Posted on October 04 2024
People often ask me where I'm going to fish, and I usually tell them I don't know. Sure, I have an idea where I want to fish, but if someone else is already fishing there I go someplace else. For the past two weeks there have been consistent hatches that got fish up on the river system. Some places the hatches started at 1:00pm and some places they started at 3:30pm. I even gave you the times in the reports.
Today, I had occasion to talk with three river friends, and was so confident that the bugs would hatch when and where they had been hatching that I told all three people when and where to fish. I will never do that again. Why? Both the bugs and the fish took the day off. I mean there was nothing happening as far as I could determine, any where. Talked with numerous fishermen and guides that came down the river. No bugs, no risers, and no fish, except for one boat that "caught a couple on streamers in the fog this morning" and one wader that "caught a couple on nymphs". To their credit, two of my advisees left their recommended spots and the last I heard did nothing at their own chosen places, which made me feel a tad bit better.
The good part. Got to share river time with a couple of friends, one old and the other new. Saw a young eagle fly down the river, was able to quit early enough to get the rest of my lawn mowed, learned once again how little I really know about fly-fishing, and lastly, how enjoyable a time you can have sharing the river with fellow fishermen even when the fish and bugs don't show up.
I read your posts every day. And have learned a great deal. But what is your recipe for the Perfect Manhattan please? And Thank you for knowledge on a tough fishery.
Hi Ed that sounds good!! I’ll let you know for sure next week
Dennis – I’d be happy to share a seat on the bench with you anytime. I’m coming back up next Thursday to give the lower WB another try. Please let me know if you’d like to meet up. Ed
As the saying goes, “a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work”. hehehehe
I will be seated on the bench next to my friend Ed!! We can share some stories. I fished the lower WB and never saw a rise. I moved farther down to a riff where I caught fish before and nothing. I did see some bugs and rises I couldn’t reach so I left at 5:30 It was a beautiful day on the water.
Angler119- I can relate to your experience yesterday. I went fishless on the WB but had a wonderful time chatting with friends and sharing fishing and life stories. To paraphrase Arnold Gingrich (I think). Sometimes the best thing about fishing isn’t the fishing. I closed the day on the Willow and didn’t even see a bug. A seat on the bench awaits.No fish, but a very enjoyable day nonetheless. Ed
Sounds like you should have been fishing nymphs!!
In all seriousness, thank you for your blog posts this year. They have been the best fishing related content off the river. Learned much and I hope you keep at them in the future!
Cheers,
John
As one of my favorite artists Joe Walsh wrote “Life’s Been Good “ you could say it would apply to any day..good or bad..on a trout stream..tight lines