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32 degrees at the boat ramp and I'm not looking forward to the boat ride to the other side of the lake at 6:30 in the morning. Lucky for me, I brought some long britches and a couple of shirt layers. Things started off slowly as the Bass weren't all that interested in what I had to offer. They liked spinner baits and such, but I was sticking to the fly rod. My Zonko sliced and diced through all the bushes and reeds just fine. The 9 weight cast the heavy fly with no problem. One big hit, 45 minutes and no takers.

Enough of that, it's bluegill time and a much lighter rod. Fishing a 3 weight fly rod for bluegill is something everyone should experience. Even though they are smaller in size, they make up for it in tenacity and their demonic fights.

This particular lake is loaded (as most are) with big juicy chironomids. Suspending some juicy chironomid flies, like the Bungie Buzzer (video), in tight to the reed-line is a sure-fire bluegill take -- even in colder water.

.....that was the ticket. For the next few hours, it was fish after fish. There were even a good number of bass that had the same tastes. Even, Brian, my gear-slinging buddy opted for a 3 weight over the bait-caster and got into the action.

Muchos fish later, I decided to throw on a popper just for kicks. I wasn't expecting too much, but actually ended up with three bass on top and some wicked surface smashing hits. The fish seemed to be looking up. So with a little jaunt across the lake to an area a little more surface-action friendly, the topwater onslaught began.

It's hard to describe the awesomenicity of the way it all shook out, but basically the fish -- both bass and the 'gill's were uber-sensitive about the surface.

Pretty much any decently placed bug would ilicit a smashing strike. I ended up wearing out two poppers in the carnage.

By the time the storm rolled in, I lost track of how many fish I got on top. My fingers were raw from stripping line, having line stripped and lipping the fish. The poppers are now retired to my hat...