One of the great parts of being a guide is having to actually spend time finding the fish or birds or making sure that water levels are right. There is nothing better than having to spend the afternoon launching the boat and poking around to see if I can find a few fish on an afternoon like this. The breeze was light when I started and went to nothing as the afternoon progressed. As you can see in this picture the water was just like glass and I can verify that the air temperature was nearly perfect.
I am still trying out the new Lund Alaskan and making sure that everything works as it should before my season really gets underway. To do that I thought that I would take advantage of the warm afternoon that we were having today. I launched the boat in Seven Tree pond and after an initial mishap (left the plug out when I launched, really good news the bilge pump works like a charm) I spent an hour or so bass fishing.
I guided parties yesterday and today on a pair of my favorite bass fishing ponds. Both days had very good fishing and everyone caught a number of fish. It is always a pleasure to guide out of the Grand Lake Canoe. It is beautiful, adding something to the trip all by itself, and a pleasure to paddle. On Saturday the smallmouth bass were not overly eager but simply could not resist a well presented fly. One of the women liked to change flies even if she had one that was working. Not the way that I normally play it but a great way to see the range of patterns that will work on any given day.
