Posted on July 22 2020
Back to business today. After yesterdays sorry performance I had the yard work done by eight and the painting by 10:30. Was on the stream with sulfurs and rising fish by 11:30. With all the action now in the sulfur zone there were both boats and wade fishermen in every pool. Picked a place where there was room to work around the fishermen without interfering with their fishing. Early in the hatch the fish were taking the nymphs on the way up. As the hatch went on there were plenty of fish looking up and enough of them were willing to eat my flies to make it a great start to the day. A nice 17 inch rainbow was the best fish.
Spent the middle of the day driving around watching other anglers fish, eating lunch and stopping by the Troutfitter to buy some tippet. After waiting out a brief shower (during which I dozed off for a few short minutes) the grounds crew rolled back the tarp and it was time for the second half of the double header.
Things started fast when a big rainbow ate a blind cast and headed straight for Delaware Bay. He never jumped but boy did he have speed and power. Came unstuck 25 feet into backing. This foreshadowed the evening fishing as I lost two other good fish and as the Adrenalin built up, ripped the hook out several more. At the peak of the hatch there were rising fish in every direction and far too many sulfurs to have a decent chance of hooking many fish. The fog (both in the air and on my glasses ) affected both depth perception and ability to see the rises and your fly. The fishing was both fun and exciting. Catch was limited to two year olds but as always, "It's better to have hooked and lost than never hooked at all".
If you go - Fish the WB no farther down than Dreamcatchers. Be on the river from 11:00 to 3:30 and again from 6:00 'til dark. You will see lots of sulfurs and rising fish.
Spent the middle of the day driving around watching other anglers fish, eating lunch and stopping by the Troutfitter to buy some tippet. After waiting out a brief shower (during which I dozed off for a few short minutes) the grounds crew rolled back the tarp and it was time for the second half of the double header.
Things started fast when a big rainbow ate a blind cast and headed straight for Delaware Bay. He never jumped but boy did he have speed and power. Came unstuck 25 feet into backing. This foreshadowed the evening fishing as I lost two other good fish and as the Adrenalin built up, ripped the hook out several more. At the peak of the hatch there were rising fish in every direction and far too many sulfurs to have a decent chance of hooking many fish. The fog (both in the air and on my glasses ) affected both depth perception and ability to see the rises and your fly. The fishing was both fun and exciting. Catch was limited to two year olds but as always, "It's better to have hooked and lost than never hooked at all".
If you go - Fish the WB no farther down than Dreamcatchers. Be on the river from 11:00 to 3:30 and again from 6:00 'til dark. You will see lots of sulfurs and rising fish.
OK, I readily admit that I may be the least competent dry fly fisherman on the WB. However, I have made about 10 fruitless trips in past three weeks. Trying to incorporate your advice, the last three trips, including tonight, I circled both sides of the river from Stilesville to Hale Eddy, stopping at each “access point” on both sides scanning with and w/o binoculars. I did, I guess, arrive too late for the 11;30 hatch, but stayed until the fog precluded my vision, nearly dark. I saw very, very few rising fish and essentially no bugs.
How am I missing so much that is going on?