What you need to know - before you go.

 With the weekend coming up, thought it might be helpful to try to bring you up to date on river conditions. The freestones (BR, BK and BE) have all had Hendricksons for over a week. The Apple Caddis are hatching throughout the BE and I assume on the BR.  I haven't seen them on the BK.

When the spills stopped on the UEB and the WB the water temps plunged and the hatches slowed. The reservoirs are now below the lip of the spillways enough that NYC will almost certainly begin to reduce the releases and when they do there will be a bug explosion on both the UEB and WB.

The fishing - The BK and EB went from easy pickin's to - Why won't they eat my Hendrickson?, in less than a week. Why? The drift boats give no fish a free pass, they are all within reach. By last Saturday most of the fish I was catching had hook marks in their mouth.  By Monday the fish were reluctant to eat a Hendrickson. If you are fortunate enough to be on the UEB or WB "when it happens", it should be great fishing. If, however, you are a few days late, expect to earn every fish.

The bugs - There are still paraleps. Don't be afraid to use them. Hendrickson shy fish will switch back to paraleps because there are far fewer hooks in them. By all means use Hendricksons on the UEB and WB if the bugs come.  On the freestones you will do better to mix things up.  There are several types of caddis on the water, give 'em a try. If it's warm there are also sure to be spinner falls of both may flies and caddis.

Now is the best time of year to catch big fish. They are up gorging on both the mayflies and caddis. Check your terminal tackle often for knots and frayed spots. I lost a good one tonight when I didn't take the time to change a frayed tippet. Wade carefully, the flows are still high and be courteous to everyone, it's going to be crowded. 

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