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It's Easier To Find A Landing Net Than A Rising Fish.

 Encouraged by both the bugs on the water and the fish in the net last night, I woke up this morning with the thought of seeing if I could find some fish eating tricos. It was chilly and I had plenty of time before the spinner fall but I ended up working in the yard and it was noon before I came in for lunch. Drove off at two with no clear idea of what I was going to do. Drove up to Deposit, not to fish, but to consult with Lloyd Hornbeck about the stripers. We ended up talking for an hour. Left Hornbeck's and drove over to the Troutfitter to say hi to Dave and there were three cars in the lot. Detoured up route 8 and came down river road. Saw a couple bugs on the water, no rises and a lone fisherman standing in the Red Barn pool. Came back to the shop and it was closed. The bugs - - - - - - - . The fishing - Was almost as bad. Fished another spot on the BR, from 5:00 until 7:30 saw two rises out where I couldn't reach them and one, two, or three fish quietly taking something I...
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Five Short Minutes Of Lovin', Is Probably Not Worth A Four Hour Drive.

 Can't help but notice that the length of the days are shrinking like a cheap cotton tee that got put in the dryer. Close to three minutes a day. Was back in the car tonight at 8:12, in June it was 9:45. Spent idle time weeding my "flower garden", others would call it a weed patch, to which I have no defense. It has an array of blooming plants that deer won't touch, Daffodils, Iris, (three colors), lilies, columbine, foxglove, (two colors), Cardinal Flower, (the Hummingbirds favorite), and a new red one that Jean gave me that I haven't learned the name of yet. There are flowers blooming among the weeds all season long. Didn't head out to fish until 2:00 and once again headed east to the BK. Water was in the mid sixties, I'd seen iso husks on the rocks and, and, and - - - it was a bust. In a good rainbow run, not far from a thermal refuge, there were no flies hatching, no husks on the rocks and most likely no fish in the river where I was fishing. If you...
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I Think I'm Going To Sprinkle Some Yeast On The Water.

 Spent Sunday at Saratoga watching the races with a neighborhood friend from back in 4th grade. His horse did not do well but we had a delightful day, toured the barn where his group of owners has a half dozen horses stabled. Scratched a few muzzles just in case they go on to be famous, toured the museum, and won the last two races to cut my gambling loss for the day to $3.00.  Was on the road this morning by 8:30 and mowing by 11:30. Had to prop limbs on the fruit trees,  pick a few of the ripe peaches, water the reseeded areas of the lawn and it was 2:00. Ate lunch, sat back and let the world go by until 4:00 when I got in the car and made a lackluster attempt at fishing. There were almost no fishermen on the river. Either they're at the State Fair or they agree with my assessment of the fishing. Stopped at two places on the BK, two on the WB, and one on the BR. Here's what I saw. The bugs - There were tiny olives hatching in good numbers on both the WB and the BR, ther...
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Small Olives Are Hard To See In The Dark.

 Things are looking up and some of them are fish. Did more yard work this morning. Quit at noon and wasn't soaking wet for a change. The night time temps have been going down into the fifties, there is fog in the morning and the sun's rays just aren't as powerful as they were in July. Even with today's bright sun the water in the BK and BR stayed below 70, the EB at Hancock, (the warmest water in the system), got above 70 for an hour or so but that was it. Had lunch and decided to take a drive. Headed east and checked out a couple of thermal refuges on the BK. With the water temp in the high 60's there was not a fish to be seen. I'm sure most of the fish are still near the cold water but until the temp tops 70 they are free to swim in the main current. As soon as it gets above 70 they are back with their noses facing the cold water. Walked some shore line where isos usually hatch and didn't see a single nymph husk. About 5:30 I drove up route 30 along the UE...
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Striped Bass Belong In The Ocean!

 You know things are slow when 7 out of the 10 blog comments were about the blog title. It's 6:30, have had my first sip of the Perfect Manhattan and a couple handfuls of Act II's extra butter popcorn, (have paper towels in my lap to wipe the butter off my fingers before typing). With an all day rain in the forecast, I thought it was a good time to spread a wheelbarrow full of topsoil on some of the bare spots from last years grub invasion and get them seeded. Finished up at 11:30, packed a lunch, and headed over to the BK. With last night's temp in the 50's and a cloudy rainy day in the forecast, the the water temp was not an issue. The fishing -  Got a surprise when I walked out of the knotweed at my first stop on the BK, (a place where I rarely see anyone fishing), and there was a fisherman on the other side of the river. We exchanged waves and I left. Fished two pools without seeing a bug of any kind. Hooked two fish in the first pool and lost them both. The first f...
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Just Wishin' And Hoping - - -

 Hopefully today will turn out to be the nadir of this years fly fishing season. Was amazed at how much work I could get done by just not driving around hoping to find rising fish. Worked in the yard, paid some bills, made an appointment to get my trigger finger a shot of prednisone, had a couple nice chats with fishermen who live in the greater Lordville metropolitan area, (if your in the front yard working everyone stops), watched the deer coming and going to check for fallen apples and peaches, did today's crosswords and sudoku, and presto it was 5:30.  Having gotten word that there was a good evening hatch of sulfurs up in Deposit, headed up with a plan to fish an "A" spot that has been occupied by boats and or wade fishermen for the past few weeks. Needn't have worried. From the Town Bridge down to the bend at Danagher's there was not a fisherman in sight. Put on the waders, tucked the raincoat in the back of my vest and at 6:00 went fishing. While walking to...
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I'm Feeling Sad; It's Bad All Over.

 Making a conscious effort this week to take care of things that have been on the to do list since April, and to fish places I haven't visited this year. Didn't mow until the sun dried the dew off the lawn but was able to prune the apple and peach branches that the deer have jumped up and pulled down, while the grass was still wet. Love having the deer around but for such gentle creatures they sure can do a lot of damage to the fruit trees and a garden. Didn't finish the yard work until almost two then had lunch and worked on a crossword puzzle. Left at a little before 4:00 and stopped at the town office to get a dump sticker for the new car. The sticker is free for seniors but they want you to get a new one each year. The one on the car I traded in was from 2019. From the town office I drove up to Deposit, sometimes everyone does stupid things. Yesterday it was ok to get there at 4:30, it was overcast and there were bugs and fish. Today it was sunny and both the bugs and f...
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