Posted on June 17 2021
In my blog entry "It's only just begun.", I said it would be a challenge until the summer sulfurs kicked in and that you needed to get into a rhythm with the bugs and the river. Well to be honest A119 floundered a bit. Took three trips a day, drank lots of Gatorade to avoid late night leg cramps and had trouble putting things together.
The evenings have been very good but in the hot weather it doesn't happen until it's dark. The last couple of days (temp in the 30's at camp this AM) the bugs hatched earlier (just after the sun went behind the hills). The opportunity to catch fish in the evenings is the surest thing on the river, you just have to put the 5:00 Perfect Manhattan on hold.
The mornings have been a bust. One morning had a great olive spinner fall and a bunch of fish feeding like crazy on something else. All the other morning trips were dreadful.
It's the afternoons that got better. It's not really that complicated, bug hatches move up river. The water warms from downstream up. When Dennis said there were blue sedge at the DRC home pool, a dim bulb lit up. Of course there are, the WB and UEB get cold water releases and things there happen after they are done on the freestones (where I had been fishing). Saw sulfur husks (lots of 'em) early last week above Hale Eddy. Yesterday I went into the S.Z. and caught up with the spring sulfurs. Mind you, it's not the summer sulfur hatch but there are enough of them to get fish up. Tied up a half dozen this morning and found rising fish willing to eat them. If you are fishing this weekend don't worry about fishing before 1:00, it probably won't happen until 2:00 and it will be over about 4:15, (Plenty of time to rest up for the late night bug bonanza).
What's hatching? Up river in the afternoons, spring sulfurs and caddis. Down river in the evenings, everything, Cahills, summer sulfurs, isos, blue sedge, pink ladies, and olives.
Dr, M. - Thanks for the purchase. Just so you know the paper back has but 238 pages.
Aww c’mon man!
Page 240 has the secrets to life on it!!
Everything you need to know!
Amen!!!!!!’ I went to the upper river yesterday mornings and was casting by 8:30 I had the whole pool to my self and was feeling pretty’ good. 4 hrs later I didn’t catch a fish and not many bugs. A boat came and was nymphing they crushed it!!!!!
No more mornings !! See you in the PM
You nailed it great information
Was wondering what your process is when it seems all the bugs in the river are hatching, fish are rising and it’s tough to see? Do you try the small flies first (olives?) that are hatching or do you go big and then progressively smaller?
Thanks!!