The path you choose to take.

 I've always enjoyed fall fishing.  With the entire system opened up again you can usually find a pool to fish all by yourself.  There may not be as many fish in it as some of the more popular spots but you and the fish that live there don't care.  It's just you and them.  Most times there are bugs and some fish that will eat but it's not really that important.  Fall trout fishing is a time to reflect, remember old friends that have made their last cast.  Think of how the river has been changed by both mother nature and man. Watch the shad fingerlings back down the river to the ocean. See the osprey and eagle arguing over fishing rights. Curse the merganser that just caught a yearling trout. Look at the changing colors as fall takes the place of summer and wonder how much time you have left to enjoy it all.  My birthday is March 30th but on April 1st I'm born again.  I don't add another year to my age until I take my tree stand down in the fall with the leaves off the trees and snow on the ground. 

Today while painting storm windows in front of the garage, two fishermen stopped to tell me about the bugs that were hatching and big fish that were rising in the lower WB.  For the last few weeks I haven't seen enough fishermen to get up a game of solitaire.  Decided to drive up for a look see.  

It's a Thursday in the middle of September, there are 5 trailers in the lot at Buckingham, I'm surprised.  Stockport had twelve vehicles (some had trailers).  Couldn't believe it.  Shehawken had a traffic cop  directing traffic, a place where you got a number so you knew when you could launch your boat and a cue of boats waiting to launch.  Talked to one of the anglers who had put in there the last two days, he was knowledgeable and generous with his information and said yesterday there were isos and other assorted bugs from 3:00 'til dark with lots of big fish up on 'em.  I looked at the cue and then up river to an empty riff.  Had the riff and run to myself, except for the nine fishing boats plus two kayakers that went by me in the two hours that I was there.  There were isos, olives and stenos enough to get fish up and I caught a bunch, mostly two year olds.  The boats all tried to be courteous but I'm not going back there tomorrow.

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