I’ve had the topwater on the fly rod ‘bug’ lately, and got out on the river yesterday for several hours.

Every year I get out the fly rod around May and start chucking bugs at the bank. But this year has been different. The action, at least with the bream, has been non-stop. It’s fun having constant engagement with these fish when they are crushing bugs on top of the water. At times every cast is met with a greeting; even if not a full take…

But yesterday there were tons of takes, and the bass came to play as well; especially as the final hours of light cast their long shadows and the sun neared bed for the day.

I started out catching bream by the dozens, literally cast after cast. They were all stripped in, none big enough for a long enough run to get on the reel, but a ton of fun nonetheless.

After an hour or so, the first bass took a popper…

Then it was back to bream heaven…

I decided around 6pm to paddle up to a set of rapids and boulders a good ways from the launch and rested a while. But it wasn’t long before I saw the clock hit 7pm and decided to start plugging the foamy areas in search of the largemouth bass. And I found them…finally a fish got on the reel…after a crushing take, I strip-set the bass and the fight was on…

Such a fun day on the river…I think I’ll go again now!