After Wednesday the NY Times crosswords get tough.

I am somewhat out of touch with the activity in the "sulfur zone" as I have always tried to avoid the most heavily fished areas of the system. However, sulfurs are supposed to hatch about 2:00 and go until 5:00, unless there is an extra release of cold water or cloudy skies, both of which keep the water cooler and delay the hatch, or there is warm rainwater or a cut back in the release either of which heat up the river and cause the sulfurs to hatch early.

That said, at 2:30 in Deposit, sulfurs were to be found in good numbers only in fishermen's fly boxes and the Troutfitter fly shop whose empty sulfur bins have been restocked with backordered sulfurs. A Troutfitter regular (TFR) who had been fishing since noon came into the shop and asked, "Where are the sulfurs?" Discouraged, not by the number of boats and fishermen but by the lack of afternoon bugs, the TFR and I headed to the UE.

For the UE this time of year, it was crowded. Most of the pools had an angler in them. We talked with a couple of diswadering fishermen both of whom had enjoyed a good sulfur hatch, which they told us started before one and was now (at 3:45) over. One of the two has been floating the WB regularly and said the sulfur hatch there is like clockwork. From Stilesville to Dream Catchers it starts at 7:00 pm and goes until dark. Not wanting to "follow the herd" we headed for the WB and fished below Dream Catchers. We missed the hatch and the boats, but not the spinner fall!

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