An hour in the mist got me right.

 

The entire Delaware river system is high and most of it is not wadeable ( why is fishable ok and wadeable redlined?). Back to back rainstorms will do that to a river. Just to make it worse the east side of the system got another little squirt of water yesterday which was enough to set back its return to wader friendly levels. The high water has resulted in every wade fisherman trying to cram into the WB between Oquaga Creek and Stilesville.  We've all been there since mid-June and I for one am ready to fish elsewhere. With relatively good water temps the entire system is fishable, if only the water levels would drop.

Today I broke one of my cardinal rules by fishing the same pool twice in the same week. Actually I fished it two days in a row and the results were predictable. Wednesday I hooked seven good fish and today I hooked but three. Instead of coming up and eating or refusing my fly many of the fish started up and turned away a good six inches to a foot below the fly. I get mad at my stupidity.

This evening I actually walked along the bank on a stretch of the BR hoping that there were some fish along shore looking for isos, alas there were neither. With my tail between my legs I drove back up to Deposit where at seven thirty the sulfurs were hatching and some fish were up feeding. Got into the tailout of a big pool and purged some of the sour taste from this afternoons effort by getting to cast at fish that were actually eating duns. Their reactions to my casts might be of interest. The bad casts (too close, dragging fly etc.) put fish down. The good casts got several reactions. Some fish (much like Dennis2's fish) kept right on rising. Only the rise form changed - they never gave me a serious look. Some fish came up and refused the fly, then began moving from place to place still eating duns but somehow never mine. Thankfully three of them, all nice fish, took pity on me and ate my little sulfur. I treated them with velvet hands.

The only upside of the afternoon fishing was talking with two Troutfitter regulars, we shared the pool along with river friend Mike who arrived after his Thursday golf match. I was the youngest of three octogenarians in the group. Stopped at the Troutfitter after fishing and met a youngster of 76 who has caught a fish or two, yet still said kind things about the fishing reports. I'm, by nature a loner, who usually fishes alone, but it's always a pleasure to talk with fellow anglers. It's a relatively small community and many of us have walked the same paths along rivers all over the country.

UPDATE - The entire system was treated to a big time thunderstorm last night. Oquaga peaked this morning at 3,000cfs, Cold Spring Brook and Butler Brook are pouring mud into the Stilesville section of the river. The river above Oquaga IS NOT FISHABLE! Stay home or go home, it'll be a while.  

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