but once you hook into one then ya better hold on! 

Water temps range from 46 to 52 degrees, depending on when the water is being released and where you are.  Some caddis action can be found from the powerlines downstream to Winfrey's Rock and below.  Eggs still rule as always, but I will have to rig up some Elk Hair Caddis for next weekend.

There are no June dates available, but July has many openings, especially on weekends.  If you want to get out this summer then reserve a day before they are gone!

Fishing is out of sight!  The only problem is that we are having to cover more water than I would like as we try to stay ahead of the generation.  The key is getting in early, like 6 AM Eastern early!!!  Every once in a while the Corps will hold back until late morning and that is a real treat!  If you can throw a sink tip then your chances of hooking into a monster are enhanced when they kick in one generator.  White, white, white for the bigger browns, but egg patterns will get you the most and sometimes the biggest fish.  Had a brown this spring on an egg pattern that someone just dropped off the edge of the boat.  Yes, they were tired and the water was just getting into two units and they weren't paying a bit of attention.  I honestly thought that they were snagged, but low and behold it was a 8 pound plus brown!!!   No, we didn't get it in, but the lesson learned is to never let your guard down.

June looks pretty much booked, but July is still open.  Crazy busy now with wrapping up school and trying to impersonate a fishing guide.

Update:  I have only one day open during the month of June and that is the 13th and that is somewhat iffy.  Many openings still available in July, but they too are being gobbled up rather quickly.

I am really speechless, especially after yesterday's outing.  Don't get me wrong, Saturday was a great day, but Sunday was a show stopper.  On Saturday I took out return clients Alan and Whitney.  This young couple can fish and they pretty much caught fish all day long.  Alan landed the biggest which was a super thick rainbow around the four pound mark.  He also lost the largest fish which was a 7-8 pound brown!  Well, honestly he only had it on momentarily, but man was it a monster.  Whitney had something on an egg pattern that we never even got a look at before it nearly got to the backing.  Crazy!  Thanks guys!

Sunday was probably the best day yet this year.  Took out former UofL player Allen Douglas and he caught well over 100 fish.  Just plain out crazy to say the least.  Egg patterns ruled.  Why use anything else when you can catch 30 or more slot fish.

Next available date is May 31st.  It might be taken once I check my e-mails.  Gotta get to soccer!!!

Fishing can be rated as great, but what you use and how you present it can be the difference between slammin' 'em and just having an average day.   For example, I heard from folks that they had observed some caddis action over the past week so I went to my micro jig dubbed with brown/olive awesome possum and a bead head caddis dropper.  I also had a rig with the old standby, the peach colored egg.  The egg will catch fish anywhere, anytime, and I don't care what people say about it. The combo rig however, only picked up fish near timber and large bolders.  I couldn't buy a fish with it in shoal areas, but once we came up to any flooded timber then it was game on.  Twitch, twitch, pull and bam!!!  I caught two rainbows over twenty inches doing this and one nice brown that was close to 17 inches and countless numbers of other smaller fish.  Most of the fish were on the micro jig, but a few were on the bead head dropper. 

Water generation varies from day to day and the key is to stay ahead of it.  That means covering a lot of water.  However, we have thrown big white woolies while two generators are flowing and have done well, suprisingly well.  The walleye and white bass are hanging out in their usual areas so it doesn't hurt to grab a spinning rod and some jigs.  Just the other day I caught three walleyes in about a half of an hour, the largest being 20 inches.  They don't fight worth a darn, but they sure do eat good.

June is nearly full, but there are some openings in July.  I do have the last Saturday in May available.  Someone just took June first.  Get 'em before they are gone.  P.S.  Pray for less rain!!!

Yep, I jinxed the fishing.  Just as it was really getting good we got slammed by nearly three days of heavy rain.  The lake has risen 8 feet or more, but it has stabilized due to the Corps cranking 6 generators 24/7.  Well, you might ask what does this mean for fishing?  Fishing, well there won't be any fly fishing for about two weeks.  The good news is the next 7 days look dry, but it is going to take some time to get the lake down to the levels that they want. I have had a couple people ask about what this will do to the caddis hatch.  My prediction was it was going to be a bit later than normal due to the colder than normal water temps.  I just hope it doesn't occur when the water is rolling hard.  There were reports that the caddis were hatching near the Burkesville area, but I haven't fished that far downstream since pre dam repairs.

June and July dates are starting to fill up.  I try to book about 15 to 20 days for each of those two months and right now it looks like both have close to ten.  Let's just all hope that it dries out, the lake drops, and they hold back on the water releases.  Like I said, it is going to be a couple of weeks.

Guided on Friday and Saturday and we caught a bunch and I mean a bunch of fish.  Nothing over 18/19 inches but I was super busy both days landing and releasing fish. 

Friday didn't start out great.  Almost hit two deer during a thunderstorm and one of my guys was nearly t-boned on their way down.  Most of the storms went North or South of the river so we were able to get in some fishing.  We stayed with or slightly ahead of the water and made it down to the Rockhouse area on Friday.  I would have preferred to keep going, but the water was a bit too murky due to the rains.  Later on we fished with one generator and did fairly well.  I believe the biggest fish was a 19 inch brown that Mike hooked into while stripping a white wooly on a sink tip.  Great trip guys.  Thanks!

Saturday was even better.  The water had cleared and the fish were hungry.  Took out two brothers and had the same game plan as the previous day.  However, we were able to fish all the way to Winfrey's Rock and caught fish nearly everywhere along that float.  Jack had two bigger fish on that pulled or broke off.  We couldn't really tell if they were rainbows or browns, but one thing for sure is that they were pigs!  It was great to see Fish and Wildlife working on the water yesterday.  There is nothing wrong with keeping some fish, but I really want those slot fish protected for all of us.  I don't think that I have seen so many boats upstream from Helms in several years.  It was crazy in the afternoon to say the least and it affected the late afternoon bite, but I have no clue about how many fish we caught during the morning.  There were a couple of runs in which the guys had a strike or landed one on just about every other cast.  Thanks again Jack and Larry and hope to see you all again.

I do have an opening next Sunday if anyone is interested.  On the downside it looks like we might get some big rains over the next couple of days and we all know what that could mean.  Best April fishing in years!!!

I did not guide this past weekend.  My sister and her family visited with us and it was a nice time.  Carrie, my wife, Lara, my sister, and my son Caleb all ran in the Mini Marathon in Louisville and I was watching soccer.  No, no running for me.  I had enough of that in college.

Someone that I have taken out several times did have the chance to fish this past weekend.  His buddy got a new boat and was itchin to get it out on the river.  Matt said that they caught many trout on the eggs and some on bead head caddis patterns, but on the downside his buddy needs a new prop.  That isn't good, the first time out and the poor fella shredded his prop.  Thinking back on it, that is exactly how I learned where to go and where not to go.  Water temps appear to be sluggishly rising, up to 48 degrees.  Over the years I have noticed one big thing about water temps in the spring and that is once it gets a tad over 50 then hold on!  52 seems to be the magic number and the caddis and other insect activity begins to increase.  However, with this year's super cold winter it appears that the big caddis hatch, water permitting and I am almost on my knees praying, might be a bit later. 

I will be back on the water this weekend and will post a report when I return. 

Update:  I had a cancellation for the first weekend of May, Derby weekend.  It is now open.  Come and get it or one of the days before they are gone.  I am also available on Friday, May 2nd.

Fished with one of my favorite return customers yesterday, Charlie Mulligan.  Charlie has been fishing with me for over ten years and I bet he fishes with me at least a half dozen or more times per year.  We looked at the generation schedule Friday evening and really didn't know whether it would be worth going or not.  The Corps started running water at 7 Eastern, but they only ran one generator until 1 PM then bumped it to two the rest of the day.  Our game plan was to put in at Helms by 7 and stay slightly ahead or with the one generator.  We made it all the way to Winfrey's Rock and caught fish nearly everywhere along our trip.  We plowed through the long deep holes, concentrating on the shoal areas.  Charlie was able to fish egg patterns from 7 to noon and caught 50 fish in that time.  Yep, he kept count.  He usually insists that I fish with him, but I didn't do a whole lot because I was constantly landing and releasing fish.  I bet it was safe to say that a dozen or more of the fish were in the slot and most appeared as if they were the recent arrivals from last fall.  I did catch the biggest fish, a rainbow that was right at the 20 inch mark.  The water is still cold, maybe touching the 45 degree mark.  No white bass yet, but they should be working their way upstream within the next couple of weeks.

There are still a few openings during May and several throughout June and July.  The water is a bit off colored and we stuck with the egg patterns.  Duh, no suprise there right?  If this water remains this cold then that would most likely push the caddis hatch back, but I can't make any promises there.

I actually guided yesterday.  I was on my way home from a cruise to Mexico when I saw that a couple of people had tried to contact me.  Well what do you know, the fishing actually picked up when I left.  Maybe I should move.  I arrived home at 1:30 AM Sunday morning and was back in the car four and a half hours later on my way to the river.  My clients were Rick and David from Nashville, two very accomplished egg fishermen.  Have I ever told you all that I like people who like to catch fish?  These guys have fished with me before and they know how to get it done.  We started late morning with one generator running and picked up some fish, a couple being in the slot.  They turned off the water noon Eastern and about an hour later the fishing really started to pick up.  They caught fish pretty much non stop until six when the water reached us downstream from the powerlines.  Lots and lots of slot rainbows were released and the looked to be in pretty good shape.  Dave landed a slot rainbow that had a rubber washer stuck on its lower jaw.  Who knows how it got on there, but it looked like a rubber washwer from a pool or maybe a livewell or bilge.  It had been on there quite a while because the jaw had actually grown around the washwer.  Wild! 

Well it looks like we are open for business.  However, if we get much more rain then you all know the rest of that story.

You probably clicked on my report, saw a new date, and got excited.  Well, false alarm!  They ran too much water to do any fly fishing this past weekend.  I had a couple of tenative trips a week ago who wanted to get in a solid afternoon in but mother nature and the Corps didn't cooperate.  I see that the water will be turned off for a handful of hours in the afternoon tomorrow and that would be good fishing, especially when it is 70 degrees!!!  Hopefully I will make it out this weekend.  If we don't get too much precip with this next front then it should be fishable this weekend, at least during the afternoons.  Last year at this time I was able to get in a few trips from noon to about dark.  Yep, they were pulling water pretty hard during the morning then shut it off at lunch time and kept it off until dark!  That was almost 8 hours of fishing and catching, something we have all been daydreaming about during the past couple of months.

If you are interested in one of these trips over the next couple of weeks then give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail.  As always, if it looks good then we go.  If not then keep your loot.

When will this weather ever end???  We have missed three weeks of school so far this winter and that is really going to cut  into my late May and early June fishing.  This is my 18th year teaching in the state of Kentucky and I have never seen such cold and nasty weather.  Here is a first:  Today I shoveled snow, in MARCH!  Maybe back in the day growing up in Missouri, but that is a first for me here in Kentucky.  Tired of waiting and tired or tying and ready to go catch some fish.  Thinking back, I have also caught some of my largest bass at this time of the year, but many of the ponds in my area are still frozen over, especially when it was like seven degrees this morning.  Yes, cabin fever set in a long time ago. 

Well, we know that there isn't much we can do about this weather.  If the lake doesn't go up too much this week then I will try to get a trip or two in this next weekend.  I just saw that the temps were supposed to be in the 50s and that will feel Jamaica like!  Guess I will go watch another movie or lift some weights.

39 degrees!  Say what?  Yep, the water temperature last Saturday stayed at 39 degrees throughout the afternoon.  So you might be asking did I fish.  Well, I didn't drive two hours for nothing.  Well, actually I wanted to go down and check on the boat and the Jeep.  While doing taxes I noticed that the last trip was early December so I just had to get down there and check things out.  As always I forget and leave a 12 pack or case of Coke in the back and it freezes and both ends blow out.  The thing is, it was so cold that I didn't even notice any liquid on the floor.  Brrr!  A case of bottled water frozen solid!  So after putting in some gas in the Jeep I decided to drive around a bit then hit the river.  The wild thing about the river is the amount of Alewives along the bank.  The water had been up in the parking lot at Helms either earlier that day or the previous day and there were dead shad everywhere!  Usually you don't see that many four miles downstream because the gulls or the fish nab them, but there were thousands frozen along the bank, left high and dry once the waters receeded.

I fished for a couple of hours and the air temps were in the mid to upper twenties, but like I posted earlier, the water temps were only in the 30s and the bite was light to say the least.  I thought that fishing a white micro jig would do the trick, but no takes, but the peach colored egg produced over a dozen of fish, the largest being an 18 inch rainbow that looked to be one of those fall slot stockers.  A larger nearly got me to the backing and eventually broke off, probably because I was half frozen or the eyes on the rod were clogged with ice.  Couldn't tell what it was, but it felt pretty nice.  All of the fish were super fat and healthy from gorging themselves on the shad over the past two months.  Water was a bit off colored, but that is the norm for this time of the year.

If you are getting the itch to go then give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail.  Hopefully it will warm up!!!

No fishing.  The lake was getting to that 690 mark and the Corps was starting to hold off then bam, we get hit by a big rain/sleet/snow storm.  They are cranking it hard at over the 20,000 cfs mark.  If that isn't bad enough news then here is some even more controversial info:  The duskytail darter which is endangered has been found in the Burnside area.  This fish is in the Southfork of the Cumberland and needs running water.  Since the lake was down for what seems like forever, the upper portions of the lake in that area are more of a slower moving river than lake.  Well what do you know, the fish has been found in that area and they are doing an investigation on what should be next.  Are you serious?  Are they going to hold off on raising the lake because of a minnow?  I have heard that it will be resoved, but what the heck does that mean.  Obviously the minnow was in there before they even built that dam.  Maybe the stripers will move up into that area and eat everything like they tend to do everywhere else!  Ha ha ha.  This sounds like a soap opera!

Well, with all of this cold weather we should have a lot of cold water this year.  Still booking late spring and summer trips.  Hard to believe that the normal temps at this time of the year are in the mid 40s and it was 3 degrees when I checked out the temp this morning.  Tired of tying flies and wanting to get out on the river

Nah, didn't go last weekend.  It was too cold even for me and that is cold.  Heck, I went deer hunting back in December and it was -1F when I arrived at the farm.  Stayed in the woods for five hours until it warmed up to 10!  Another reason is there was just too much water.  A few weeks ago there was an all time record demand for power and you all know what that means.  Yep, lots of generation.  That has been the case the last few days with temps near zero at daybreak.  As the temps warm up the Corps will start cutting back on water releases, especially since the lake is below 690.  I should be out within the next two weeks and will post an actual report. 

As far as booking trips, I have been doing quite a bit of that lately.  It doesn't look like school is going to release until the first week of school so I had to bump back several late May trips and push them into June, with that being said, June will be my first month to fill up and that is pretty much the norm.  There are still a few May weekend dates available, but get them before they are gone.  As always, if it looks good then we go.  If not then then we will reschedule.

Well, the Corps is still cranking it hard, but the good news is that the lake is dropping.  I believe that they will cut back significantly when it gets close to the 690 mark.  It is currently 692 and change.  Many of you from this area have taken notice to the below average temperatures and I would rather have that than above normal temps.  There are a few reasons for this:  One is that lower temps equal less precipitation.  Yes, we are getting a little more snow than normal, but I would rather have a few inches of snow than a couple feet of rain and that is what happened back in December.  So I welcome the Alberta Clippers and the Manitoba Maulers.  Another way that our trout can and will benefit from the lower temperatures is the shad/alewive shad kill off on the lake.  When we get these colder temps there is a substantial shad kill in the lake and they are drawn through the turbines during periods of generation and we have had a lot of generation lately!  You really notice this upstream from Helms toward the dam.  If you see gulls dive bombing the water then make sure you have something on that is white or silver.  I like 1/80 or 1/64oz white jigs under indicators.  A twitch every once in a while will draw a strike.  Some like throwing larger streamers, but you really need to slow down the presentation.

Hopefully I will be out this next weekend even if it is cold and snowing!  Book your late spring and summer trips now because those days are slowly being taken mostly by my return customers. 

There really aren't any reports to be made other than the Corps has been pulling water hard with six generators running 24/7 for nearly the past month.  There was a short window when they cut it back to two generators then we received some more rain and well, you know the rest of the story.  I was going to go try my luck with the walleye and sauger, but then decided not to when the water really bumped back up.  Hopefully I will have the chance to do so in the next couple of weeks.  I am bored out of my mind!!!

With that being said, I will most likely get out on the water as soon as water levels drop to fishable levels.  Whenever that happens I will make sure to post a report.  I just saw the two week forecast and it is calling for well below normal temps which will mean less precip and that is a good thing.  On the bright side, this next year looks very promising.  This fall was fantastic and with the addition of those slot rainbows it is going to be a blast to say the least.  People have started showing interest in booking trips for the late spring and early summer.  Once February comes along and the temps warm then it won't take long for people to really start getting the itch to get out.  Hang in there.  Good times on the river will be coming before we all know it.

Well wouldn't you know it!  The water generation was cut back, the big fish show up, and boy did we have a good time.  As we all know, good times don't last long.  I think the lake has risen over ten feet since last weekend and the Corps is a crankin' it big time.  It has been years since we caught so many fish in the low twenty inch range during the fall.  Usually it is more browns than rainbows, but that wasn't the case this fall for us.  Yes, I know the difference between one of the newly stocked slot bows and one that has been in there for a while.  These fish were 4-6 pound fish and boy did they fight!

A client of mine went down last week before the rains and the Corps was releasing a ton of water before the rains arrived.  He said that the shad were being sucked through the turbines and the gulls were going crazy.  He caught a few nice stripers, but the highlight of the day was a 27 inch brown!  He commented on just how fat it was, probably gorging on the alewives.  Usually high water is a bad thing, kind of like being on a tread mill and I don't like them a bit.  However, with so many shad being sucked through the trout will get stuffed in no time on these bait fish.  Sometimes during very cold winters many stunned or dead shad will get sucked through during times of generation.  Anything white or silver will do the trick.  I know many guys like throwing streamers, but it is tough to beat a white marabou jig under an indicator.  Caught a 7-8 pound brown a few winters ago during February doing that about a mile downstream from the dam.  If I remember, it was like 24 degrees when we started that morning and it never made it out of the 30s, but I could care less when landing fish of that quality.

I just did an inventory check of all my fly tying materials and ordered what was needed for this upcoming year.  With all of this high water and a freezer full of deer meat, I guess it is time to get back to the bench.  If I do not post another report before Christmas then I guess this would be the time to say Merry Christmas and thanks so much for a much improved year.  Yes, it is getting better and we all look forward to another year out on the river.  Guess I have to fish even more this upcoming year after looking at one of my kid's braces bill.  Dang, these kids keep getting more expensive!!!

I was able to guide two days this past week and it was absolutely fantastic, perhaps some of the best fishing that I have seen since June.  What made is so great?  For starters, the Corps is not sluicing and the water is getting very clear.  Yep, you can actually see the fish hit the egg pattern and some of them are big!

On Friday I took out Dave and his buddy Rick from the Nashville area.  They caught a whole slew of fish and a lot of them were the new slot bows.  These fish are really starting to fight and this next year looks promising.  The largest fish of the day was a 22 inch male rainbow that Dave landed in the afternoon.  I honestly didn't know what the heck was on the end of the line.  That pig was very dark, sporting his spawning colors.  The unique thing about the fish was how thick the fish was from top to bottom.  Dave remarked that this was his largest rainbow and this guy has been fishing for quite a while.  I would rank that as one of the most beautiful fish of the year.  When we started the temps were in the mid twenties, but who cares about the temps when you are catching fish.  Thanks again guys!

Yesterday I took out Hugh and his buddy Chris.  Yep, almost a duplicate of Friday.  Both guys reminded me throughout the day about how much better quality the fish were this year when compared to last fall.  Just think about what this next spring and summer will bring!  We even had a couple of fish break off and we didn't even get a peek at them.  Almost all of the fish during both excursions were bows and we just stuck with the eggs.  The best colors were yellow, orange, and salmon.  Thanks guys and hope to see you next year.

There are a couple of openings before the new year.  Give me a ring if you want to catch some fish.

Hello to all.  Over the past two weekends I have done absolutely zero fishing, well that isn't the total truth, but I haven't done any guiding.  It was deer hunting time and I always make it back home to Missouri to hunt with my dad for a few days.  Hunting was great.  The weather on the other hand was not the greatest the first two days, especially last Sunday when we had winds close to 70 miles an hour and tornadoes just to the north of us.  The good news is that both my dad and I harvested some of the largest bucks that we ever had on back to back days.  You know, it is kind of cool hunting back where I first did when I was ten years old and taking the largest buck of my life in the same exact place!

Ok, enough of my adventures so what about a report?  I honestly haven't been on the river for two weeks, but I have had a handful of e-mails saying that the fishing has been solid.  No more sluicing which is fine by me.  The water has probably cleared up and they are usually running one or two generators for a while then shut it off by late morning and it remains off until dark.  It doesn't look like there are any heavy rains predicted this weeks so fishing should be good.  The only problem is that you will have to be dipping the rod in the water or treating you guides with something to prevent them from icing up.  It is going to be cold!!!  I should be out there a couple of days later this week and will have a report for you Sunday evening.  There are still a couple of December dates open if you are willing to brave the elements.

Hello everyone.  Yep, another great weekend out on the river.  I have probably fished more this year than any other year in recent memory and the quality of the fish just keeps getting better.  One of the best indicators of this is that return customers keep saying how great the fish are fighting and how much bigger they are than last year.  Last year (2012) was tough.  Super hot temps destroyed any chance of growth and it showed.  This year was different.  It would have been even better if we hadn't received the six plus inches of rain during the Fourth of July weekend.  They ran it hard for three weeks straight after that point and we lost a lot and I mean a lot of cold water.

Lots and lots of fish were caught this past weekend.  On Saturday I took out Alan Douglas and his girlfriend Dana.  This was Dana's first time picking up a fly rod, but she caught a lot of trout.  Many were big, the new stocked slot rainbows.  The key to keeping these fish alive is to land them quickly and to revive them before releasing them.  At this time of the year the dissolved oxygen levels aren't the best and these fish need as much help as possible.  Great day guys and thanks Dana for keeping me laughing throughout the day.

On Sunday I took out Kriss Zeller and his son Brendan.  Last year I took these fellas out during the fall and the fishing wasn't that great.  However, this wasn't the case yesterday.  They too caught a bunch of fish and many were large.  I think just about every fish but a couple were rainbows, but Brendan caught a beautiful male brown that was 16 inches long.  I think we caught the first fish within the first minute which always gives you a good feeling about what to expect throughout the day.  As always, some areas are producing many more fish than others.  My tip to everyone is to find moving water which is moving faster than other areas.  Fish deep, ticking the nymph or egg along the bottom and you will catch fish.  Casting a long distance isn't necessary.  Actually it is more of a hindrance because it makes it more difficult to get your offering down to the bottom.  Once you make the cast then you must mend it and raise the rod, dragging the indicator upstream and then allowing it to go back downstream.  Most of the time the fish will hit it on the drop, but be prepared when raising the rod because sometimes they will hit it then.  Yep, an emerging egg pattern!  Ha, ha, ha.

It is time to hunt deer and that will keep me off the river for the next couple of weeks.  I still have some openings during December, water and weather permitting.  Take care and be safe in the woods if you are heading that way.

Well, it was another good weekend of fishing.  I knew that it was going to be cold on Saturday, but I didn't know that it would be 26 degrees cold!  Just a couple of weekends ago I was wearing shorts, and don't get me wrong, I would wear shorts everyday if possible, but not when it is below freezing and involves being outside for hours.  Try motoring up in the fog and when you stop you look like a snowman.  It has happened, especially during December and January.  Sunday was nice, a bit chilly early in the morning, but all in all a nice day.  Ok, enough about the weather.  How about a real report!

I fished with eggs nearly all day long, two days straight.  I know that most of the fish will be rainbows, but if they are hitting pretty consistently then I'm sticking with it.  On Saturday I took out Dennis Wright from Indy, a multiple time repeating customer.  Dennis used to manage a fly shop up North and knows his stuff.  We fished primarly between the dam and Helm's.  Lots of fish and some big rainbows to boot.  Most of the larger fish were the recent stockers that Fish and Wildlife put in the river to boost the larger rainbow population.  These fish don't fight like a bow that has been in their for a couple of years, but a three pound fish in fast water is always going to be a good fight.  They kind of fight like a brown, digging and hugging the bottom.  Thanks for a great day Dennis and hope to see you in the spring.

On Sunday I took out Kurt Oliver and his son Alan.  I have taken these guys a couple of times this year and they were back for more.  They too caught a bunch of fish and it seemed like the fish were a bit more active this day than the previous day.  On Saturday the fish were just barely hitting the egg which made setting the hook a bit tougher, but by the next day the hit was considerably stronger. Lots of big stockers and I mean lots.  I think I kind of got tired of landing these larger fish, almost feeling sorry that they didn't have much of a chance.  The way we looked at it was we were trying to educate the fish, reminding them not to eat nightcrawlers, cheese, powerbait, or corn.  Let's all hope that many of these fish make it through the winter and get to over the twenty inch mark.  The guys did land a few rainbows in the slot that had been in the river for over a year and boy did they fight and I honestly can't think of a fish any more beautiful than these were.  Kurt did see one fish that was a monster, most likely a brown, but no luck with the brownies.  Alan did use a white jig beneath an indicator within a mile from the dam and was able to pick up a few.  We probably would have done even better if we were up there when the one generator was running.  Thanks again for a great time guys.

I will be out on the water again this next weekend then will take off the next couple of weekends to do some deer hunting.  There are still a few December openings, weather and water permitting.

No trips this past weekend.  My parents came in from Missouri and had a good time so fishing was out of the question.  With the temps getting colder and the days getting shorter, the fish are in the process of trying to spawn, especially the browns.  During the last couple of trips we caught a couple of larger rainbows and they are definately starting to show their spawning colors, absolutely beautiful! However, we haven't caught any big browns yet!  Maybe that luck will change this next weekend.  I plan to be out both Saturday and Sunday and will have a report next Monday.

I just had two cancellations for November 2nd and 3rd.  If anyone is interested then please give me a ring or shoot me an email.  Forget those two previous sentences!  As of today, October 23rd, those two days have been taken.  Man, it doesn't take long does it?  However, there are still some December dates available so feel free to give me a ring or e-mail.

Hey all.  I know, I know, I haven't had a post in about two weeks.  Well, I was on fall break doing the family thing with the kids with the grandparents and then had a chance to guide from Friday through Sunday.  Here are the results:

On Friday I took out Bob and Rob Mathews.  Originally I was to take out Rob and his son, but his son broke his collar bone while playing football so I took out his dad, Bob.  We caught a lot of fish on eggs, but nothing over 16 inches.  With the Corps running two generators in the morning I found it best not to put in until about a half an hour or less before they turn it off.  After that point then they continue running the sluice gates at 3,000 cfs until the two generators turn back on at five p.m. Eastern.  Certain areas will certainly produce many more fish than others.  Unfortunately there were some areas that usually produce that seemed nearly void of any fish at all.  It seems that the larger boulders and flooded timber are holding more fish.  Maybe that is because of the constant flow.  You can still catch fish in the shoal areas, but the water is about where it would be with one generator running.  Whatever you choose to use just make sure that it is close to the bottom or just go home!

On Saturday and Sunday I had a two day trip with J.R. and his buddy Butch from West Virginia.  I haven't had the greatest experience in West Virginia.  I can remember playing against W.V. at Morgantown and those fans were just plain nasty.  Glad to see these guys didn't bring D cell batteries to throw at rising trout that refused to hit their offering.  Butch was a novice, but it didn't take long for him to start hooking fish.  The big fish of the two day trip was a 20 inch bow that would have easily gone four pounds!  Yep, a piggy to say the least.  The cool thing is that we landed it late afternoon in an area that had been pounded by boats all day long.  J.R. had a top notch video camera out and I grabbed it to film the event.  Man, was it tough to keep filming, grabbing the net, and trying to keep it away from the trolling motor.  Awesome fish!  The weird thing was that Sunday morning was super slow.  After lunch the fishing picked up and we were able to boat over thirty fish in a few hours.  Thanks a lot guys and hope to see you next spring/summer.

I would like to mention some important observations.  When I put the boat in the morning when the two generators are running the water temp is slightly above 60 degrees.  A few hours after it has been turned off, the water drops to the mid 50s while the sluice gates are releasing water.  The water is slightly stained, but you can still see the bottom in 4-5 feet of water.  Some of the fish are somewhat lethargic while others are on fire.  The lake will be turning over in the next couple of weeks and when this happens the fishing can be slow, especially when releasing water through the sluice gates.  Yes, that water is colder, but the O2 levels aren't that great.  Let's hope the air temps drop, the lake turns over, and the Corps stops running the sluice gates.  I have a few more openings during the week of Thanksgiving and a few during December.  Give me a ring if you are interested in going.

As I drifted down the Cumberland it became evident that fall is here.  The leaves are starting to turn and some are even falling into the water and piling up in some of the eddies.  The fishing can be rated as good to great depending on when and where you are fishing.  They are running two generators early in the morning then shutting it off until four in the afternoon.  One thing I must mention is that the Corps is running the sluices 24/7 at around the 3000 cfs mark.  Like I said, when, where and what to use are the biggest factors, but then again aren't they always?

On Saturday I fished with Jeff and his son John from Louisville.  This was the first time that they had ever even picked up a fly rod.  Their intentions were to learn how to fly fish, but my intentions were two fold:  Yes, they will learn how to fly fish, but I want them to catch fish and catch fish they did.  Most of the fish were in the 10-14 inch range, but there were a couple right at the lower end of the slot.  The guys learned how to fly fish and catch fish.  They learned a great deal about fly fishing and had a great time.  Me too!  Thanks guys.

