Rainy days on Mondays, always make me glad.

Left Lafayette with a plan. It wasn't complicated. Saw David's video and read Dennis' report. I would be at Deposit by noon and fish the olives in 375 cfs of relatively cold water. Drove down in what you would call a heavy mist until I turned the corner at Binghamton. By the time I got to Windsor it was raining hard and the little creeks were colored. My first look at Oquaga let me know I wouldn't be fishing the no-kill. Arrived at 11:30 and if the olives were hatching no one would ever know. The rain was coming down hard and there was a heavy fog on the water.  Chatted with Dave for a few minutes and left for the fishing camp. Unpacked, ate lunch and checked river levels and temps. Oquaga had gone from 10 cfs to 200 cfs (it's now at 300 cfs) and the whole region was yellow on the radar. 

About 3:30 the rain let up enough to get me in the car for a drive around. Went up the BR on the PA side and it was still clear and low. The 191 bridge in Deposit showed that the Sands Creek side of the WB was colored and the water was clearly rising. Drove along the BE and up the UEB as far as Shinhopple, it was raining quite hard but the river was clear.  Never saw a rise. Both the UEB and the BK were still low and clear at East Branch around 4:30. 

The fishing - When there is a heavy rain coloring the tribs, you need to fish a place as far below (or just above) a mud belching trib as you can, and I did. It was about 5:00 when I started and I hooked and landed a nice 'bow right off the bat, then the fun started. The second fish came unstuck and the hook had a bright shiny scale on it. I then put on a demonstration of about everything an angler could do to lose fish. Finally, with my adrenalin supply exhausted and hopefully my curses lost in the fog, I caught fish, quite a few of them, in fact. 

The outlook -The rivers are still too warm for good daytime bug hatching.  If we get the predicted rain tonight and tomorrow the WB (except above Oquaga) and BR for sure, will be either too muddy or too high to be wadeable. That said, THE RAIN IS A GOD SEND, we are on the verge of entering very restrictive flow levels, we need to get enough rain to meet minimum flow at Montague and to raise the reservoir levels. The rise in the river levels will start the trout returning to their home pools from their thermal refuges. If you can't fish the next few days, spend time tying better flies, get your gear in A-one shape and get ready for some good fall fishing.