It's Not Over 'Til It's Over.


It's  6:30 and once again I'm back at the Lordville Estate writing the days blog while eating dinner. It was hot again today but when you spend three or four hours waist deep in cold  release water, you don't mind the heat one bit. 

Arrived in Deposit at about one thirty and drove up to the red barn, it was a sight to behold. As most anglers know, the spring sulfurs, (Invaria), move upstream starting, (for our purposes). at Callicoon sometime in mid May and ending up at Cold Springs Brook where they depart the river. Anglers in large numbers gather along the river from Butler Brook to Cold Springs Brook to bid them adieu, (and perhaps catch a few of the fish that are feeding on them). If you want to take part in the festivities best hurry as it will be over sometime in the next week.

What did I do? Drove downstream a couple of miles and fished in relative solitude,(until the Armada came by). There were still a few of the Invaria hatching with fish eating them and looking for more. A good many of the fish gave my fly a try. As I mentioned in the Gone, Gone, Gone page, (I think), you can still catch as many fish with a dry fly after "big bug season", but the size of the fish will mostly be smaller. Usually I'll get a big fish or two to come to the fly each day. Today one gave me an open mouthed refusal, one ate but the hook came unstuck and finally an 18 inch brown ended up in the net, none of the other fish were over 15 inches.

Until the heat wave ends the daytime fishing is above barking dog take out on the WB. If you want to fish evenings, (say from 8:00 until dark), you can fish anywhere in the WB and with the increase in the UEB flow, anywhere down to Jaws. 

If I decide to head back out after dinner, I'll add an addendum.

Well you should have known, no Perfect Manhattan at dinnertime was the tell. Had a pleasant drive both to and from a place on the lower WB, encountered a young red fox as I went around the corner at the Methodist pool. Fortunately we were both going in the same direction and he scooted away no worse for the encounter. Arrived streamside about 8:00, no wade fishermen or boats, (it's been dead down there for the last few days. There were almost no bugs hatching but within fifteen minutes there were fish sipping the smut that was on the water. They paid no attention to my offerings. When it got towards nine there was a Dorthea, (summer sulfur), spinner fall and several fish started feeding on them. Hooked a good brown that took all but a couple turns of fly line off the reel before being landed. Switched to a sulfur in the gathering gloom and as I was working my way back to the car, hooked two rainbows. One a nice fish, the other a 19.5 incher that ended the night on a high note.

Drove home with a near full moon overhead and yearling deer seemingly everywhere.. 

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