When Sunday came around I was ready.  I had a return customer and a newbie, his girlfriend.  These two had just spent a day and evening up in Cincy watching the Reds and were ready to fish.  We tried to put in before the early morning generation, but the water caught up to us and we were only able to catch a handful of fish.  By nine we motored up to about a half mile downstream from the dam.  Within a minute or so we were into the fish and some were on the large side.  How large?  22 inch 4-5 pound large!  Alan caught a huge bow that seemed like it took forever to land.  Thank goodness we were in a boat because I don't think we would have had a snowball chance if we had been wading.  Whitney took a few pictures of the beast and we watched it return to the deep waters.  I was really impressed by Whitney.  She fished nearly all day long and caught a bunch of fish.  Great times guys!  See you in late October Alan.

I had a trip planned on Monday, but one of the guys hurt his lower back and we had to cancel.  So, I contacted one of my return customers and we were able to get a great day in.  Charlie landed over 50 fish.  All were had on my peach colored egg and I caught several on a yellow hopper.  The biggest was a beautiful rainbow that was 16 inches long, but we caught a lot of fish that were right at the 14 inch mark.  Anytime you have upper 70 temps and 50 plus fish then I think it is safe to say that it was a nice day.  Thanks Charlie.

No guiding this past weekend.  I had a get together with some of my old UofL football buddies.  I honestly felt sorry for Florida International.  Man, were they bad or what!  Oh well, a win is a win.  Just wish we could see some better teams.

I will be out on the river this next Friday through Monday and will post a new report most likely on Tuesday.  If you have any questions about fishing the river or are looking to book a late fall or early winter trip then don't hesitate to send an e-mail my way.

Well, it was another weekend of guiding and watching my folks catch a bunch of trout. Was the weather beautiful or what?  When I arrived at Helm's I took a peek at my outside temperature gauge on the truck and it was registering a whopping 45 degrees!!!

On Saturday I took out Todd and his brother Dick.  Dick was a first timer and did exceptionally well.  Last year I took out Todd and I remember him landing a 22 inch brown by Snow Island.  No monsters this trip, but they caught many fish.  Eggin' it was the way to go.  If it isn't broken then why fix it?  Mend, lift, drop, and set the hook when that indicator goes under!  It takes a while to master, but once you get it down it is just so cool.  Both landed several slot bows.  Thanks for a great time and one of these days I will have to take up Todd on one of his famous steaks. 

Yesterday I took out Mike and his buddy John from Louisville.  These guys have fished with me several times and they know what to do.  It is so nice taking out people who have fished with me before and have mastered the technique.  All I have to do is put them on the fish and do some minimal coaching.  Many fish and several fish in the slot.  Both guys landed some super fat rainbows.  One was over 17 inches long and really looked like a football.  Maybe that dude was taking sports enhancing drugs or that hatchery is working on some new strain of rainbows, but that fish was as fat as any fish I have seen in the river.

I don't really have much open between now and Thanksgiving.  However, there are a couple of openings during the Thanksgiving holiday week.  Get them before they are gone because last week I posted that Saturday was open and had four people either call or e-mail.  Wish there were more openings, but there is only so much time.

Fished with one of my of my biggest return clients yesterday, Charlie M. of Louisville.  Charlie fishes with me at least a half dozen times each year and he knows how to fish the river.  Over the years he has caught countless fish over 20 inches, all on nymphs and egg patterns.  Well, no fish yesterday over twenty inches, but lots of fish and lots of hard fighting fish.  Just this past week the Corps began running the sluice gates, something that I hoped would no longer be the case.  One of the problems that can occur is more algae in the river system.  The water is still clear, but it has a darker tint to it.  On a better note the water is colder, about 6 degrees colder at about 54 degrees in the morning.  Later in the day they will run up to three generators which will clear up and clean up the water.  Did we catch fish?  Well of course we did and lots of them.  I think he caught over 60 fish, with several in the slot.  I fished hoppers and caught many, but I missed a ton of them and I mean a ton.  In the mornings the Corps will run one generator and the sluice which is over 5000 cfs.  Not the greatest nymph fishing but awesome hopper fishing.  If the water is running too slow then the fish just kind of check out the hopper and maybe try to suck it in.  If there is some decent water then watch out!  The strikes will be explosive.  I had one brown that jumped out of the water at least three feet and threw it.  Nothing over 15 inches was landed on the hoppers, but man it is fun and it is on!  Just about any hopper pattern will work and smack it hard on the water when you do it.  Let it drift for no longer than ten seconds, more like five seconds and recast. 

Well, gotta go.  I will definitely be down there on Sunday, but would like to guide on Saturday if anyone is interested.  Weather and water should be great!

Take care,

Dave

*Next Saturday, September 14th is open.  Get it before it is gone.  Looks like the high will be 79.  Wow!!

Update:  My apologies for not getting back with all callers in regards to booking a trip.  I honestly don't have any available days between now and Kentucky Deer firearms season which is around the 9th of November.  I do have a fall break from school which is the first full week of October, but those trips are tentative due to some other issues.  I am not saying that there is no way that I can find you an open date between now and then, but it is just tough and that is the bottom line.  Some of the best fishing that I have encountered on the water is during late November and I still have several openings during that time frame, but they too will be gone before too long.  Guess I am doing something right when my customers keep coming back and also refer my name to many others.  Thanks everyone!

Wow!  The Cards are about as hot as the fishing was yesterday.  Just returned from the game and I was impressed to say the least.  Ok, ok enough about football, but it is opening weekend and I don't know where I would be today without it.

Fished yesterday with Erik H. from Nashville and this time he took along his son Hunter.  For a first timer I was very impressed with his patience and skill.  A lot of times the kids kind of lose interest if they aren't landing a fish every other cast, but yesterday the fish cooperated and Hunter slammed 'em.  Lots of fish in the 12-15 inch range and boy did they fight.  Dad did even better and lost a couple of larger fish.  We were fishing my 1/80 oz awesome possum with a turkey dropper in a size 18.  He lost one that looked to be 18 inches, but landed several right around the 15 inch range.  Many doubles were landed throughout the day and they kept me busy to say the least.  Right before lunch I had dad drift along this tree.  His cast spooked off a nice bow and then he threw it a bit downstream along a submerged tree and BAM the fight was on.  Unfortunately it didn't last long because it went around a tree and snapped off.  I honestly thought that it was a 5-6 pound brown but Erik pointed it out to me and to my surprise it was a huge rainbow well over 24 inches long!!!  Dang to say the least!

After they quit I went out for a half hour or so and threw hoppers along steep banks while three generators were running!  Lots of hits, but I only landed 6 browns with a 15 incher being the biggest.  Yep, they are hitting the hoppers.  Some just come up ever so slowly and sip it in while others just explode on it like a bass nailing a popper.  Well, I will be at it again next weekend as long as the water schedule permits it.

Ok, I am worn out.  It all started with a high school football game at Lincoln County that didn't get over until after 11:00 on Friday night then driving to the river and setting up a tent around 1:00 am then getting up at 6:00 on both Saturday and Sunday and catching a bunch and I mean a bunch of fish.

On Saturday I took out Bob M. and his son from Russelville and Bowling Green.  We egg fished and caught fish nearly all day long.  Nothing over 15 inches and I think one of the largest one was a 15 inch brookie that was about as thick as any fish that I had seen in that river.  Man was it a nice one!  We put in at Helm's and fished almost to Winfrey's.  After the water came up we ran back up past Helm's to do some hopper fishing in the higher water.  Sure enough, we caught fish.  Nothing was big, but we did have a nice rainbow in the slot that danced across the top and threw the hopper.  Good times.

Today I took out Hugh Richards from London and he kept count:  53 fish and only God knows how many other ones escaped the net.  Again, no big ones, but lots of healthy fish.  He too tried to do some hopper fishing and had a couple of fish smack it, but wasn't able to hook into any.  One big one hit about a quarter of a mile upstream from Helms and I believe that it was a brown.  Either a big brown or a big carp.  Ha ha.  Actually once I picked up a carp on a beetle and I thought that I would never get it in.  Hugh will probably have dreams/nightmares of me yelling down and across, mend, raise your rod, oh crap.  Thanks for a great time Hugh.

Well, I am going to bed.  The hopper fishing is starting to pick up and it looks like they will hold back on releases for next weekend.  I believe Labor Day Monday is still available, but I might have to check with the wife about the family schedule.

GO CARDS!!!

Available Dates:

September: 2nd and maybe the 22nd

October:  5th, 6th, and 11th (Friday)

November: 8th 

There will be a few more openings in November, but I still have a couple of hunting trips that I have yet to finalize. 

No fishing this past weekend.  The Corps was cranking the water, a bit more than what I thought they would after viewing the USGS map, but I guess they have their reasons.  Maybe they are taking it out on the anglers since Congress basically passed a law that would prevent them from closing areas below dams.  Whatever the reason, no fishing.  The good news is that it looks like they will hold back on releases later this weekend which will hopefully make for some pleasant fishing.  There are a ridiculous amount of fish in the river and they are hungry.  Can't wait until next weekend and should have a report Monday evening.  Very few openings left.  I haven't posted any November openings but will do so when I finalize some of my hunting trips. 

These are the only open days that I have from now through October.  Yes, there is a possibility that some other days could open up, but this is what I know is open.

August:  No more open days

September: 2nd and 22nd

October: 6th, 26th, and 27th

I have never been to India during the Monsoon season, but I endured those rainy conditions this past weekend.  Man, I thought it would never stop!  With that being said, if you have ever fished the river during heavy downpours then you know it can get muddy from the runoff.  On Saturday I took out Alan Oliver and his dad from Louisville.  I haven't fished with these guys in quite a while and it was nice to do it again.  When we put in at Helm's the water was off colored from Friday's showers, but it didn't seem to bother the fish.  The fish were hitting on nearly every cast and some were up to 16 inches.  About two hours into the trip the monsoon rains hit us pretty hard down by the powerlines. Glad the bilge pump was working because it really started filling up.  By 11 the water was like chocolate milk and every ditch and gully looked like a mudslide dumping into the river.  Not good.  Not good at all.  Well what can you do.  I know. Go upstream towards the dam and it should be clearer.  Well it was clearer, a lot clearer, but it was really only fishable from about a mile on down.  We caught a bunch more, but most of them were on the small side.  Still not a bad day out on the water considering the conditions.

Today I took out Fritz K. from Shelbyville. He wanted to take his customized SeaArk and boy is it nice.  Water conditions were even worse than Saturday!  We couldn't even drift downstream before the generation because it was just too muddy so we motored up to the dam and began fishing.  It seemed like he had hits on nearly every cast.  Well, it didn't rain much on us, but his trolling motor batteries were low or nearly dead and it was a bit tough to keep the boat where I wanted it.  Later I jumped out of the boat and held on to it as he fished the shoal upstream of Blackfish Creek. Not a bad day considering all of the technical difficulties and he told me that he kept count and had caught over 50 before we quit at 2:30. 

Well, I am dead tired and need to hit the hay.  I checked the USGS stream flow of the area and it doesn't look like it was as bad as it appeared.  Lots of rain, but nothing like the 4th of July weekend.  Hopefully the generation schedule doesn't change too much and I can hit it again next weekend.

There are no more openings in August and only a couple left in both September and October.  Can't wait until the larger browns start showing up at the shoals!

Have you ever been tired of catching fish?  Well, I guided Charlie M. of Louisville for the past two days and I can honestly say that he had enough.  Me too!  I've been taking Charlie fishing for nearly 10 years and he fishes with me several times a year.  One of the down sides to guiding is that I really don't do much fishing myself.  I don't live right along the banks of the river like some people think so to justify being down there I have to make money.  People pay me to take them fishing not to watch me fish. However, there are a couple of clients, including Charlie, that insist that I fish with them.  Hey, I can't pass up the chance to fish and fish I did!

How many fish?  How big were they?  What were they hitting?  In two days we caught over 150 fish, most were 11-14 inches long, and they couldn't resist the eggs.  I couldn't convince Charlie to fish other patterns since he knows how many fish can be had on the pattern, but I did some experimentation with various nymphs and did quite well.  The generation schedule is somewhat different:  They run one generator from the morning until the early afternoon.  So the game plan each day was to stay slightly ahead or with the rising water then run upstream after it had been running for a few hours.  All I can say is that you have to fish deep, especially when they are running one generator.  If you can bump the bottom then you will catch a lot of fish and I mean a lot.  There were times where I would honestly watch the fly and pull it away from fish because I didn't feel like messing with it because I would have to take it off the hook. 

We did catch several slot rainbows each day with one nearly18 inches in length.  I am not going to say where we caught the larger fish, but they were in deeper water and near wood, lots of wood!  Charlie caught five fish in about a 15 minute period of time that were 15-18 inches long!  That isn't including a handful of other smaller fish.  It was that good.

Well, I need to take a shower because my dog won't even get close to me.  I guess if you smell like fish then it was a good day.  There are a handful of open dates between next weekend and early October, but my wife said a few people called and left messages about booking a trip.  Guess a report like this will only lead to a bigger surge.  School starts on Wednesday and I will only be operating during weekends.  I do have a fall break in early October, but I better check with my wife first before I post those open dates.  Steve, it was nice talking with you and your buddy and thanks for the bread!

I just had a cancellation for this Sunday the 4th.  If anyone wants to go then give me a ring at 502 538-8919 or just shoot me an e-mail by clicking on my contact form.  The water releases have really been cut back and the fishing should be pretty good.  If you read my last report then you remember how well the fish were hitting last weekend.  The only problem was that they were running a whole lot more water than they will this weekend.

I should have a report by next Tuesday

I guided the past two days.  Seriously, I honestly did.  Yes, it was the first time that I was out on the water in about three weeks. I wish that the generation would have held off until later in the morning, but we were still able to catch a lot and I mean a lot of fish, especially on Saturday.  On Saturday I took out Hugh and his buddy Mike from London, KY.  Hugh kept score and reminded me that they had caught 66 fish and several of them were in the slot.  Yep, not too shabby.  Today was a good one too, but they ran water a couple of hours earlier than I anticipated.  With that being said, we tried to stay ahead of the generation, but was only able to fish into the early afternoon.  Bill and Anna of Oldham county caught a few nice ones in the slot and Bill landed one Brookie that was nearly 15 inches long!  Near the powerlines Anna had a huge brown follow her egg downstream, but as it neared the boat it spooked.  Dang!  That fish nearly took the egg, but changed its mind just as the rig drifted downstream to the boat.  That fish was in the 5-6 pound class, evidence that there are still some big ones in there.

I think there is an opening next Sunday.  Nab it before it is gone!  Too Late.  Someone just got it.  However, here are some openings during the next couple of months.  I will try to remember to post available dates each time I post a report. 

August:11th, 18th, and 25th    September:  8th and 29th.  There may be a couple of other openings, but this is pretty much what is left.  As always, book it now before they are gone!

I will be out on the river this Saturday and Sunday and will post an actual report Sunday evening or Monday morning.  The plan is to put in early and stay ahead of the water, going downstream probably to Big Willis.  I went down there during one trip back in June and we landed a few larger rainbows and even had one break off.

There are still a few trips available during August and September and will post any remaining days during my next report.

Hey all.  Fishing has been a no go due to the high water releases.  However, trying to be as positive as possible, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.  I see that the Corps has shut off the water releases for a few hours during the night.  With the hot temps in the 90s they will continue to run the water and running it they are!  I saw earlier today that they were releasing over 24,000 cfs and that is a ton of water.  The lake is at 710 and they want it closer to 705 and once it gets close to that 705 mark then the will really start to hold back on water releases.  My best bet is it will be similar to what we saw back in June which was no water or one generator for an hour then shut off until the early afternoon.  However, once they run it in the afternoon they are going to crank it, especially if we have some mid 90 degree plus days.  Please be careful on that river at all times, but that is especially true during the afternoon high generation period.  I have "rescued" several boats in the past when people had run out of gas trying to get back upstream against the tidal surge.  This is especially true of small craft with small engines and gas tanks that are about the size of a Gatorade container.  Be prepared!

So, when can we fish?  I think it will be a go in about a week and that is without any future gully washers.  This down time hasn't been all bad:  My family knows what I look like once again and we have been able to do quite a bit.  School is right around the corner and there will be little time left to get out on the water.  If you are looking at booking a trip from now through the fall and into early winter then now is the time to do so. 

The lake is at 713 and they wanted to keep it no higher than 705 until possibly later this fall.  With that being said the Corps is cranking the water at over 20,000 cfs which makes it no longer fishable.  Ok, yes, I have gone out and fished in that stuff with big flies or crankbaits, but I won't be doing any guiding until the hold back on releases.  It looks like the lake is nearing its peak at slightly over 713 and with the heavy releases it should start dropping by as early as Wednesday afternoon, but don't hold me to it.  If we don't get any more super heavy rains and the Corps cranks it hard then it might be fishable in 2-3 weeks.  Do the math:  In about a week the lake could drop nearly half a foot per day as long as they keep cranking it.  The question is at what point will they begin holding back on releases.  Will it be close to the 705 mark?  If that is the case then it needs to drop 8 feet and they can drop it over a half foot per day which means maybe, maybe it will be fishable in over two weeks.  And that formula only holds up if we don't get anymore major rains.  Confused?  It took me a long time to figure this whole thing out and sometimes they do things that still make me scratch my head. Oh well.

With that being said, many trips over the next two weeks are going to have to be rescheduled and pushed back to late July or early August.  Once I get into August then it is weekends only.  Put weekends plus kids soccer and my UofL football games to attend and I won't have a lot available slots.  Pick them now before they go.  And as usual, no deposits necessary because you just don't know about the weather.

I really pondered on whether to start building an ark after the last few days of rain.  This is ridiculous to say the least.  I had trips booked for a four day stretch, but was only able to get in Friday's trip before the monsoons opened up.  The lake hasn't risen as much as I thought it would and the Corps hasn't changed the release schedule, but that will probably change within the next 24 hours.  I probably could have gotten in today's trip, but I hate to see people drive 3-4 hours to find the river looking like chocolate milk and that is exactly what happened yesterday morning.  I thought we could get in Saturday's trip, but about an hour before we put in the skies just opened up and every ditch or gully leading to the river turned brown.  So I told the ladies that we could reschedule and will just have to do it in the future.  I hate the fact that they drove down for the day, but there wouldn't have been a whole lot of catching that day.

So, with that being said I called the other trip and cancelled.  I already had my waders and rain gear on so I grabbed a spinning rod and put the boat in and the rains really started dumping.   There have only been a couple other times when I have seen the river this muddy.  I don't think that I ever saw it this bad this far up by Helms.  Well, I caught a nice walleye, snagged about a 50 pound paddle fish, and caught a 15 pound striper all on the same crankbait that was tied to 6lb. test!  The paddle fish took me 45 minutes to get it.  I had just landed a walleye next to one of the ditches dumping in and bam!  It snagged the tail of the beast and the fight was on.  It pulled me from the Blackfish creek area all the way to Helm's!  I took a few pics, revived it, and watched it disappear into the muck.  After landing it I went back up the same general area and caught a striper that was in the 15-20 pound class.  I kept, cleaned, and actually ate part of it last night.  I HATE STRIPERS!!! THEY EAT OUR TROUT.  So needless to say I kind of have my own bounty on those brutes.  The way I look at it, I just saved the lives of many trout.

I don't have many days left in July to guide.  I have to reschedule a few trips and I need to put in some family time with the wife and kids.  They might not know what I look like since I've been on the river more than I have been at home.  If you are remotely interested in going with me then book it soon!  I will post any remaining days here in a few days.

Happy Independence Day!  I hope everyone enjoys their day off work and a day off is what I need.  Looking back over the June calendar day I guided fifteen days and boy was it a great time.  I would like to thank all return clients and newbies for allowing me to be their guide on the Cumberland.  One constant comment that I get from folks is how hard the fish are fighting.  We have caught several rainbows that will jump out of the water a half a dozen or more times before they can be landed.  These fish are super healthy and the future looks bright for this river.  Thanks big guy!!!

I did fish once since the past report and it was a great trip.  I honestly don't know how many fish were landed, but a half dozen were over fifteen inches with a 17 inch brown being the largest.  In the afternoon I have kind of gone back to my old tactics of fishing deep water with structure and that is precisely where that fish and several other larger fish were found.  My old 1/80 oz. flathead jig dubbed in a mixture of olive and brown Awesome Possum is the go to pattern for me.  Often I will drop a pheasant tail type below it in a size 18.  However, the other day most of the fish hit the jig and not the dropper.  As always, eggs will work especially in areas that have a decent current.  The other morning they ran one generator for two hours instead of one and the egg was definitely the go to pattern.  There are a couple of areas where the bottom has a drop off that goes for a quarter of a mile or longer and it goes from 3-6 feet in a matter of a couple of feet.  Rig up the egg with a larger indicator and a size b split about a foot above the egg and hold on.  Different colors are producing, but there are a few that will do better than others.  I like peach and champagne.

I have a handful of trips over the next several days, but watching this constant stream of precipitation moving in really worries me.  Remember last year?  95 plus degrees each day and not a drop of rain.  What a 180!  Well, we will have to wait and see because there isn't much I can do except do an anti-rain dance and put more in the offering.

Ok, it is after midnight and I am writing a report.  Wanted to do it tonight because I will probably forget to do it before my next set of trips.  I fished the last two days and it was pretty good.  We caught fish throughout the day, especially during the morning.  The Corps is running one generator for an hour in the morning and then shutting it off until early afternoon.  Be ready if you are wading in the afternoon because when they run it in the afternoon it is going to be cranking big time.

On Friday I took out Kevin B. and his son Eli from Louisville.  Some of you might have seen a picture of Eli when he was 8.  He was cradling a 21 inch rainbow that he landed.  Yep, the kid can fish and now two years older he has honed his skills even more.  This guy reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger.  Well, Kevin and Eli caught a bunch of trout, many in the 12-15 inch range and most of them were rainbows.  My back is sore from bending over and landing all of their fish.  Saturday was decent as well.  I took out Hugh R. and his son JD from London.  This was JDs first time out with a fly rod and he did exceptionally well for a first timer.  Egg patterns are doing very well in the morning and even in certain areas in the afternoon.  However, have various nymph patterns, the smaller the better, especially during early afternoon.  I like a small fly that looks similar to a pheasant tail in size 18, but zebra midges in black and red will also do well.  On some days the fish want a slight twitch or pull when fishing the nymphs.  Sometimes I have my clients slowly raise their rods, simulating an emerger and that can really cause a violent hit. 

Gotta get some sleep so take care and I will have another report in a few days.

Summer is in full swing and the fishing is pretty darn good.  I guided the past two days with return clients and one comment that I kept hearing was how hard our fish fight.  Some of these guys are hooked up to nitrous or a turbo charger or maybe they are taking some kind of sports performance enhancing drug.  What ever the cause, which most likely is high quality H2O and good food, it is super fun.

On Wednesday I took Mike S. from Louisville and his friend Griffin.  Mike has fly fished with me several times a year for the past few years, but this was a first for Griffin.  That is the great thing about the Cumberland, you can teach people how to cast, mend, set the hook and catch fish in no time at all.  Within minutes both were catching fish and having a blast.  Do you think they will be back for another trip?  It didn't take long and I heard Griffin say "I am hooked."  As many of you know this kind of fishing is addictive.  At the end of the day it feels great to know that people had a great time, learned something in the process, and will be coming back for trips in the future.  Thanks again guys for a great time.

On Thursday I took Dennis W. from Indianapolis.  He too is a return client.  Dennis will come down a couple of days each year and will book me for a day then fish a couple of days in his own boat.  This is a great idea for people not too familiar with the river.  It is safer and will give you a better idea about what and how to fish.  He too had a great day.  I was really worried the night before in regards to Thursday's trip due some serious thunderboomers that rolled through about midnight.  Nothing like being in a tent with 50 mile an hour winds and torrential rains and lightning hitting within a half of a mile.  For some reason it was a bit difficult to sleep that night.  Duh!  Dennis caught some nice fish all day long and by the end of the day he was worn out to say the least.  Thanks again Dennis and I hope you catch some on Friday morning.

What is working: Eggs in the morning and throughout the day in certain areas.  As the sun gets higher in the sky and the water drops after the one generator then we will pick up another rod loaded with a double rigged nymph.  Either a copper j, prince, or dubbed jig with a pheasant tail style dropper are picking up some nice fish in the heat of the day.  Another pattern that has caught some bigger fish is called a blue iron.  It looks like a hare's ear and I like them as a dropper in a size 16.

Well, gotta get ready for the next two days of fishing and I should have an updated report early this next week.  There are a handful of July dates that are still available then after that only weekends as school begins in early August.  School?  Heck, someone asked when it begins and I honestly couldn't give them a date, don't want to think of it until late July.

Here are available July dates:  1st-4th, 8th, 19th-22nd, and 27th and 28th.  One can see that there are still many available dates, but the booking rate has really picked up since the fishing has been pretty solid.  The only dates that I have available after July will be weekend dates so book your summer and fall trips before they too are no longer available.

Like I said in my previous report, I am still experiencing some problems with my website.  Yes, I am still alive and fishing!  Feel free to e-mail me at ddflyfisher@insightbb.com or call (502) 538-8919.  Sometimes it might take me a few days to get back with you because I have been out on the river more than I have been at home, but I promise to get back with you as soon as possible.

Fishing continues to be great with egg patterns and double nymph rigs fished very deep.  Don't get me wrong, you can still catch fish if you aren't super deep, but the larger fish, especially the slot rainbows, are along the bottom.  Dubbed jigs or heavy copper johns are a good bet then drop a pheasant tail, a bead head caddis pattern, or zebra midge below it.  I like 12-14s for my heavy nymph and 18s for my dropper.  Some days the fish aren't super picky, but other days they are keying in on a specific pattern.  Drift technique can vary day to day as well.  On some days they want a dead drift, while on others they prefer small twitches or even a lift that may represent something emerging.  You just have to do a little experimentation and having several rods ready with multiple rigs is definitely the way to go.

I have to apologize for my website.  This should be ironed out within the next week.  Please call 502 538-8919 or e-mail me at ddflyfisher@insightbb.com if you want to go.

One more June day is available and that is the 25th.  First come first serve.  July 1st-4th is also open and many July dates have been filled over the last week.  As always, if the water is good then we will go.  If not then stay home and save your loot.

Happy Summer!!! It is Summer and it is starting to heat up, both in temperatures and the fishing.  Fished the last two days and both days produced many fish in the 12-16 inch range.  There are a handful of areas that are producing a lot of fish.  A lot of people ask why some areas hold so many fish while other areas appear to be totally void of any fish.  I look for three characteristics and if an area has two of the three then there are going to be fish there.  They are depth, current, and cover.  For example there is this one area that we have been fishing for two to four hours each late morning and early afternoon that are chock full of rainbows and most are in the 13-17 inch range and these fish fight like they are jacked up on something.  Over the years I have learned not to leave areas that are producing fish to go fish other areas.  Sometimes you get tired of seeing the same old scenery, but good Lord is it tough to leave an area where you get a hit or fish on nearly every other cast.

Folks, gotta go.  Been gone too many days and I am trying to catch up with the honey do list. 

One June date is still available and that is Tuesday the 25th. Still many July dates available but they too are going fast!!!

I guided this past Friday through Sunday and here are the results:  I originally intended to guide on Thursday as well, but with high winds and storms as well as the Corps deciding to run more water, I cancelled the trip.  My apologies to Thursday's trip, but it wasn't worth your time. 

On Friday I had a guy named Stu from Louisville.  We put in at Helm's and I wanted to show him the egg technique.  You all know if you have been with me:  Quarter the cast down and across, making sure the rig turns over with the egg downstream from the indicator.  BAM!!! A 15 inch rainbow inhaled it.  In my book that is the beginning of a good day and a good day it was.  We tried to stay ahead of the generation and went all the way to Big Willis.  Yep, that isn't a typo, Big Willis.  Heck, I haven't fished in that area in at least three years.  And guess what, the fish are back.  Stu caught a couple down there, even had one snap the line.  Thanks for a great time Stu and hope to see you again.

On Saturday I had two of my favorite clients from Tennessee who are Jackie and Erik.  These two have been fishing with me several times yearly since 2007.  My favorite clients are return clients and these two just love to fish and have fun.  Like Friday, we did our best to stay ahead of the water and the water was a bit better since they held off a bit longer.  Lots of rainbows and brookies were landed and we went down to the Winfrey's Landing area before the water just got too high to be productive.  Thanks again guys for the great time and the good food on Friday evening.

On Sunday I took out Mike and his son Mike from Louisville.  The Corps ran one generator in the morning and then held off until 1 PM Eastern.  Now that is what I like!!!  We caught fish throughout our drift downstream, but there was this one area that we must have hit at least three times.  It was a long deeper stretch and it was just chock full of rainbows in the 12-15 inch range.  Dad fished with a heavy nymph and a bead head caddis and the son fished with and egg pattern, but I think by late afternoon the nymph rig was bringing more fish to the boat.  Getting back to the one area, at lunch we could see these fish rising sporadically as we had the boat in the shade on a steep bank.  As my crew was eating I grabbed a 4wt that was rigged up with the nymph rig and on the first cast caught a 13 inch rainbow.  So, we motored upstream a bit and fished this deep run and on nearly every cast had a hit or a fish.  Mike's son had never fly fished before and this slow deep water was perfect for teaching a beginner how to cast and catch fish and he was definately able to catch fish.  Thanks for a great time guys.

