Do They Really Eat Those Little Yellow Flies?

 

Don't know what I did this morning  but it wasn't very productive. Forgot to tie more sulfurs until the last minute and when I took the time to tie three of them, it made me late for the mid-day sulfur hatch. Actually the sun and the warm water were the principal culprits, but if I'd just got it in gear a little sooner ---

Anyway, it's too early to tell for sure, but my money is on this being a really good summer sulfur hatch. Why? I really don't know. Last years hatch was poor. The year before, very good. Last year's smoke from the Canadian fires kept the water temp down and maybe the bugs didn't mature. Perhaps the warm weather last winter helped the bugs to mature early. The sulfurs are two weeks ahead of last year, they are hatching in good numbers midday and again around 7:00 pm. If you think the river isn't full of fish, be in the "Sulfur Zone" from 7:00 'til dark, It's amazing!

Most people would say that the fishing conditions were much better today than yesterday, (there was no wind), but I had to work hard for my fish today. The bright sun, with nary a ripple on the clear water gave the fish all the advantage they needed. If you put the fly in front of a rising fish, they often came up for a look, but refusals abounded and takes were well spaced. I would have helped if I got there at noon instead of 12:45. Not only did the hatch start sooner, but it also ended sooner. I kept fishing because the sulfurs, (and some other bugs), continued to hatch all afternoon, and there were always a few rising fish to throw at, but the hatch was waning, where I was, by about 1:30.

Fished until 5:15, decided not to drive back to Lordville, tried to order a "Classic Chicken" sandwich with a small order of fries and no beverage at Wendy's. Ended up with a chicken sandwich and small diet coke that were covered by the $10.60 I handed the server through the window. Clearly octogenarians need a grandchild to do the ordering at "fast food establishments"

Stood by the river at 6:30, and when the first rises appeared, I put on the waders, vest, and hat, grabbed my rod and beat a drift boat down to where I wanted to fish, (he probably had no intention of fishing there, I made that up). From the get go, the bugs came, the fish ate, and I was into fish. I usually don't bother to put on a spinner during the sulfur hatches as the duns are easier to see and the fish eat them just as well, but last night I got ignored by several fish who were eating spinners at dark, so tonight, I changed to a spinner when the hatch slowed down and when the first fish started eating them I caught one. I then spent fifteen minutes in the dark throwing at spinner sipping fish that never ate my fly. All told, it was yet another "great day to be on the river" as someone else would say.

You know where, you know when, hopefully it lasts all summer, but you never know. If I were you, I'd come now! Look for me, I'll be there, hopefully with a bent rod.  





    

 

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