Quite a day!

 It was an unusual day to say the least.  With the prediction of gale force winds there was little likelihood of getting in any meaningful fishing.  Looked out in the morning and not a leaf was stirring. Filled the car with trash and headed to the transfer station and then drove up to Oquaga Lake to help Jean unload a car full of household goods she was delivering to a friends house.  When I drove through Deposit there were bare rocks out of water in the middle of the riff above the town bridge.  The water was dead calm.  Not so at Oquaga Lake where foot high waves were breaking against shore.

On the return trip about 11:30 I found fishable conditions and decided to try to get in a little fishing before the wind hit. Put on the gear, walked to the river and the wind and rain started.  Reeled it in and headed back to the Lordville Estate for lunch. The storm didn't amount to much and I set out to fish again in a relatively light breeze at about 2:00.  Got into the water, hooked and lost a couple of fish, heard the wind start to howl and saw the rain between me and the hills.  Made it back to the car just as the full fury of the storm hit. The drive back towards Hancock was an event with heavy rain and the predicted gale force winds seeming to come from every direction.  Arrived in Hancock to find dry pavement and a light breeze.  Still in my waders I said "Why not?" and headed down the path towards the river. Didn't get 50 yards when the wind started to blow, back to the car I went.

Parked next to the river away from the trees and sat out the storm. The rain didn't last long and as it let up the fish started to rise, with blue sky showing in the west I put on my raincoat and waded into the stream.  The fish fed on cripples and hatching bugs for about an hour and they weren't the least bit fussy.  Was in a world of my own when I heard thunder, looked up and saw that dark purple clouds had replaced the blue sky.  A fisherman hollered at me about the lightning just as I hooked a nice 15 inch brown.  As soon as I got the fish in I headed for the car. The angler was a blog reader and had recognized me.  We had a nice but brief chat as the storm bore down on us. 

Called it quits as the storm hit and drove out of it before reaching Lordville. I was even able to get out of my waders before it started to rain again.  It was still daylight and I didn't realize that the power was out until I tried to cook dinner.  Ended up heating up some frozen soup over the wood fire in the stove.  Went to bed in the dark at 7:30 and was just awakened when the power came back on. It's 12:30.      

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