Eggs are slammin' 'em in the mornings and even into the afternoon, but various nymph patterns are really starting to pick up some nicer fish as the water drops and clears.

Many July openings still available.  The Cumberland is making a comeback.  No more warm dingy water.  No more wimpy lethargic fish.  Get out and enjoy this beautiful treasure that we have here in Kentucky.  Gotta tie some more flies!!!

June openings:  20th, 27th, and 28th.  There are many July openings.

Hello everyone.  I was able to get out on the river Tuesday with Mike and Bob from the Louisville area.  We did ok, caught many fish, but the numbers weren't what they were during my last five days.  It rained over an inch the day/night before and I believe that was a big factor in the bite.  Don't get me wrong, we caught fish and even had a couple of breakoffs, but the fish were not smacking it like they were during the days before.  I am pretty sure that the two that broke off were browns and both were on heavily weighted egg patterns.  The small jig with the dropper produced fish too, but the water was kind of dingy in certain areas which probably is why the egg did better in lower visibility areas.  One of the reasons why the egg has done well throughout the spring is because many other fish are spawning.  Case in point: Yesterday Mike caught a sucker on the dropper.  After we released it I noticed tiny little eggs all over the side of the boat.  The eggs were a light orange and what do you know, that has been the best color over the past three weeks.  It will continue to catch fish throughout the year and really ramp back up during the spawn in the fall.

Speaking of rain and bad weather, the Corps is cranking a ton of water in the afternoon.  You can fish throughout the day into the afternoon, but you need to stay ahead of it.  It looks like it might even be high enough to cover the parking lot at Helms so you might want to take extra precautions.  The reason for the heavier generation is power demand due to warmer temps and the increase of runoff into the lake.  It looks like the lake is pretty stable, but that is primarily due to the Corps running 24,000 cfs in the afternoon.  Now that is a lot of water!

I will have a new report next Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Ok, after guiding for five straight days I can honestly say that I am tired.  Not tired of fishing, never!  Before I post a report, here are some June dates that are still available:  20th, and the 27th-30th.  Several people have asked about these dates but none have committed yet so get them before they are gone!  Yes, there are many July dates still available so no need to panic, but this weather is fantastic!!!

So, I guided from Tuesday through Saturday and the results were pretty much the same which was lots and lots of fish.  We caught a couple of nice rainbows on nearly each trip, but Erik H. from Nashville caught one on Wednesday that was pushing the twenty inch mark.  That was a beautiful hook jawed male that had some spectacular coloring.  As far as the biggest potential catch, well, that miss occurred on Friday.  I had someone cancel a trip so I posted it on my site and Mike and Dave from Nashville snagged it. They slammed them on eggs throughout the day and mastered the drift and lift.  As the water was rising Mike put on a fly that looked similar to a saltwater pattern that a client had used several years ago.  It was this big white thing that he named the dead chicken.  Well, several miles downstream from Helms he started throwing that drowned looking bird when a brown well over two feet long crushed it.  It happened so fast!  It rolled and out came the fly.  Yep, like you said Mike, that is a fish that will haunt your dreams for many years to come.  Today we started using some of my flat head jigs that were dubbed with Awesome possum and they really did the trick.  We dropped a size 16-18 bead head dropper or a fly I call the Blue Iron below it and we honestly had fish on nearly every cast during this one stretch that was about a half mile in length. Good times Ned and Ned!

Well, I wanted to post this before hitting the sack.  And I almost forgot, Go Cards.  Beat Vanderbilt!!!

I just had a cancellation for this Friday, June 7th.  If anyone wants it then please call my home phone # (502) 538-8919 or you can text me at (502) 432-5188. I am going to be on the river for the next five days so if you want it then text me or leave a message at my home with my wife or on the machine and I will return your call that evening.  First come, first serve.

I see caddis emerging!!!

Attention:  Since this post I have booked a half dozen trips during the month of June.  There are still many July openings, but here is what is left in June:  17th, 20th, and the 27th-30th.  As always, we only go if the generation schedule is favorable.  No deposit is necessary.

Fished again on Thursday and it too was a great day.  I can't get over the numbers and the overall quality of the fish that are coming to the boat this year.  This is so nice after dealing with poor water quality over the past few years.  No more skinny whimpy looking fish.  These trout are jacked up on something because they fight like there is no tomorrow.  Most of the fish are in the 12-14 inch range, but we are catching a handful or more of slot rainbows on each trip and boy are they fat.  Yesterday I had Mike Welsch, his son Brian, and grandson Ian out on the water and they were slamming them on egg patterns all day long.  I pretty much have a decent system going, staying with or slightly ahead of the generation schedule until late morning.  Once the water catches up with us, which is usually in the Rockhouse area, I then run back towards the dam and fish the shoal areas.  Honestly, the fishing in a few areas is better with one generator than before they run water.  As always, the drift and technique is critical.  I think Ian never fly fished much before yesterday and by the end of the day he was catching more than his dad and grandpa put together.  Another thing I have noticed is movement of the egg or fly is that the trout want a little movement.  A twitch or a lift will really grab their attention and the water is clear enough that a lot of the times you can see the trout inhale the offering.  Now that is cool.

I don't know if the caddis hatch has occurred or is still in waiting.  I see some sporadic activity here and there and have even tied on an elk hair caddis, but there isn't enough action to justify putting down the egg rig.  In my experience the caddis don't start emerging until late morning or early afternoon and by then the water is moving.  However, there are many areas that would by dry fly fishable with one generator if there happens to be a hatch.  Most of the caddis that I have observed were laying eggs with little emerging activity. 

Next week I will be out on the water for five consecutive days, but after that I have several openings available.  I try to book trips in blocks of three days, fish for three days then go home for a couple days.  If you are interested in booking a trip then do it now!  I checked my e-mails after posting the last report and picked up two more trips so the word about the river has reached the masses.

Ok, here is a real genuine report.  I guided Sunday through Tuesday and here are the results:  On Sunday I took out a former client and football buddy, Alan and his friend Scott.  I think between the two of them they caught over 50 trout and a bunch of white bass and crappie.  Yes, I said crappie and some were very nice.  With that being said, they filled the cooler with the white bass and crappie for a fish fry.  There is some movement on top with the caddis, but not enough to draw much attention.  However, I did see many more caddis laying eggs this afternoon and there were a few trout that came up to slam them.

What is working???  I tried some caddis patterns, but they weren't producing like I thought so I went to my old reliable peach colored egg.  Guess what?  They crushed it all day long, three days straight.  The paddlefish and buffalo were in the process of spawning and the trout were full of their spawn.  On monday I cleaned a few trout and took a look in their bellies and viola, full of spawn!  These trout are healthier now than I have seen them in the past few years.  Most of the fish we caught today were 12-15 inches long, with a few being in the slot.  Most were rainbows but we managed to catch a few browns and many small brooks.  On Monday and Today I had Charlie Mulligan for a two day trip and he averaged about 50 trout per day.  Not too shabby!

I am tired and I am going to bed.  Next week is pretty much booked but there are some openings after that.

Wow!  I survived another year of Freshman Social Studies.  I just keep telling myself ten more years, ten more years.  Honestly, it was a great year and I will miss many of the kids, but it is time to get down to having fun on the river.  It looks like we might make it through the next day without too much rain and that means fishing!!!  I will be down there over Memorial Day weekend and will post and actual, yes, an actual fishing report.

Looking at May's calendar I have a couple openings next week and then the first eight days of June are booked.  After that there are many openings in June in July.  If you are thinking of booking a trip then do so now because once I get busy, I get busy.  I looked back on last year's calendar during May-July and I believe I slept more nights in a tent than in my own bed.  Good for business, but not the best on my body.  No more tying flies it is time to fish!!!

Still no fishing.  Too much rain and I know, it sounds like a broken record.  I was looking at last May's calendar and I was down on the river quite a bit, but that is not the case this year.  It seems like everytime the Corps gets the lake back to the 700 ft mark then it rains which bumps up the lake even more.  From what I have seen and heard it looks like they are going to try to keep the lake between the 700-705 mark this summer, which is twenty feet over what it has been since the dam repairs began.  I have even heard some claims that they might even bump it up to regular summer pool late in the summer, but from what I get that sounds more like rumors.  Whatever the case, it is nice to have that much more water cushioning and cooling the lake.

My apologies to all for a lack or reports, but if I posted a true report then it would be nothing but lies.  Can't post a report when I haven't guided.  This is my advice to all who would like a guided trip this late spring:  Keep an eye on the level of the lake.  When it gets down to the 705 mark then the Corps will start holding back on water releases.  That has actually started to happen over the past couple of days.  I just checked it this morning and they actually ceased all generation from Midnight to six in the morning.  Yippee, we are getting closer!  On the flip side I constantly watch the weather radar over Southeastern Kentucky.  I keep an eye on the Cumberland basin as well as the Big South Fork because if that area gets a couple of inches of rain then watch out, the lake will be rising once again and the Corps will be generating water like crazy. 

Take care and maybe I will be able to get out this next weekend, fingers crossed!!!

No fishing, again.  The Cumberland Basin, especially the Big South Fork and tributaries, received a lot of rain and well, you know the rest of the story.  I was meaning to say in my last report that some very big white bass are showing up at the usual locations and they are hungry.  The only problem is that the water is coming through with three generators which makes it a bit difficult but not impossible.  I went down since my last report since getting some new equipment for the boat and decided to bring some lead head jigs and go after whatever, but hopefully bring home some walleyes and white bass.  I brought home a dozen big female white bass, all in the 13-14 inch range and had a fish fry.  No walleye.  Thought that I had one in a deep hole and when I pulled it up a big buffalo was looking at me.  Dang, thought it was a big eye.  I know people always talk about fishing the river for sauger and walleye during the winter, but I do better from early May to late June.  Last summer I caught some of the larger ones over 5 pounds while sight fishing with 1/4 ounce jigs.  One morning my cousin's son and I were after them and we were doing well then I saw a big one hugging the bottom that would have gone well over 10 pounds.  I dropped it upstream of the fish, saw her inhale it, then set the hook.  Well, it pulled straight out and that fish was still thrashing side to side for what seemed like a good five seconds after it had pulled off.  Oh well, maybe I will get a shot at her whenever this water drops.

My guess is that it is going to take a good two weeks before we can fly fish for trout and that is if it quits raining!  A little rain doesn't do much, but two to three inches will bump the lake up several feet in no time at all.  Keep the faith and say a little prayer to the big guy to not be so generous with the precip.

Completely blown out!!!  I had a group of guys from Northern Kentucky that were supposed to fish with me this past weekend, but it was a no go.  I knew it was going to be a higher than was expected, but when I drove down to the ramp at Helm's I saw that it was completely under water with buffalo swimming around, buffalo the fish that is.  So I changed the lower unit lube and washed up the boat and got it ready for the next trip which was supposed to be this next weekend, but who knows with all of this water.  If there is a bright side to all of the water, the Corps is really cranking it so my bet is that they will hold back somewhat on releases once they get the water back down to the 700 ft.  I am definately going to have to reschedule trips and push many back into June.  Hopefully in a couple of weeks the river will be fly fishable because I am really itching to fish it during the caddis hatch.  Water temps are still in the 47-49 degree range, but that cold water will really save us later this summer and early fall. 

The fish that were caught during the last few trips were all super healthy and I didn't notice any stocker rainbows.  You usually get into a lot of stocker bows at this time of the year, but as far as small stockers, all were either brookies or browns.  Water clarity is what I would call normal for this time of year.  You can see down for about 3-4 feet and it has a greenish tint.  Usually by Mid May the heaviest of the spring rains have pushed through and the water really gets clear.  That is something that everyone will really notice this year since the sluice gates won't be open, the water won't get that dark green tint in late summer through the fall.  All of that decomposed junk and algae won't be flying through the dam and as a result the bottom will be clean.  Sure will be nice to do sight fishing all summer and fall long.

Well, gotta get the kids ready for bed and pack the lunches.  Only four more weeks left of school then it will be time to spend as much time as possible on the Mighty C.

No new report since last week, but it looks like the Corps is starting to hold back on releases.  If we can get through Friday without any major gully washers then it could be good this weekend.  Speaking of this weekend, I will be out on the water both days and will most likely have a new report on Sunday evening or at least by Monday evening.

With that being said, May dates are being taken and June is starting to fill up too.  What I do is try to schedule blocks of 3-5 days in a row then go back home for a few days then do it again.  That is the plan for the summer.  Sometimes I just make it down for a day or two, but scheduling in blocks is what makes it possible for me to offer the rates that I do.

Here is one weekday opening if anyone wants it:  The Friday before Derby is open.  Thought I had to do something else, but it is now open.  First come, first serve.

I was able to get one more day in guiding since the last report.  A couple of return clients, Jackie and Erik were in the area and wanted to get out and do some fishing.  How could I refuse?  The best customers are return customers and these two are always a hoot to take out.  We put in at Helm's and drifted downstream, staying ahead of the water generation which was released mid morning.  Egg patterns and double nymph rigs under an indicator did the best.  The hottest colored egg that day was an orange/peach mixture.  We caught many fish and some of the rainbows were at the 15 inch mark.  My guess is that the growth rates since last year's late stocking weren't half bad because most of the fish looked super healthy.  Like I said in a report back in February, lots of alewives were being sucked through the turbines and my bet is that our trout put on the feed bags.  We did catch a couple of decent browns, the largest being a 17 incher caught by Jackie as we drifted through Rainbow Run.  We fished downstream from Winfrey's but the water was more off colored in that area and we only caught a few.  Most of the nicer fish were caught between Helm's and Rainbow Run and if you fish it much then you can guess what areas tend to produce the most fish.  Very few were caught along bolders while most were caught in shallow water (less than 4 feet) that had a decent flow pushing through.  The take was somewhat subtle, but the larger bows and especially the bigger brown put up a decent fight once hooked.  Water temps were 45 when we started and up to 49 by late afternoon and air temps were flirting with the mid 80 mark.

All in all a nice day.  I wish we could have hit a couple of the runs a few more times, but like I said we wanted to stay ahead of the generation and try some other areas downstream.  I will be out again next weekend and will post a report the following Monday. 

I have an official fishing report.  No, really, I seriously do.  On Friday I took out Charlie M. from Louisville and he did well.  If I remember correctly, he caught 29 fish.  Most of those fish were caught in the afternoon when the water was off, but some were caught early during the higher water.  Temps were flirting with the freezing mark when we started and the water was rising which made fishing difficult to say the least.  However, the water was shut off at noon and the fishing really started picking up within the next two hours.  Man, if we could just get them to shut off the water for a bit longer then it would have really been good!

Egg patterns worked as usual, but the hot rig in the afternoon was a 1/80 oz brown dubbed jig with a size 16 bead head caddis.  Lots of bows were landed on this rig and to think about it, all of the bows looked to be holdovers from last year.  Very fiesty and healthy.  Browns and brookies were landed too, but nothing of any size.  We did have one large fish break off near the powerlines, but we were unable to get a good look at it.

Water temps varied from 46 in the morning to 49 by late afternoon.  Look for increased insect activity once the water gets around that magical 52 degree mark.  That is when the caddis activity is on and the larger fish show up for the buffet.

I think that there is an opening next week if anyone is getting the itch.  Still on cloud nine after my Cards came from behind to beat the Shockers.  One more to go so GO CARDS!!!

It is almost time.  Seriously, I know this sounds like some kind of recording, but the Corps is cutting back on releases and the water should be fly fishable as early as tomorrow.  I hope to get in at least one to two trips over the next couple of days and will post an actual report, a "fishing" report by Monday.  I was gone over the past few days and it seems like many others are chompin' at the bit to get out on the water.  Book your trips now because it looks to be a busy spring and summer, fingers crossed as always on the Cumberland.

Over the past couple of days I had the chance to do some fly fishing with my dad back in Missouri at Bennett Springs.  This is where I started trout fishing as a kid and it's always a good time, especially with dad.  We caught a lot of trout and some were in the 17-18 inch range.  Usually at this time of the year everything starts greening up but not this year.  Heck, it even sleeted and snowed some on Tuesday morning!  Brrr to say the least.  The good thing about the cold weather was that it kept a lot of anglers off the water and left many of the better areas appear as if the park was actually closed.  I honestly can't think of a time when I saw so few anglers in April. 

It's been fun over the last few weeks responding to e-mails from return customers, thinking back on old trips and hoping for the return of the Cumberland to what is was like before the dam repairs.  The new fly lines have been on for weeks, tons of flies have been tied, and the boat is ready to roll.  Thank God for basketball or this cabin fever would have gotten the best of me.  Anglers, keep the faith because we are almost there!

Hello everyone!!! Nope, no fishing yet.  Actually went to Otter Creek last week to stretch a line due to withdrawl symptoms.  I fished for 3 hours and caught 11 bows and 1 smallmouth.  Not bad for high off colored water and 40 degree temps.

I know everyone is chomping at the bit to hit the Cumberland and if these rains/snows ever stop then it won't be long until it gets good.  Today I looked at the generation schedule and they didn't run any water in the morning until 11 o'clock.  Hey, that is a start.  You could get at least a half day in with that schedule.  They might be holding off on water releases for one of two purposes:  One is that the Corps has stated that the they will bring the lake back to 700-705 mark in early April.  Right now it is at 691.  We all know that if they turned it off or cut back just a bit then it wouldn't take long at all with these rains to get to that mark.  Two, maybe downstream areas have received too much rain and they are holding it back, kind of like when Nashville was flooded just a few years ago.  I personally don't believe that to be the case.  However, I just looked at the weather back home in Missouri and they are supposed to get 10 inches or more snow today and it is a comin' this a way.  Yikes, snow days in March.  Heck, looks like I'll have to play hooky in May.

Thanks for all of the recent inquiries.  I think the word about the Cumberland recovery is getting out nationwide.  This week alone I have received calls from people in Pennsylvania and New York wanting to work their way down this way later in the Spring.  Before the dam repairs began, there were people all over the Midwest, East, and Southeast booking trips.  Hopefully this will return, fingers crossed.

Almost took some guys out on the river two weeks ago, but it was a no go due to one of my kids playing basketball.  Who ever thought I would be watching 12 year olds play round ball instead of fly fishing?  Football, perhaps, but basketball?  Well, his team was destroyed, I was ticked, and I didn't go fishing. 

The Corps had cut back on releasing water and it really started to look good, but then we received a snow/rain storm that bumped the lake level back up to the 690 mark.  The Corps has stated that they will bring up the lake to the 700-705 mark later this spring, the sooner the better.  If you all had a chance to fish with me last May then you can remember me excited about seeing caddis skitter across the water.  It was the last time that the water was low enough to fish the caddis hatch in what seemed like forever!!!  So, what does the forecast look like for this year?  Colder water due to higher lake levels will equal much better fishing.  I also was informed by the KFWD that they will be stocking over 10,000 slot sized rainbows later this year to help bump up the numbers.  That will be great as long as they disperse them at different areas thoughout the river system and not just the dam and Helms.  We were also catching tons of bows in early December in the 10-13 inch range and if they are still around then that too will help out once these waters drop.  Over the past two months I have tied countless dozens of various patterns for this upcoming season.  Tired of tying and ready to fish!!!

Shoot me an e-mail or give me a ring if interested in a trip.  May and June dates are still available, but these seem to be the most sought after times of the year.

Hello everyone.  Took a trip to the river on President's day with my daughter.  Needed to check out the boat and run the Jeep for a while just to make sure that everything is ready to go when the water drops.  Speaking of that, the lake level is near the 683 mark and the Corps is begining to cut back on generation, even turning it off completely during the night.  If we don't get any washouts then it might be fishable during the next two weeks.  There were a few boats out on the river below the dam and the gulls were dive bombing for alewives.  I could see a few dead/stunned ones drifting down the river near the bank and that is a bonus for our trout.  Sometimes during colder periods, loads of alewives will get sucked through the turbines and the birds and trout go into a frenzy.  For spin fishermen, you can't beat a white curly tailed grub and for fly fishermen, any type of streamer/bugger in white.  Many times the trout will be spitting up shad as you unhook them so keep them in the net and in the water or you will have trout barf in the boat.  This is usually the begining of the walleye/sauger run.  Chartreuse or white jigs bumped along the bottom tipped with jigs can be very productive.  A couple of times last year I went out and limited out on walleye after guiding an entire day.  If you can find them then you can catch them.  They don't fight worth a darn, but I honestly can't think of a better tasting fish!

Well, I have tied hundreds of flies and can't wait to get out to do some fishing.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if interested in booking a trip.

Sorry about the lack of reports, but there isn't any fishing going on right now.  The Corps is cranking the water full bore at over 20,000 cfs due to the weekly rain/snow storms over the Cumberland basin and it is going to be a while before we can get out on the river.  Last year I had a few trips during the month of February, but this year has been a wet one thus far.  If there is any good news it is that the Corps has agreed to bump up the lake level this summer to 700 feet, up nearly 20 feet more than what they were trying to keep it at while repairing the dam.  Pre dam construction summer pool was right around 720 so it looks like they will allow it to go up to the 700 mark this summer and see if there are any problems.  For some of the newbies you all might be asking how will that extra 20 feet affect fishing?  Well, it should add 20 feet of insulation to the cold water near the intakes, making it like it used to be which was cold as ice! 

Some of my last trips were in early December and we were catching tons of fish.  Most of those guys were in the 10-13 inch range, but if we get the colder water this year and fingers crossed, less rain, then the growth of those holdovers will really take off.  I am not going to deny it, our fish have suffered over the past 3-4 years.  We struggled at times this year to catch any fish in the slot.  I was looking back on my old calendars before the dam repairs and saw notes that I had written about clients catching a dozen or two rainbows and browns per trip that were between 15 to 19 inches.  Won't it be nice to get back into that?  How long will it take for the return of those numbers?  Give it a year and you will see a lot of fish in the low end of the slot.  Give it another year and we should see many in the 17-20 inch range.  The browns haven't suffered nearly as much for we still caught several good ones this year in the 20-25 inch range, but it still wasn't pretty.  On the flip side, we will return to fishing like we did in the old days which was get in the water early and stay ahead of the generation schedule.  At times over the past five years you could fish from dawn to dusk and the water levels would never change.  That was good fishing in the upper reaches, but the trout were nearly nonexistant below Winfrey's due to warm water.  Another wish is to drop the rainbow daily creel limit back to five fish and that will allow our small bows to grow up to be big bows!

Thanks again to everyone who kept me busy guiding this past year.  I don't wish for a drought this next year, just an average year of precipitation and temperatures, but then again, what is average anymore?

P.S.  June and July dates are slowly being taken.  Drop me a line to reserve one!

Fished the past couple of days and we landed a bunch of fish on each day.  Nothing over 19 inches, but a lot and I mean a lot of fat healthy rainbows were landed.  On day one we landed a good brown that was under 20 inches and missed two others that were bigger.  Charlie Mulligan of Louisville lost count of how many fish he caught.  There were a few areas at certain times where he would get a hit or catch a fish at nearly every cast.  If I remember correctly, he only caught one brown, one brookie, but over 50 rainbows.  Yes, most were in the 11-13 inch range, but these fish are super fatties.  The color of some of these bows are absolutely beautiful to say the least, something you find when water is clear and the fall spawn is in full swing.  So what better to use than a peach colored egg with a bright red dot?  The key as always is the drift.  Charlie has fished with me for more than 50 times over the past 8 years and he gets it.  Some people never listen, but this guy knows how to egg fish as good as any of my clients. On day two I took Allen Douglas and his friend Jamie.  They too caught a bunch of fish and Allen missed one big brown.  The quality wasn't quite as good as day one, but good Lord, the fish were hitting pretty good all day long.  Thanks big guy!

There are still a few weekend openings between now and Christmas.  The water is clear and the fish are eager to eat.  Take care and get out before the rains set in! 

Fished last Friday and caught a ton of them.  Nothing over 15 inches, but I hooked up with one monster that pulled off and saw a couple of browns stacked up that were in the 4-6 pound range.  Location and water flow are the big factors that determined my success.  Egg patterns under an indicator caught most, but I threw a black leech pattern on a full sinking 5wt line and caught many doing this while wading.

Still a few openings between now and Christmas.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if you would like to get out. 

Hello everyone!  Haven't fished in a while, but it looks like the water is going to get really good over the next couple of days.  If you want to go then shoot me an e-mail or give me a ring.

I had the chance to get out on the river this past Saturday.  Guided two very nice people, Tamara and Mark from Henderson, KY.  Man was it cold!!!  I don't think that the temps ever rose above 50 degrees and the sun never even tried to peek out behind the clouds.  Cold, but at least it didn't rain. 

We caught fish throughout the day, but it seemed like the fish were more aggressive on the take during the first half of the day. Yep, we threw eggs at them, especially since the water was somewhat off colored.  It has this light greenish tint which is a result of releasing water through the sluice gates for such a long period of time.  It would be nice to see the Corps close the sluice releases and slowly run one generator early in the morning or later in the evening.  The water would definately clear up.  A bonus of the day was that Mark caught a very nice male brown that was in full spawning colors.  He took a few picks with his phone and then we released him back.  Didn't measure him, but he was right around the 20 inch mark.  It is sure nice to see biggins like that still in the river and it would be nice to do some sight fishing for them if the water would clear up.  Believe me, they are still in there!!!

I will be out on the river a few times during the month of November.  Deer hunting will soon be in full swing and it is time to fill the freezer.  Gotta go tie up a few more eggs and midge patterns.

Hey all.  Didn't fish this past weekend and I know, I know that I haven't posted a report in quite a while.  The water was over 3,000 cfs for a week or so and now it is back to the 2,000 mark, much more favorable for my type of fishing.  I have been on fall break since Thursday and have had to cancel two trips due to just too much stuff going on.  My Thursday cancelled due to an illness and I had to cancel today's trip.  I wonder what the fishing is like.  Last weekend I took out a football buddy and his girlfriend and they caught fish, but nothing big.  Sounds like a broken record for the past month.  Some days the numbers were fast and furious, but others we struggled to catch a dozen or more each.  The old standby multi colored egg always catches fish, but we have also been doing well on a chartreuse copper john and pheasant tail dropper.  We all waited for the grasshopper party to start, but it just never happened like last late summer/early fall.  Don't get me wrong, we still caught some fish here and there, even had people who fished the dang thing nearly half a day with only a handful of fish.  Last year from mid August to mid September we caught fish and some were absolutely monsters!!! Mike Scheid had one of the largest fish that I have ever seen come up and crush a hopper and nearly break the darn rod.  If my memory is correct he still landed a few that were at the 20" mark, all browns.  A few weeks later Lee and Linda Squires caught several nice ones and had a few monster bows that either pulled or broke off, but it just didn't happen this year. 

If this water drops to 1500 cfs or even better 500 cfs then hit the shoal areas for the brownies and the bows that are there to snack on their eggs.  I know that the quality of the fish in our river has dropped off and we are longing so much for a return of the good days, but there are still some monsters lurking and waiting.

Take care and hope to get out next weekend, water and weather permitting!

Sorry about not updating over the past two weeks.  Yes, I have been guiding, but unfortunately the fishing isn't on fire.  Don't get me wrong, you can still catch many fish, but it seems like the overall size dropped during the past two weeks, especially last weekend.  Last weekend's low size and numbers can be blamed on the latest rains that bumped up the lake and we all know that eventually is going to be released.  However, with all that being said, it looks like the corps is slowly pulling back on the water releases, something like 2000cfs when the generators aren't cranking.  Looks like a wait and see approach for this upcoming weekend until this next batch of preceip pushes through.

If the water drops then the chances of landing larger fish, especially browns, will increase.  If you all remember reading my reports in late July, I stated that some larger fish over 7-8 pounds were being spotted in many of the shoal areas.  We even casted to one over 10 pounds for at least five minutes until it cruised away.  Well, with over 3000 cfs rolling along it is kind of tough to see the fish.  If they back it down a grand then it will be a heck of a lot easier to catch the fish, fingers crossed.

Hopefully I will have an updated report by early next week.

Well, we dodged another one.  I thought that the past set of storms would bump up the lake, but we didn't receive as much  precip as was expected and that is awesome.  The Corps has changed the generation schedule and have bumped up the water release through the sluice gates.  Water temps on Sunday never exceeded 57 degrees and that is great.  The guy that I took out on Sunday landed well over 50 fish, but none were over 14 inches.  However, the fish were larger on average than the previous week, especially as we went downstream from Helms.  I wanted to throw some hoppers, but no action.  Then wouldn't you know it, we had a couple of fish that absolutely slammed the indicator.  Oh well, maybe next weekend.

As far as availability, there really aren't any openings left until early November.  If you are interested in being placed on a waiting list then I can add your name.

Hey everyone!  Guided this past weekend and all the guys caught were a bunch of small ones.  We fished from upstream from Helm's down past Rockhouse and caught fish throughout the entire stretch.  However, some areas had a lot more fish than others.  Most of them were rainbows, but they did land some beautiful brookies and a handful of small browns.  Both the brooks and brownies were sporting some pretty awesome colors and that is pretty typical of this time of the year.  About a month ago we started seeing and catching some nice browns in the faster stretches of water, but we haven't been able to land any over the past two weekends.  I wanted to go up closer to the dam and give it a try because in late July we landed some browns that were in the 3-4 pound range within sight of the dam, but the water was just too low to make it up there.  Hopefully I will be able to get out on the river this next Sunday and make it up that way.  The water is cooler and the larger fish start making their way up that stretch during this time of the year.

On a good note, the Cumberland Basin didn't receive as much rain from the remnants of the hurricane so that is a good thing for sure.  It looks like the Corps will bump up the release schedule this week, but it is nothing like I thought would occur.  If you all remember from previous storms, that lake could come up 10 or more feet in 24 hours.  Yikes!!! 

