Maybe, It's Better To Have Hooked And Lost, Than Never Hooked At All?

 

In case you haven't noticed, there have been dandelions in bloom everywhere, and still the Hendricksons have not made a meaningful appearance on most sections of the river system. The only Hendricksons I've seen have been at Lordville the past two nights. I have assumed they were the remnants of a full blown hatch that took place during the standard 3:00 - 5:00 Hendrickson hatch period. The caddis, on the other hand, have been everywhere, in numbers that are hard to imagine.

A couple of weeks ago I was looking forward to large sections of the river without boats. Thought there would be lots of fish that would be happily eating flies without a care in the world. We are still in April and it's evident that I was wrong, if we don't get enough rain to both fill the reservoirs and raise the level of the rivers, it's going to be a very difficult year fishing wise. 

Why? At 1,250 cfs, on the BR, the fish are trying to avoid being concussed by oars and anchors. Anyone who gets a BR fish to eat a dry with boats parading down the river 50 to 100 yards apart deserves a medal, (Jim N. caught a 20, and two 18s, and god only knows how many other fish at Stockport yesterday, all with exquisitely tied flies that look nothing like the real thing). The rest of the river system has very few boats but the number of wade fishermen is just astounding. With nothing but a few caddis hatching, pools on the BK today had fishermen lined up almost shoulder casting to water that had no rising fish. The EB had a combo of both boats, wade fishermen, and fish that already know the game,

The fishing - It's challenging to say the least. Right now avoiding a skunking is an accomplishment. It can all change with a good soaker that raises water levels, and the emergence of paraleps and Hendricksons.

How'd I do today? It was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday. I have a little Chimarra egg layer tied on a size 20 hook that the fish are willing to eat, most likely because after a couple of jumps they are free again. Was four for six when I left my first stop, four for seven after the second stop, (did catch a couple of big fall fish there), and a humiliating four for ten after the third stop, closed out the day at the  Lordville riff in a light rain with Hendricksons on the water. A 15 inch brown, (the only non rainbow I hooked all day), got me to five for eleven.   

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