The "Next Day" Isn't Always A bust.

 Might have been a tad full of myself when I drove off this morning at 9:30 to fish a place on the EB. Was back at the fishing camp at 11:00 having seen not one bug or fish in an hour of fishing. Spent an hour and a half lending order to my fly boxes, discarded  flies no longer fit for duty and tied enough replacements to fill most of the holes in the duty lines. Left at 2:00 to continue the engagement with Invaria eating fish. Did the Hale Eddy to Stilesville loop without seeing a sulfur or rising fish until I reached the Red Barn where there were four anglers holding the fish at bay. One had a fish on, swallows were over the water, and I did see two or three rises, but it was clear to see that neither the bugs nor the fish were in any hurry to get things going. Probably the cloudy skies kept the water a little cooler and delayed things a bit.  

The fishing - Started about an hour later and ended about an hour later which, which when you think about it, is fair. The place I fished is a bit of an upstream walk and did not have nearly as many bugs or gulping fish as yesterday afternoon's glutinous feeding orgy did, also thrown in at no extra cost was a sneaky upstream draft that Weather Underground forgot to mention in their forecast. Nevertheless, there were bugs and some really good rising fish. Hooking, I did fairly well, patience in landing a fish, which is required to be a successful angler, comes slowly to me, perhaps I need a little more seasoning.

For those hoping to learn from this missive. Wait for the wind to stop blowing before casting. Wait for the fish to rise a second time before casting, (so you know exactly where it is), and when you do hook one, for God's sake, take your time with him and stop looking for the "next fish" while playing the one it took you four hours to hook.

The evening fishing was at Junction Pool. There were only a couple of us wade fishermen, but several boats gave the fish their best shots. Bugs were scarce and risers scarcer. Had to walk up in the mud as the trail is overgrown with knotweed. Caught one fish when I left the fly in the water and a fish ate it on  the swing. The other two were legit, the last being a 19 inch rainbow. Reeled it in and was back to the cat at 9:12, one short of a "win" but very happy with the day.

If you're here, spend the big bucks on a spot at the Red Barn, or try to get a space in the Stilesville lot, be there ready to fish at 2:00, the rest is up to you.    

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