The best news of all was the result of the UL/UK football game.  Lots of offense and not much defense, but boy does Bridgewater look good or what?  Two backs with over 100 yards each and I think the Cards averaged something like 83 yards per drive.  Crazy numbers.  Let's just hope the D gets it up. 

I had the chance to take out Lee and Linda Squires from Louisville yesterday.  It was our second trip.  Last year the water was rolling a bit more which made it great hopper fishing.  That wasn't the case yesterday, but we still caught many fish.  I believe Linda caught a brown, bow, and brookie within the first ten minutes and isn't it nice when the fish cooperate?  The best fishing was during the morning hours, but the birthday girl continued to catch fish until quitting time.  On a good note, we have been seeing some larger browns, but it tends to be during the late morning to early afternoon when the sun is high and the water low.  However, I saw one brown over twenty inches go for our egg pattern, but the dang egg was hung up on a bolder and the fish couldn't pick it off.  As always, find moving water and you will find the fish.  It doesn't have to be moving too fast for I have found that many larger fish are still hanging in deep water along bolders.  If you find some bolders that jut out into the river then you will see how the water picks up just a bit and those are excellent target spots up and down the river. 

I am pretty much booked solid now through early November.  There might be a couple of openings, but I think my wife would seriously contemplate divorcing me if I booked any more days.  I will be out on the river this next Saturday and Sunday will be spent at Cardinal Stadium.  Hopefully my Cards will bring it and bag those kitties early on.  Keep the pedal to the metal and let's crank up that train and get it going!!!

I took out one of my favorite clients yesterday.  Charlie Mulligan of Louisville has been fishing with me now for nearly 10 years and it is always a treat to get him out on the water.  We put in yesterday morning at Helm's and headed downstream.  He caught lots of fish on one egg, like 60 fish on one egg pattern!  I think his total was near 75 and that is a lot of fish!  Most were 10-13 inches long, but we had a couple of larger fish pull off during the early morning hours.  Find moving water and you would find fish.  It sounds simple and it is simple.  The great thing is that the fish weren't spooked too easily.  There were a couple of times in which he simply dropped the rod off the edge of the boat and bam, a fish was on. 

Gotta cut the lawn, tie some flies, and pack school lunches for tomorrow.  Take care everyone.

It has been a while since my last post and I have been crazy busy during that time.  School has started and it takes me a week or so to get back in the groove.  However, I was able to squeeze in a trip yesterday.  The fishing was good in terms of numbers, lots of fish, but I don't think we landed one over 14 inches long.  Took out Hugh R. and his neighbor Shane from London.  Shane had never fly fished before, but that wasn't a big deal since the fish weren't too picky.  It is always nice to take a newbie on a day when the fish are feeding.  Sometimes the water looks just right and the fish just don't want to eat, but that wasn't the case yesterday.  I picked up a rod rigged up with an egg pattern and showed Shane how to do some simple casting.  I casted the rig and bam, a fish was on.  We fished this one area for the first twenty minutes or so and had a hit or caught a fish on just about every cast.  Honestly, the fish hit that good from about seven to the early afternoon.  We ate some lunch below the Rockhouse then took Shane to a hole where he could catch some walleye and sauger.  He caught a couple keepers to take home then we went back after the trout after the water turned off.  The results were the same, lots and lots of fish.  They all looked healthy, but no big ones.  The larger browns have started showing up in the shoal areas and their numbers should only continue to increase throughout the fall.

Availability for September and October is very limited.  I think that there are a total of three or four days  open during those two months.  One day off the top of my head is September first.  If anyone wants that day or is interested in any other day during that time frame then act fast before they are gone.

Wow, I can't believe that it is August.  How is the fishing you ask, pretty good considering the temps.  On Monday and Tuesday I fished with Lou K. from Louisville and his buddy Ron from Pittsburgh.  We fished long and hard during both days, especially Monday and the hard work was well worth it.  Both guys caught a bunch of trout on both outings.  I believe Ron said that he caught over 50 on Monday and near 40 yesterday.  Egg patterns were by far the most successful way of catching both numbers and quality.  Our game plan was dictated somewhat by the water generation schedule.  We did our best to stay with or slightly ahead of the rising water.  Then as the two generators kicked in we took a break until they shut off in the afternoon then went back after it shut off.  The larger fish in the 17-19 inch range were caught mainly in the evening.  The larger browns were super thick and the guys caught two rainbows that were pushing 18 inches.  Nice fish!!!  The key is to finding the fish and staying with them.  You might fish a shoal and drift through it, pounding fish left and right then go through it again in less than 15 minutes later then the fish moved slightly up or downstream.  Another key is getting close to the bottom.  The key as always is the drift.  Quarter the cast slightly downstream, raise the rod to drag the indicator upstream, then allow it to drop and drift back downstream.  Eventually the indicator gets too far downstream then just recast, doing your best to minimize the false casting.  Long casts aren't that necessary because it is tougher for the rig to bump the bottom.  And bumping the bottom is a good thing as long as it isn't dragging.  It does require one to change the depth on the indicator quite a bit, but it is absolutely necessary to catch the larger fish.

As far as openings, there are a few weekend openings this month and next.  One of the encouraging signs that I have seen over the past three weeks is the number of larger fish that have started showing up in the shoal areas.  Most of these are browns and some of them look to be over the ten pound mark.  With that being said, September and October fishing for the larger browns could get very interesting.  That will happen as long as we don't get any hurricane remnants or storm systems that could raise the lake and increase water releases.  If you have any intentions on booking a trip from August to eary November then do it soon.  I have openings, but I have football games and soccer games to watch and attend.  Some Saturdays and Sundays will be open but they are limited to say the least.  As a result I won't be able to post as many reports, maybe one every week or two. 

Still catchin' and sweatin'!  Man is it hot or what?  I guided on Thursday and Friday and we did well as far as numbers, but no big fish.  On Thursday I took out Jackie and Erik from Tennessee and they caught a bunch of fish.  Early on we used the tried and true multi colored egg pattern then went to smaller bead headed nymphs as the water cleared and the sun rose high above us.  You might be saying water clearing?  What is he talking about?  Well the Cumberland basin received several thunder boomers last week and the water clouded up overnight then the one generator early in the morning flushed it out.  Erik lost one brown that looked to be pushing the twenty inch mark.  He said that he dropped his rod and you all know the rest of that story.  All in all a nice day with this crew and hopefully we can do it again in the fall.

On Friday I took out Hugh and his buddy Tom from London, KY.  Just like the day before, the water was a bit cloudy early on, but it cleared nicely as the day progressed.  The results were pretty similar to Thursday, however, we did see several big browns and I mean big browns that were 7-10 pounds.  They were all in deep slow pools along boulders or in shoal areas that were over 4ft deep.  The downside to Friday was that the Corps changed its mind and decided to release water earlier that what was forecasted.  Oh well, we were still able to get in 8 hours worth of fishing.

I stayed over Friday night to do some work on the boat and decided to fish a bit on Saturday morning.  I got out on the river early before anyone else put in.  I caught some smaller trout then went after the walleye with the spinning rod.  Landed one over twenty inches long and saw a huge one that took a swipe at my jig, but didn't take it.  Sight fishing for walleye in 7-10 feet of water is pretty cool.  The hard part is finding them, but when you do just drop a jig upstream from it and get ready.  As the water was coming up I hooked into and landed a nice 22 inch brown that was nearly 5 pounds.  Again, I saw some that were even bigger, but I couldn't make any hookups.  I did have one near hookup on a fish downstream from Helm's that would have drwarfed that five pounder.  The water was rising and I spotted it along a dropoff that went from two feet deep to about five.  I casted the egg upstream from the monster and pulled it right into his alley.  That fish cruised less than a foot to the right and opened its hooked jaw.  I set the hook and I pulled it out, not even watching the indicator, just the egg.  The fish shook its head and I missed.  #&*@!!!  Oh well, he is still in there.

This Saturday and Sunday are open and it will be my last open weekend before school starts. It looks like the generation will back off by late week so fishing should be good.

Fishing is still good and some larger fish in the low twenty inch range continue to be caught throughout the month of July, especially browns!  I will be out this Thursday and Friday and will have a new report by Sunday evening.

Openings: This weekend and next weekend are open as well as a couple weekdays during the next three weeks.  After July then the only available dates will be during weekends and they will be on a limited basis.  Also, for those of you wishing to book a fall trip then look into doing it now.  Like I said, dates are limited and if conditions are non appealing then we just cancel, no deposit necessary.

Last week I spent time in Michigan with my family and boy was it a relief from the heat!  70 degrees everyday and the fishing was pretty good.  Lots of fat largemouth and smallies were taken in the evenings and early mornings.  I also landed a nice pike, a first for me.  We went out one day on the main lake and caught some kings and one nice steelhead.  Man, I got to get up there sometime to fish during the fall for salmon or spring for the steelies!  Gotta get back in the groove and tie some flies for this week.

Ok, I have been slacking to say the least.  Last Thursday and Friday were my last two trips in a row and I didn't have time to post the results when I returned.  I will be out on the water a few times this next week and I will promise to post a report upon my return.

Fished on Thursday with some of my favorite return customers, Jackie and Erik from the Nashville area.  These two enjoy fishing just about as much as I do and it is always a blast to say the least.  Jackie wasn't going to get to Helm's until a little later in the morning so Erik and I hit it and went downstream.  He caught several smaller fish then bam!  A 6-7 pound carp hit the egg pattern.  Dang, I really thought that it might have been a big brown, but nope, just a carp.  We do need to give that fish some credit because it pulled us all the way acrosss a wide stretch of the river and nearly wrapped itself around a stickup before it was netted.  Later down below the powerlines Erik landed a nice brown that was 18 inches in length, a beautiful fish that was super thick.  After landing that fish we jetted upsream, picked up Jackie, and continued fishing.  I believe her largest fish was a nice 17 inch rainbow.  We continued to pick up fish throughout the morning and early afternoon until a big time thunderstorm dropped an inch of rain on us and turned the Cumberland into chocolate milk.  That event ended the day.

By Friday morning the weather and the water had cleared up, gin clear once again.  This water is as clear as I have seen it in years and it makes for some interesting sight fishing.  Usually I rig up one with an egg pattern and the other guy/gal with a bead head dropper rig.  As the day goes on, especially with high skies and 100 degree temps then we go to only bead heads or other tiny midge patterns.  On Friday I took out Jim and his friend Michael from the Lexington area.  Both guys caught many trout throughout the day, the largest being Jim's brown that looked to be over twenty inches in length.  It had beautiful coloring and a big hooked jaw as well. All in all, another good day on the Cumberland.  One thing worth mentioning, we saw a lot of fish midging, and some of them had some girth.  We had a couple of them hit, but weren't able to land any of them.  Thanks for the good times guys!

Before I know it school will be starting.  Each year it seems to start a bit earlier.  Heck, I can't even give you a date off the top of my head when it begins, but it is sometime around the 7th of August.  After that point I will only be guiding on weekends and those will be limited.  If you want any chances at fall fishing then book now.  Like always, if it is good then we go, if it isn't then we don't.  If this water clarity hangs on and we don't get blown out by any hurricane remnants then from September into November could get very interesting as the larger fish begin showing up in attempts at spawning.  Gotta go! 

Last year I had a client that said if hell is this hot then I better change my ways.  Man, has it warmed up.  Dry heat, but still it is hotter than all can be.  Last Friday the fishing was pretty good.  A couple of big ones were hooked and landed, but the fishing really dropped off this week.

We caught some big ones.  On Monday Brian caught a 21 inch brown which was his first fish of the day.  You don't see that often.  On Tuesday Sam caught some fish here and there, but the wind was like 20-30 miles an hour and it was nearly impossible to drift through some of the better areas.  That is especially true when the water is off and there is little to no current.  Wednesday was probably the toughest day of all.  The water schedule or lack of water made it tough and the fish were not in the mood to strike.  We still caught fish, but boy did we have to work for them!  On Thursday the fishing started to improve as a result of the Corps running one generator for an hour or two then shutting it off for a few hours.  This keeps the water from rising and dropping as much and the fish tend to like this.  I personally believe that going from no generators to two then shutting it off then going to one and back and forth really screws up the fishing.  The trout don't know what to think of it and the bite is generally not too good.  As a result of Thursday's water releases the fish started hitting better in the regular areas and one of my guys, Ross, hooked into a big one that pulled off on Thursday.  They are still in there!!!

I will be taking off a few days and will have another report available next Friday or Saturday.  If you are interested in fishing this next week then WEDNESDAY, the 4th is available.  That is the only available day until the week of the 16th.  Take care an try to stay cool.

Ok, I said that a new report wouldn't be posted until next week, but I had the chance to guide yesterday so here we go:  In my 12 years of guiding I have never seen the river so low!  The water was turned off for about a period of 15 hours!  Yes, 15 hours and it was oh so low.  Yes, we caught fish and a lot of smaller fish, but some of the areas that I have caught a lot of fish over the past two months were less than a foot deep.  Yikes!  We even had to get out of the boat once to get the boat through about 6 inches of water.  Don't get me wrong, as primarily a fly fishing guide I love low water, but this was borderline ridiculous.  The cool thing was that you could see fish, a lot of fish in certain areas and some of them were on the large side.

I took out Jeff and Todd out yesterday.  First time customers and these guys were a pleasure to get to know.  Todd hadn't done much fly fishing in the past, but Jeff knew what to do.  Both caught a lot of brookies and bows, most on tiny bead heads fished in deeper water along bolders.  Jeff lost one bow that would have flirted with the twenty inch mark and Todd hooked and landed brown that was in the low twenties on an egg pattern.   With the high sun we took a few pics and released it, not even bothering laying it next to the tape.

I will be out several days this next week and will post a new report on either Thursday evening or Friday morning.  There are still a few openings during the month of July, especially during the week of July 22nd.  Get 'em now before they are gone.

Hello everyone.  Over the past two and a half days I took my dad, uncle, cousin, and son out on the river.  We kind of did it in shifts and the water levels cooperated enough to make fishing successful.  Pretty much the same old patterns worked and will continue to work.  Man, the water is clearer than in years past and it is a treat to see the trout hit your offering.  As a result I have started to downsize in tippet in the later morning to 6x and it has paid off.  Yesterday was pretty much the only day that I did any fly fishing myself and they were slamming the bead head dropper.  I know that one of them was around 18 inches and it didn't take him/her long to wrap itself around a boulder and pull off.  So, yes the eggs continue to produce fish, especially during the morning and during water releases, but the bead head patterns are starting to rack up on numbers and quality.  The key is the drift, the twitch, and the lift and once you get the hang of it and get into the groove then wow is it fun!  I haven't tinkered around much with any terrestrial patterns, but I am hearing more cicadas and seeing some small hoppers along the banks.  Might have to rig up another rod and give it a try.

I will be out on the river several times during this next week and probably won't have an update until late next week.  Many openings are still available throughout the month of July and very early August.  Like I stated in previous reports, school begins for me on the 7th or 8th of August.  After that point I will only be able to guide on the weekends.  I really appreciate the business and the good times out on the water.  Folks, this is something that I truly enjoy and never seem to get tired of doing.  If you want a fun filled day out on the water then shoot me an e-mail or give me a call.  Don't forget that you could always purchase a trip from me and give it to a loved one for a gift.  I am steadily getting more and more of these purchases each year and I am grateful for the business.

Happy Father's Day to all.  I believe that Carrie and the kids would have disowned me if I would have guided today.  However, I did have the chance to fish yesterday with Ned S. and his son Ned from the Louisville area.  Both caught a lot of fish but probably missed at least four times that many.  Sometimes when the Corps runs water then shuts it off then runs it again, the fish don't hit the offering as hard.  Don't get me wrong, we caught a lot of fish, but the takes were subtle at times and you had to be on the ball to hook up.  Both guys caught a pair of beautiful 18 inch rainbows in the afternoon in different locations.  One was caught along some enormous boulders while the other one was caught in a long shoal area as the water was rising.  It is great to see larger fish.  A few weeks ago we were landing at least one per trip that was in the low twenties, but then it stopped.  A lot of anglers at the ramps have complained that there aren't any big ones.  Well, they are still in there and the ones that were landed yesterday were super healthy and that makes me happy to say the least.  And boy did they put on a good fight!

Egg patterns caught the majority, but my jig and dropper rig are starting to rack up some numbers and some larger fish, especially during low flow and clear bright skies.  I always keep one rod rigged with this pair of flies, especially when the bows are just pecking at the egg patterns.  I am sure that just about any bead headed pattern will work, but my dropper is a size 18 and it looks very similar to a pheasant tail.

Well, I will be out on the water Monday through Wednesday and a new report will be posted on Thursday.  THIS NEXT WEEKEND IS STILL OPEN. 

I need to get some rest!

Update: June 23rd and 24th are open.  I thought that I had to do something with the family and they are actually going to be out of town. 

It is time to go fishing!  Over the past three days I was out on the river guiding and the fishing has been pretty good.  A lot of fish in the 10-15 inch range are being caught and I mean a bunch.  Egg patterns with a split above to get it down are still doing the trick as always.  If the sun gets high in the sky and no clouds then I will always have a rod ready with a roach style 1/80 jig dubbed with brown and olive awesome possum.  Then attach about a foot to a foot and a half of 5x or 6x flourocarbon and tie on any type of bead headed fly.  Zebra midges are working good, but I tie a pattern similar to a pheasant tail that has produced some larger rainbows in the slot.  As far as big fish, we have had some on the line, but haven't been able to land them.  They are starting to appear in some of the shoal areas as well as behind the larger boulders and trees.  Yesterday I had a first time client, Al Smith, who hooked into a monster below Rockhouse.   Didn't get a good look at it, but he said it was super thick from side to side.  The dang thing hit the egg and all of a sudden the drag started to scream as it went downstream and wrapped itself around a submerged branch.  Yikes!!!  On Sunday either Brian or Mark from the Evansville area hooked into a brook trout holdover from last year that was pushing 15 inches and man was that thing beautiful.  The brookies that have survived a year in the river have this yellow/orange color that just stands out like nothing else. 

The generation schedule has been weird to say the least, running one generator for a few hours, turning it off, then running one for a few hours, then bumping it up to two, then back to one.  However, after dealing with it for the past few weeks I have a pretty good idea where and when to fish and how to get a full day in.  The key is to starting early, like 6:30 Eastern early.  Most of the areas that we have fished are within two miles downstream from the dam to about the Rockhouse area. 

UPDATE:  I HAVE THIS FRIDAY OPEN THEN A COUPLE OF MORE OPEN THIS MONTH.  THE DATES ARE BEING TAKEN UP AS THE REPORTS IMPROVE AND MOST OF THEM WILL PROBABLY BE TAKEN WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.  THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF OPENINGS IN JULY, BUT I KNOW OF ONE WEEK OFF HAND THAT IS ALREADY FULL. 

Gotta clean lines, tie flies, and kiss up to the wife  

How many fish will we catch if we go with you?  How many times have guides heard that question?  Anyone who knows anything about fishing knows that there are an endless number of factors that will determine success.  I had two e-mails that I answered pertaining to the how many fish question and yesterday my client said he caught 70.  Not a bad day out on the water that included a handful of super thick 15-16 inch rainbows and a couple of nice pull offs. 

I like to rig up three rods per person.  One being a 5wt with a weighted egg pattern, one either a 4 or 5wt with a bugged out micro jig with a bead head dropper, and one a 5 or 6 wt sink tip of full sinking line.  The first two can be fished before the Corps begins generation while the last is a good bet while one unit is under operation.  Yesterday I saw countless numbers of larger fish in 7-9 feet of water.  I dropped the indicator on the dropper rig and Charlie went to work on the trout.  He even caught two rainbows that looked to be river bred bows in the 13-15 inch range, absolutely beautiful fish with more fight than you could ever believe.  On the down side he missed several larger browns in the deeper holes when the water was off.  I don't know what the culprit was, but we just couldn't hook up with those brownies.

Gotta get back to the bench and tie some flies and clean some lines.  There are still several openings throughout June and July.  Just a heads up for everyone, but school preparation for me begins in early August and after that it will just be weekend trips.  If you want to get out on the river this summer then do it soon.

I guided four days in a row and boy am I bushed to say the least.  We caught lots and I mean lots of trout, but unfortunately there weren't any monsters landed.  I saw a few here and there during the duration, even pulled off a few right after the strike.  Our trout are really starting to beef up due to the lower water and man do they have some spunk to say the least.  Most of the fish are rainbows followed by brookies then a few browns on each trip.  One client mentioned that fishing when the water was off when compared to when one generator is running is like fishing two different rivers and he is right.  

During the low flows which is during the morning the fish are generally concentrated in shoal or riffle areas.  You can see the fish and they are stacked up like crazy.  It is easy to catch lots and I mean lots of fish in these areas and they will eagerly hit a wide variety of offerings.  Yes, egg patterns are producing as always, nothing new there, but various bead headed nymph and midge patterns are catching some bigger fish during these low water periods.  On Sunday we fished a small 1/80 oz jig that had brown/olive dubbing then dropped one of my size 18 bead headed nymphs below that.  The fish were slamming both the jig and the dropper.  That little rig produced some nicer rainbows in the 13-15 inch range throughout the mornings.  Later in the early afternoon we would then go to a bigger indicator, add a split shot, and bump the egg along the bottom or along and behind any structure.  The key is the lift and drift technique and boy is the take so slight and subtle.  Another way to fish while one generator is operating is to thow streamers and buggers on a sink tip or full sinking line, throwing it down and across and stripping it back in.  If you have fished this method before then you know that it can wear you out, but the rewards can be great.  One evening I went back out to fish by myself and I caught two nice browns that were 18 and 19 inches on black leeches.  

I still have several openings in the months of June and July, but since the word has spread about the good fishing the days start getting gobbled up like crazy.  If you want to catch a lot of fish then the time is now.  I had a few people over the past couple of days that have done very little fly fishing in their lives, but were still able to catch a lot of nice fish.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail to book your trip asap.

Happy Memorial Day.  I guided once since my last report and the fishing was pretty good in the morning.  I am not going to say exactly where I fished, but we hit them pretty good early on.  I took out Scott R. from Louisville and his buddy Mike from Bristol, TN.  The plan was to get in on the river early and that is what we did.  How early?  Like 6:30 Eastern early.  We fished the eggs during the low water and low light period.  Once the fellas started to master the drift and lift system they were getting hits on nearly every cast.  I don't think we landed anything bigger than 14 inches, but a lot of those fish were very chunky and super healthy which are great signs for the upcoming months.  This is the way that I look at it;  May fishing has been a bonus because I haven't guided in May in I don't know how long due to the wet weather and high water.  If the Corps continues this release system then the fishing should only improve.

The caddis continue to emerge and lay their eggs, but it has been difficult to fish due to the generation schedule.  Typically you see them emerging during the late morning or early afternoon which over the past week has been while two to three generators have been running. Later in the afternoon there have been days in which we did great on top while one generator has been going.  Sounds like a broken record, I know, but one generator has been producing better fish than no generation at all.  For example, the guys that I took out on Wednesday fished by themselves on Thursday and said that they lost a monster and that would have been while one generator was running.

Hey, there are lots of openings during the summer, especially during the week.  Traffic has been generally light on the river, even during this Memorial Day weekend.  THIS NEXT SUNDAY, JUNE THE 3RD IS OPEN, FIRST COME FIRST SERVE.

Gotta tie some more eggs and caddis patterns

The fishing continues to be good even today when they ran one generator then bumped it to two then back down to one.  Obviously if you have fished with me or just fished the river in the past you know the less water equals better fly fishing.  One generator right now is pretty decent due to the super clear water.  This water is clearer at this time of the year then any other May over the past few years.  Yep, the fish can see the fly and if they can see it then they can hit it.

Today I took Dennis and Jack from Indy.  Both fished primarily with egg patterns, bumping along the bottom and catching quite a lot of fish.  The largest of the day was a 20" male brown that Jack hooked downstream from Helm's.  A few other browns in the 15-17 inch range were landed and a lot of small rainbows and brookies.  I think the biggest bow was landed upstream from Snow Island it was approximately 16" in length.  Once the two generators kicked in then the water became a bit off color and the fishing slowed down.  We ate a late lunch then went upstream to find that the Corps had cut it back to one unit.  We landed several more fish but nothing like the larger browns that were landed in the morning.  Later in the early evening Dennis landed a few fish on an elk hair caddis that was drifted right along the bank.  We would have done more dry fly fishing, but the eggs were doing so well and then the extra generator kind of screwed that up as well.  Thanks for a good time guys, especially your jokes Jack!  Dang, I should have written some of them down.

Lots of openings from now on out, especially weekdays.  Speaking of weekdays, if you fish during the week then the river is pretty much all of yours!  I think today we saw a handful of boats all day long.  Don't get me wrong, the river is a big one and there is plenty of room for everyone, but it is just so peaceful to do your thing and not have to worry about the kayak and canoe hatches.  Gotta go tie some more flies.

The fishing is good and the quality of the fish that were landed continues to improve.  I guided both Saturday and Sunday morning and did well both days.  Most of the fish were caught between Helm's and Snow Island and there were a couple of spots where we landed some super healthy rainbows that were 17 inches in length.  Egg patterns were slammin' 'em.  You might ask why not use caddis, well, the water came up each morning before the major hatch or egg laying activity so we stayed deep.  However, I did see several risers around Helm's as I was taking my boat out and cleaning up the gear.  That was while one generator was running.  That is another thing, the generation schedule is wild to say the least.  Some mornings they start cranking it early while others they run one then shut it off then crank it the rest of the day.  It is kind of day by day thing, but it looks to become more consistent over this next week.

On another note, the river is loaded with just about every fish that exists in Kentucky!  Paddlefish are everywhere and I saw some that were definately over 60 pounds.  There was one spot where we caught fish on Saturday then nothing at all on Sunday.  Come to find out, there were stripers everywhere and some near the 50 pound mark, no wonder the trout weren't hitting!  We even caught a couple of buffalo on egg patterns.  White bass are still found here and there and I saw a smallmouth come up and bust our indicator this morning!  A couple of weeks ago we caught a mess of crappie on white marabou jigs, so you just never know what might hit your offering. 

Book your trips now! The fishing is good and the days are starting to be gobbled up as the word spreads about the good fishing.  Gotta go tie some more flies for this week!

Hello everyone!  Earlier this week I moved a trip from Saturday to June and thought that I probably wasn't going to guide any this weekend.  Then I had one of my regulars give me a ring and he wanted to give it a try.  It was a good call on his part because he slayed 'em big time.  What is big time?  Like over 100 fish big time and the quality has really improved as well.  Two major factors allowed this to occur:  One was low water.  However, when we put in at 7:00 it looked like the water was starting to rise.  I was somewhat ticked and tried to stay ahead of the water, but it never came up.  It must have been a sluice gate or they just pulsed it.  The other factor was the caddis hatch.  Yes, it isn't a typo, the caddis hatch.  I had a 9 ft 4wt with an elk hair caddis and started to slam them.  If they wouldn't hit it then I would strip it in or twitch it across the top and smack.  The largest fish taken on a dry was a 17 inch female brown.  Charlie used egg patterns and they continue to produce as always.  I did something that I haven't done in a while and that was fry up some fish for lunch.  No, we didn't eat any trout.  The white bass seem hanging out in certain areas and we caught a handful and fried them up on one of the bars.  It doesn't get any fresher than that.

I still have many openings throughout the rest of the spring and summer.  As always, if it looks good then we go, if not then we don't.  Hopefully this last batch of rain doesn't screw up a good thing because it is just starting to get so good!  Lord knows that we have struggled to get some good water over the past several springs and maybe, just maybe the heavy rains will hold off.

UPDATE:  THIS SATURDAY, MAY 12TH IS AVAILABLE IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED.  IT LOOKS LIKE THE WEATHER AND WATER SHOULD BE GOOD.

The fishing is improving and we are catching lots and I mean lots of fish, especially before generation.  I have been fishing from Helm's Landing upstream towards the dam and as far downstream as rainbow run.

On Friday we fished from Blackfish all the way down to Winfrey's Rock.  We tried to stay with or slightly ahead of the generation.  It was ridiculous in regards to how many stocker bows and brookies that we landed between Blackfish and Helm's.  A couple of the fish were close to 14 inches, but most were small.  Then we got into some white bass in which we finally just decided to fill up the cooler to take some home.  The larger fish were landed downstream from Helm's, including a beautiful female rainbow that was almost 20" long.  We also landed some browns on streamers, but none were over 15".  It was a good day and would have been even better if they would have held back on the generation schedule.  Don't get me wrong, you can still catch fish with one generator going, but it is a lot easier to do it when the water is off.

Yesterday I took two guys out and fished from Helm's to the Rockhouse.  Again, lots of small fish.  I caught at least a half dozen fish wading at Helm's as I waited for the guys to show up.  Certain areas are holding more fish than others and once you find the fish then stick with them.  Like I said earlier, I wish we could have started a little earlier each day in order to get in more time before the generation started.  The results were similar to Friday, but with a different twist in the afternoon.  I found this little hole that held some white bass, but it also held some crappie.  Crappie?  Yes, Crappie!  We caught close to a dozen thick crappie on tiny micro white jigs twitched under an indicator.  Yep, threw them in the cooler for the boys to take home for a fish fry.  I might have to try this technique in a couple of other areas that have similar cover.

What's working?  Egg patterns are still doing great, but various nymphs are also doing the trick.  I personally believe that technique is just as important or more important than the actual fly.  As the water rises then you can switch over to a sink tip or full sinking 5wt line and strip in black, white, or olive buggers.  You won't catch as many fish, but the quality tends to be better and many of them were browns.

