This'n , that and the other thing.


Dennis - You are at least in the game having both bugs and rising fish.  If you are getting fish to come to your fly but refusing to eat it, you have joined the ranks of summer sulfur fishermen.  If the fish aren't coming to your fly it's either the fly or the cast. Summer sulfurs are small (think 18s and 20s).  The cast has to drift drag free down the trouts two inch wide feeding lane.  If you've made what you think are good casts with no result, find another fish.  Fishing to a trout that knows you're there is not a recipe for success.

Jim - I apologize for the simplistic statement in Wednesdays blog.  An 18 inch fish can sip a sulfur in a rise that disappears inside a tea cup. You never know for sure what you are casting to but the yearlings tend to rise quickly, don't move much water, are often splashy and you don't see body parts.  The larger fish tend to produce a bigger boil or rise ring, often show the roof of their mouth if eating on top and you are likely to see parts of the fish either above or under the surface. It's not an exact science but fun trying to learn.

Ed S. - Sulfurs like to hatch when the water temp is in the low 50s.  Above Oquaga this is most likely somewhere between 11:00 and 3:00, depending on the amount of sun and amount of the release.  The cloudier the day and the larger the release the later the hatch.  Sulfurs hatches occur throughout the river system in June mostly in the evenings. Recently there have been good hatches of very small olives both during and after the sulfur hatch.

Dick - Wisdom does come with age, so unfortunately does forgetfulness.

TLJ - Not sure what you were asking in your last sentence.

Jim V. - Thanks for the kind words, actually it's been a journey of over 65 years of fly fishing (30 on the DR System), hopefully you enjoy the trip as much as I do.

Thanks to all for taking the time to add your thoughts to the blog,

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