For perhaps someday I'll catch a mermaid!

 With flies to tie for my western  trip, I stayed at the camp and  gave the upper East Branch sulfur eaters a rest.  Left camp at about 3:30 and drove up to Deposit where I looked over the mist covered river and took a pass.  Drove down stream, chatted with a friend and watched a river sans bugs, risers and fishermen flow by.  Undaunted, at about five I put on the gear and walked upstream.  There were no bugs hatching and no fish rising. In an hour of blind casting I hooked one nice brown.  Then for about half an hour, just before a rain storm, the fish ate my fly.  The rain didn't amount to much but the "air changed"  and for the next hour I never rose another a fish.

Walked back to the car and drove further downstream to where it had rained harder and found a spot with mist on the water and no fishermen.  There were rising fist and some ate, not like last night, but enough to make it a good day and a very good week of fishing.

As always, the areas being pounded are the hardest places to fool fish.  Be a contrarian, get away from people and enjoy the solitude.  The bugs won't hatch better but the fish are more relaxed and far easier to catch.  It's also where the mermaids hang out.

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