Frozen in the summer

Clearly the River Master needs a remedial course in  basic math. The minimum average daily flow at Montague is  supposed to be 1,750 cfs. Yesterday the flow ranged from a high of 1,600 to a low of 1,380 and today's high appears to be peaking at 1,630.  Why do I care?  Because, given the current hot, sunny days and drought like conditions, without  increased releases from Cannonsville, most anglers  remain confined to the Sulfur Zone and the sulfurs are done for the year.

There were hoards of anglers in the zone yesterday, so many that I didn't even consider fishing there. I got a taste of the better fishing available with the increased flows last week and have no interest in crowding into a pool on the upper river and trying to catch beaten up fish that are making a meal out of size 24 olives.

What to do? A rain dance, or sit back and wait for the River Master to increase the release to meet minimum flow requirements.

The fishing? For me it is now confined to the evening hours and it is tough. There  have been good olive hatches and the fish are eating them but they have quickly gone from eating duns to feeding subsurface on the emerging nymphs. The water in the lower WB and BR has returned to summer like temps and what bugs that do hatch are doing so late in the day or after dark (my screens have isos on them each morning).

The deer in the back yard this morning were all starting to show their winter coats. The fawns spots are disappearing and within the next week or so the reddish summer coats will be gone. It would be nice if we could transition to fall conditions on the river system as quickly. 

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