Availability?  This weekend is still open and I am booking weekdays after May 18th.  Yep, the last day of school is the 18th and I am really getting the itch to spend more time out on the river. 

UPDATE:  THIS SUNDAY, APRIL 29TH, IS OPEN IF ANYONE WANTS IT!  FISHING OUGHT TO BE GOOD.

The fishing is on and will only continue to improve as we get into the caddis hatch.  As you float downstream you are starting to see more caddis and more active fish.  No monster hatches yet, probably within the next two weeks.  We received some rain the other day, but the river looks good and is fishing good.  I have been fishing bead head caddis patterns under a copper john or bugged out roach pattern jig and it is producing.  As always, egg patterns will catch you fish with Oregon Cheese and Champagne doing the best.  When the water comes up to one generator then I will fish bugger patterns in white, black, and a tricked out olive pattern.  The other day I waded at a bar with no generation throwing down and across and the fish were popping it on the swing.  My client picked up one brown that was well over 5 pounds that just pulled off.  You know when you drop the rod it is like YIKES!!!  Oh well John, maybe you can try it again with your bro in a few weeks.

Trips:  Book 'em now!  The word is getting out and they are filling up.  Off the top of my head I know that next Saturday, Derby Day, is open.

Hello everyone.  I had a chance to get out on the water yesterday and we had decent success with lots of fish.  On the down side, most of the fish were rather small.  There was no generation in the morning and you could catch a lot of fish in the shoal areas.  Find moving water then you would find active fish.  We used egg patterns and bead head caddis nymphs.  Man, when the caddis decide to emerge it will be fantastic.  I noticed how many caddis that were on the exposed rocks during the low water period and I can't remember seeing that many in the past couple of years.  The size of the fish did improve as we went downstream as we landed a couple of nicer browns close to 18 inches in length.  We didn't work our way down past the powerlines until the water was rising, so I bet that we would have caught even more if we would have worked our way down there earlier.

There are still some openings during the next few weekends so book them now before the caddis hatch kicks in.

Fished the other day on the river with a client that I have been taking out for over the past ten years.  Charlie caught well over 50 fish both on flies and on spinning gear.  Most of the fish were on the small size, but he was able to land one big male brown that was 21 inches long.  That fish had a huge hooked jaw and was super thick, probably from eating stocker bows and brookies.  Speaking of brookies, I was trying to catch some walleye on shad raps, but the stocker brookies kept hammering the bait.  I bet that I caught nearly 20 brookies while just throwing the shad rap.  Who knows how many we caught on egg patterns!

The water temps are 53 degrees and the clarity is decent for this time of year.  I could see an egg pattern at least three feet down, so that isn't too bad for April.  The caddis are everywhere, under the water that is.  We snagged many while our eggs bumped the bottom and the big hatch should begin sometime during the next few weeks.  May is usually the best and it typically starts downstream and works its way upstream towards the dam.  Before dam repairs my favorite stretch was below Winfreys down to Big Willis, but I haven't been able to fish the caddis hatch in recent years due to high water.

I have several openings over the next few weeks, weather and water levels permitting.  Like always, if it looks good then we go, if not then we don't.  The more flexible you are then the better.  My last day of school is May 17th and I hope to spend as much time on the water from then on.  From now to then it will be weekends only.  I know that Oaks Day is still open if anyone is interested.

Went down to the river last weekend just to get the boat out and to take the kids out.  Well, as we drove down to Helms it looked like the water was rising and almost up to the parking lot at the ramp.  Looking back at the generation the Corps bumped it up to over 20,000 CFS and it isn't going below that for a while.  We drove around the bottoms for a while and checked out Rockhouse then went to the hatchery and caught some trout in hatchery creek.  While down at the Rockhouse I noticed tons of caddis crawling around the rocks in the water.  Heck, I have almost forgetten how to fish caddis emergers and elk hair caddis patterns on top.  I think 2007 or 2008 was the last time.  Maybe two more years, well, that is what the Corps is telling everyone.  It is amazing at how the Corps has really built another dam within the earthen section of the dam.  It is a beast to say the least!

Well the temps are up, the bass and all other warmwater species are really heating up, but the lake is ten feet over the 682 mark and that means lots of water.  With these storms every few days that isn't going to help much either.  After two wet years maybe we will have a normal or slightly drier year.  I will be eager to see how fast the triploid bows are growing and it will be interesting to see how big the holdover brookies are.  Last fall we caught a few that were about 14 inches long on hoppers and eggs.  Looks like someone will catch a new state record brookie this year. 

Well, I am tired of tying patterns and I am ready to get the fly rods out.  Pray for less rains and especially less storms.

Hey all.  Went down to the river yesterday and did some fishing with Mike S. from Louisville.  I saw that the Corps was cutting back on releases, down to one generator in the late morning to early evening.  Tried to throw some jigs for walleye or sauger, but only caught a drum.  Around noon we started fly fishing with egg patterns.  The water is off color and I thought we would need something that would stand out.  Well, the old egg still catches fish.  Mike's first fish was a nice 17 inch rainbow and that happened to be the largest of the day.  The water temp was 45 and the fishing started to improve around three in the afternoon.  Midges started emerging and the trout started setting up shop in certain areas along the shore.  There was one area near Helm's where if you saw one emerging then there was a pretty good chance that you were going to get a hit, even with an egg.  I think the best looking fish that Mike landed was a nice foot long male rainbow that had a very pronounced hooked jaw.  Even though the water was off color, that fish was still showing off his spawning colors.

Hopefully we don't get too much snow/rain in the next two weeks because the fishing looks promising.  If we could get two weeks of little to no rain then the Corps might even cut off the water in the late morning and afternoons.  Some good signs were all of the case caddis that I saw.  If you bump nymphs along the bottom then sooner or later you are going to get snagged and I snagged quite a few of those buggers yesterday.  At times you will see the trout flashing along the bottom as they are trying to remove the caddis and gobble them up.  At a distance they almost look like suckers working the riverbottom, but this is a very important food source for our trout. 

Well, it was nice to get the boat out and catch a few fish.  Can't wait to do it again.

Sorry about all of the website problems.  I had a former student of mine build this site for me a few years ago and he made some updates over the last couple of weeks. It had something to do with the way it was built and the company that hosted it.

As for fishing, there hasn't been any, at least fly fishing that is.  I would like to thanks everyone that gave me the opportunity at being their guide on the river.  We had some good times this year, lots of fish and some trophies too!!!  We had more rain this year than any year since precipitation had been recorded and that was since the late 1800s.  Way too much water and the fishing really varied depending on releases and temp.  The most spectacular fishing came in a month stretch from mid August until mid September in which we did extremely well on various hopper patterns.  This was some of the best terrestrial action since the big cicaida hatch a few years ago.  Thinking back on it, one trip always comes to mind when thinking of hopper fishing.  Mike S. from Louisville was fishing with me one day.  Rainy and overcast and within a few minutes of fishing my trolling motor decided to die on us.  Try using an oar to keep a boat fishable during two generators.  Almost decided to call it a day then we tried some hopper patterns along steep banks.  The rain stopped and the big browns were on the prowl.  I remember him landing one that was over 20 inches, but the one that got away was the last cast of the day.  We were about a mile downstream from the powerlines along the bluffs.  Mike lost a big fish, well over twenty inches just a few minutes before that last cast which decided to go upstream and under the boat.  Ticked off, but not ready to quit we knew that there were some monsters in the area.  Mike threw the hopper right along this downed tree and brown bigger than any other brown that any client had hooked in the last ten years was on!  SNAP!!!  It was that quick, but that fish was well over ten pounds without a doubt.  It is memories like that which get me itching for this next year.

Well, let's pray for less rain and hungry trout.  I have heard reports of lots of alewives being sucked through the turbines and that is a good thing!  It can happen at anytime throughout the winter, but it usually occurs during the coldest of times.  if you happen to be out fishing when this is occuring then anything white or silver will do.  However, sometimes the fish are so stuffed with food that they won't even bump your offering.  Been there done that and it is frustrating, but you just gotta realize how much this food source will help out our fishies.

I know, it has been a while since I have posted any reports.  I have been out a few times since the past report and the fishing was so so.  Eggs will always work, but any attractor pattern on top has also produced some chunky fish.  Recently the Corps has shut off the sluices and are now generating power.  How many generators?  Today it was one generator throughout most of the day then they bumped up to two units during the later afternoon.  The big question that most people want to know is how will all of this affect the fishing.  It should only improve!  During October I really noticed the water getting very green and dingy which I believe made it difficult for our trout to find our offerings.  If you fished with me earlier this summer then you can remember how clear the water was and we slammed 'em big time.  So, water clarity should be improving as long as we don't get any major gully washers.  Guiding for me typically slows down in early November.  I love to deer hunt in both Kentucky and Missouri so I don't schedule any trips from the second weekend of this month to Thanksgiving.  However, if water conditions stay as is then I will try to get out on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday after Turkey day.  If any of you want to go then reserve it now.  As always, if the conditions look good then we go, if it isn't then we don't.  Guess I will just have to do more deer hunting.

Well, I was back at it on the river this weekend.  I had the opportunity to guide Jim J. and his son Scott from Ohio.  I have taken these guys and their brother on a few trips over the past three years and as always, it is a good time.  Jim is in his 80s and still has the passion to fish, something that I too hope to be able to do if I make it to 80! 

I would rate the fishing as slow.  I am not going to sugar coat it!!!  The water still has that green tint to it and I am convinced that the fish are having a difficult time seeing our offering.  We still caught fish, but nothing of any size.  There were a few good hookups on better fish, but we weren't able to land them.  Egg patterns and various nymphs produced most of the fish.  Scott fished a 1/80 oz brown dubbed jig with a bead head caddis dropper while Jim caught most of his on egg patterns.  Fishing was strange.  We would hook up with a few fish in a row then nothing, not even a strike.  Then we would drift through another area and pick up a few then it would die down.  On Saturday there were quite a few boats out on the water, but the wind was mighty fierce, making it nearly impossible to drift and fish many areas.  If you hit an area with little wind then your chances at hooking up with fish picked up big time, but it was just tough!!!

I will be back at it again this weekend.  As always, I am hopefully optimistic, but this water color really concerns me.  I have seen it like this in the past.  Many believe that it is due to the sluice gates that are releasing water at level that is tinted green.  Hopefully this water will clear and we can get back to catching some larger fish.

Hey everyone!  I had the chance to guide Jim K. and his son in law Brad from Lexington.  This is the third time that I have taken Jim this year and it was definately the coldest.  We joked about how it was 100 degrees on the last two trips.  Now, the last trip that I took Jim on was fantastic.  The water had dropped to the 1500 cfs mark and you could have caught as many fish as you wanted.  Sunday started out great.  We motored up to the gravel bar above Blackfish Creek and started drifting orange egg patterns.  Within a few casts we were in the fish and a couple of them were very thick 15-17 inch rainbows with some fantastic spawning colors.  One thing that I noticed early on was that there was a lot and I mean a lot of midge activity.  As the midge activity eased off I really noticed that the bite did as well.  It was like someone had turned off the switch and the fish would just bump our offerings.  If you didn't have a perfect drift then forget about it and when they did hit it was ever so subtle.  Yikes!  What the hey?  Later in the afternoon we switched to a champagne colored egg and started to pick up fish, but these weren't like the beauties that were landed earlier.  Lots of small fish.  Within the last hour of fishing we started to pick up more fish and Brad landed a nice bow within 100 yards of Helms before taking out.  Guess what??? As we were taking out I noticed a big increase in midge activity.  We all know that you can fish one day and there are so many midges that it is absolutely disgusting trying to keep them out of your mouth and eyes then not see a single one the next day. 

Another thing that I noticed is that the water has this chalky green tint to it.  Maybe part of the problem was that the fish just couldn't see our offerings.  Maybe, but then why were they slammin' in the morning when the light levels were much lower?  Water temps ranged from 58-61  and most of the fish landed put up a decent fight.  However, some of the smaller ones kind of bellied up , but then they went crazy when netted.  The larger fish know the routine.  They put up a good fight, allow you to remove the hook, then allow you to take a couple of pics.  You just have to remind them to stay away from corn, cheese, and nightcrawlers!  Ha ha.

This next weekend will be the first weekend that I will not be on the river since early July.  I need a break!  However, the following weekend I will be out with some return customers from Ohio on both Saturday and Sunday.  As far as open dates, there really aren't any.  There might be one or two during the week of Thanksgiving, water levels permitting!  Late November and December can be great if the water levels aren't too high.  People always ask me about the best fishing that I have ever experienced.  Honestly, it was a day in mid December 10 years ago during a snow storm.  I caught a nice female brown that was dropping eggs as I netted her.  Then I looked downstream as I let her go and noticed a half dozen fish gobbling up her eggs.  Ok, egg pattern time and the rest is history.

Take care and I will have another report in two weeks.

Hey everyone.  I had the chance to guide this past Saturday and Sunday.  Yes, we caught many fish, but many of those fish were on the small side.  Barry and Todd were the two clients that I had the opportunity to guide and these guys are great.  We have fished together for the past few years and it is always a treat seeing these two guys from Georgia.  The largest fish was a beautiful 18 inch bow that Todd was able to land early Saturday morning.  As you all know, we had been catching some very nice fish over the past month on hoppers.  However, we weren't able to land anything over 14 inches on hoppers.  I think Barry was able to land a 14 inch brownie on a hopper and Todd had a monster blow up on one but no hook up.  One of the problems with the hopper fishing was river traffic.  I haven't seen so many boats on the river in one day, Saturday that is.  Sunday was better and the water was clearer as well.  There are several areas where you can catch fish after fish on egg patterns and every once in a while land one in the slot.  The browns are starting to show up in the shoal areas and this will be even more evident if the water ever drops back to the 1,500 cfs or lower, fingers crossed if you all know what I mean.

I will be at it again this Sunday, hopefully with some stories of larger fish.  I can't knock this past weekend.  The weather was beautiful, the people were great, and I really had a good time. 

Hey everyone.  I did have the chance to guide yesterday and I was somewhat worn out to say the least.  However, when your teams O and D Lines dominate your opponent you just gotta be happy.  Good job Cards!!!  I don't think that I could have taken a fifth loss to the kitties.  Ok, let's go on to the fishing report.

I was able to take out two raffle winners from the Casting For Recovery association in Louisville.  Linda and Lee Squires were a treat to get to know and these folks really enjoyed themselves fishing.  Linda fished primarily with egg patterns while Lee tinkered with a couple of grasshopper patterns.  If I have learned anything over the past three weeks then it is to throw grasshoppers along boulders and cliffs and hang on!  Downed trees are good targets as well.  Yesterday was no exception to that rule.  Lee had a big bow on early.  He tossed the hopper right along this car sized boulder and BAM!!!  A rainbow in the 3-4 pound class slammed it.  Lee fought it for a while then the fish just simply pulled off, but that really got our attention.  He picked up some decent fish here and there and had several big blow ups but no hook ups.  Later we drifted on downstream to the fishing tree.  Those of you that have fished with me this summer know the tree.  Brian, do you remember that tree???  This is no overexaggeration, but I know that we have caught at least a half dozen fish off that tree that were over twenty inches and most of them have been rainbows and I honestly don't know how many break offs we have experienced.  Well, there is this stump and Lee put that hopper perfectly upstream of the stump that was about a foot below the water.  This huge bow, much larger than the previous pull off, slowly rose to check it out.  Then all of a sudden it just smashed it like a bass.  Fish on and well, you know the rest of the story.  That fish went upstream, wrapping the line around the tree and snap!!!  Later in the day we were able to land one nice brown that was 18 inches long and in full spawning colors.  Still, we experienced several more big blow ups, but no hookups with the larger fish.  It was exciting to say the least and I am pumped about next weekend.  Speaking of next weekend, I will be guiding Saturday and Sunday so I should hopefully have another exciting report.

Next week I may post a few available dates that will become open during mid October.  Still not 100% sure, but during our fall break there might be a few days that I could guide.  

Hey all.  Fished today with Mike S. from Louisville.  I was really pumped after last Saturday with the numbers and quality of fish, but those hopes were dashed with the remnants of the tropical storm.  We were really kind of up in the air in regards to the trip, should we go or not?  Well, I told Mike that he would catch fish so he took me up on it and we went hunting.

As I headed towards the river it started to rain.  Rain?  But wait, it gets better.  After rigging up the boat and picking up Mike we jetted upstream towards the dam.  I lowered the trolling motor gave Mike the rod and proceeded to land some small bows.  As I turned on the switch for the trolling motor, I noticed that it wasn't turning.  Are you serious?  Those of you who have fished with me know that I use a Motor Guide wireless motor.  Great idea, no wires and I can help out both anglers while being positioned in the middle of the boat.  On the other hand, some of you know my love/hate relationship with that piece.  I don't know, but I tried just about everything to get it to work.  It was receiving power, but no signal.  So, let's grab the oar and keep the boat positioned.  What a pain in the A!!!  Next it started to pour.  So long for going to mass last week and dropping a little extra in the collection.

Mike landed many small bows, but in the late morning through the afternoon we decided to grab the 4wt and throw some hoppers.  It didn't take long and he was on some nice fish.  The largest that was landed was a nice 20 inch male brown, but we had a few biggen's that pulled or broke off.  We had about an hour left and I decided to go downstream a few miles and hit some bluffs.  You can still hear the big cicaidas doing their thing, so the steeper the bank the better.  He pulled a few bows and browns in, but in that last half hour it really got interesting.  The key was to smack the hopper within 6 feet of the bank, let it float for no more than 10 seconds then do it again.  Sometimes you would focus on feeding fish, while others just smackin' it right along the steep banks.  Bam!  A huge blow up and he pulled the fly out of a monster brown's jaw.  Wow!!!  Did that just happen?  He kept casting and within a few minutes another biggin smacked it and the fight was on.  That fish torpedoed upstream then went back downstream, seeming like it was trying to go under the boat.  Then nothing.  It pulled out!  Neither Mike or myself got a look at that one, but I would place my money on the fact that it was a brownie.  He landed a few more bows then we saw this coyote that was trying to climb a cliff.  That poor bugger was having one heck of a time trying to work itself up.  I really wasn't watching Mike's hopper, when it sounded like a striper blowing up on a small stocker bow.  Mike set the hook and SNAP!  We looked at each other in disbelief, started laughing, then he said enough. 

I can only imagine how much better it would have been with the trolling motor, but I'll take it.  What a day, considering the way it started.  My only regards are not fishing on top earlier.  Ah, but live and learn and I will have another report for you next weekend.

Ok, we have good news, great news, and some potential bad news.  The good news is that the river is fishing pretty good.  The great news is that we caught a ton of fish yesterday, including some nice ones.  The bad news, well, I'll discuss that later.

Yesterday I took Jim K. from Lexington and it was a great day.  I bet that he caught well over fifty fish and he quit fishing just after three in the afternoon!!!  Eggs were rocking, but the drift and technique as well as the area is so critical.  Some areas are nearly void of fish, while others it looks like they are just stacked up like salmon.  Find current and you will find fish.  We put in at Helms around 7:30 and motored upstream.  It didn't take but a couple of casts and then bam!  The first fish was a beautiful 16/17 inch female brown.  We picked up some nice bows here and there then another male brown that was about the same size.  These fish are starting to stack up and their colors are really intensifying.  Some trees are still holding some very nice fish as we found out as Jim landed a half dozen or more bows that were within the slot.  He even landed a few brookies, one that was over a foot long. 

After Jim was finished I just had to hit the river and do some experimentation.  Jim, if you are reading this then the same areas that produced fish in the morning still produced fish when it was 95 plus degrees in the afternoon.  I threw hoppers and caught several nice browns and missed a very large bow.  Just got too excited and ripped the hopper out of its mouth as it sucked it in, but man was that take exciting.  I put on a larger indicator with a little larger split and bumped the bottom with eggs and micro jigs and slayed 'em.  Most of them were small fish, but a couple were 15-16 inches in length.  Like I said, find the fish and stay on them!

The bad news?  Have you watched the weather?  If the remnants of this tropical storm dump too much rain in Southeastern Kentucky then the Corps will have to release water.  We need some rain, but not tons of rain.  I really noticed a lot of leaves dropping and accumulating in slack water up and down the river.  In some areas it sounded like people were throwing rocks down the bank and into the river.  No rocks, it was just mast that was dropping from drought stressed trees.  So, I went to church this morning, put more into the collection, and prayed for not too much rain.  Hey, it can't help.

Well, the fishing is good and if you find feeding fish then you better keep hittin' 'em until they quit hitting.  I didn't see nearly as much midge action as last weekend, but there was still some topwater action.  We caught a lot of fish in shoal areas, but most of them were under 15 inches in length.  Oops, I almost forgot.  I took out a return customer John G. from Louisville and he took along a first timer with me named Dave.  Eggs as always, but we probably would have done just as well on small nymphs, but it is kind of cool watching the fish hit the egg, while it is tough seeing them hit a 22 bead head.  Right before lunch we saw some rising fish so we grabbed the rods rigged with the hoppers and bam.  First a small bow that crushed it.  Then a nice 11 inch brookie that slowly rose to suck it in.  But the large fish was a 20 inch bow that erupted on a hopper that John threw along a steep bank.  Nothing like landing a 20 incher on a 4wt.  Dave caught many throughout the day and lost a super fat hog within a mile from the dam.  That fish was one of the thicker bows from top to bottom that I have seen this year.  Probably 17-18 inches long, but super freakish in girth.  So, various nymphs, hoppers, cicaidas, and eggs.  Have a few different rods ready for various different situations and you won't be disappointed.

If I have any openings between now and early November then I will be sure to post them.  Gotta get some sleep.

UPDATE: DISREGARD THE OPEN DATES THAT APPEAR LATER IN THIS REPORT.  THERE ARE NO MORE OPEN DATES BETWEEN NOW AND THANKSGIVING.  IF YOU ARE FLEXIBLE AND WANT TO BE ON A LIST IN CASE THERE IS A CANCELLATION THEN PLEASE SEND ME AN E-MAIL. 

I was able to get out on the river yesterday.  The water has dropped to the 2,000 cfs point, which is about 1,000 cfs less than last weekend and the fish were hitting better than than last weekend as well.  I took out Larry C. from Louisville and his two young grandsons, Pete and Henry from Lexington.  We fished egg patterns under indicators on light spinning rigs and they did well.  Some areas held a lot more fish than others and some of these areas have been unfishable until just the other day due to the dropping over the water.  We all know how tough it is at times to get a good drift- don't drag it, but on the other hand don't have too much slack or you won't be able to set the hook.  If the guys would have been able to land a third of the fish that hit then I would have lost count.  Still, they were able to land some nice fish and I had a great time taking out Larry and the youngsters.  Thanks again guys and hopefully we can do it again.

I have just looked over my calendar after booking a couple of more trips and I have noticed something.  There just aren't many open dates between now and early November.  For anyone interested in a fall trip then the available dates are September 4th and October 23rd and 24th.  That's pretty much it between now and Thanksgiving, but I have been known to skip a day or two of school in the fall to take out return clients.  Fishing will continue to improve with these lower water levels and the hopper dropper (midge) rig will begin to produce some nice fish.  Yesterday I noticed some nice fish midging in slack water areas where the current picked up just a tad.  We even had a very large brown come up and smack Pete's indicator yesterday so they are eyeing dying cicaidas and other terresterials. 

Take care and I think it is time to tye some more flies!

Wow!  The weather was awesome yesterday and I really expected that we would catch a bunch of trout.  I know, you are waiting for the BUT.  Well, fishing was good during the morning.  I took out a client, Charlie Mulligan, from Louisville.  Charlie has to be one of my biggest return customers over the past 7 years or so and it is always a treat to get out with him on the river.   He landed over twenty fish before lunch, with some nice rainbows in the slot.  However, after lunch the temps cooled off and the fishing did as well.  He was still able to land some fish throughout the afternoon, but it wasn't even close to what we experienced during the morning.  The water has this green tint to it.  Not mossy, but this green tint that we have seen in the late summer and fall since the repairs began on the dam.  Water temps were 56-57 degrees throughout the day and the fish that we did hook put up quite a fight.  It looks like the Corps will cut back even more on water releases over this next week which should help concentrate the fish.  I really thought that more fish would be caught in the shoal areas, but most of ours were still on wood.  Come to think of it, either wood or boulders.  No wood then no fish.  I bet that will change once the water releases on the sluice drops to under 1500 cfs.

Over the next week or so I will post the few available open Fall dates.  Guiding for me kind of winds down by early November and that is primarily due to deer hunting.  I hunt in KY, but I also go home to Missouri to hunt with my dad and it is not something that I will miss out on.  I should be out on the river again this next weekend so hopefully there will be good news in my next report.

Hello everyone.  It is almost that time of year.  Yep, school starts on Wednesday and I am not ready at all.  My brain is still wired for guiding, not being in class.  That is for sure.  Ah, it will be ok, but I will certainly miss the early morning fog and the good times with everyone.

I was able to guide this past Sunday.  After getting up late, getting pulled over for speeding, and dodging showers we were able to land some fish.  No ticket, nice cop, but it sure slowed me down.  I was able to guide Steve B., his wife Liz, and their Irish spaniel Abby.  The water was around the 6,000 cfs mark and the fish just weren't cooperating at many of the areas where we have caught them over the past month.  However, he still caught around 20 fish and missed a few larger fish that pulled off.  Guys, thanks for the good times.

The Corps is cutting back on the water releases by half within the next day or so.  It will be really interesting to see how that will affect the fishing, but it will definately be positive.  I noticed that we caught over half of our fish in shoal areas with a good current.  The only problem was that it was tough to get our weighted egg to the bottom with so much volume pushing through.  The Blackfish creek area produced some nice fish and it will be exciting to see what happens over this next weekend.   Gotta go get ready for school.  Dang, I sound as bad as my kids.  Be positive Dave!!!

ATTENTION:  I have next Saturday, August 13th, open.  I thought I had a little league game to attend, but my son broke his thumb this past week and has to sit out.  Therefore, I can guide and it looks like the water is going to be down to the 3,000 cfs mark by early next week.  I know that people have called over the past two weeks and I apologize for not getting back with everyone.  If you were trying to book a trip then maybe next Saturday could be the ticket.

Well today at 1:00 in the afternoon the Corps began releasing water through the sluice gates.  I noticed that the water temps at noon were at or slightly above the 65 degree mark.  Once they started sluicing then I noticed that the temps dropped to 59 degrees.  Now that is good news, but on the other hand I am praying that we don't run out of cold water before the early fall.

Fished the past three days and it could be ranked as fair to good.  On Sunday I took Bryan J. From Louisville.  Its always a pleasure taking out return customers and I have been taking Bryan for several years.  We had to work harder then the norm, but he was still able to land some nice fish up to the 17 inch range.  Later in the afternoon I threw a beetle at rising fish and that was fun.  I found that if I could get close enough to a rising fish then there was a good opportunity at landing one.  The largest one was a 16 inch brown just upstream from Helm's, but I had a bow around 20 inches rise three times to check it out on a drift!  Now that was exciting to say the least!  On Monday and Tuesday I took out a new client from Columbus, OH.  Bill H. was a pleasure to take out and get to know.  His first fish on Monday was a super thick brown that was just shy of the 20 inch mark.  Later in the day he landed a bow that was 18 inches in length.  Still, with two generators running, the fishing was hit or miss in areas that had produced fish during the past three weeks.  We will have to see how the sluice gates will affect fishing, but that is usually on the positive side.  My wish is that they would quit running the generators then you would see the river explode with some huge fish working their way upstream.  Overall, one generator plus the 3,000 cfs sluice is beneficial for the length of the river, but it is more difficult to fly fish.

Book your September- early November trips now before they are gone.  As always, I haven't required deposits because of this crazy water release schedule.  If it is good then we go.  If not then we don't.

Six days straight of guiding and I am plain worn out!  The Corps has been running one to two generators throughout the day, but we have been able to find fish throughout the day, even during 90 degree temps.

7/23:  I took out Mike and John from Louisville.  They caught a lot of fish including a super thick 18 inch bow landed by John down by the power lines.  These guys love to fish and they have landed a few fish over the twenty inch mark over the past couple of trips.  No monsters on this trip, but lots of healthy fish in the 10-18 inch range. 

7/24:  Took out Tony and his friend's son Miles from the Cincy area.  They had a great time catching rainbows and browns throughout the day.  I think Miles could have fished for two days straight.  That boy wouldn't give up.  Gotta love the enthusiasm.

7/25:  On this day I took out Kevin from Louisville and his buddy Mike from Las Vegas.  We have been doing this late July trip over the past few years and the results of this one were fabulous.  Lots of chunky bows in the 12-17 inch range were landed throughout the day.  Thanks for another wild trip!

7/26:  I took out Dave and his two sons Andrew and Dylan from the Cincy area.  The kids had never caught a trout, but that didn't take but a few minutes and the bows were on.  Kind of tough fishing three from the boat, but the kids caught a bunch of trout then I took dad to an area where there were some bigger fish and he landed a nice 16 inch brown.  These guys will be back.

7/27:  Another return customer Brian from Evansville and his buddy Mark joined me on Wednesday.  This day and Monday were probably the best in numbers and size.  These guys landed a ton of fish, I couldn't keep count.  They drifted the eggs perfectly and slammed 'em.  I can't emphasize how important it is to drift these egg patterns.  If you do what I say then you will slam 'em and these guys were A+ Students.  The highlight of the day occurred at the fish tree.  Those of you who have fished with me know where it is.  Brian hooked into a monster bow well over the twenty inch mark.  The fish rocketed out of the water and took a run.  Snap!!! Oh @$#!!!!  I went back to the tree the next day and saw a couple of monsters still stacked in there. 

