First week of Summer.

The 4th of July arrived with sun and warm breezes. Now really feels like summer in the mountains. Interesting how when the warm weather arrives so do the out of town visitors. Is there some phone line that they can call for an up to the minute report on the conditions in town?
I have not fished much this week. Fished in a lake on the 5th. Nothing on a fly. Caught some on some metal flies. Went out with a group of friends. Helped a buddy with his cast and talked about fly fishing with him. Not bad day at all.
Fished in the East on Tuesday. The bugs are pretty thick at times and the fish are full at times during the day. I have been on a big streamer adventure lately. To the point of trying to only fish with the big flashy fuzzy flies. I tried the chuck and duck technique to no avail on tuesday. I tied on an Elk Hair Caddis and started poking around a little. Two likely spots held nice fish. The second spot was not much more than a foot deep if that. A little log had been lodged against the bank allowing a little eddy to form. I cast my fly just upriver of the little eddy.Sure enough a nice brown made the move from the cover of the log and took a swipe at the fly. The rod bent over with much more force than I expected. I thought that the current combined with an excited fish was the cause of the extra force. Then I saw the fish flash as he came out away from the bank. This fish was much bigger than I thought. The current was a factor in the weight on the end of my line but the fish that was so doggedly pulling towards his log and undercut bank were much more of the reason for the weight I was feeling.
So after a little downstream scramble and some frantic rodwork(I really did not want to lose this fish) I was able to bring him to the net. A nice 18 inch brown. Not the biggest fish but a nice fish just the same.
I am in the process of helping a friend paint a house. I have been enjoying the work quite honestly. I am not fishing as much as I was last week or the past few weeks for that matter. I think the break is good. Actually this is probably the best week of the season so far. Water levels are down and water color is clearing. The crowds are coming too.
The river that I have fished the most has changed so much with the lower water levels that it seems like a new place. I am going to have learn the river again at this new level. I am going to fish this evening. Next week I am going to be back on the fishing every day schedule.
I hope I can make it that long.