And In February You Think The Snow Will Never Melt.

Couldn't get out of my own way this morning. Tied three caddis flies, did no yard work, solved two easy crosswords and one sudoku, made two sandwiches, (which eliminated 50 miles of driving), and at 11:30 left for the sulfur zone. The windmills up past Deposit were pointed SW and were really humming.

There were a few bugs hatching when I got there, and the fish, perhaps knowing what was coming, were all up and feeding. The hatch quickly built into one of the heaviest I've ever seen. There were so many sulfurs on the water you had almost no chance of the fish eating your fly. Add the wind which blew at gale force all afternoon and there was no wonder there was no one else on the water when I reeled it in at 3:30. 

Spent from 3:30 until 6:30 driving along the sulfur zone, (saw bugs all the way up to Cold Springs Brook). The wind diabolically followed the river and gave no one relief. A few anglers were still fishing up in Stilesville but it couldn't have been much fun.

By 6:30 there were a few bugs starting to hatch again, and some fish started to rise. The wind had  mercifully abated somewhat and by 8:00 you could actually make casts that landed where you wanted them to. Make no mistake, the fish all know the game, and do not suffer fools or poor casters. They can sometimes be fooled by an accurate cast of a fly that closely imitates the real thing, but not always. The number of bugs hatching and the high winds made catching a fish an accomplishment today.

Whoever is in charge of regulating the releases from Cannonsville to keep the water temp at Lordville under 75 degrees needs to find a new job. At least five times so far this season, the temp of the water has exceeded the 75 degree mark. Today the release was clearly too small and the water temp hit 77. Don't know what the problem is but it needs to be straightened out.