The Last Hour Of Daylight Needs To Be Two Hours Long.

 

Called  Vicki's Unisex Hair Salon this morning and asked for an appointment between 11:00 and 12:30 anytime this week. Vicki said she was going to be closed Thursday and Friday and all she had today was 3:30. I took it. Half an hour later the phone rang, it was David at the Troutfitter who said Vicki called and that she had a cancellation at 10:30 if I wanted it. It was ten of 10:00 when I got the call. Took  a quick shower and a twenty five minute drive later I was getting clipped. Drove back to the fishing camp, made the dump run with the dehumidifier, tied some Jim N. flies that  ended up looking more like mine than his, ate a sandwich and headed back to Deposit for what is now the afternoon sulfur hatch.

The bugs - Dorotheas normally crank up just about now, and they are hatching. They usually appear around one and go for a couple hours. Start time is dependent on water temp so things start a little sooner on sunny days. So far the hatches haven't been great, or even good for that matter. A handful of experienced Delaware River fishermen at the Troutfitter late this afternoon agreed that the hatches are only "fair", but should be good enough to get fish up and feeding. None of us saw an adult fish rise for a sulfur dun today. 

The fishermen - Clearly the number of boats have diminished since the big bug bonanza, but most of them are floating between Stilesville and Barking Dog so it still seems crowded. The wade fishermen who were  benched for May and June due to the high water, are out in force. From Stilesville to Barking Dog there is an unbroken line of anglers. Are they catching fish? Clearly not as many as they would like. The biggest problem, however, is that they are not seeing fish to throw at. Hopefully the hatches will continue to increase in size and the fish will start feeding on top where they can be seen.

The fishing - Todays afternoon fishing was much like it has been for the last week or so. Few if any fish to target. I hooked three fish blind casting and was refused by a fourth in a little over two hours of fishing. A big brown ate an emerger ran about twenty feet and then just thrashed until he came unstuck. Landed a nice rainbow and a two year old brown. Stopped at the Troutfitter and everyone there had a similar experience.

Returned to the Lordville Estate and took a nap. Woke with a start at 8:06. Was in the water at 8:25 and by the look of the fishermen in the boat anchored where I wanted to fish, I hadn't missed anything. The good thing about arriving late is that you don't have to wait as long for the action to begin. The bugs were scarce so there was not much incentive for the fish to rise. Walked downstream behind the boat and found a few rising fish to throw at. They ate. Hooked and landed five fish, the last of which was a rainbow that I carefully measured at 19.5 inches. Had my phone ready for a picture of a twenty incher, (dropped it in the water), released the fish and was back at the car with my gear off at 9:25.      

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