Even Noah wouldn't have floated the Beaverkill.

A bright sun beaming down from a cloudless sky, a sky high barometer and a piping wind out of the north is a combination that chills the heart of of most dry fly anglers in the best of times. Add no bugs to the equation and you begin to get the picture of why so few anglers are on the river.

Dutifully followed the directions on the fall fertilizer/weed killer bag and applied it to the dew dampened lawn this morning just after my 8:00AM call with Jean. The directions say that the milky spores that I bought at Tractor Supply last year at a 75% off close out sale (you need to put them on your lawn two years in a row) will have to wait until just before the next rain. With those two items on the "To Do List" resolved, I settled down with the laptop and studied ladder stands and see- through hunting tents (in case I'm uncomfortable using my little fold up seat and climbers that I screw into the tree). Before I knew it, it was time for lunch after which I headed up to Deposit where my river friend Mike and I pestered Dave while he was trying to act busy in the fly shop.

At 3:30 (after three trips to the bridge where I saw no risers (Dave said he saw four on his trip - clearly trying to get Mike and me out of the shop), I departed and drove over to the BK where, believe it or not a guided drift boat was anchored in the pool I planned to fish. Let me be clear,  just because you have a right to do something, it doesn't make it right. To float the Beaverkill at any level is not right. In my 30 plus years on the river only one guide ever did and he paid the price. The BK is not a great trout stream. It has been between 70 and 80 degrees for the past ten weeks. But it has a history that to many is sacred and drift boats are not part of that history. There are over fifty miles of the Delaware system now cool enough for trout and high enough to float. When only one guide is on a river in the Delaware River System it's not because he's smarter than all the other guides it's either because he doesn't care about anyone but himself or he's not good enough to catch fish where other guides are fishing.

The fishing - Almost forgot. Left the BK and drove up the UEB, picked a place that was in shadow  (the wind had also laid down)  and waded in. There was what you would call a modest hatch of olives, hebes and caddis. The younger fish were up and found my flies to their liking. Caught a good number of 9/14 inch fish (both browns and rainbows) but never saw an adult fish rise. After the past few weeks,  it was two hours of absolutely delightful fishing.

Will again be watching our granddaughter play volleyball tomorrow (12:00 and 5:00) which pretty much takes care of the fishing. Will  answer questions (Dennis you are already over your quota)  from home. If you're on the river this weekend, don't despair, it can't get any worse and the cold nights might in fact make it better.     

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 22, 2022 at 8:20 AM

    Im troubled by the beaver-kill rant.. as much as I agree with you about many of the points you made there is an awful lot of inference and in many ways was off-putting to a reader who generally finds your prose delightful ...the unwritten and inferred rules you reference are a product of nonsense IMO and I for one plan on floating the beaverkill at the next high water event...ill give you a wave :)

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