Reprise, reprise.

With the predicted rain never showing up and a partly sunny day filling in as a last minute substitute, I was forced to change plans.  The increased flows have cooled both branches down and with the predicted cloudy rainy day I had planned to see if the WB would have olives down river. Went to the UEB instead, in part to see if it was the clouds or the cooler water that brought on the bug hatch yesterday.  It was the colder water.

There weren't a lot of fishermen on the UEB but the one man per pool rule was in effect and everybody was in compliance.  Three places I would have fished had anglers.  The place I stopped at had an angler donning his waders.  Rolled down the car window and asked him if he was alone and where he planned to fish.  Said "I am" and "right here".  He also said there's plenty of room and invited me to join him.  Said thanks but as long as he was alone I'd walk down to the next pool.

It was almost 4:00 again when I got to fishing but I think the sulfurs had just started.  Had bugs and rising fish from start to finish (6:30).  It's a slow water pool and the fish ate sulfur and olive duns with impunity.  Most never gave my offerings a second glance.  In two and a half hours of casting I hooked four fish (landing two) and had two refusals.  Couldn't begin to count the ignores.

Walked back to the car (other angler gone) and drove down river.  A van had replaced a SUV at one pool and the next pool had a vacancy sign, I stopped. The sun was off the water and there were bugs but very few risers. The fish never really got going and I spent a considerable amount of time getting a brand new olive (tied at about 3:00 today) out of a dead branch on a Sycamore tree that overhangs the pool.  As I was reeling in for the day, there was an aggressive rise within casting range.  Shucked out line and cast a fly I couldn't see into the black night.  It must have landed right on his nose because the splash was instantaneous.  Several minutes later I netted the same 19.5 inch brown that I caught two weeks ago. Took his picture to compare spots and sent him on his way (again).

On my way into the stream I walked past the eight pointer that snuck along the shore past me a week or two ago.  He was out in an alfalfa field about half a mile upstream from the prior sighting.

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