On A "Hot August Night".

 

Headed out at 8:30 this morning with the intention of fishing the BR up top in the cold water. It was a multipurpose trip. Wanted to see if there was a meaningful trico hatch, and any effect the surge, which was on it's way down the WB, would have on both bugs and fish. Was in the water by 9:00am and fished until 10:30am. The surge arrived about half way through my stay. There were tricos, not enough to garner the attention of the wax wings, in fact I think the couple of dragon flies I saw went away hungry. The surge made its presence known by sending white puffs of foam that had accumulated in eddies downstream. Neither the bugs nor the fish seemed to give a hoot about the the surge. Never saw a rise other than to my fly all morning. Saw a couple of caddis flitting around as well as the aforementioned tricos. There were no other may flies. 

The fishing - Was nothing to write home about. Rose four fish, all of them ate my olive, landed a rainbow and two browns all between 11 and 12 inches. 

 Hunkered down inside during the heat of the day, venturing out only to water the tomatoes. If it looks serious about raining tomorrow I'll mow the lawn which is partly burned up and partly six to eight inches long.

At 5:30 I got in the car and did a tour of river spots I thought had potential for the evening fishing. Unsurprisingly it was dead everywhere. What I was looking for was the distribution of boats and fishermen. Saw only one fisherman fishing the gamelands from 97. There were three fishermen in the water and two more suiting up at Hale Eddy, crossed the river and drove back down to the upper gamelands parking lot where there were six cars. Almost stopped at the lower gamelands as there was only one car, but continued on to Balls Eddy where there was but one pickup with a guy standing next to it. Fished below Balls Eddy sure that I would see no one. In the first half hour two drift boats came by, gave me lots of room and went on their way.

The fishing - Was both interesting and humbling. Was in the water about 6:30pm and it wasn't long thereafter that a fish came up and splashed at my olive as if to say, "In your dreams". Started to see both a few olives hatching and a few fish eating them subsurface. Hooked an 11 inch rainbow and then went almost two hours without getting a single fish to eat one of my flies. Both the olive hatch and the feeding increased in tempo, quelled only when I cast at a fish, (every one I cast at stopped rising). It was after 8:30 when the rise forms changed, my flashlight showed the water to be covered with spinners, so I put one on. Cast at a rising fish and hooked when he rose. much to my surprise I had hooked a second riser a good ten feet past where I thought my fly was. One jump and he was gone. Threw a few casts towards the western sky to try to get an idea where my fly would land. There were lots of risers and they were gulping spinners. Made casts and if the fish I was aiming at rose, (there was no way to see my spinner), I hooked. Landed my three best fish of the day.

Love being on the water with no one else around, love the river in the morning as the fog burns off, love the excitement that comes during the last fifteen minutes of fishing in the evening, but I sure could do with a few more bugs and some easier fish to fool..  

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