New look flies a hit on West Branch but bomb on the East!

Stung by two tough days on the river, I got out early, determined to teach those fish a lesson.  Fished what I think is one of the better runs in the river from nine-thirty until eleven fifteen.  What did I get?  One rise by a fish that said "no thank you" to my offering.  At least I was smart enough to quit when I did, go home , eat lunch and
tie some new and different flies.

Almost passed up the afternoon "sulfur hatch"  but  decided to give my my new flies a try. The hatch was the same as it has been with a mix of big flies but no summer sulfurs.  The fish, absent anglers (there was no one fishing anywhere) were rising.  Hooked and landed the first two fish I threw at and continued to get looks from almost every fish. The action got hot and heavy whenever a cloud blocked the sun and slowed to a crawl when the bright sun shone on the river. By five o'clock, when the hatch had ended I had hooked nine fish and landed eight.  The fish were mostly two year olds with a sixteen incher being the biggest (also got a thirteen inch brook trout).

Pumped up from my success I drove over to the upper EB where I again saw little fishing activity.  Chose one of the better pools that was half in shadow and gave it a try.  It was slow going at first with very little feeding even in the shaded water.  After an hour or more several things became clear.  The first was that my new flies weren't
worth a dam on the EB.  Secondly, I couldn't find any flies that did work.  Third, I needed to relax and wait for it to happen.  I did and it did. There was nothing spectacular, a few sulfurs, some cahills and an olive or two but things got going and I started hooking fish. Again, they were mostly two year olds (twelve to fourteen inches) but they started eating what I was throwing.  The action went on until nine-thirty when I hooked and landed a second sixteen inch fish thatbecame  co-fish of the day.

Make no mistake about it, the fishing is still very tough.The new flies were not something the WB fish had seen and they ate them. The EB success was more a case of the easing of fishing pressure leading to the fish getting a little easier to fool.

Tell the  guys at the Troutfitter you want some of Angler 119's special flies and see what they give you.  I bet it won't be what I used today.

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