Sometimes the Sulfur Zone Is Just "A Better Place To Be".

 After yesterday's woeful fishing performance, my usual reaction would have been to spend more time fishing and less time doing crosswords. Today it was 6:45 before I pulled the suspenders up over my shoulders, put on the fishing vest and headed for the river. Why? I'm tired of fishing the Sulfur Zone, had yard work to do, and wanted to try to fix the front door, it works fine in April and May, but refuses to close, and this year latch, in June, July, and August. Got a jack post and raised up the door frame on the latch side. It no longer binds but I still have to push down on the door handle to lock the door. 

Everyone who regularly reads the reports is familiar with the choice that has to be made with the raincoat, (under the vest or over the vest), well there are two more choices, (leave it in the car or put it in the back of your vest). I left it in the car, with but two hours of fishing and thinly clouded skies to the west, it was a no brainer. Fifteen minutes later, a quarter mile away from the car, I heard the first rumble of thunder. Debated walking back to the car, said no, and hooked a fish on a blind cast in the first sprinkles of rain.. By the time I netted the 12 inch rainbow, the rain was coming down harder. Walked to shore,climbed over a haystack of cain piled up during the high water a week ago and sat down in the knotweed under a silver maple. It didn't rain hard but I would have been soaked out where I saw three fish rise. When the thunder got to be ten seconds after the lightning, I emerged from the cain and stood waiting for the three fish to rise again, they never did. It was 8:20 when I reeled it in and headed for the car. 

Never saw a bug of any kind on the water all the time I was there. FYI, my recent trips to both the lower WB and the upper BR have witnessed a river void of any kind of hatching bug. The rises that I have seen are from fish chasing something up from the bottom and casts to them get no response. My advice, stay home and play golf, or suck it up and fish the Sulfur Zone where you will have big fish eating sulfurs within 10 feet of you. Catching them on a sulfur dry is another thing.     

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