Up River, It's The Smallest Flies That Are Getting Eaten.

 

Trying to figure out/predict river flows is at least as hard as picking winners at Saratoga. Why did they cut back the release on the WB two days ago? The predicted rain - or - is Wallenpaupack going to run? 

The rain did produce a little bump in the water level down in Jersey but it's already dropped below 1750cfs and this morning they dropped the Cannonsville release even further. It would appear that Wallenpaupack is about to crank up. If you are here or if you are coming be sure to have the USGS site for Stilesville on your phone so you can check for increases in the flow while you are fishing. It's not fun to get caught on the wrong side of the river.

Today, with the release at 425cfs, the contrarian in me decided to try the river up in Deposit. It's been deserted by anglers as there has been little bug activity and few rising fish. When the flow is up over 700cfs it's pulling some of the silt into the water and it's starting to get cloudy. At 425cfs there was very little color to the water with visibility of over three feet. Stood on shore and watched the wind create little waves, saw neither bugs nor risers. Waded in, threw an ant and got a refusal. Saw what I thought might be a rise or two but decided that the wind was blowing the tops off the waves. Then I started seeing rises everywhere, subtle to be sure, but fish rose less than the length of my rod from me, (try making that cast). Stared at the water and saw mostly the little white blossoms from the knot weed, there were leaves and other debris but no bugs could I see, until the sun caught the upright wings of a size challenged 26 olive. Put on the tiniest olive I own and immediately got looks, lots of them, tooks, not so many. How a trout can sort through thousands of little white blossoms and other debris and come up to and reject flies with hooks and then eat the real thing floating a foot behind it amazing. Hooked and landed two counters and a half dozen yearlings not yet ten inches. When the sun went off the water it stopped and I left.

Drove downstream to a place, still in the upper river, where I have done well in normal summer flows. There was a carpet of debris on the water along with some olive spinners, the occasional ant, some black specks, and a handful of big yellow flies. Never saw an olive dun on the water. There were almost no fish rising. In the hour I was there I cast at no more than a dozen fish, six ate and were landed, (two were non counters), one refused, two times I couldn't see my fly and hooked when the fish ate something else. When I reeled it in there was still enough light to see rising fish a good fifty yards away, there just weren't any. It was another 6 fish,(counters), day but I did land three nice browns one 17, the other two 18.

If the water is still down tomorrow, I'd spend some time up river in the afternoon, bring your smallest olives and look for rises so small they disappear inside a teacup.

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