Why drive from Deposit all the way over to the Beaverkill?

 When the release from Cannonsville is only 130 cfs, 90 cfs of muddy water from Oquaga is more than enough to "stain" up the WB.  Drove up to Stilesville, not really because I wanted to fish there but rather to see what Dennis was talking about. Usually trout are willing to eat pseudos on top and I was curious. With no one in the pasture  pool and some fish rising I paid the $5.00 and waded in.  Got half a dozen refusals to my pseudo within the first half hour. Then fished for an hour in a decent pseudo hatch without a fish even glancing at my fly.

Dennis asked what do you do when fish are feeding subsurface like that. Dennis, I reel it in and head for someplace else. Seriously, I don't have a clue what the fish were eating. All I know is that if you were to look at the water up close (yes, with your bifocals), you would have seen more living creatures than ever you could imagine floating down the river, none of which could be duplicated on the smallest hook that has ever been created. Any four of the them could sit on the head of a pin and play poker with plenty of room in the middle for the pot. Was that what the fish were eating? I really don't know but the boils were so frequent that I find it hard to believe they were just eating pseudo nymphs. Have seen some big time midge hatches on the BR of late and expected to find that that was what they were feeding on but I didn't see any midges in the air..

The fishing - Get the hell out of Dodge, everyone! Fishing the Delaware in the Deposit area, in murky water, for fish that have been pounded relentlessly since early July, is a waste of time. In less than twenty minutes from reeling it in at the red barn, I was on a pool in the BK with a good hatch of fall bugs and trout feeding everywhere. How'd I do? Caught a 13 inch rainbow right off the bat and then cast at a bunch of fish who were again feeding subsurface. Got mostly ignored, with a few indignant refusals just to let me know that they hadn't forgotten what a fly with a hook in it looks like. Tipped my cap and left with good fish still boiling the water.

Made my last stand (it's now 6:00) at a pool farther downstream that required a machete (no I don't carry one) to cut through the knotweed that had grown over the trail this summer. Again there were fish and yes some were still boiling subsurface but some were sticking their noses out of the water to eat on top. Didn't make the most of my chances, tied a half hitch around the bend of the hook and pulled the fly out of a nice fish, had the line catch under a rock and lost a good rainbow and yet another 'bow came unstuck after the first jump. But I caught a beautiful 20 inch brown and three more rainbows which made it well worth the drive.

Authors note - I've been writing this thing a long time and sometimes things sneak up on me but most of you no longer say "He missed it" and more and more of you are seeing the difference between subsurface boils, splashy rises and the fish that are feeding on top. Still waiting for you to see noses out of the water, hear the glup of a fish eating a dry and recognize an indignant refusal when you see one. Small steps.

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