Sunday Morning Coming Down

 With the remnants of the nor'easter circling New York state like a vulture over a road kill, predicting where and when the rain would actually fall was beyond the capabilities of both  AI and the weatherman. Had worked hard getting the area around the bass pond leveled off with all the major holes filled, seeded and the seed raked in because a nice all night rain was predicted for Lafayette. Left for Lordville this morning with only dew dampening the ground. Ran into several bands of rain on the way down, but it stopped at Windsor and the ground was dry under the Norway Spruces at the back of the Troutfitter parking lot.  

Got down to the small, partially restored, Sears package home which I now refer to as the "fishing camp", unloaded my clean clothes, the bow, (which I again, (third time), never shot in Lafayette), a few vittles, and went fishing. 

The fishing -Stopped at three places on the EB, first had an angler ensconced in the prime spot, I drove on. Started down the steep bank at the second spot, retreated to the car and got my wading staff, made it down the hill, (if you fish there, be sure to turn right at the bottom, not left, or you may never be heard from again), leaned the wading staff against a tree and went fishing. At 2:15 there were tiny olives in the air with no fish up, about three I started to see isos. Hooked a 13 inch rainbow on a blind cast, then had a refusal from a fish that went to eat my fly just as it ran out of line needed to float naturally. Saw several more isos hatch and then saw two fish rise. The first ignored my offering, the second, a 17 inch rainbow), ate. With both pseudos and isos hatching and no more fish rising I worked my way back towards my wading staff, got another refusal enroute. On the third stop I saw only isos, (three of them), on one of my first casts, was refused by a fish that came up slowly, swirled and went back down, (probably with a grin on its face), when I lifted, fully expecting to feel a fish that had taken my fly, there was nothing. Shortly thereafter, having switched to a floating nymph, (they are very hard for someone my age to see on a gray, cloudy, overcast day), and having no idea where the hell it was, an opportunistic fish ate it like he was stealing candy from a baby, I reacted to the hard take with an equally hard hook set which presented the fish with a souvenir including both the five and six x tippet. Was back in the car at 4:15.

Stopped briefly at a place on the WB that had gray water, a boat, and neither bugs, nor risers. Then took a leisurely drive back to Lorville stopping at three places without seeing a bug or a rise. If the bugs and fish went tonight 45 minutes before dark, God bless 'em, I wasn't there to see 'em.