When your vehicle and trailer aren't at the takeout when you arrive - - - - -

Didn't start my day until almost three. Yesterday in the bright sun, nothing happened until the sun went behind the hills so I had no urge to rush. Was riding around "just looking" when I drove into Balls Eddy to see if there were any bugs on the water (no) and to count trailers (0). There were two fishermen sitting in waders by a drift boat bobbing in the water. They flagged me down and explained the situation. They had ordered a shuttle that was to drop off their truck at Balls Eddy by 2:00. It was now 2:45 and no shuttle. I ended up driving one of them up to Hale Eddy (no truck there) and then to Barking Dog where they had left it. There it sat right where they left it. I was happy for the delay as I still spent over an hour casting at nothing in the bright sun.

The two anglers had spent the day casting streamers and had caught one nice fish. They said they had lots of swirls but no other takes. The water in the WB is getting dirtier every day as the silt that was suspended above the thermacline is sucked into the discharge tube and sent down river. The dirty water should be good for streamer fishing but everyone has been throwing them for the past month and trout do learn.

The fishing? It's better but the window of opportunity is shorter. There have been olives on the water in the bright sun but no takers. When the sun goes behind the hills the fish start to eat. The problem is, that the temp starts to drop and the olives stop hatching and the fish quit feeding. You have to catch'em quick. Had about two hours of fishing, which was exciting, fun and productive.

If you want to float, wait for a rainy day. There is no action in the bright sun unless you run into ants (never a sure thing). If you are a wade fisherman be where you want to be as the sun goes behind the hills. The rest of the day can be spent tying flies, mowing the grass or just thinking about all those trout you caught Hendrickson time.

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