It has been downright hot outside folks! Summer is here to stay judging by the forecast. Thankfully, stormy relief has arrived almost every afternoon (don't know why we're not getting much today though). We're in a "hot day gives way to evening storms" routine right now. Typical summertime pattern. As a result of the numerous thunderstorms we're seeing, water levels are looking great. Usually by this time of the year, water levels are low and warm. Rain isn't in shortage right now. The same can be said about terrestrials- they are everywhere. Ants, hoppers, inchworms, beetles, the whole shebang. Morning seems to be the most productive part of the day. The fish are hungry and the water temps are at the coolest. By about midday, most streams warm to the low to mid 60's. Once the water temperatures hit the low 70's trout start to die- especially if they don't have deeper, cooler water to take refuge. A good idea is to fish for trout in the morning and then wrap it up around noon. Then, head to your favorite warmwater spot and fish until 5 "ish" before hitting the evening hatches back on the trout stream until dusk. You'll likely enter periods of hot fishing, while other times the fishing is not so hot. Speaking of fishing that's not so hot, Delayed Harvest season ended as most of you know back on Saturday, June 5th. Wilson Creek, Stone Mountain, South Mountain, Helton Creek, and most other DH waters are unfortunately, by now, almost fishless. A lot of the fish on the upper Nantahala River seem to avoid "Bloody Saturday" though. I've always caught fish throughout the summer, well after DH season ended. I don't know how these fish do it, given the heavy pressure, but they do. Wild trout streams and C&R waters are your best bet until October ushers in the 2010-2011 DH season.

If you do head out to the stream, longer leaders (9ft+) with 4x-7x tippet is the best setup. Tie on a terrestrial pattern and swing it under an overhanging tree. Nymphs are working best in the early morning. The land bugs start to move around towards mid-morning.

I've been adding to the terrestrial/summer bug box daily. Green Weenies, foam ants, hoppers, Sallies... they're all taking trout.