We're All Just Travelers, On The Road To Kingdom Come - - - So do what'cha do - - -

Today was forecast to be cool with light showers. The entire system was blown out from yesterday's thunderstorms, with the exception of perhaps the Willow (Ed ???) and the WB above mud spewing Oquaga. Called the Troutfitter before driving up and Dave assured me it was fishable above Oquaga. Actually, I called "Vicky's Unisex Salon" first to see if I could get a hair cut appointment today and she had an opening at 1:00. Walked out of Vicky's and up to the town bridge where I saw no bugs and but two fish rising. Drove down to the Men's Club to confirm the high stained water. Saw neither bugs, fishermen nor risers in the high, coffee (black) colored water. Put on my waders at 2:15 and waded in above Oquaga with hopes of a hatch, ended up casting at rising fish non-stop until 6:00.

The fishing - There were but a few sulfurs hatching when I started. Fish were looking up and I hooked a pair of browns that went 15 inches (7 & 8) right off the bat. I then got a 14 inch hatchery fish to eat and come willingly to the net. As the hatch increased the fish rose in earnest. It turned out to be a heavy sulfur hatch which gave the feeding fish so many options that during the peak of the hatch I went over half an hour without a take. By six o'clock when I reeled it in, I had had my best fish hooking session so far during the summer sulfur season. However, landing good fish, especially rainbows, (went 2 for 6) on a size 22 hook in fast moving alga filled water is for me, next to impossible. The fish run down stream, the line picks up a pound or two of the wet heavy algae and the tiny little hook pulls out as you try to reel the fish and algae back upstream to be netted. Lost a total of six good fish today and four yesterday, seven of them were due to the algae. Landed enough quality fish that I only muttered excrement (or a derivative thereof ) once when a big brown came unstuck while I was reaching for him with the net.

The outlook - I've been hesitant to say this, but for me, the fishing has been very good for over two weeks. Why am I hesitant to say anything? Because even though the afternoon sulfur hatches are now very good, the fish are still very hard to catch. ( Fish ate my fly today when it was raining, but when it wasn't raining they mostly refused it). In addition, I have enjoyed very good evening fishing by heading downstream on the WB and to the freestones (BK, BR, and EB) whenever water temps and levels permit. Most anglers either are eating dinner or still up in the zone when I'm fishing in the evening. Evenings have produced well over half the fish I've caught. So, the fishing is good, but - - - -.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Had To Get Out The Neosporin For The Tooth Cuts On My Index Finger.

  To say the Delaware  is a hard river to figure is an understatement. Yesterday was an overcast day that had fishermen thinking olives. Turned out the water was probably too warm for olives and too cold for sulfurs, in short, a dud. Today the air temp was a little cooler, (I think), with a mix of sun and clouds and the sulfurs, (both yesterdays and todays), hatched. The fish? At least where I was, went nuts, threw caution to the wind, and ate everything that came down their feeding lane, both with and without hooks. Heard from two sources that the sulfur hatch at the red barn was also very good today. If my last report on the red barn sulfurs was erroneous, blame it on Ed who has been in Hawaii for the last two weeks, (hence no reliable red barn reports). The fishing mid-day was so good, and the number of fishermen in the "Zone", (it's Friday afternoon), so high, that I decided to fish down river during the evening hours. Fished a pool in the middle section from 6:30 unt...
Read more

Fishing A Cold Blow From Out Of The North.

  Jean came down and we spent the weekend watching wildlife in the backyard, driving around the area and enjoying two "nights out", one with David and Maryann, (the apprentice Troutfitter Inn cleaning lady). A shout out of thanks to her for spending four hours on the road to have dinner with us. Not sure the company or the meal was worth the drive. We drove up to Stilesville to witness the hordes of anglers, and then along the reservoir all the way up to Walton, where we usually stop and go in some of the shops. It was threatening to rain so we elected to keep going. It was raining on top of the mountains but we took route 206?? to Downsville anyway. We hit the rain part way up the mountain and then drove down the other side to Downsville in a torrential down pour. Came out of the rain at Downsville and drove down route 30 with the intention of checking  out the trout in some of the BK's thermal refuges, saw the muddy water at "Jaws" and drove back to the Lordvi...
Read more

Don't let that that rain come down.

 My South Holston river friend, (one of only two people who will fish with me), (the other is currently on injured reserve), is up for a visit (he brought his boat) and today we floated. There might have been some question about where we chose to float (no one else launched where we did), but we enjoyed the fact that we never saw another fisherman, let alone another boat, on the river all day. The weatherman might well have gilded the lily a bit when he predicted a chance of showers and a high temp of sixty degrees. It rained all day, and the temperature peaked at fifty three degrees. When I read the forecast for the rest of Mark's stay (rain for the next four days) I was thankful that we got in the day that we did today.  How was our day? We sucked it up, paid an extra $5.00 to launch (didn't have the proper change), parked in the wrong place (got a note from the owner where we put in), never made it to the predetermined takeout place, and had a delightful day counting bugs (...
Read more