Saturdays Are Meant to Be Spent Mowing The Pond Grass, Crossing Items Off The Honey-Do List, And Taking Jean Out To Dinner.

 Have been enjoying the entertainment provided by the local deer population here in Lordville. Ten days ago mom showed up with her two yearlings and her brand new fawns. Watched the fawns explore the back yard for almost an hour while mom made half hearted efforts to chase the yearlings away. The yearlings, a buck with sprouting spikehorns, and a very pregnant doe, are around constantly but they now keep their distance from mom and the new kids. Started thinning the peaches and the buck ended up right under the ladder eating the peaches almost as fast as I threw them down.  

It's the weekend and a holiday to boot. Didn't drive down to Barking Dog which is being enlarged but Balls Eddy and Shehawken were mad houses again, Stockport had its usual half dozen trailers and Buckingham was more than half full. The tiny parking area at Stilesville was full and cars were parked along the road, the Red Barn had its usual half a dozen cars. From Cold Springs Brook down to the tailout of the Red Barn pool there wasn't a rising fish that couldn't have been reached by one of the  anglers standing in the line casting at fish rising along the far bank.

What did I do? Fished a little riff that runs along side of a small island. It's seldom fished, and all the boats go down the other side of the island. It holds a few fish that seldom seem to rise, but on a Saturday it's a nice place to spend an hour. Got refused by three fish, caught one nice rainbow and drove back to the Lordville Estate.

At 6:45 I set out, not even sure I would fish. Drove up the PA  side and couldn't believe the trailers and cars at Stockport. When I went over the WB on the 191 bridge, no one was in the water, I parked, put on the waders and went fishing, knowing full well what was coming. In two hours seventeen boats went by, every guide was courteous. I had planned to wade down into the pool and look for fish sipping just before dark, but three of the boats that went by anchored at the first rising fish they saw. They did nothing wrong, I knew they were coming, and they left me lots of space.

Just before dark I had rising fish everywhere. It probably wasn't more than a half an hour but it was what makes me keep doing what I do. Caught one, then lost one, fly wouldn't float, changed flies, couldn't see the fly, got refused, (I think), changed flies again, wrapped the new fly around the tip of the rod, untangled it, caught another one, fly wouldn't float, dried it off, dipped it in the flotant and cast at another rising fish, had no idea where the fly was but hooked when I saw the splash of a rise and was into yet another fish. Of course the hook came out of the fish in the net with the leader still in the fish's mouth. Cut the leader at the fly, released the fish, reeled it in, and walked back to the car laughing at my self. I'll try to find the fly and take it out of the net tomorrow.

Thank you Jean, for letting me do this.