7/28:  I took out Jim from Lexington and he did ok.  The temps went up and the fishing slowed down.  I think one of the problems was that I ran out of a certain color of egg patterns and the fish didn't slam the brighter ones that I had left.  He was able to land the trifecta:  Brown, bow, and brookie.  Good job Jim and I will see you in September.  Jim, I did go out for an hour after you left and landed a few in the 14-16 inch range, but the best fish was a monster carp.  I saw it feeding on top and threw a beetle upstream and slam!!!  It took me about a quater mile downstream where I was able to land it near Helm's Landing. 

Gotta go tie more flies and get some rest.  I still have a few openings in August and they are the 20th, 21st, and the 28th.  Get 'em before they are gone!

Good Lord is it hot, but it is much more comfortable floating on the river.  During most days you will have fog until about 10 Eastern or later and that makes it much more comfortable.  I really noticed the difference yesterday.  I was wiping off tons of midges that had stuck and dried along the sides of my boat at the waters edge.  I was kind of taking my time, drinking a water, eating a sandwich, and putting stuff away when I noticed that I couldn't stop sweating.  That was the difference just between the water level and the top of the ramp at Helm's Landing.  Then the real shocker was driving up the hill to the Riverside Retreat.  It was scorching up there.  by the time I finished cleaning up everything it looked like I had just taken a super hot shower!

The fishing is pretty good though.  I honestly don't know how many we caught per day, but 35-50 would not be an over estimate in numbers.  Most of the fish were rainbows, but we landed a few small browns and brookies each day.  I took Dennis from Indianapolis on Wednesday.  He perfected the egg drift and landed a lot of bows in the 10-16 inch range.  On Thursday I took out Ned from Louisville and his brother George from Murray.  They too kept me busy, landing fish throughout the day. 

The Corps is running a little bit more water than they want and that is due to the extreme temps.  There is a huge demand for power during this heat wave that is affecting nearly half of the nation.  I just checked the 5 day forecast on power generation and it looks like that should lessen by Sunday or Monday.  What I recommend is that we get started as early as possible, like 6:30 Eastern/5:30 Central.  One generator is being run then up to 10 or eleven then they run more after that.  Like I stated, this should lessen by early next week.

As far as openings, everything is booked for the rest of this month.  August openings are the 20th and the 28th.  Act soon, because they will be gone soon!

Well, the heat is up and the fishing is going pretty good.  Yesterday I guided one of my former UofL team mates and his brother from Alaska.  Kind of weird seeing someone down at Helm's Landing with Alaska plates!  The brothers caught a lot of fish throughout the day, but in some areas the small stockers were nabbing our offerings before fish of any size could even have a chance.  I didn't see any tiny stockers last week so the truck must have dumped some late last week.

Most of the fish were rainbows, but Rod landed a brookie on his first cast.  The fish are beginning to move away from some of the slower water and are venturing to the more typical trout holding areas.  Still bumping eggs along the bottom, but I am sure that nymphs would produce as well and I plan on doing some of that the next few days.  The key to catching the fish is all in the drift and presentation.  Color seems not to be much of a factor.  If you get a good drift and work it as instructed then you will catch fish, a lot of fish.  Yesterday one tree produced at least a dozen trout in the 12-15 inch range.  Bizarre, but there are some areas that are serious trout magnets!

I believe that just about everyday between now and when school starts has been taken.  JULY 27TH AND 29TH MIGHT BE OPEN.  I WILL KNOW ONE WAY OR ANOTHER BY THURSDAY.

Fishing is great!  Over the past two days we were able to land a bunch of rainbows, most were in the 11-15 inch range and a couple were in the 17-18 inch range. 

On Wednesday I took Marty and Kevin from New Albany.  We fished a couple of years ago and last year Kevin's wife bought him a trip for Christmas.  Well, it was Christmas in July on Wednesday for those two guys had a great time catching a bunch of rainbows.  Lots of fiesty rainbows, a couple of small browns, and one brook trout were landed.  The fish are still in slack water, but many of them are starting to venture out to shoal areas on drop offs.  We are still raking the bottom with weighted egg patterns and I cannot express the importance of the technique that I use during the drift.  Thanks for a great time guys and hope to see you in the fall or next summer.

Yesterday I took Mike and his son Brian.  Mike used the fly rod and I rigged up Brian with a light spinning rod.  We got started later than I wanted, but we were able to land a lot of fish.  Learning how and where to fish during this type of generation schedule is the key.  I guess they had a good time because Brian was trying to set up another trip before I get back to school.  Thanks again for the great time guys.

I HAVE THESE THREE DAYS AVAILABLE BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS:  JULY 18TH, 27TH, AND AUGUST 7TH.  IF ANY OTHER DATES BECOME AVAILABLE THEN I WILL POST THEM.

I have this weekend open (16th and 17th) if anyone is interested.  I had a prior obligation that didn't materialize so first come, first serve!

Like I stated the other day, the fishing is fantastic.  I had some phone calls and e-mails about what was working and where to fish.  Honestly, I have been so busy that I forgot to include the details.  No problem.  I was fishing the first 7 miles of the river primarily using egg patterns.  We had some success with nymphs and on my Friday trip they threw some woolies and streamers.  Target the areas in which the water isn't moving as fast and you will have a lot of success.  I learned that the hard way early on.  The fish just weren't in the shoal areas or they weren't interested in my offerings.  The weird thing is that back in May and June I was throwing some big crankbaits in high water for walleye and was able to pick up a whole bunch of the newly stocked brook trout, some being over a foot in length.  I would have sworn that during the last few trips that we would have hooked up with some, but not a single one was landed.  Were they eaten by the stripers, osprey, eagles, otters, or locals?  I don't know, but that was flat out strange.

Ok, other available dates in July:  18th and 27th.  I might have one more, but still waiting on that commitment.  Hope to have another update by Sunday.

Well, the fishing is officially on!!!

I guided on Friday and Saturday and here are the results:

On Friday I took Jackie and Erik from the Nashville area.  I have taken these fly fishing nuts on several trips over the past few years and they can flat out fish.  This trip was no different.  At the beginning of the day we ran up to a shoal area and began drifting egg patterns and didn't catch much.  The Corps was cranking one generator and the fish just weren't either in the area or just flat out refused our offerings.  After catching a couple of small fish, I took them to some slower water and Bam!   Nearly every cast we either had a strike or landed a fish and it was pretty much like that throughout the morning and early afternoon.  All I can say is that there are certain areas that are holding a lot, and I mean a lot of fish.  I don't honestly know how many fish we landed, but Jackie mentioned that she had caught over fifty fish.  Most of these fish were rainbows between 11-17 inches in length.

On Saturday I took out Allen and Jamie from Louisville.  We hit the areas that I hit on Friday and had good success as well.  On Jamie's first cast she landed a 15 inch rainbow.  Not a bad day on the river.  Later in the day we rigged up Allen's new 4wt and he had the opportunity at breaking it in.  Thanks for another great day guys!

Book your trip now!!!

Hi all.  Hope everyone had a great 4th!  The fishing is on.  I wasn't able to make it down to the river over the weekend, but the one generator is apparently producing some nice fish.  A client of mine e-mailed me last night saying that he and his brother in law lost count on how many trout they caught.  Most were in the 10-16 inch range, but a few were right around that twenty inch mark.  As we know the current can still be flowing very quickly with one generator, but he said that the trout were everywhere and they weren't picky about the offerings.  No dry fly fishing, but nymphs and eggs produced most of their fish.

I will be down there later this week.  Yesterday one of my regulars had to cancel his weekend trip with me so this Saturday and Sunday are open.  Usually when I post something like this it gets nabbed in a couple of days so act fast if you want a weekend day.  Many week days are still available throughout the month of July, but I have been rescheduling late spring trips and those days are being taken. 

Great News!!!

It looks like the Corps is holding the lake steady and is only running one generator.  This has just happened and the fishing will be on.  I will be down there a few times this week and will have an update next Sunday, maybe earlier if I have a chance.

Book your trips now ASAP before it rains again.

As many of you have been thinking, no news is bad news, however, it looks like that is about to change come the 4th of July.  The lake needs to drop another 4 feet to be at the 682 mark, which seems to be the point at which the Corps has cut back on water releases over the past four years.  Please God, hold back on the rain so we can all have an opportunity at some fly fishing.  Heck, I have gone to mass more often, put more in the collection, and have tried to be as good as I can possibly be, but it hasn't helped a whole lot.

I have done some fishing on the river over the past month.  Put some new carpet on the trailer bunks and other routine maintenance on the boat, so it gave me a chance to do some fishing.  It is tough to fish 20,000 cfs, nearly impossible with a fly rod, but I was able to catch a lot of white bass, walleye, stripers, and some decent trout.  A few of the trout were brookies that were over a foot in length.  Those guys have grown quite a bit since this past May.  So, as we all know, the trout fishing will explode once the releases are cut back.  The good news is that I have many openings throughout July.  I am no longer requiring deposits due to the craziness of rescheduling.  If it is good then we go, if not then we don't.  It is that simple.  Once the river gets to fishable levels my regulars will be booking like mad, so if interested in getting out on the Cumberland then go ahead and schedule a trip now.

The Corps is cranking water near the 30,000 mark.  The good news is that the lake is dropping at over a foot per day.  The bad news is that a lot and I mean a lot of cold water is leaving the depths of the lake.  This could pose some problems for mid August on.  At the present release rate we should see the river at fly fishing levels by early July, possibly even late June, fingers crossed!

I have been fishing ponds to keep from going crazy.  For those of you who have fished with me in the past, you know my passion for this river.  To me, there is no other place that I would rather be and the lack of fly fishing and guiding has driven me over the edge.  Ok, it isn't that bad, but dang do I miss it.  I've been able to do a lot more with the family, attended more baseball and softball games that I have in the past few years, but I miss my trout. 

If you are interested in getting out on the river then I would book a July trip.  The river will be fishing like mad once the levels drop.  Remember when the Corps shut off the dam during the high water in early May?  I honestly can't remember how many trout I caught in the morning of one weekday, but I had a hit or landed one on nearly every cast and that is with murky water!!!  Just had three July trips booked within the last two days so book now before the river is fishable and everybody and their brother wants to hit it.

Wow!  The river is rolling at over 28,000 cfs and that is a lot of water to say the least.  No, there isn't any fishing going on right now on the river.  When will fishing begin again?  Ok, here is the scenario.  The lake is dropping at about a foot a day at 28,000.  The lake needs to drop another 35 feet before it gets around the 680 mark.  Well, how long will it be until we can fly fish???  My guess is early July and that is if we don't get any major floods between then and now.

Give me a ring if you want a July or August day with me out on the Cumberland.

Great news and terrible news!  What would you like to hear first?

Bad news:  The river won't be fly fishable until July.  The lake is over 725 which means the Corps needs to drop the lake over 45 feet and that is going to take quite a while.

Great news:  I fished it the other day before the Corps began releasing water and absolutely slayed the trout on the fly rod.  Probably caught over 50 fish in 4 hours, most in the 10-16 inch range, but a few were bumping the 18 inch mark.  The highlight of the trip were the brook trout.  I caught over a dozen of them and most were 8-10 inches in length.  Beautiful fish, even with the off colored water.  I can only imagine what these fish will look like once the water later clears up. 

If you are looking to go fishing with me then look into July and August.  I believe that May and June will be out of the question, but hopefully it will fish in July. 

Hey all.  Well, as you probably know the water is super high and is falling very slowly.  Why?  Well, it just keeps raining and raining and raining.  I fished it last weekend.  The water is about 3-5 feet over Helm's Landing.  Caught a couple of decent rainbows and a super sized sauger while the water was running at 27,000 cfs.  Jigs on a spinning rod in deep eddy pools is what worked.  To be honest it could have been better if the wind wasn't blowing at 30 mph!  I really wanted to take out the boat and make sure all was ok, but I had to get out and give it a try. 

One of these days we will be able to fly fish.  June?  July?  Maybe?  Perhaps?

The good news:  The lake is dropping at over a half foot per day.

The bad news:  It needs to drop another 20 feet.  Yes, 20 feet and no we can't go fishing next weekend.

Sorry, but the Corps is cranking the water at over 26,000 cfs and it is going to be a while.  Believe me, I am trying to be as positive as possible but realistic at the same time.  Man do I miss being on the river!!!

How's the fishing?  That is the question that folks not familiar with the river have been e-mailing me.   For those of you who fish with me, you know the answer.  We have had three major rain events over the past two weeks and the lake has risen nearly 20 feet.  Yep, you heard me, twenty feet.  Yesterday mother nature dumped 2-3 inches or more throughout the river basin so expect the lake to continue to rise.  I checked on the water release and right now it is slightly over 9,000 cfs.  Get ready because it is only going to jump up over the 20,000 mark sometime later this week.

Ok, enough of the Domesday talk.  Fix the damn dam and we will get a return to  what the fishing was like just four years ago.  I was able to fish the river two weekends ago, before the rain hit the area.  Again, no fly fishing.  The river was down to one generator during the afternoon and the water was suprisingly clear.  I was after the walleye and sauger, but I was unable to land any.  The water was 40 degrees and I decided to fish some 3 inch shad colored swim baits.  The larger rainbows, none over 18 inches, hit them pretty good.  Later I tried throwing some 1/16 oz. marabou jigs and the trout would just peck and peck at them.  It was so hard to figure out if the bump was the bottom or the trout.  They fought pretty good once they were hooked, but getting them hooked was the trick.

Hopefully one of these days we will be able to get out and do some fly fishing. 

Pray for less rain!!!

The river is cold, right at the 40 degree mark and there are a lot of alewives being sucked through the turbines.  I had a friend who fished it the past week, not fly fishing, but spin fishing for just anything that would hit.  He caught a mixed bag consisting primarily of rainbows but was also able to land a few nice walleyes and sauger on jigs tipped with some small minnows.  I like to fish 1/8 or 1/16 ounce white jigs and throw them near the banks then bump them off the bottom back to the boat.  Casting slightly downstream down and across is the best bet.  A few winters ago in February we caught a half dozen or more rainbows that were between 20-24 inches in two days within a half mile of the dam.  Tried it the next weekend, same conditions with alewives coming through and couldn't catch anything bigger than small stockers.  Now for all of you fly fishing fools, rig up a large strike indicator and a 1/100 or 1/80 ounce white maribou jig.  If the fish are hitting the shad near the top then set it shallow, if no visible action then set it as deep as you can without dragging the bottom.  A twitch every once in a while will do the trick while other times a simple drag free drift is what they want.

The other good news is that the lake level is below 682 and the Corps isn't running as much water.  There is a good chance that the river will be fly fishable sometime this next week and if that is the case then you know I will be on it!

The Corps is running water at either two or three generators and with the rain/ice/snow that is predicted on Tuesday and Wednesday, it will only increase.  Water is still cold, very cold at 43 degrees.

I have started booking trips for the spring and summer.  It has been extremely difficult to schedule spring trips since work on the dam began.  All it takes is a good system to pass through and the Corps cranks the water forever and we don't get to fish.  Before the repairs began, May was when the fishing really heated up.  The caddis hatch was in full swing and there was a lot more catching than fishing.  There hasn't been a whole lot of May fly fishing in the past few years and that is the plain hard truth.  Many of you have sent me e-mails in regards to the late spring fishing stating that you wanted me to contact you when the fishing started to pick up.  If you have a flexible schedule on weekends and want to be on my short list then the time to contact me is now.  The great thing about this kind of part time job is that after ten years of guiding I have people that are ready to fish once they receive the e-mail/call. That has been the norm in the spring.

As far as the summer, go ahead and book now.  By early to mid June the spring rains have somewhat slackened, the lake has stabilized, and the river is fly fishable.  Looking back over the past four years, I would have to say that 50% or more of my trips have taken place in the months of June, July, and August.  For people that are traveling several hours to get to the river then these three months are my recommendation.  October and early November of this past year were average to great.  I can remember fishing a couple of three days stretches in which one of the three days was below average and one of the three we landed a few fish over the twenty inch mark.  Weird to say the least, but that is the way it has been for a while.  As always, if water conditions are favorable then we go, if not then we reschedule.  I want you and your buddy to catch and release a lot of fish.  Remember, you didn't pay good money to take a boat ride down a flooded river!

The good news is that it looks like the Fish and Wildlife Dept. has stocked or is in the process of stocking triploid rainbows.  Triploid rainbows are sterile and have been reported of growing over three times faster than a regular run of the mill bow.  That is fantastic news and I would expect to see more larger than average rainbows within the next two years.  The other good news is that they will also begin stocking Brook trout this year as well.  Yes, you heard it right, brookies will be in the river.  According to the new regulations, it looks like there will be a daily limit of one brookie that must exceed 15 inches.  I believe that the strain that is to be stocked will be very similar to the one that is currently stocked by the Arkansas Fish and Wildlife Dept. in the White River.  Their growth rates are much faster than the ones that many of us have caught in the Smokies and they can reach the 5-6 pound mark if properly managed. 

Fingers crossed and knocking on wood, hopefully we all can enjoy a productive year on the Cumberland.

Fished last weekend.  My true intentions were to check on my Jeep and boat, but I just had to get out on the river and give it a try.  I don't think the temps ever made it out of the mid 30s, but the sun was out and the winds were pretty light.  The jeep fired right up and boat cooperated as well.  My last trips out on the river were in early November.  I had a handful scheduled throughout the rest of that month, but the water levels began to raise and well, you all know the rest of that story.  The temps also dropped big time throughout December and a few of the Cokes that were left in my Jeep froze and exploded.  You would think that I would have learned not to do this, but it seems like every year the water rises, temps drop and I totally forget about it. 

As for the fishing, I wanted to see if any walleye or saugers might cooperate.  Well, I lost a couple near the boat.  Very light hits on minnows and it was really tough to detect the hits.  The Corps was running two generators throughout the day.  Water temps were right at 43 degrees and I couldn't get a fish to hit a Yozuri.  Too cold.  The good news is that there were a lot of dying alewives being sucked through the turbines.  Every once in a while a trout would come up to the top and slurp in a shad.  They certainly were not popping the shad with much aggressiveness, somewhat like a trout leisurly slurping in a midge.  I was able to land a dozen or more rainbows on marabou jigs and small silver spoons.  All fish hit my offerings on the drop.  The great news is that the bottom of our river is just chock full of case caddis.  It seemed like every other cast that my hooks snagged a caddis or two.  Maybe, just maybe we can have a dry spring in which we can fly fish during the caddis hatch.  I would have to look back on old journal entries to remember the last solid day of fly fishing during that hatch.  Some of you can remember trips four or five years ago when we would use bead head caddis patterns in the morning, then go to emerger patterns, then knock 'em silly in the afternoons with the elk hair caddis patterns.  Hopefully we can enjoy some fishing like this once again.

Stay warm and pray for a dry spring and summer.

Fly fishing is still a no go.  The lake level is down to 682, which is great, but with these super cold times the Corps is going to generate as much as possible.  They got to make the cash when they can.

I should be on the river within the next two weeks.  If fly fishing isn't a no go then maybe I will go after the walleye and sauger.  Nothing like a fish fry during the winter!!!

Hey all.  Fishing has been pretty much a no go for the past three to four weeks.  High water and I mean high water that is over the 20,000 cfs mark has been running for the past week now.  The lake is dropping, but it looks like more rain and snow are on the way.

Even with all of the fluctuating water this year fishing has been good.  Maybe it hasn't been fantastic, but I've had some sensational days this past year where people have landed a lot of fish and some big ones as well.  If looking to book a trip for next year then you generally can't go wrong from mid June throughout the rest of the summer.  Looking back at the calendar, I had some of the best trips during scorching July.  From my personal guiding experience, I can't remember a summer that was as warm as this past one.  I've seen drier ones, but none can rival this past summer's heat. 

I would like to thank everyone that used my services this past year.  Folks, I can't express how much I enjoy hearing all of the fishing stories and jokes, talking football, and watching people land fish.  It's a blast and I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I look forward to another successful year on the Cumberland and hope to hear from everyone this next year.

Happy Holidays!!!

Dave

P.S.  All I want for Christmas is for Charlie Strong to stay at UofL.  GO CARDS!

I guided both Saturday and Sunday this weekend.  The fish were very active as they slurped in midges, but we had a tougher time convincing them to hit our offerings.  Perhaps the super cold temps on both mornings had something to do with it because the fish were really hitting the week before when daytime temps were much warmer. 

On Saturday I guided Jim Jones and his son Greg from Ohio.  The largest fish was the first fish of the day.  Jim landed a beautiful 16 inch bow just downstream from Helm's.  They both caught a dozen or more fish throughout the day, but we had to work to get them.  Thanks for a great time and maybe we can do it again next spring/early summer.

I slept in my Avalanche Saturday night and needless to say, it was freezing.  Actually below freezing.  It went down to 23 degrees!  First, I ferried Mike Scheid and his pontoon up to a certain shoal then he later drifted back to Helm's.  A couple weeks ago he caught a nice 20 inch brown and later on Sunday I ran into him on his drift and he said that he caught another monster that was almost 22 inches long!  Nice work Mike.  After dropping off Mike, I picked up Jackie and Erik and headed downstream.  These two can fish and better yet they are an absolute blast to be around.  Entertaining would be an understatement.  Jackie caught the largest fish which was a 19 inch male bow, but Erik caught the most.  Again, we had to work to catch them.  Thanks again guys and I will e-mail you when the catching picks up.

No report will be made for next weekend.  I am going deer hunting with my dad in Missouri.  I may fish the following weekend or I might hunt.  Still up in the air on that one.  I will be out on the water a few times during the week of Thanksgiving and the Sunday after the holiday is still open if anyone wants it.

Hello everyone.  I will be out on the river both days this weekend and will have an updated report on either Sunday night or Monday morning.  The fishing is great.  We have been catching quite a few trophy browns in the 20-25 inch range over the past two weeks.  On the flip side, we haven't caught any big 20 inch plus rainbows.  We have landed a few in the 17-18 inch range but none have been over the twenty inch mark. 

Like I said in the previous report, target moving water, swift moving water that is less than 4 feet deep and that is where the fish are.  You never know what you might catch.  They could be 10 inches or 10 pounds so once you set the hook be prepared to hold on.

Update:  Only one day left for the month of November and that is the Sunday after Thanksgiving.  Disregard the dates at the end of this report.  Like I said, it wouldn't take long for folks to snatch them up once the fishing improved.

Fishing is the best that I have seen it since early August.  I guided Mike S. and his buddy John from Louisville yesterday and they did great!  This was their second trip of the year and yesterday's results were even better than their first trip. 

We fished the first 8 miles of the river, targeting moving water.  No current equals no fish and that is the bottom line!  We bounced egg patterns and caught a lot of fish.  John lost a rainbow that was nearly 20 inches.  He set the hook, the fish flew out of the water, then it surged beneath the boat as it traveled upstream.  SNAP!  Nice fish, very colorful and thick to say the least.  Mike landed at least a dozen browns in this one stretch that ranged from a foot to 17 inches.  In the afternoon we did some wading and targeted some larger fish and larger fish is what we caught.  I know guys, you are probably wondering why I didn't take you there earlier, but we can't fish everywhere.  John landed a brown that was about 19 inches in some very fast water.  I don't know if you have ever hooked a 3 pound fish in fast water, but it is tough to turn them.  The crazy thing was another fish, a larger 5-7 pound fish, followed his fish almost to the net!  Heck, I probably could have netted both!  What that shows us is that the spawn is in full swing.

Now if that is exciting, then hold on because it only gets better.  It was about 6 pm and we were all boasting on how that was a great way to end the day.  However, I told the boys that we would drift through this one area as we went back.  Mike hooked into a quality fish, a big fish that was 3-4 pounds.  From the way the rod was vibrating it looked to be small then it just kind of hunkered down and didn't move.  Ahh, a sign of a larger fish.  It took a while, but we were able to land it.  It was right at the 20 inch mark.  We took some pics and let him go.  Actually, all fish caught were released and are still in there wating for my next customers.  Thanks again guys.  I had a blast

Open dates:  Nov 2nd (after I vote) Nov 7th, The Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I might even have that Saturday open too, but not sure yet.  Now, act quickly because these will probably be gone by this evening.  Word gets out fast especially when the biggens are on the prowl.

Fished today with Jerry Pea and his crew from Illinois and quite a crew it was.  I think their party consisted of nearly a dozen guys.  Three of them fished with me last July and did extremely well during the summer.  However, today was tougher.  They caught many fish, but most of them were small stockers with a few in the slot.

The water is still very greenish in color.  It's not like we are getting snagged on tons of moss, but I guess there is quite a bit of moss and algae at the level of the sluice intakes that is bringing it in from the lake.  I honestly believe that part of the problem with the fishing is this off colored water.  Over the last couple of trips the fish have chased in our egg patterns and copper johns as we pulled it out of the water on the backcast.  As for good news, there is quite a midge hatch in the morning and in the late afternoon.  The guys that I took out today weren't fly fishing, but if they were then I would have been definately casting some zebra midges because there were some nice fish busting the surface.  I talked to another guide Brandon Wade today and he mentioned that one of his clients caught a 22 inch bow yesterday so the fish are starting to cooperate with the flies.  Other good news:  The water is going to be cut back to 1,000 cfs and even lower over the next week.  That is as long as it doesn't rain too much.  These fish will really start stacking up in the riffle areas as they enter their spawning period.  So, fingers crossed, fishing should only improve over this next week.

Like I said in my previous report, I couldn't make it out on the river this weekend.  My mom and dad visited over the weekend and there wasn't any time for guiding.  The water levels are the lowest since the summer and fishing should be improving.  I do have some openings over the next three weekends and a few weekdays during my fall break which starts in less than two weeks.  I will definately be out on the water next weekend and will post an update next Sunday evening or Monday morning.

Openings during my fall break: Oct Oct 21st, 23rd, 24th, and 25th.  I think that I have an opening the following weekend, but I need to check on it.

Fished today with Mr. Jim and his son in law Brad.  We fished from the dam downstream to Helms Landing.  The largest fish was a nice thick 17 inch female brown.  Brad caught one bow that was in the slot.  Most of the fish were in the 10-12 inch range.  Like last week, fish could be found on wood or boulders as long as there was some decent current.  No current then no fish.  The riffle areas also held some fish.  The water was running at slightly under the 3,000 mark.  Nice current, but the clarity was still not the best and I think that is the big reason why we didn't catch as many as we had in the past.  It looks like the flow will drop to 2,000 next week and that should improve the fly fishing.  The fish really liked some action added to our egg rig.  There were several times throughout the day where I saw some decent size fish chase the egg as we were pulling it out of the water on a back cast.  Jim actually caught one as he was pulling it out to make a cast.  Soooo, give it some action and you will get some hits.  We even had a couple come up and smash the indicator! 

I won't be guiding next weekend, but I should be out on the water two or three times the following weekend!  We saw some big fish rise throughout the day, but we couldn't tell if they were stripers or larger browns.  October and November are prime times for larger browns and if we get some lower flows and clearer water then you better hang on!  Contrary to all of the gloom and doom verbage, there are some monster fish in that river.

I was able to get out and do some guiding this past Saturday.  We caught many fish, but most of them were small in the 10-12 inch range.  I think we caught only one rainbow in the slot.  It looked like the Corps was supposed to cut back the water release to 2000 cfs, but for whatever reason they decided to continue dropping it at the 3500 rate.  So, the water was a bit higher than I expected and it was tougher to get our offering to bounce along the bottom.  The water temps were right at 60 degrees throughout the day and it went up a degree as we went about three miles downstream from Helms.  All of our fish were caught on chartreuse or orange egg patterns.  The fish we caught all fought very hard and I would have sworn that some of the fish were near the slot when we first hooked them to later find out that they were only a foot long.  Another important note is that almost every single fish we caught were in faster water on gravel bars or along boulders.  Perhaps these areas have a higher oxygen content.  As we all know, larger tailwaters tend to have problems with lower oxygen levels during the fall and this could be happening right now.  It isn't that the fishing was terrible, but we have done much better on previous trips.  Once this water drops back to or below the 2000 cfs the fish will really begin stacking up in the riffle areas for the spawn, especially the browns.  We were able to witness some larger browns jumping out of the water in some of the shoal areas, but there was too much volume to witness a whole lot of activity.  I think we caught a few browns, but not one of them was over thirteen inches in length. 

I should be out on the river again this next weekend and will report on Monday.

I know this sounds like a broken record, but I wasn't able to guide last weekend due to high water.  However, the water release is now around 3,500 which makes it very fly fishable.  I will be out on the river at least one day this upcoming weekend and will have a report for everyone on Sunday evening or Monday morning.

It looks like the water temps are now around the 60 degree mark, still better than last year at this time.  This has to be one of the warmest summers that I can ever remember and one would think that the lack of rainfall would improve fishing conditions on the river, but that hasn't been the case this summer.  I live about 30 minutes south of Louisville and we haven't had any measureable rainfall in the past month, but that hasn't been the case for the Cumberland River basin.  It seems like every one to two weeks the basin receives a heavy rainfall in the 1-3 inch category which makes the lake go up which in turn forces the Corps to release more water.  So what is my wish?  Not much rain and cooler temps would be perfect.  Hopefully I will have some good fishing stories for you soon.

It has been a while since any reports have been posted.  Well, I was able to get out on the river and do some guiding yesterday.  Took out Jim Kinney from Lexington and we hit the river at about 7:30 in the morning.  Lots of smaller fish were caught throughout the day, most in the 10-12 inch range, with a 17 inch female brown being the largest.  We could have hit some of the areas several of times and caught more fish, but we kind of took our time, picking up fish here and there.  As many of you know, there was a fish kill that occurred on the lake about a week ago and you can smell it in certain areas along the river, especially in areas where there is timber and large boulders and the fish have accumulated.  I have never seen so many buzzards in my life.  The good news is that there hasn't been any kill in the past five days so we shouldn't see too many more coming through the sluices.  Most of the fish that I saw were walleyes, but there were some decent sized stripers as well.

