He said he started his explorative walks and chanced on what he called "new places to fish."

"There were a whole chain of these little ponds that were not on any of the maps. On one stretch there were eight in a row. In one, no larger than 5 (feet) by 5 (feet), there were some pretty big rainbows, 13 to 15 inches," he explained.

"If they're spooked when we got close, we threw an ant pattern. If they were not spooked, we used a bead-head fly, like a Prince nymph. At one of the smaller ponds there were four of us standing around the edge and we caught five fish. When it freezes, most of these fish are going to die."

Fish found in the ponds include rainbow, brook and some tiger trout.

A lot of the smaller ponds he fished, he noted, were only about 100 yards off the main Mirror Lake Highways.

At this time of year, there is also less competition for fishing space. Back-to-school time seems to shut some fishermen down. They put the rods and reels away and take out the hunting rifle or start cleaning the garage and working on the snowblower.

On some of the more popular moving waters there are noticeably fewer people in waders and fishing hats, even on sunny days.

Throwing dry flies in the fall seems to be the choice of most fly fishermen. Watching a fish come to the surface, sometimes actually getting out of the water to take a presented fly is, indeed, remarkable.

The fact that fish are looking for food may suggest to fishermen that they look for common places where food might fall, such as under trees, near riverbanks and around fallen logs.

Popular fall patterns like Royal Wulff and Elk Hair Caddis are good choices, the larger attractor patterns tossed into the less obvious areas is considered a good alternative.

This, too, is a time when the brooks and browns begin spawning, and in preparation for that they will become far more aggressive in their eating habits.

A deadly combination at this time of year is a fly and bubble. During the day, fill the bubble with water and sink a fly like a Woolly Worm, and retrieve slowly. In the morning and evenings, leave the bubble only half full and put a dry fly on the surface, like a black ant, mosquito or Adams.

Shore fishermen would do well to try PowerBait, tube jig or Lucky Craft lure in the shallows, especially in the cooler mornings and late afternoons.

Past experience suggests that fishing will continue to improve, right up until the time when the water freezes solid. Then ice fishing will begin with a whole new pattern.

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E-mail: grass@desnews.com