Even with overall pleasant weather in the canyon this week, you can definitely feel a bite in the air in the evenings which makes it pretty clear that fall is on the way. The result of this seems to be benefiting just about everyone. I fished out on the Rock Slide early in the week and couldn't believe the difference in the concentration of fish cruising the boulders over just a few weeks ago when most of those fish were handing deep.

Still, even with some fish clearly moving into shallower areas, we got some excellent reports from lead core guys who were still doing very well with the flasher/crawler combo and small Rapalas. Surface trolling is also hot right now - especially hauling Olive Wooly Buggers or other flies, Thomas Bouyants, and Blue/Silver Kastmasters.

The mini-jig bite, especially at the rock slide, came back strong this week - especially on Berkeley's Rainbow Sparkle atomic tubes or the 4th of July Trout Traps. Grasshopper & Mocha colors were also producing, especially fished under a small bobber with a piece of crawlers or mealworm to sweeten the deal. The inlets produced several fish too but the fish willing to bite the plastics were the ones hugging within just a few feet of the moving water.

Nightcrawlers were incredibly productive this week and limit-style fishing for rainbows was common at the Rock Slide, the inlets and near the dam. Inflated off the bottom or 6ft under a bobber were the preferred presentations. Salmon Peach PB was a strong second choice, followed by Natural Scent Garlic PB.

After last week's Alpers stocking I was expecting a pretty big week on the trophy trout front but unfortunately the biggest we saw come to the scale was 3lbs. When I was out on the water earlier in the week, I did see three toads in the 4-5lbs class stacked up at a small creek inlet some of the South Lake staffers have named the Eddie Murphy Inlet. You'll have to talk to the guys at the dock to get directions to that secret spot.