The water temps were right at 59 degrees, much cooler than last year at this time and that is a good thing!  The water is murky and that could be due to Friday and Saturday's rain.  I live just south of Louisville and it hasn't rained much in the last month, but that isn't the case in the Cumberland River basin.  Some areas received over an inch and a half last Friday and Saturday and the lake is rising.  However, the Corps hasn't bumped up water releases so who knows?  I should be down there again next weekend, water permitting.  Flies- we stuck to the old reliable egg pattern due to the murky water.  Yellow with the red dot, but pink or orange probably would have produced as well. 

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!!!

Fishing is fair to good depening on your skill and the time of day.  The early morning bite is decent and later in the evening the fishing is pretty good as well.  Fished the past five days and I am bushed for sure!  You guys and gals wore me out.  The sun and heat are the biggest culprits, but I really had a great time taking everyone out. 

Egg patterns bumped along the bottom are the key and keeping them moss free is a chore to say the least.  The Corps should be cutting back on the one generator here this week so we will just have to wait and see what might happen.  I would like to see them cut it off during the night then not run it until late morning.  Just my wish, but we will just see what occurs. 

I have many openings from July 5th-10th.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if you want to go.  Looks like it might be cooling down a bit.  Sorry for not a long drawn out report, but I have a ton of chores to do around home before I make my next trip down to the river.

Fished the last four days and here is the lowdown:

Thursday:  Fished with Steve Baldwin, his wife Liz, and dog Abby.  Steve did well and nailed some big rainbows along flooded timber with a twenty incher being the largest.  Good job Steve!!!

Friday:  Fished with Jackie and Eric from the Nasville area.  Like Steve, I have taken Jackie and Eric several times and these folks can fish, plus they are just fun to be around.  They caught fish throughout the day and nailed a lot of fish in the twelve to sixteen inch range.  Thanks for the good times guys!

Saturday:  Fished with Andy and Ian from the Lexington area.  We stayed ahead of the water, dodged some storms, and nailed a lot of fish.  This was Ian's second time fly fishing and he did great.  Andy had the knowlege and really did well.  Thanks  for the great time.

Sunday:  Today I took out Brian and Ken Bougher out on the river.  This father son duo did extremely well in the morning.  In the afternoon we found a couple of submerged gravel bars and picked off several fifteen to seventeen inch bows.  One thing is for sure, the fish are healthy and are fightin' mad.  You hook one and you swear it is a three or four pounder then you find out it is seventeen inches long. 

The weather is hot.  There is no doubting that, but the fishing is getting better each and every day.  The Corps is running one generator starting at seven Eastern.  If you stay ahead of the water you will catch a ton of fish.  Fishing in the afternoon can still be tougher, but some of our larger fish have been caught at three or four in the afternoon in the blazing son.  I will be out on the water from Wednesday through Saturday.  THIS SUNDAY, THE 27TH IS OPEN IF ANYONE WANTS IT!  HURRY!!!

ATTENTION:  We can finally fly fish the river.  Yippee!!!  The Corps has cut it back to one generator and the water temps in the first 8 miles are in the high 50s and I saw it as high as 60 degrees at one point.  My guess is that the Corps will begin running the sluice gates within the next couple of weeks to drop the temps. 

I fished yesterday with Jim Kinney from Lexington.  He fly fished and spin fished and caught some fish here and there.  The largest fish was a 16 inch rainbow on a chartreuse egg pattern.  The water began to clear throughout the day and the fly fishing will only improve as the water clears.  We fished from the dam downstream about 8 miles.  There were a few areas that held fish and we could go back over these areas a few times and pick up fish on the egg patterns.  The largest fish of the trip was a 15-20 pound buffalo that was taken on an egg pattern on 5x tippett!  Too bad we didn't have a scale, but that fish could be a record for that tippett size.  I saw a boat full of guys drifting bait and they were doing pretty good by the yells and screams that we could hear.  Like I said earlier, the fly fishing will only improve as the water clears and runs at one generator for a couple of days.  A lot of times after the extended periods of high water the fish are almost in shock due to the lower flow and it takes a while for those guys to adjust. 

Ok, the only two openings left in June are the 21st and the 30th.  There are over a half dozen openings in July.  The phones are ringing and the e-mails are flying due to the low water so act soon before they are taken.  Many openings are still available in August and September.

Hey guys and gals.  I didn't guide over the weekend but will be out on the river four days this week starting tomorrow.  Most likely, I will post a report on Tuesday morning or early afternoon.  The Corps is cutting it back to one generator tomorrow so fingers crossed, fly fishing should be pretty darn good!!!  Note:  Wednesday and Saturday are open this week if anyone is intersted.

UPDATE 6/8:  Water has been cut back to two generators.  Lake is below the 685 mark.  Almost there!!!

I fished the river over the weekend with my seven year old daughter.  She had a blast fishing in the fishing derby that the hatchery puts on, but boy was it packed with people!  The Corps was releasing water through three generators throughout the weekend and it is cutting it back to two generators for about twelve hours then to three generators for the other half.  We caught trout, walleye, white bass and even a crappie.  I was talking to a guy and his son at the ramp at Helm's Landing and they said someone caught a six pound bass below the dam and even a channel catfish.  This happens during and after these high water marks so you just never know what to expect.

Fly fishing, nymph fishing that is, will most likely begin this next weekend.  The lake needs to drop another three feet and then the Corps will really cut back on the releases.  The trout are ready!!! We caught some nice slot rainbows on crankbaits and jigs and a brown that was nearly twenty inches long.  Just can't wait until the water drops!!! Almost there!

Fished the river two times this past week with former clients.  We didn't do any fly fishing yet because the Corps was running four generators at over 16,000 cfs.  However, we went after whatever with jigs and crankbaits, mostly jigs.  We caught a mixed bag on both days, with the largest being a 20 pound striper on 8 lb test.  We were able to land a few walleyes near the two foot mark, a slew of 12 inch white bass, and some rainbows and browns.  None of the trout were over the twenty inch mark.

The great news is that the Corps has cut back on water release to 6,000 CFS.  That is good water to throw clousers and buggers and I should be at it later this week and weekend.  The caddis are hatching/laying in huge numbers.  Man, if the water dropped just a little bit more then we could go after the trout with some nymphs.  That is definately a possibility with the 6000 cfs!  Gotta try it later this week.

I would say that the fly fishing will really get into full gear within the next two weeks, that is as long as we don't get any torrential rains!!! That is my request to the big man.  We will just have to see what happens.  Due to all of the cancellations this spring, the summer will begin filling up as the fishing gets better.  Reserve your late June-August trips now!

Take care,

Dave

Well, the lake is dropping and the Corps is cranking it at over 16,000 cfs.  I thought the cfs would remain well above the 20,000 mark, but for some reason that isn't the case.  Might get out on the river this weekend and do some walleye/white bass/striper fishing if it stays around the 16,000 cfs mark.  Last year we had some very high water similar to this and we had some great walleye and white bass fishing on jigs and drop shotting crawlers in 12-20 feet of water.  It can be done!  You just need to use some heavy jigs and casting weights to get it close to the bottom.  Once I was nailing these white then all of a sudden a 20 pound striper nailed my jig.  That fish took me down river about a half of a mile before I was able to land her.  Tough landing a 20 pound striper on 6lb test!

Looks like mid to late June is when the fly fishing might occur.  If you want to get out and do some of this type fishing before it is fly fishable then shoot me an e-mail or give me a ring.

Report?  Are you kidding?  Sorry folks, but it rained like crazy over the weekend.  Most of South Central Kentucky and the Nashville area were hit with a foot or more of rain.  One of my clients from Nashville sent me a few pictures of that area and it is heartbreaking to say the least.

The Corps has really held back on the water release, running zero for a day or more allowing the floodwaters in Tennessee to drop.  What does this mean for the lake?  It is now up to 700 ft.  Yes, 700 and that is no typo.  Remember, the Corps was trying to keep it at 680-82 until this biblical flood.  I will keep everyone updated, but it doesn't look like we are going to fly fish for quite a while.

I cancelled my Sunday trip due to all of the rain, but I still got out on the river Sunday afternoon.  Took the kids down to the river, between rainstorms, and tried to fish.  Boy was it muddy, but by the afternoon it had shown signs of clearing up and I even caught a few bows on the fly rod.  The kids really wanted to go to the hatchery so we didn't do much fishing at all.  Gosh, it must have rained pretty darn hard!  There was a ton of silt on the ramp at Helms and most of the ditches and ravines along the river were flowing.  We saw a huge and I mean huge walleye at one of the gravel bars.  At first we saw these buffalo that were doing their spawning rituals and then I noticed something.  This fish wasn't a buffalo.  It was a walleye that would have easily gone 10-12 pounds.  Kind of just hugging the bottom after it rolled to the top.  I did miss one nice walleye that was a nice three pound fish that pulled off right at the boat.  Might go after the eyes this next weekend if the water is too high to guide for trout.

Lake levels are up to 682.75, a lot lower than I thought it would be after the rains.  The Corps is running three generators and will continue to do so until it drops below the 682 mark.  So, it isn't as bad as I thought it would be, but it might not be fly fishable until a week or so.  Good news:  If you want to go walleye fishing then shoot me an e-mail.  I know where they are!

Ok, a real fishing report.  Fished Saturday afternoon/early evening with two generators running.  Water was 48 degrees and clarity is decent, much better than back in March.  Didn't try to fly fish or even go after trout, it was walleye time.  Fished about two hours and landed two walleye, two sauger, and a white bass.  All were taken on chartreuse jigs in 14-16 feet of water.  The largest was a 24" inch walleye which fought about as good as waterlogged boot, but they sure do taste good.

Saturday took Dave and Charlie out from the Louisville area.  No generators were on and we started catching them on egg patterns and a brown roach/ bead head caddis dropper.  They caught some stockers and a handful of rainbows that were in the slot.  Everything was going great until they turned on one generator then it slowed down.  We probably could have thrown Yozuris or Rapalas, but continued fly fishing, catching one every once in a while.  I was really excited about the way the morning started but really thought we would have done better while the one generator was in operation.  Now for the good news:  Water temps on Sunday reached 49.7 and we snagged tons of cased caddis as we bumped the bottom with our nymph patterns.  My guess is that the caddis hatch will begin within the next couple of weeks.  Let's just hope the big rains hold off then we can fish the big hatch.  The other good news is that the larger bows really fought with some spunk.  This one fish kept working us hard.  Thought it was maybe a twenty incher, but was about 17 incher and boy was it thick!  Can't wait 'till the hatch.

Shoot me an e-mail or give me a ring if you want to get out during the hatch.

The Corps is letting off on the release of water and it looks like it will be down to one or less generators by the end of this week.  I was in the Bahamas last week so that is why there was not a new report.  However, it seems like the water temps are starting to increase and the warmer air temps will definately increase the insect activity.  The caddis action should begin picking up here at any time and it can last until mid June.  We just need the Corps to hold back on the water to one generator or none and then we can fish some dries.  A chartreuse copper john in size 14 or 16 with an attached pheasant tail in a size 18-20 will also do wonders at this time of the year.  Many times I will go to a larger dropper in a size 16 and go to using a bead head caddis pattern in olive.  Dead drifted with a twitch every once in a while can drive those fish crazy, especially on days when there isn't a caddis hatch or when the caddis are laying their eggs.

This next weekend is open if anyone is interested, weather and water permitting and that looks pretty good at this time.

Sorry but there is not an updated fishing report.  The Corps was releasing three generators yesterday and today in anticipation of the forecast.  The good news is that it didn't rain nearly as much as was predicted and the Corps has cut it back to two generators.  The lake is now slightly below the 681 mark which gives them some room to play with in regards to water releases.

Maybe we will get some caddis action in this spring.  It's been a few years since we had a lower flow in May in which we could fish the hatch.  Remember getting tired of catching thick rainbows and browns in the 14-19 inch range nearly all day long?  Man, were we spoiled or what?  I know, fix the dam and the good ol' days will return.  Our fish are in good health and it looks like we will have a good volume of colder water to get us through this upcoming summer and early fall.  Now all we need is a mild drought and the fishing will improve.  All I ask for is a "normal" season in regards to the precip and we will be in decent shape.

June and July weekends are being booked by return clients.  Act soon before they are gone! 

Guided on the river yesterday.  The weather was excellent and it is nice to get back into the groove.  The fish on the other hand were not the most cooperative.  We did catch fish- rainbows, browns, and a sauger, but it wasn't some banner day.  Someone e-mailed me the other day and asked about how many fish per day he could expect to catch.  I am always honest and don't want to take you on a stinking boat ride and snatch up your cash.  No, you aren't going to catch 50 plus fish on a fly rod right now.  Maybe a dozen or more, but the river is cold and still dingy green. 

Yesterday the water temps never rose above 42.5 degrees which is 1.5 degrees warmer than last weekend.  The water is clearer than last week, but it is still pretty darn cold.  I like to see it in the mid 40s or higher.  However, as the Corps dropped the release to one generator, I saw some trout rising for midges later in the afternoon.  That is great news.  As far as the condition of the trout that we caught, EXCELLENT!  Two of the browns that we caught were 15-17 inches long and they were fatter than any brown that I have caught in that river, footballs for sure. 

If we don't get much rain this week then the Corps should keep it down to one generator or less.  Fly fishing should be a go this next weekend and Saturday and Sunday are open, water and weather permitting.  First come, first serve!!!

Water temps are 41.1 degrees.  Brrrrr!  Water is off color/murky to say the least.  Fish are sluggish and the bite is slow with clarity and water temps both being factors.  The lake is below the 682 mark, but it is slowly rising due to last Friday's rain.  I emphasize slowly.  We dodged a bullet this last week.  Looked like we were going to have rain all week and that never did happen.  Hopefully the water will clear and fly fishing will begin to improve

Well the lake is slightly over the 682 mark and the Corps is only running one generator.  It looked like it was going to rain just about everyday this week, but it has somehow eluded us.  That is great news, but we aren't out of the woods yet.  It looks like we are still in for some rainy weather through the weekend.  I am supposed to be out on the river this weekend, weather and water permitting.  Hopefully we won't get too much precip and we can get out and do some fly fishing.

If you are thinking about booking a summer trip then the time is now!  Usually by June we are into some drier weather and more stable water releases.  July was by far the best fishing last year and August was a very close second.  I have had a few folks wanting to take their kids out on the river and that is awesome.  Put the dad in the front of the boat, take care of the kid and put them on fish.  Remember, fly fishing doesn't have to be difficult and it was meant to be enjoyable.  I honestly have a better time watching the kids catch fish more than fly fishing itself.  Now, let's hope for a dry weekend so I can post some good news.

No report yet, but the lake is still dropping at about a foot a day.  By this weekend it will be at the 682 mark and it will be interesting to see what the Corps does.  They might start holding back on the high releases in the next couple of days, but I would rather see them dump it like crazy until it gets to the magic mark of 682. 

I will be out on the water this weekend if the water is low enough to fish.  This is usually a great time to get some jigs and tip them with minnows and head towards the dam.  Chances are you will catch some walleye and sauger.  A few years ago I caught a brown that was in the 7-8 pound class while fishing with a jig and minnow combo.  Quite a suprise after catching 10-20 inch walleye and sauger!  I've also noticed that the walleye and white bass fishing has improved over the past few years.  You can catch some nice fish up to late June.  During the last two years I have had many trips where we would fish for trout in the morning and early afternoon then get a cooler full of ice and go after the walleye and white bass.  I am proud to say that the vast majority of my clients practice catch and release.  Don't get me wrong, I too love to eat fish, but if you want some fish for a fry then keep the whites and walleyes.  There are a bunch of them in there and they are delicious!!!  Give me a ring if you are intested in putting together a trip like this.

Hopefully I will have a fishing report for everyone next Monday. 

It's finally above freezing!  I have been living in Kentucky for over twenty years and I can't ever remember a February that was as cold as this one.  The lake level is over 696 and it is dropping at about a half a foot per day.  However, with all of the melting it wouldn't be out of the question to see the lake begin to rise again.  Then again, we might get a half inch of rain or more tomorrow and Monday.  Will it ever end?  I don't know, but I am ready to do some fishing.  The water is rolling at over 26,000 cfs and I really want to get out and do some walleye and sauger fishing, but that is a bit too much for me.

Expect a fishing report whenever the water release drops below the 20,000 mark.  It won't be a typcial fly fishing report, but hopefully it will include some nice walleye and sauger.  Just can't wait until I can get out the fly rod!!!

The snow is falling and the water is rollin', rollin', rollin'!  The lake is over the 700 mark and the corps is releasing water pretty close to the 30,000 mark.  Now that is some water.  How high is 30,000?  Well, it is definately over the parking lot at Helm's Landing.  They ran it like that last year and there were logs and debris all over that lot after the water levels dropped.

If there is any good news then perhaps it is that we should have a lot of cold water this summer.  Let's just hope we get less water this spring.  If these cold conditions continue then perhaps we will get some alewive kill off on the lake.   Now if that happens it doesn't matter if the water is low or high.  Grab your rods and tie on anything that is white or silver!  I can remember a scenario such as that several years ago and we quite honestly got tired of catching fish.  You might catch trout, saugers, walleye, white bass and even a striper.  Big white woolies are great on a full sinking line but drifting a white/pink egg pattern can knock 'em silly as well.  If the water is really high then I will throw some Kastmasters and Little Cleos on the spinning rod.

Stay warm and pray for less precip!

Thanks to all who dropped by yesterday at the Derby City Flyfishing show.  Despite all of the inclement weather, a lot of folks showed up in the afternoon.  A couple of return customers gave testimonials to the window shoppers about their trips.  There is nothing better than return clients and I would like to thank all of you.

Lake levels are at the 696 mark and the Corps is cranking water at over 20,000 cfs.  It might be fishable by the end of February.  Return customers have already started booking June-August trips.  No hurry yet, but if you know of a certain day that you want then go ahead and book it.  As always, if the water is too high then we simply reschedule.  I will usually have a pretty good idea about whether it will be a go or a no go within 5 days of the trip.  Let's hope for less rain!

Warmer temps at this time of the year usually mean a chance for rain and we have had more than a chance the last few days.

The lake has risen to back over the 685 mark and is continually rising as I type this.  If there is any good news then it would be that the Corps is cranking water over the 20,000 cfs mark.  Why is that good?  Well, sometimes the Corps waits for a couple of days after a major rain to release water and the lake levels skyrocket.  Several years ago I saw the lake go up over 9 feet in less than 24 hours.  That amount of rain shut down the river for over a month!

This next Saturday I will have a booth at the Kentuckiana Fly Fishing Show.  It is hosted by Derby City Fly Fishers and it will be held at the Fern Vally Inn and Conference Center, 2714 Fern Valley Road.  Last year the attendance was down compared to the past which was due to the ice storm.  If you are looking at getting some good deals on used and new gear then make sure to bring along some extra cash.  It's a great time and I have donated a half day trip as one of the raffle prizes. 

Pray for less precip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was back at in on Monday.  Took out Mike and Bob from Louisville.  We have been trying to get together and fish this past fall, but the high water had prevented it.

Water temperature was 43 degrees.  By mid morning the sun came out and it probably warmed into the mid 50s for a daytime high.  What I really thought would happen did not.  What I hoped for was sunny warm temps might get the midges going and the trout active.  We did see some here and there, but the fish just weren't too interested.  We did land some trout here and there but nothing was over 13 inches.  Bob landed a beautiful river bred bow near Blackfish Cr on a chartreuse weighted egg pattern.  Both landed a half dozen of browns about that same size.  Like I stated the other day, these fish are fat and loaded with midge larva.

The good news is that I saw a few fish here and there flashing along the bottom.  They might be eating midge larva, but some were probably trying to pick off some caddis attached to rocks on the bottom.  I have noticed more case caddis than in the past couple of years.  Maybe this is a sign of a bumper caddis hatch this spring.  As many of you know, the water has been too high to fish the caddis hatch over the past couple of years and that is a shame!  I don't know if you have checked the water levels, but they are again on the rise and will continue to do so with the anticipation of more rain.  Like I said, cold weather generally means less precip while the warmer winds out of the Southwest typically bring warmer weather but a lot more rain. My bet is that the fish would rather have less water.  Bring on the cold!!!

Finally fished yesterday with a friend from the Louisville area.  We landed about 40 trout between the two of us.  I would rate it as fair.  However, Charlie landed a 23 inch walleye as a bonus.  That beauty is really going to taste good tomorrow night. 

It was cold to say the least!  Air temp was 30 degrees when we departed in the morning.  The Corps was running one generator when we started then shut it all off around ten o'clock Eastern Time.  Almost all of our trout were caught on peach or chartreuse egg patterns.  I did catch a couple while throwing crankbaits for walleye, but they were all under 15 inches.  I caught a 17-18 inch male rainbow on an egg.  That fish was in full spawning colors as was dripping milt as I landed him.  Beautiful fish.  All of the fish that were landed looked very healthy and thick.  I took home a few to smoke and they were just loaded with midges.  A couple of caddis were found in their intestines, but they were stuffed full of midge larva.  Speaking of midges, there was some midge activity in the afternoon.  There was a small period of time around 2 in afternoon in which the sun came out and soon to follow were the midges.  The trout started smacking them on top too!  Water temps were 43 degrees throughout the day and that is cold.  No signs of shad being sucked through the turbines.  I had hoped to see some of that which would fatten up our trout even more.

Charlie lost a brown that was well over 20 inches in length.  We were targeting some rock outcrops in slow water where the trout were sipping midges and were were catching some 10-13 inch fish when bam!  He set the hook, the rod bent, and the line broke.  The strike, like most of the strikes were very subtle, but there was nothing subtle about the brown.  You just never know what you might hook into in some of those deep holes.  I too lost a nice one that was on momentarily before it took off for deeper water.  You really have to watch that indicator because it just barely goes under when a fish is on.  Gotta be quick to say the least and we missed several.

Might try it again tomorrow and will post the results if I go.

Well, I didn't go out on the river today.  Thought about it, but it is just too cold.  I know, what a sissy!!!  Maybe I will go deer hunting with the bow, only about a week left of that.  I just looked at the water levels and the Corps is releasing water throughout the day at different levels.  The level is below the 682 point which is great.  One other point that we need to keep in mind is that the Corps will continue to run water because it needs to make some more $$$.  With these cold temps there is an increasing demand for electricity and the opportunity to make money, something the Corps has lost out on since the dam repair.

Hopefully I will have a report this next weekend.  Due to the different water flows throughout the day, I like to bring both fly and sping gear.  My plans are to nymph and egg fish during the lower flows then grab the spinning rod and jigs and fish the deep water for the walleyes and saugers during the higher water.  It has worked pretty darn good throughout the past couple of years.  Maybe it will warm up a bit, maybe?

Like I said, cold temps plus less precip equals lower water levels.  The Corps now has the water slightly below the 682 mark.  As many of you have noticed, the Corps starts easing off the higher water releases once the lake gets below that magical number.  The problem is that it is pretty darn cold right now.  I have fished that river on days where morning temps were below 15 degrees, but it doesn't look like daytime highs are going to be over twenty for the next couple of days.  I might try to brave the temps myself this Sunday and get out on the water.  This time of the year can also be good for saugers and walleye.  I have been experimenting with those guys and the spring run of white bass since this dam repair began.  There have been several days over the last two years in which I go after the eyes after guiding for trout.  I haven't really started guiding for these species.  It is just like a bonus and there isn't any better fish in that river to eat!

I am starting to receive calls and emails from return clients in regards to scheduling spring and summer trips.  In typical years, it was pretty safe to schedule a trip from late May and on.  With the dam repair one never really knows what is going to happen.  It really all depends on how much rain we receive during the spring.  Two years ago I guided 4-5 days a week during June and this past year I guided only 5 or 6 days during June.  Just too much water!!!  What typically happens is that people start booking trips once it starts warming up, usually March and April.  Don't forget the spring and winter!  My motto is that if the water is low then let's go!  As always, if we book a trip and it doesn't look favorable then we cancel and reschedule. 

Water is still too high to fish.  The lake level is down to 684.50 and they are still drawing water at over 20,000 cfs.  Due to the high water, I haven't guided since the week of Thanksgiving.  These fish haven't seen flies in a long, long time.  Hopefully I will get out within the next two weekends.  Typically if we get cold weather then there is less precipitation and that is exactly what we need, less precip. 

The river made it through another year of high water temps during the summer.  I did see some signs of stressed fish, more so with the rainbows than the browns.  Perhaps this is due to the browns ability to withstand higher water temps.  I can't remember a July in which my clients landed so many fish over the 20 inch mark, most of which were rainbows!  Once the river temps warmed up, the fish, in my opinion, migrated upstream and it was a fishing bonanza within the first 5-6 miles from the dam.  I don't use a clicker to keep count of fish, but on one July day I did my best to keep track of a return client.  After a hundred I lost count!  And better yet, we still had about three hours of fishing time left.  Those are the days to dream about during these high water times.  Heck, all I wanted for Christmas was a light spring/summer drought.

Gotta go!

Wow!  The lake has risen nearly seven feet from the rain this past week and has yet to peak.  The Corps is cranking water at over 23,000 cfs and will continue to do so until it is close to 682.  Obviously there won't be any fishing for the next few weeks, maybe late December but it looks more like early January.  Fishing was decent until this last round and just as it looked like the Corps was going to cut back on the releases, BAM!!!  Only God knows how many trips I have had to cancel this past year for I can't keep track of them. 

All in all a decent year considering the construction of the dam and a higher than normal amount of rainfall.  Hopefully it won't rain as much this next year and we can get some fishing in during the spring instead of having to wait until summer.

Well, I was able to guide this past Wednesday.  Between the two of us we were able to land 25-30 fish, a far cry from the numbers over this past summer and early fall.  The Corps is running water at slightly under 4,000 cfs.  The water is somewhat off color, not terribly dingy, but off color.  Water temps are in the upper 50s, somewhat higher than I anticipated.  I think the levels of the lake are still mixing because when one reads the lake temps the surface is in the mid to upper 50s.  I just looked at the generation schedule and they are starting to turn the water off in the afternoon.  I will take low levels anytime, especially during the winter with off colored water.  I noticed that the fish weren't slamming the egg patterns so most likely they were just hitting the rig as it bumped them in the face.  It is so much easier to catch them when the water is low, which would be at 540 cfs.

I do have a couple of openings over the next three weekends, water permitting.  This next Saturday and Sunday is open, but it looks cold.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if you want to brave the cold and catch some rainbows and brownies.

The river is fishable and I should be out a couple times over the next week.  It looks like they are running water for several hours at one generator then cut it back to a sluice?  I am not positive, but that is what looks to be happening.

Egg patterns should be slammin' em big time!!!

I will have an updated report the Sunday following Thanksgiving!  Enjoy the Holidays and give me a ring or shoot an e-mail if you are interested in any December fly fishing. 

Well, it is about time!  The Corps has cut back water release to slightly below 4000 cfs so the river should be fishable once again.  I know that the fish haven't seen any of my flies for the past month and a half so they should be ready and willing.

I have one more opening in November and it is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, that is if the weather and water cooperate.  However, I will not be doing any guiding between now and that time.  The deer are moving and I will be spending a lot more time in the woods.  I will post a report the weekend following Thanksgiving in regards to fishing success.

Still not fishable.  I will make sure to post an update the next time I guide.  Supposed to be this weekend, but just about every trip has been cancelled since the last week of September.  I thought the early fall was supposed to be dry around here.  Not this year!

Well, will this rain ever end?  It has, but the lake is over 683 and looks like it is about to stabilize while 9,000+ cfs is being released.  When can we go out and play?  Only God knows.  I haven't guided in close to a month and have cancelled at least a half dozen trips.  Maybe this next weekend.  I will make sure to make a report whenever it is fishable.

The Corps is still running water at slightly under 10,000 cfs.  The lake level is at 683.85 and dropping at about 3-4 inches a day.  They will ease off the water release when it gets to about 682.  My guess is that they will then run it at around 2000 when the lake stabilizes at 682.

I will not be out on the water until the 17th and 18, water and weather permitting.  There will be a fishing report posted the following day.  Remember, I still have a few open days during the week of Thanksgiving. 

Fishing this past weekend was a no go.  Way too much water!  The lake has risen over three feet and is continuing to rise.  The Corps is releasing water at over 6,000 cfs.  Too much water for my style of fishing.  I will have a better feeling of when the river will be fishable in a few days.  Might not be  back to my liking for a couple of weeks. 

Until this past weekend browns had started showing up in the riffle areas.  Some big ones too, with the largest in the 8-10 pound range.  Now we didn't land any of these, but they are starting to get active.  We have landed a few just shy of the 20 inch range over the past two weekends and even hooked into a couple of monsters on egg patterns.  When the water is lower you can see them stack up in some of the areas and it looks like steelhead/salmon on their yearly run.  I know a lot of folks like to throw larger clousers or bugger patterns, but we have landed a few in the 5-8 pound range over the past couple of falls on egg patterns.  I don't know if they are hungry, trying to eliminate competition, or just plain pissed, but you can catch some big fish on those egg patterns.

Still have a couple openings during the week of Thanksgiving, water permitting.

