Its Got To Be The Going Not The Getting There That's Good.

 

There's no question I tried to do too much yesterday. The proof? Was up about six this morning did a few little chores and at 8:20 I went into the bedroom to wait for Jeans 8:30 call. Hung up from the call and maybe just closed my eyes for a minute, woke up at 12:15, just in time for lunch.

Spent a couple of hours driving around up in the Deposit area, it was windy, but fishable. Saw boats anchored on the pods and wade fishermen everywhere. Never saw a single rod bent. There were some of the little Hendricksons on the water about 3:30 and while I was talking to a Troutfitter regular a few fish began to rise. Got back to camp and checked the water temp which, with the heavy cloud cover, never got up into Happy Hendrickson Hatching range. 

The fishing - Put myself on a two hour limit. Left the house just after 7:00 and was back home at 9:30. Probably hit the allotted time on the nose. 

How'd I do? Crammed almost every emotion you are likely to experience in a days fishing into those two short hours. Ineptitude, when I couldn't get the first dozen fish I threw at to give the fly a sniff. Frustration, I was watching the wrong fly when a fish smashed my floating nymph and got a souvenir for his effort. Excitement, when the bugs started to come and the fish started to feed. Satisfaction, when I finally put a cast where I wanted it and heard myself say yes, yes while the fly was still two feet upstream from where the fish ate it. Confidence, when after landing that one I floated the fly down the throats of four more fish. Disappointment when two of them came unstuck. Appreciation, Thankfulness and pure Joy for how lucky I am at 80, especially after last week, to be doing this at all, let alone catching three beautiful BR fish in the process.   

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All my life's a circle.

  Headed down to the Lordville Estate about nine this morning after watching a nice buck decide  not to tend the scrape I was perched above. Drove through Deposit where the Troutfitter Shop was dark and closed for the season. My fishing equipment did not make the trip. Had far too many things to do in the few hours of daylight we are currently being allotted. The doe with two fawns was in the backyard when I arrived and was joined by the orphaned button buck who spends his time either bedded down in my flower garden or walking around under the peach trees looking for the peaches he grew so fond of in September. Arrived with a trailer full of wood hitched to Jean's car (it has the trailer hitch) and spent the first hour replenishing the wood I burned this season. As if by magic both wood piles topped out just below the garage windows. Was interrupted by the button buck who walked up between the house and the garage and stood watching the wood stacking operation. A river friend and f
Read more

IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK HOME AGAIN!

 It's Wednesday night, a fire is going in the fire place, an empty Perfect Manhattan glass is washed and back up on the shelf, 30 shrimp netted from Zane Gray Creek ((did you know that Zane Gray (famous fly fisherman and writer of westerns) was a dentist and that his office is now a museum that you can visit on the Delaware River?)), have been consumed by Jean and me, prior to the three pieces of venison backstrap that traveled from home to Florida and back, an early spring snowstorm is raging outside and most importantly, we're glad to be back home again! With that season opening sentence, Mrs. Haskins has no doubt thrown in the towel and disavowed all responsibility for my literary malfunctions. Run on sentences she could handle, but my never before attempted "double aside" was apparently beyond the pall. I sent her a "Go Duke" banner with apologies and hopefully she will cool off before the fishing heats up. Our trip back home was uneventful. Started at 2
Read more

A rational explanation escapes me.

 Yesterday after driving up and down the "Sulfur Zone" in the afternoon without seeing bugs or rising fish, I headed back to Lordville without even putting my waders on. Headed out again at 6:00, got into the river around 6:30 and had two hours of delightful dry fly fishing to medium sized fish eating duns in a good sulfur hatch. Today, I made the trip up to deposit at about 1:30 figuring the cloud cover would delay the hatch (if any), it did, but by 2:30 the afternoon sulfurs were going and the fish were up and on them. Enjoyed about two hours of good fishing with four decent fish hooked and landed, two yearlings landed and a passel of refusals. About 4:30 the rise forms changed to boils and my fly was ignored. Tried half a dozen flies without so much as a look from the still feeding fish. Was happy with the afternoon fishing, (a big step up from Sunday), and at 5:00 it was too late to drive all the way back to Lordville. Decided to get something at Wendy's (calorie capi
Read more