Momma said there'd be days like this.

 Spent the morning grinding peeling paint off the facia boards on the back porch and the last two garage windows.  More than enough trips up and down the ladder. It was 12:30 by the time I cleaned up and had lunch. The last few days the Stilesville temp has struggled to get into the 50's and I thought maybe that was the reason for the subdued hatches.  Drove up to the red barn and confirmed Ed S's assessment.  There were more fishermen than rising fish.  Maybe they got going later ( water temp got well up into the 50's), but I was tired and had no trouble turning around and driving back to Lordville. Did a few little things around the camp (including the testing out of my new pillow) and low it was 5:30.

With the shortening days things happen sooner, got in the car and drove back to Hancock to check out the lower river pools that were so crowded yesterday.  You guessed it, zero cars and fishermen in the first three spots I looked at.  In hindsight I wish there were, as the pool I fished for the first time since the eels were spawning proved to be no great shakes.  There was a blinding glare on the water from the sun which was straight upstream.  There was a good hatch of what I thought were tiny olives ( until I finally caught one and saw that  the bodies were brown. Saw them years ago and tied some up, will try to find them and put them in my vest tomorrow. My little olives were eaten by some and refused by others but most of the fish were yearlings.  Hooked a half dozen two year old's and landed five, the largest of which was just over 13 inches.

We are in a transition period. Sulfurs seem to be waning and it's been too hot for the fall fishing to really get going.  We could use an all day gentle rain and some cloudy overcast days.  A quick look at the 8 day forecast shows high 80's returning with little or no chance of rain.  There's just no excuse for not finishing the paint job.

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