Slopping the hogs.
With the temp predicted to go into the 90's, I decided on a plan. Take the day off from the painting project, mow the grass, tie sulfurs and spend the rest of the day standing in the coldest water the WB had to offer.
Plan went like clockwork, tied flies until the lawn dried, mowed, ate lunch and headed to the upper WB. Was in the water at 2:00 and didn't come out until 6:00. The hatch was slow and steady, enough to get fish feeding but they couldn't just eat the emerging nymphs, they had to look up. The river is full of 12 inch browns, they're getting smarter every day but some of them can still be fooled.
Can't really figure out the fishing, the fishermen or the boats. The action is all above Hale Eddy, until at least 8:00 at night and yet there are not a huge number of boats on the river. The fishermen seem to have taken a lesson from the fish , they are intermittent and sporadic. One day you can't find a place to fish, the next day you have your choice of pools.
At six o'clock I was cool, refreshed but a bit tired. Contemplated calling it a day (a very good one) and heading back to camp, but I didn't. Drove around a bit , chatted with a long time fishing friend, found a place to park where I was reasonably sure of seeing a good sulfur spinner fall and went fishing. Put on a second shirt before leaving the car and was glad I did (drove home with the heater on).
The fishing - Very, very good. The afternoon was all about two year old browns ( with a few rainbows thrown in). One would think there wasn't anything else in the river. From 8:30 on it was a tad different. How so? With sulfur duns still on the water and spinners starting to fall, the big boys started to feed. You could hear their jaws clamp down as they ate both duns and spinners. Broke one off when he ate my fly instead of the drag free dun I was watching. Replaced the missing tippet, tied on a spinner and landed three quality browns that weren't even in the river three hours earlier.
If you come, there will be sulfurs above Hale Eddy. There will be rising trout. They will be hard to fool. Stay late (got to the car at 9:35) and you will see (and hear) the hogs. Catching them will be up to you.
Plan went like clockwork, tied flies until the lawn dried, mowed, ate lunch and headed to the upper WB. Was in the water at 2:00 and didn't come out until 6:00. The hatch was slow and steady, enough to get fish feeding but they couldn't just eat the emerging nymphs, they had to look up. The river is full of 12 inch browns, they're getting smarter every day but some of them can still be fooled.
Can't really figure out the fishing, the fishermen or the boats. The action is all above Hale Eddy, until at least 8:00 at night and yet there are not a huge number of boats on the river. The fishermen seem to have taken a lesson from the fish , they are intermittent and sporadic. One day you can't find a place to fish, the next day you have your choice of pools.
At six o'clock I was cool, refreshed but a bit tired. Contemplated calling it a day (a very good one) and heading back to camp, but I didn't. Drove around a bit , chatted with a long time fishing friend, found a place to park where I was reasonably sure of seeing a good sulfur spinner fall and went fishing. Put on a second shirt before leaving the car and was glad I did (drove home with the heater on).
The fishing - Very, very good. The afternoon was all about two year old browns ( with a few rainbows thrown in). One would think there wasn't anything else in the river. From 8:30 on it was a tad different. How so? With sulfur duns still on the water and spinners starting to fall, the big boys started to feed. You could hear their jaws clamp down as they ate both duns and spinners. Broke one off when he ate my fly instead of the drag free dun I was watching. Replaced the missing tippet, tied on a spinner and landed three quality browns that weren't even in the river three hours earlier.
If you come, there will be sulfurs above Hale Eddy. There will be rising trout. They will be hard to fool. Stay late (got to the car at 9:35) and you will see (and hear) the hogs. Catching them will be up to you.
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