Posted on June 22 2023
Stay home this coming weekend and cross some items off your to do list and while you're at it think of something nice to do with the wife and kids over fourth of July weekend. Unless things turn around and the bugs start to hatch, (there should be good hatches of Invaria by now), fishing the Delaware is like having a root canal with novacane, it doesn't hurt but it sure isn't much fun.
This morning I did what I tell everyone not to do. Went back to the scene of last nights thrashing, just to see if I could at least find out what they were eating, and I did. Got there about 8:30 and it was probably half an hour later before I saw the first rise. Within twenty minutes they were going just like last night. The good part is that I learned a couple of things. First, the fish were feeding on that little black caddis that filled up my car while I was putting away my gear with the interior light on a week or so ago. They are about 3/8's of an inch long and what trout love about them is they never have a hook in 'em. The second thing I actually re-learned is that the fish see every fly. Last night I got a couple dozen refusals. Today, with the sun at my back and with fish rising within ten feet of me I saw that they looked at (and rejected) almost every fly I threw.
Didn't go out again until 6:30. Took a long walk to a place on the BR where I had done very well a couple weeks ago. In the first two hours I cast at three fish, landed a ten inch brown, was refused by a good fish and hooked and landed a screaming hot 17 inch bow. At 8:30 I was standing where two weeks ago it was like you were leaning on the fence of a pig sty when someone had threw the pigs a big bucket of slop. The noise of the feeding fish all around me was incredible. Tonight the only thing I heard was a merganser's wings beating the water when he took off a quarter mile downstream.
Just so you know, today was one of the longest days of the year. Tomorrow it turns out is just as long so I'll save my laments about the shortening days 'til then.
A119, This sounds spookily like what happened on the BR about 3 weeks ago, fish rising to a mystery bug and refusing my flies. The only difference is that 3 weeks ago the fish would occasionally make a mistake and take an odd fly (but not mine). My net seine turned up only some size 20 or so dark olive bodied caddis adults in enough numbers to account for the frequent rises.
I thought that would be over by now, guess not.
I suppose what is really needed is a good pattern for these small caddis. (my usual suspects in size 16 and up don’t really translate easily to tie-able size 20 flies)
I take some comfort in that you were also stumped by them.
A119 great tips about the river. I have golf league tonight so fishing’s out. I am going to try tomorrow and see what happens. With the rain and clouds tomorrow it might be an olive day. I will try some little black caddis too. Thanks for the advice