There Are Some Yearling Rainbows In The Lower West Branch.

  #29 got  his new crown at 8:00 this morning. Went from the Dentist to the car wash, and then filled the car up with gas. Arrived at the liquor store at 8:52 and had to wait until 9:00 to replenish my whiskey and vermouth. Stopped at home to pick up the food and was on my way. 

Arrived in Deposit a little after 11:00, chatted with Dave who said it was a slow weekend fishing wise, then drove along the river down to the Men's Club. Saw a few sulfurs in the air and not a single fish rising. Headed for the Lordville Estate. Put everything away, and at 1:45 returned to Deposit. At 2:00 there were bugs and a few rising fish. Went up to the Red Barn and found but two cars and the two fishermen that drove them. Saw bugs and some rising fish and decided to join the fray. Paid my $5:00 and walked through the open gate, (Heffers are apparently elsewhere at present). Stewart, (aka "the tenant"), hooked and landed a nice fish as I walked downstream behind him. Went below the second angler and stopped when I saw rising fish.

The fishing - There were bugs and rising fish from my 2:30 arrival until my 5:30 departure. I say that, but don't really have a clue what happened from around 3:30 until about 4:15 when the thunderstorm got  everyone out of the river. Before the storm, the fish were eating sulfur duns and I hooked three landing one. After the storm the fish were still eating sulfurs and I hooked four more, again landing but one. Then, what happened when I fished there a week or so ago, happened again. The fish just stopped eating sulfurs, after half an hour of being ignored, I waved the white flag and headed for the car. 

The rest of the story -Fished the lower section of the WB in three places, two that I've fished recently, and one for the first time this year. There were isos, (saw two), small olives, a few, and some small flies, (when it was too dark to tell what they were). The fish ate my olives, some were good ones, some were yearling rainbows. I probably was in what you might call a fishing frenzy, (you can swear in a fishing frenzy, which I did repeatedly). After starting off 2 for 7 at the Red Barn, (algae did play outstanding defense), I went downstream expecting the algae free water would solve my problems. It didn't, in fact things got worse, hooked too fast and too hard, tried to rush fish to the net, lined fish, and watched the "wrong fly". In short it was amateur night on the lower WB.

If you haven't given up, don't. The temps will be getting cooler, the water levels in the BK, EB, and BR will be coming down, and the isos, olives, tricos, and ants should get the fish going, AND most of the action will be out of the Algae Zone.     

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