There are these two lakes...

[westofzero]

...that I drive RIGHT by each time I turn down my street, they're not big and they have people at them all the time (bbqing, kids playing in the park, etc), so I never thought to give them a try - until tonight.

I left just a few minutes before sundown, right after I got a wild hair to go make a few casts. I was pleasantly surprised to get down there and find something rising for an evening hatch.

I hooked into one on my first cast - a handsized bluegill. Not amazing, but not a disappointment. They were easy to catch (allowed me to work on some techniques, etc) on a stimulator and plentiful. Fought like a fish 3 times their size too. Word is the lakes hold bass and trout as well. We'll see.

The wife works late tomorrow, so I'll be back. I was looking for a place to go near the house so I could fish after work and not make an hour and a half drive each way.

Anyone else luck out like this? Anyone have some killer patterns for warm-water species? I was thinking of tying up some popper patterns and terristials as well. Anything I should give a shot?

[atomic dog]

My favorite setup for panfish/bass this summer was a combination of a crappie candy

Crappie candy (http://www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw2/052801fotw.html)

and a jitterbee as a dropper

jitterbee (http://www.loup-garou.net/jitterbee.html)

I've had good luck with the jitterbee in burnt orange, chartreuse, and olive, all three with black.

I've had many times when I've landed two fish at once. Seems like they start fighting over the food and go nuts for whatever happens to be around. I've caught bluegill, perch, crappie, smallmouth and largemouth bass on this combo and/or each fly by itself.

Although I haven't tried any yet, a green weenie is supposed to be another good one for panfish.

Poppers and sliders, though are really the most fun I think. It's amazing how aggressive bass will get with topwater stuff. I posted a pic on here a while back of a 20+ inch bass that I caught on a white dahlberg diver.

Having a good place to fish nearby is great. Especially when you can almost always go out and catch a bunch of em. Fun way to kill an hour or two in the evening.