Not going to the "sulfur zone" just yet.
Did a split day with the intent of further postponing my return to the algae laden sulfur zone with its boats, wade anglers, sulfurs, and super tough fish.
This morning I fished a section of the lower WB that I fished back on the 22nd of June. That morning there were olive spinners on the water and the fishing was great with big fish eating my fly with abandon. Today, not so much. Perhaps I should have been on the water earlier (went the same time as on the 22nd), as I had three fish in the first half hour and but one fish in the next three hours. The fish were mostly 11 to 13 inch rainbows (never saw a brown). Bugs? One steno spinner and about a half dozen tan caddis. It was a peaceful, pleasant algae free morning but one hard to write a paragraph about.
In hopes of conjuring up a good t-storm I spent the afternoon spraying weed killer on the lawn. Sure enough at 5:30 we had one.
When the "all clear" siren sounded about 7:00 I was up above Hale Eddy looking through the fog for risers. There were a good quantity of nymph husks from upriver in the water, both big and small but no flies or risers. When the sun went behind the hill things started to happen. The fog thickened. Some sulfurs and stenos started to hatch. Fish started to feed (I could hear rises). In a pool where I have never seen many fish, the water was a boil with fish eating emerging nymphs subsurface. There were fish EVERYWHERE and they wouldn't give my flies a look. To add to my frustration, every other cast picked up a big glob of algae. ( My apologies to the residents of the greater Hale Eddy area for anything I may have said about their river.) Finally, when it was too dark and foggy to see either shoreline, heads began to appear and the fish ate duns, some of which had hooks in 'em.
The fish are still between the two banks and there are lots of them. There are times when it is impossible to catch them and other times when it is just very difficult. It's nice to be on the river when it's just very difficult.
This morning I fished a section of the lower WB that I fished back on the 22nd of June. That morning there were olive spinners on the water and the fishing was great with big fish eating my fly with abandon. Today, not so much. Perhaps I should have been on the water earlier (went the same time as on the 22nd), as I had three fish in the first half hour and but one fish in the next three hours. The fish were mostly 11 to 13 inch rainbows (never saw a brown). Bugs? One steno spinner and about a half dozen tan caddis. It was a peaceful, pleasant algae free morning but one hard to write a paragraph about.
In hopes of conjuring up a good t-storm I spent the afternoon spraying weed killer on the lawn. Sure enough at 5:30 we had one.
When the "all clear" siren sounded about 7:00 I was up above Hale Eddy looking through the fog for risers. There were a good quantity of nymph husks from upriver in the water, both big and small but no flies or risers. When the sun went behind the hill things started to happen. The fog thickened. Some sulfurs and stenos started to hatch. Fish started to feed (I could hear rises). In a pool where I have never seen many fish, the water was a boil with fish eating emerging nymphs subsurface. There were fish EVERYWHERE and they wouldn't give my flies a look. To add to my frustration, every other cast picked up a big glob of algae. ( My apologies to the residents of the greater Hale Eddy area for anything I may have said about their river.) Finally, when it was too dark and foggy to see either shoreline, heads began to appear and the fish ate duns, some of which had hooks in 'em.
The fish are still between the two banks and there are lots of them. There are times when it is impossible to catch them and other times when it is just very difficult. It's nice to be on the river when it's just very difficult.
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