I Hate Caddis!

 

Spent the day on the river in virtual solitude. Never had a boat float past me and never had a fisherman within two hundred yards of me. Started at the lower game lands, hadn't fished there in a couple of years and with only two cars in the lot, (one turned out to be a lady out for a walk), it seemed a good place to start. At 1:30 there were a few pseudos and Hendricksons being blown by me in a nasty north  wind. Saw six or eight rises, had three refusals, and hooked one fish on a blind cast when walking back to the trail head.

Drove along the back side of the river all the way up to Deposit. There were quite a few boats, mostly all anchored, waiting. Never saw a rise at any of the lookout spots nor was I able to see any meaningful bugs. Saw a lone fisherman in a yellow cap below the Deposit town bridge about 3:00. Decided to head east on 17 and ended up driving over to Horton. Parked at one of the more popular pools on the river, (no one was fishing it), and Ed Smith and one of his fishing buddies pulled in right behind me. We walked down to the river and watched caddis both laying eggs and hatching. A few Hendricksons also floated by. We never saw a rise. Got back into the car and followed the river downstream, there were fishermen to be sure but it certainly wasn't crowded until I got to a pool where I might well have fished - four anglers had it covered. 

Tried an empty pool a bit upstream and found both caddis and feeding fish, got three fish to eat before they stopped feeding. My last stop had lots of both caddis and feeding fish. Much like yesterday, however, the fish were zoned in on something in the water column and wouldn't give my flies a look, until the hatch waned. For about half an hour between when the hatch ended and the sun went behind the hill, the fish were more than happy to eat my offerings. As soon as the  sun disappeared behind the hill the cold air shut everything down. Drove back to the Lordville Estate with a smile on my face. Got only my third "win" of the month with a perfect 10 for 10 day. Not a fish over 16 inches but a nice mix of fish all between 12 and 16 inches.

The outlook - Still haven't a clue. I believe that the lower reaches of both the BR and the BE will soon be, (or are now), in the doldrums. There are Hendricksons hatching on both the UEB and the WB. I have yet to see what I would describe as even a fair Hendrickson hatch anywhere, (except the Neversink). Without good Hendrickson hatches the fishing has been challenging. The only thing I know for sure is that I'm sick of the G.D. caddis.