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3. They're STILL eating my hoppers! Plus, a very large minnow...

Unlike most fall days, our winds died down today to practically nothing. And with temps in the mid- to upper-50s F, today seemed like a perfect day to take the kayak out while it's still not too cold to do so. Plus, our fall colors are just about at peak right now, so I wanted to get out for a good look. Where to go? Why Reid Lake, of course, surrounded by maples and oaks and full of perch and rainbows! So off I went, kayak on the roof, up F-41 and US 72 for a very nice color display, really bright right now. And the shores of the lake weren't too bad either, as you can see...Having caught soooo many nice perch (and a few rainbows including a 16-incher) on streamers last fall, that's what I went with first. Well, same as last time, next to nothing hit my streamer. But then I saw a fish rise near shore, and he moved enough water to probably not just be a minnow...on went a #10 hopper, and after a few tentative nips a 10" rainbow grabbed it good and bent the rod over! Dry fly trout with only 8 days to go until November! With the lake like glass, I continued throwing said hopper around until I left, and ended up catching a total of 8 rainbows, the biggest being 11" and therefore all went back in (I do keep them here because it's stocked with 1300-1500 rainbows every spring). This is the first time EVER I have caught trout consistently on this lake, in the past they've been random scattered amongst a lot of perch, but today I had them figured out good. Not only that, but I do believe I just caught my own personal best golden shiner ever, at least this is about the biggest one I have ever seen! He liked the hopper too...

DANG I hope we get a few more decent days!!! Sometimes fall fishing is the best.

Jonathon