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Time to look for tricos.

Posted on August 12 2022

It's time to face facts. The sulfurs are on the wane. Yesterday I was tardy getting to the stream but had fish rising to sulfurs for about forty five minutes, was fishing between town and the red barn. Today I got going on time and  tried a place between Oquaga and the town bridge. