Posted on May 24 2024
The day dawned dark and foggy with a light rain. There was thunder and lightning across the river to the south where the major portion of the rain storm passed. By late morning the sun poked through the clouds and hopes of an olive day disappeared.
Left the fishing camp about 1:15 and headed east which was not a good choice as the bright sun stifled any bug hatching until late in the evening. By three I had one 14 inch rainbow. Got on rte.17 and headed west so that I could at least fish in cold water. Saw numerous boats, most of which were being rowed with sports sitting, and a good number of anglers wade fishing in and around the game lands.
By the time I arrived in Deposit the Hendrickson/caddis hatch should have been well underway with bugs on the water and rising fish. Not today. The unseasonably warm weather has put a pause on the fish catching bonanza and will hopefully quell the need to scroll through half a dozen pictures of "successful" anglers on the DRC report page. The fishing has just plain been tougher the past few days.
At about 3:45 I saw my first drive -by bugs (caddis), and not coincidently, my first trout rises. Both the bugs and rising fish were way up top, just below where Cold Springs Brook enters the WB. The presence of caddis at Cold Spring Brook signals the end of the caddis hatching we have enjoyed for the past three weeks. Drove down river until I found an accessible, uncrowded pool and waded in. Yes there were caddis in the air, and yes there were a few Hendricksons on the water, but the fish didn't seem to give a care. It wasn't until almost 8:00pm that things started to happen. It got colder, (I had but one light shirt on and froze), the wind dropped dead, bugs started falling, (more than you ever thought possible), and the fish fed. There were three anglers in sight and we all had targets, but so did the fish, many, many of them,and they showed a reluctance to eat anything with a hook in it. In the end enough flies were eaten, both with and without hooks, to make both the fish and the fishermen happy.
Drove back to the Lordvile Estate with the heater turned on full blast and a smile on my face.
All’s well that ends well.