Good fishing over the past three days.  This is the second year that I have fished with these four dentists from the Atlanta area.  Maybe the numbers and quality weren't what they were last year, but I think they all enjoyed themselves.  Lots of fish in the 11-14 inch range over the weekend.  The biggest was by Todd Cox, a thick 18 inch bow that was probably close to three pounds.  Fat to say the least!  Today Todd took his father Clem fly fishing for the first time and he caught a whole bunch of rainbows.  He lost a 17-18 incher that porpoised out of the water and shot right towards the boat.  On Friday I took out Todd and his buddy Berry and they did very well.  Lots of fish with the largest being an 18 inch rainbow.  I took out the other guys Scott and Bill on Saturday and they too landed many fish.  Fishing was strange though.  We would nail a half dozen in 15 minutes then nothing for the next half hour.  Some areas are definately holding a lot of fish while others, well, nothing at all.  Finding the fish and staying on the fish is the key to success and will continue to be so over the next few weeks.

Gotta go to sleep!  Oh, fish are still hitting the same flies.  You know what I use and the peach and yellow are what has been working the best.

Yesterday I took out Jim K. from the Lexington area.  We went earlier this past July and Jim landed a rainbow that was over twenty inches and in the 4-5 pound range.  No monsters yesterday, but we caught a fair share of rainbows with a brown mixed in here and there.  Most of the fish were in the 12-14 inch range, but we had a couple of nice ones pull off and one big one downsteam by Snow Island that broke off!  I think the highlight of the day was when Jim hooked a small rainbow.  As I was leaning over to net the fish, something to my right caught my attention.  It was a small rainbow frantically jumping out of the water and it was heading straight towards the boat.  Come to find out, a big striper in the 30 pound class was trying to eat it.  The little fish almost ran into the side of the boat and the striper was less than three feet away.  Fortunately for the little bow he was able to escape to some cover, but that was an awesome sight!  Guess I need to bring along a big rod with a swim bait when we go through some of those bigger holes.

The fish were scattered throughout the river and we would pick up a handful here and there throughout the day.  The good news is that there were more fish rising to midges throughout the day, actually more rises than I have seen during the last month of guiding.  Here is a little interesting story about after yesterday's trip.  I couldn't decide whether to pull out of the water or do some fishing on my own.  It was about six o'clock and Jim was wrapping up his gear and was taking off.  What the heck, I rarely get to do any fishing on my own so I grabbed a couple of rods and headed out.  Jim, if you are reading this, we shoud have gone where we went in July.  It was crazy.  I used the trolling motor to pull on the downstream side of this huge log jam and hung out in the slack water casting to an area between the jam and the bank where the current was moving.  Bam!  First fish was a 17 inch bow, then another and another.  Almost every fish, which was about a dozen, was in the slot within about 15 yards of water.  You could actually see the fish stacked up and it was a blast to say the least.  You think that sounds good, well it gets better.  It was around 7:30 and the water began to boil.  Boil?  Yes, I said boil.  I witnessed a frenzy that I haven't seen in a long time.  It reminded me of caddis emerging, but these were some kind of midges.  The fish were lined up everywhere and they would hit just about anything from eggs to beetles, with most of them in the 12-15 inch range.  I did hook something very large on an egg and could not turn the beast.  I even tried using the trolling motor to stay on top of it as it pulled out to deeper water.  My guess is that it was a brown and it was in an area where we had caught several trophy size fish this past July.  I know where to go next weekend, but we all know how conditions can and usually do change from day to day.

I will be out on the water both days this next weekend and should have an updated report next Monday.  Still have some days open during the week of Thanksgiving.  Gotta go and work on something other than fishing before my wife beats me.

Available days in November:  The 7th has been taken.  The 23rd, 24th, and 28th are still available.  If you are interested in a trip then act now.  Remember, if water conditions aren't favorable to catching fish then we just don't go.  I've had several people call me three days before a weekend wondering if any days are available and there just aren't any.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if any of those three might work for you.

I guided only on Sunday this past weekend.  Had a guy who cancelled early in the week and it really was a blessing.  Man, I needed a day off.  Back to the fishing, it was good.  I took out Charlie Mulligan from Fern Creek.  He caught 50 trout, with most of that 50 being rainbows.  We fished the first 8 miles of the river and threw heavily weighted eggs.  The water has dropped to 2010 cfs and a lot of the fish that were on bank cover the past couple of weeks have moved to deeper water.  Finding a good flow and bumping the bottom without collecting tons of moss were the keys to catching the fish.  Now don't get me wrong, there were some nice fish still taken off wood, but some of the wood was just too shallow to hold any quality fish.  The largest fish that was landed was an 18 inch rainbow that would have weighed a solid three pounds!  It was a chunk to say the least.  We did land several nice thick browns in the 12-16 inch range.  Boy you know when you hook into a brown because they love to hug the bottom.  If you like to eat trout, which there isn't anything wrong with keeping a few, then you would have loved this past weekend.  The vast majority of our fish were in the 12-14 inch range, some nice eating size fish. 

I will be out on the river this next Sunday and will post a report on Monday.  The only day that I have open between now and the week of Thanksgiving is Saturday, November the 7th.  I would like to guide the 23rd, 24th, and the 28th of November.  So those days are open if anyone wants to do some late fall fishing.  December can be great too just as long as there isn't too much water.  Boy, doesn't that statement sound like a broken record.  Gotta go.

Update:  Ok, there are only a couple of open days left until deer season, firearms season that is.  November 7th and 8th are still open.  I will be able to guide during the week of Sunday, November 22nd, which is the week of Thanksgiving.  I know that the 25th and the 28th will be available.  There are no openings during the months of September and October. As always, the amount of water being released is what dictates whether we go or not.  Act soon if you want one of these days!

Guided Saturday and Sunday with some modest results.  We covered a larger area than previous trips, but were still able to land some very nice fish.  On Satuday I took out Bernie Hammers and his friend Brian from the Louisville area.  Between two guys we landed close to 50 fish with a couple of 17 inchers.  Brian hooked into a monster along a submerged tree early in the morning.  At first the fish came towards the boat then Bam!  It went screaming downstream and snapped off.  My guess is that it was a big brown.  The next day I took out Brian Bougher from Evansville and his buddy Jeremy from West Virginia.  We caught more fish than the Sunday trip and Jeremy landed a nice brown right at the twenty inch mark.  That fish barely took the indicator down, slowly swam upstream, then took off like crazy once Jeremy put pressure on him.  He also landed a beautiful rainbow earlier in the day that was eighteen inches long. 

Water levels should start lowering this week, but don't hold me too it.  Perhaps they will return to the July levels and that would be fantastic!

Several people called over the weekend and I will return your calls later today.  I will also post any remaining Oct and Nov dates in a few days.  Satisfied customers have referred a lot of people my way and I would like to say thank you!  Thanks for the memories and all of the great pictures.

Ok, someone turned on the furnace.  We have been spoiled by unseasonably cool weather all summer, but Saturday and Sunday were warm to say the least.  Fishing was good.  On Saturday I took out Paul K. from the Louisville area.  He brought along his son and his father in law.  Each caught a lot of fish and Jared, the grandson, caught the largest which was an 18 inch rainbow.  Tom, the grandfather, experienced his first ever fly fishing trip of his life and he did great!  Folks, this fishing isn't that difficult.  I know where they live and I know what they want to eat.  On Sunday I took out some wild and crazy boys from the Nashville area.  Now these guys could throw a line.  Hagan and his buddy Groovey did well, landing fish throughout the day.  We didn't land any over 18", but several of those landed were within the slot.  It was another enjoyable weekend on the water!

Now for some bad news, it looks like we might get some rain from this tropical storm.  The good news is that the water has cleared up somewhat and there isn't nearly as much suspended moss in the water.  This is no lie, but in July my index fingers and thumbs were stained green from taking off so much slime.  Water temps at the dam are 57.9 degrees and I measured it at 61degrees at approximately 8 miles below it.  Most of the fish looked healthy, but there were a few rainbows on each trip that looked a tad bit thin.  The browns seem to do better with the fluctuating water and temps. 

There are some October dates still available and I will post those in the next couple of days.  There are no more available days in August or September.  I really enjoy fishing the river in November.  You want to talk about zero river traffic then that is the time.  As long as the water isn't high the fishing is outstanding.  I fished it the Saturday after Thanksgiving two years ago and the riffle areas looked like some salmon run was occurring.  It was that good.  November is also deer hunting time so I will pick a few open guiding days and throw them out there. 

News Flash:  The lake has stabilized and the Corps has or is in the process of going back to the sluices.  What does that mean?  It means that the fishing will be dramatically improving soon, if not right now!  I have two trips this weekend and will post an updated report on Monday.  August 30th is still open.  There are no September dates available for they all have been taken.  October availabilities:  3rd, 17th, 18th and maybe the 24th. 

Update: The lake is slowly dropping and I mean slowly.  Perhaps it will be fly fishable by next weekend.  Also, fall dates are being gobbled up quickly, some due to rescheduling from the early summer and this past week.  I must be doing something right because several new clients have been sent to me by my July customers.

July was phenomenal!  More times than not we landed a fish at or over twenty inches on nearly every trip.  I can't think of a July that produced so many monsters.  There were probably five to six areas over an 8 mile stretch that held these fish and with the water at the same level for most of the month, the fish just hung out there and didn't move much.  The results were just awesome.  A lot of times we will land tons of them in the 12-16 inch range, but some of these areas were producing fish in 14-20 inch range nearly all day long!  Many of my clients were just plain worn out by the end of the day after catching so many.

On a bad note, higher water has returned and I have had to cancel several trips over the past week.  The lower temps have helped keep the river cooler, but these rainstorms only bring the lake up and up and up.  It might be fishable by this weekend, fingers crossed.

Thanks for all of the business this past July.  I try my best to keep my customers on fish and on fish for about 10 hours.  I don't take you on a stinking boat ride or float trip in which you can catch some fish here and there.  We go straight to the fish and stay on them from 7:30 to about 5:30 in the afternoon.  If you book a two day trip then you might even get to fish a little longer on the first day.  I know my policy of not going during higher water is sometimes frustrating, but I can't do anything about the water levels.  There is no customer like a return customer and I would like to thank all who have give me the opportunity of being your Cumberland River guide.

Wow! Six days of fishing and it has been great.  Do you want a day by day?  Ok, here we go.

Wednesday:  Took Jim Kinney from Lexington.  His son in law bought him a trip for Father's Day and I think Jim left a very happy man.  We landed a lot of fish during this off and on rainy afternoon and there was no way that I could keep track.  This guy knew how to fish!  We landed a monster that was nearly 5 pounds!  The dang thing looked like a salmon.

Thursday:  Took Marty Lipke and his buddy from Southern Indiana.  Both caught a ton of fish and his buddy landed a 20 inch bow in the afternoon that pulled us downstream at least a quarter of a mile in a shoal area!  He hung in there, kept his cool and landed the beast. 

Friday:  Fished with Johnny Medford and his buddy Bob from Owensboro.  The too caught a lot of fish, especially in this one run right at the end of the day.  Again, another great day.

Saturday:  Took Jason Kelty, his dad and uncle out.  They spin fished using basically the same rig that we use while fly fishing.  They too landed many in the slot.

Sunday:  Took Bryan Johnson and his buddy Shawn from the Louisville area.  We caught a ton of fish in the slot and I mean a ton.  Shawn was a first timer and he slayed him.  I think that is one of my most satisfying aspect of guiding.  I really enjoy taking newbies that just slay 'em!

Today:  Took Fritz K. and his brother in law Eddie from Shelbyville and we did great until they started running one generator to the sluice.  Fritz caught a big bow just under twenty inches in the early afternoon.

I look so forward to sleeping in my own bed tonight!!!

Still catching them!  Guided the past two days with decent success.  We didn't land any fish over 17 inches.  However, Glenn Hammil of Louisville hooked into a rainbow well over twenty inches, more like over two feet in length!  SNAP!!!  This was only he and his wife's second time ever fly fishing and they did well.  There probably aren't a whole lot of people out there that can land a 7-8 pound rainbow on 5x.  Today we hooked into a couple big fish momentarily, but they pulled off.  They are still in there!!!

The Corps has been running water at 2020 CFS, but they turned it down to 500 cfs in the afternoon.  Perhaps this is a sign of things to come.  Here are some available August dates:  6th and 7th.  The 22nd, 23rd, 29, and 30th are also available.  School starts for me on August the 10th, so no more weekdays will be available.  However, Memorial Day is available.  I will be on the river this week from Wed to next Monday and will not be able to respond to any calls or e-mails until next monday night. 

I would like to apologize to all of the people that tried to contact me about the availability of tomorrow, the 18th.  I threw it out there early this past week, then left for the river early Wednesday morning.  Perhaps I need to get a cell, but then my wife would be able to get a hold of me.  Actually she just said that she was going to buy me a new one.  Dang!!!

Fishing:  Fantastic, wow, great, good.  We had rain the past three days, off and on, but the fishing was pretty good.  The take is super soft.  You think it is some tiny stocker and it is a 20 inch brown.  Drift and presentation are just as important as the fly selection.  Those of you that have fished with me know how anal I am about drift presentation while nymph fishing.  Once you master it then hold on because you are going to be successful.  For example:  I guided Wed and Thursday.  Kim and her brother Al from Massachusetts caught a lot of fish, even a nice brown slightly under the twenty inch mark.  By Thursday they understood what it took to get the fly down deep and keep it ticking along the bottom.  A good drift equals a hit more times than not.  How good is fishing?  I fished for an hour and fifteen minutes after Thursday's trip and caught a 20 inch rainbow and a 20 inch brown!  Presentation, presentation, presentation.

August 5th is still open.  Bernie Hammers, please call me or email if you still want the 6th.

Only one day still open in July- This Saturday the 18th and it is supposed to be awesome weather, not even 80 degrees!  Give me ring ASAP if you want it!

Dang, you guys have worn me out!!!  I guided five and half days this past week and slammed them big time.  Everyday with the exception of today (sorry Jackie) I landed at least one fish at or over 20 inches.  The biggest was caught by Brian Bougher of Evansville, Indiana.  He landed a super thick brown that was around 6-7 pounds.  It was a pig and the dang thing pulled us downstream a quarter of a mile before we landed the beast.  Charlie Mulligan and Fritz K. of the Louisville area landed over a half dozen rainbows at or slightly over the twenty inch mark on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Anna Perry and her compadre Melinda caught one bow slightly under the twenty inch mark on Saturday.  Tons, and I mean tons of fish in the slot have been caught and that is encouraging considering all of the high water that we have endured.  Jackie caught a couple of bows right around 18 inches and lost a couple biggins that left us grumblin in frustration.  Don't worry girl, they are still in there.

What is the key to catching fish, especially the big ones?  YOU GOTTA GO DEEEEEEP!

July openings:  Only one Day- This Saturday the 18th.  The weather is supposed to be beautiful!!!

August openings:  4th, 5th and 6th.  I start school on the 10th so after that date I will only be able to guide on the weekends.

It's 11:00 in the pm and I am bushed.  Hey, the river is on!  Fished three days and landed a bunch of fish in the 18-22 inch range.  Man, it is on like Donkey Kong!!!  Today could be rated as a top 20 trip of all time, perhaps even a top ten.  Lots of fish right at the twenty inch mark and a couple slightly over.  Where?  What on?  Hey, give me a call or shoot me an e-mail and book a trip. 

I am going to bed!

Ok, I said that I would not post another report until Monday, but the river is fishing very, very good!  Yesterday the Corps ran one generator until the early afternoon then ran two for the rest of the day.  We bounced eggs and nymphs during the one generator and caught a lot of fish!  How many???  Probably 40-50 per angler.  Later we threw Yozuris and Lucky Craft Bevy Shads and did good when the two generators were running.  We lost a monster and I mean a monster rainbow on a weighted egg pattern.  It was easily over 6 pounds!  Last fall some of my clients caught some that were in the 20-24 inch range and this thing drarfed it.  Charlie set the hook, it rolled, then it porpoised straight towards the boat and threw the egg.  Ouch!!!  It is still in there and waiting for you.

I do have this Sunday and Monday open if anyone is interested.  Originally I left the weekend open for the family, but they just left me and went to Florida.  There are also a couple days open throughout the month of July.  Give me a ring (502) 538-8919 or shoot me an e-mail if interested.  If I am not around then please leave a message and I will call you back asap.

Wow!  Fishing is on, finally.  The Corps has been running two generators and later in the day will only run one.  My guess is in a couple of days they will run one for a few hours then shut it off for a few hours.  Just a guess, but that is what they did in early June and it was awesome then. 

I will have an updated report on Monday morning.  I have this Saturday (4th) and this Sunday open if anyone wants it.  Awesome weather and great fishing.

The river fished pretty good yesterday.  The Corps was running two generators which was great for spin fishing and decent for fly fishing.  I had two return customers, one who like to spin and the other who liked to fly fish.  Bill, the spinner, had the best luck on a small Rapala countdown in the rainbow trout color.  I rigged up Anna with a heavily weighted egg pattern, even adding extra split shots above the egg to really get it down.  It has to be close to the bottom or you are just wasting time.  Both caught a lot of fish, with a handful in the slot, with a few slightly over the 18 inch mark.  So, the river is looking much better with the clarity improving quite a bit from the previous weekend.

July dates are still open.  See what works for you and I will fit you in.

My guess is that the river will be fly fishable sometime next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday.  We have been catching fish in the high water, throwing jigs and cranks and the results have been good to great.  A true mixed bag consisting of white bass, walleye, stripers, and trout have been taken.

The lake has been dropping at nearly a half foot per day and it needs to drop another two and a half feet before the Corps goes back to running one generator off and on throughout the day. 

There will be some available days in July.  I am currently trying to reschedule the scratched June trips and hopefully will have all of that accomplished by this weekend. 

Well, I know that this will sound like a broken record, but the water is too high to fly fish.  The Lake needs to drop about another two and a half feet then they will most likely go to the one generator, turning it on and off throughout the day.  I have fished the river, not fly fishing, but spin fishing.  I like drop shotting or throwing heavy chartreuse jigs.  What kind of fish do you catch using these techniques?  The answer is that you just never know.  We have caught white bass, walleye, largemouth (yes, it is not a typo),trout, and a couple of big stripers.

If the lake continues to be drawn at this rate then it looks like the river will be fly fishable sometime next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday.  So what do my readers and clients need to do?  Pray for less rain and lower temps! 

There are still a couple openings available in July.  I had to move a lot of my June trips to July, but a couple of those dates will be open. 

Fishing was great until this last batch of rain.  What is great?  I guess it is a question that needs to be answered.  For some great is just being on the water.  For others it means catching a dozen fish.  Great to me means catching a lot of fish and some big fish as well.  How about 40 fish a day and a couple that are slightly over the twenty inch mark?  Now that is a great day.  I've had a handful of those this June until this past week.  The lake is slightly over 684 and the Corps is cranking it at slightly over 10,000cfs which is three generators.  This is not fly fishing water and we need it to drop.  Hopefully this will happen within the next week, but we can't afford to have much more rain.

July trips are available.  June 29th and 30th are also open as well.

If you are trying to contact me by phone then I will not be able to return the call until Sunday.  If you are wanting to book a trip then please click on the contact form to e-mail me your date(s) or any other questions you might have about the Cumberland.  There are still a couple of open dates in late June and many are available throughout July.  The fishing is really improving with true trophy fish (both bows and browns) being landed in the 20-24 inch range.  Most of the fish are 12-17 inches, but I have located a few areas that have produced a 20" fish per trip over the past two weeks. 

Fishing has really picked up in the last week.  I guided both days this past weekend and did well to great.  The Corps is running one generator most of the day and has been shutting it down for two to three hours early in the morning.  Saturday was good with lots of fish in the 12-16 inch range, but Sunday the numbers and the size were much better.  We landed two fish on Sunday that were over twenty inches.  One was a rainbow and the other was a brown.  Some areas on the river are producing more fish and much bigger fish than others.  Let's just say that some of those areas are off the beaten path and a far away from most access ramps.  The weighted egg patterns are tearing them up.  I've been experimenting with jig that is slightly heavier than the 1/80 oz and it has really produced a lot of nice fish when the water is running at one unit.  Peach, champagne, chartreuse, and flame have been the most productive.

I still have a couple days open in June.  Lots of July dates are still available.

Fishing is really starting to pick up.  The normal stuff is producing a lot of fish and it should continue to improve as the water clears.

Openings in June:  20th and 21st-Father's Day weekend, June 22nd and 23rd.  Also the 28th and 29th.  Please hurry if you want to book a June trip.  I have contacted many of my return customers and many of these days will be snatched up within the next week. 

Finally!!! The fishing and catching is on!  Guided both days over the weekend and did well on both days and it really started to pick up on Sunday.  The Corps is now releasing water every hour or every other hour.  The water is murky, but it cleared somewhat from Saturday to Sunday.  I really noticed it starting to clear up on Sunday afternoon.  The fish are starting to stack up in their normal areas, but they were somewhat spread out on Saturday.  Sometimes it takes a few days for them to start hitting after long periods of high generation.  We didn't catch anything over 17-18 inches, but a bunch and I mean a bunch of fish were in the 12-16 inch range.  Most were rainbows!  We caught an occassional white bass as well.  Whatever you are using (nymphs) need to be bumped along the bottom.  That is where the fish are.  We didn't try any large streamers, but they would have done well with the off colored water.

There are still a couple openings for the last week of June.  Gotta go and tie up some more flies!

Good News!  The Lake level is near 681 and the Corps is beginning to hold back on water releases.  I know that the e-mails and the calls will fire up once the fishing gets good.  I will have an actual fishing report on Sunday evening or Monday morning.  Yes, you heard it right, an actual FISHING report.  I have some openings on the last full week of June.

The lake is dropping over a foot per day, but it still needs to drop about 6 more feet until the Corps eases up on the water release.  My feelings are that the river should be fishable by the weekend after Memorial Day.  I talked to Paula Barnes, the owner/operator of The Riverside Retreat at Helms Landing, she said that she had seen the river that high only once before in the last 15 years.  How high?  Well, probably something like 7-10 feet above the parking lot at Helm's Landing.  Now that is a lot of water!!!

I have rescheduled most of my April and May trips to Mid June through July.  There are still several openings for both weekday and weekend trips.  The fish haven't seen anything in the form of a fly for months, perhaps even all spring.  The fishing will be on whenever the water drops.

The lake is dropping over a foot per day, but it still needs to drop about 6 more feet until the Corps eases up on the water release.  My feelings are that the river should be fishable by the weekend after Memorial Day.  I talked to Paula Barnes, the owner/operator of The Riverside Retreat at Helms Landing, she said that she had seen the river that high only once before in the last 15 years.  How high?  Well, probably something like 7-10 feet above the parking lot at Helm's Landing.  Now that is a lot of water!!!

I have rescheduled most of my April and May trips to Mid June through July.  There are still several openings for both weekday and weekend trips.  The fish haven't seen anything in the form of a fly for months, perhaps even all spring.  The fishing will be on whenever the water drops.

This is a recording:  The river is high and fly fishing is, well, forget it.  The Corps was holding the lake steady at 681 then we received all of this rain.  Right now the Corps is releasing water at 18,000 cfs.  When can we fish?  The answer is whenever it quits raining so much. Looks like I will have to continue rescheduling trips.

The Lake is holding steady at about 682.  It was dropping at a rate of 1/2 ft per day until this last batch of rain.  The Corps is really cranking the water at slightly over 22,000 cfs.  If we don't see much more rain tomorrow then by Wednesday we should see the lake continue to drop.  The good news is that we have about a week of rain free forecast, fingers crossed.  With the increase in temps the caddis will begin emerging.  Last year the river levels were a bit high in May and the caddis hatch wasn't as great as it had been in the past.  If you hit the river on a day when they are emerging then be ready for some out of this world fishing.  Two years ago in May and early June I was probably averaging a handful of fish per trip that were over twenty inches.  I can remember one trip in particular that a client caught two browns that were twenty four inches long on bead head caddis.  Two days prior to that trip the fishing was outstanding, but on that day there wasn't any insect activity other than midges.  We fished deep with a copper prince/bead head caddis rig and slammed them in water anywhere between depths of 5-9 feet.  Sometimes it just takes some time to figure out what to use and where to use it.  That is the unique aspect of this river.  There are about five different patterns that work the majority of the time.  The crazy thing is that sometimes what tore 'em up one day won't work nearly as well the other.  You just have to experiment a bit and have some patience.  Speaking of patience, I am about out of it.  I am ready to fish!  Hopefully I will have some true fishing reports within the next two weeks.

One of these days.  One of these days we will be able to fish the river.  When?  I wish that I knew.  I thought about posting an April Fool's joke stating that the Caddis hatch was on, but that would just be straight out mean.  Couldn't do it.  The Corps is pulling water at 22,000 cfs which means ramps like Helm's are completely under water.  The lake level is slightly below 684 and it is slowly dropping.  It will continue to do so as long as we don't get a lot of rain.

I have rescheduled several trips for May and June.  There are a couple of weekend days open in May and even a Friday, May the first.  Hopefully we will be able to do some fishing then.  Also, I know several folks have tried to contact me over the past weekend and I was not able to respond.  My family and I were on a cruise in Mexico.  All that water and I didn't even fish!  I am in the process of returning calls and e-mails and should be able to do that by this evening.

Does anyone know how to do an anti-rain dance?

Would someone tell the big man upstairs to quit dumping so much water on us?  It didn't rain too much in the Louisville area this past weekend, but apparently it did in the Cumberland River Basin.  First they had the light snow this past week then it rained Saturday, Sunday, and a little today.  Results= tons of water being released through the dam at over 18,000 cfs.  Just this past Friday they were only running one generator then it rained and then the lake went up four feet. 

Not to worry, last year I really didn't start guiding much until May.  The people want to go, it's just the water won't cooperate.  I've been keeping myself busy tying flies and refinishing a couple older GL3s. 

Just pray for less rain and keep the fingers crossed.  Think back to this past summer when we were praying for a shower or two.  It will be here before we know it!  I will make sure to post a report as soon as the river drops back to fly fishable levels.

Well, had to cancel two trips this week because of high water.  One of these days the lake will drop and the river will be fly fishing friendly.  Went down yesterday to work on the boat and later tried to fish for some walleye and sauger.  No such luck for those species, just kept hooking small rainbows on jigs bumped along the bottom.  A lot of fishing was going on yesterday, but I really didn't see anyone having much success.  I did hook into a monster and took my time getting her to the boat.  Suprise!  Big carp!  The water was rolling at 14,000 cfs, but you couldn't tell by the number of boats.  Today the Corps has cut it back to 10,000 cfs and the lake is below 680.40.  Almost there.  If we don't have too much rain this week then this next week will be on! 

I will most likely be out on the river the next two weekends, weather and water permitting.  Starting to get more e-mails and calls about booking spring trips.  Folks, my rates will stay the same again this year.  I work my butt off for my clients and that is why so many return time and time again.  You are going to get 8-10 hours of fishing when you book a trip with me and you are going to catch fish.  If you book a two day trip then you might even get close to 12 hours on that first day.  I don't have anywhere else to go so you might as well fish!  Book your May and June trips now!

Well, my trip over the weekend cancelled due to an illness so I wasn't able to get out on the river.  I had two e-mails from clients that did some wading and fishing from a boat.  The boat fishermen seemed to do better than the waders, but both caught some nice fish.  No biggens they said but a lot of low end slot fish were landed.  Not bad for thirty to forty degree temperatures

This good water should continue as long as we don't get a whole lot of rain.  Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in doing some winter fishing!

Good fishing water has arrived!  The Corps is cutting back on the water releases, even no generation whatsoever during certain time periods throughout the day.  Egg, nymph, and streamer fishing should be solid.  Chartreuse copper princes have produced some good fish during these times when the water is somewhat off color.  Water color is decent, greenish with decent clarity, probably able to see 4-6 feet.  The water will be cold, with temperatures in the low to mid 40s.  I also like to bring along my 8'6" four weight Sage and fish the midge hatches in the afternoon and early evenings.  Back in early December I fished a hopper, yes a hopper, and dropped a Zebra midge below it and caught some very nice fish.  Heck, it didn't even get above freezing that day, but there was enough sunlight to kick in the midge activity.

Give me a ring or shoot me an e-mail if interested in getting out on the weekends.  Remember, water is always subject to change.  Keep an eye on the weather and if we aren't getting much precipitation then we should have some consistent low flows and some fantastic fishing.  Remember, these fish haven't seen flies since early December!

Well, last week we received a lot of precipitation, both rain and all kinds of frozen stuff.  In some areas it looked like a war zone.  So many trees have been taken down due to the inch of frozen rain.  Many areas are still without power.  In southern Kentucky it rained quite a bit and the lake went back up about six feet.  The Corps responded by running all six generators 24/7.  The lake levels are starting to go down and my guess is that they will crank it like crazy until it gets back to the 681 mark.  My hopes are that the river will be fishable in about two weeks.

Thanks to all who stopped by my booth at the Derby City Fly Fishing show this past Saturday.  It was great talking to folks whom I have taken out over the last seven years.  I talked more about fishing on that Saturday than I have in the last couple of months combined!  It really set the mood for myself and others as we look forward to warmer days and good fishing.  If you are intersted in a late spring trip in May then please book the trip now.  A handful of people were inquiring about May and June dates and are in the process of selecting one.  What typically happens is that people start getting the itch when the temps warm up.  It is at that time when people start booking trips.  It gets crazy.  I might get an e-mail or two a week inquiring about a possible trip then we get a day or two of sixty degree weather and I have six messages on the answering machine when I get home from school.  Also, don't forget March and April.  If water levels aren't too high then the fishing can be out of this world.  Like I was telling several people at the show, find a weekend day during this time period and give me a call.  If the water is good then we go.  If it is too high then we will reschedule.  I WILL NOT TAKE FOLKS ON DAYS WHEN I KNOW IT IS GOING TO BE MISERABLE!!!  Give me a ring and reserve your trips soon! 

I hope to have an updated report in two weeks.