This that and the other thing.

 With helpful commenters having answered some of the more pressing problems I'll have to meet my minimum word contract obligation with some random thoughts. Jim Dygert was quick with the info on steaming flies. I keep an old tea kettle for that purpose. Be sure to  use forceps to keep your fingers out of the steam. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to do much for CDC. 

Black Boat mentioned Hank Locklin a country western singer who did "Please Help Me I'm Falling" and "Send Me The Pillow You Dream On". Looked him up to be sure and learned he also sang "We're Gonna Go Fishin' ". Who knew?

Dennis 2 brought up the subject of trout preferences (or tolerance) of water temps. The rainbows in the Delaware River system are found most commonly in water that gets the warmest, ( BR and EB) while the browns numbers are highest in the colder tail water sections, (WB and UEB). Neither are mutually exclusive. While on the subject of fish distribution - Sometimes the DEC workers are the last to know, 'bows are not unicorns in the UEB.  I've caught them up to Shinhoppel and they have become increasingly common from Harvard down to East Branch. Don't know where Stadel's Run is but rainbows have become well established from Horton Brook downstream to Jaws in the BK. Hats off to Ed Smith for his 19 inch BK 'bow!

Jack asked about the algae in the WB. I fished below Balls Eddy a little over a week ago and had a big glob of it cover the eyes of a sixteen incher I was playing. Best to ask Dennis and Jim N. who both fished there late this week. Right now I'd fish elsewhere. On the question of mucking up the car with waders. When I go out in the afternoon I put the waders on at my first stop and they don't come off until dark. I always buy a waterproof floor mat for the drivers side of the car, try to park where the driver's side door opens on grass and whenever possible wash off the boots when leaving the stream. The booties have felt bottoms and most debris can be wiped off in the grass. I take the floor mat out, vacuum the carpet and wash the rubber mat every Saturday. 

Skookul poked fun at my announced measurement of 21.50" on a fish that was a candidate for "fish of the year". Thought I could get a rise out of him by next day announcing that the fish of the day was a 17.014 incher but he refused the offering. When my Winston was last refurbished I asked them to please mark 12,16,20 and 24 inches up from the butt end of the rod, which they did. In measuring my fish I hold them up to the appropriate line and add or subtract for the gap or overhang at the butt end of the rod. When I have a fish that is worthy of fish of the year consideration I lay it on the landing net with it's nose against the end of the bow. There is an inlayed ruler on the handle of the net which measures the fish to an eighth of an inch. Could have left the 0 off the measurement. As things now stand the fish is in line for second place a quarter inch short of the leader. 

Last week several comments mentioned the absence of bugs and rising fish. I also found this to be true. Fished a good hatch of olives with rising fish Monday and had an hour of rising fish late on Wednesday. Most of the rest of the time I was blind casting. The fish were looking up and seemed, for the most part, eager to eat my flies. Couldn't help but notice that ALL of the fish I caught (both big and small) had bulging bellies. Don't know what they are eating but there's lots of it in the river.

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