Posted on September 23 2022
If you're wondering, I'm home. No matter what DRC might say it's not a nice day to be on the river. It was 40 degrees on the camp porch this morning with a 20/30 mph wind out of the north. The rivers are up, and the WB water from the reservoir is murky and full of leaves. Sat out yesterday too because of the high water, wind and leaves.
The outlook - Not as bad as it seems today. For good fall dry fly fishing you need low flows of cold water. With the reservoirs well below normal levels, the releases have been reduced and they will be cut back further on October first. There is a frost warning for tonight with normal temps predicted for the coming week. If the temps drop into the 40's most nights we should get pseudos' hatching around mid afternoon (think Hendrickson hatch time), in the slow water pools.
With no fishing to report it's probably a good time to answer questions.
Ed S. asked how I decide which fly to use when so many bugs are hatching and no fish are rising. My write up was misleading. Should have said I was surprised by the variety of bugs. They were all hatching but not in great numbers. I believe I hooked seven fish and landed six. Four of them I saw rise and the other two were blind casts. When there aren't enough bugs to get fish feeding steadily on the BR I try to offer them a meal. If isos are present that is my first choice followed by an Ephoron. Both flies were eaten by fish that night. Pseudos are too small to blind cast or see in the fading light, there were no brown caddis on the water and hebes just don't taste good.
John H. was the only one curious enough to ask what was the second most overrated fly. I meant to say fall fly and corrected it on the Angler 119 blog page but the corrections don't get transferred over to the Troutfitter page where the comments appear. The second most overrated fall fly IMO is the brown caddis. Never see them on the water when hatching and never have seen a spinner fall. They appear flying upstream in impressive numbers every night in the fall but never seem to stop to lay their eggs. If some bug guy wants to enlighten me, feel free. As to the most underrated fall flies, I agree with John on the small olive (pseudo) and would add the Ephoron.
PA side, not PS side
Like you have pointed out, location matters and being familiar with multiple locations is essential for reliably finding fish. A problem I face is knowing where it is legal and hassle-free to access the rivers. The BK seems pretty straight forward as does the WB from the no-kill up to the dam. The WB below the no-kill is tougher except for the gamelands. The BR has some access from the NY side and the boat ramps on the PS side. As for the EB I am in the dark bar the one spot that has a marked access site. How does one figure it out when you are a 3 hour drive away?
Angler119 Thank You for your response . Very helpful and most appreciated
Where is this angler 119 blog? Sorry I’m new here. I hope to stay at your inn soon.
I fished yesterday. I went above the bridge in deposit by the fly shop and fished my way below the town bridge to the RR Bridge. I saw 2 fish rise. The wind was tough but it was a nice walk in the water.
I can’t wait for things to change!!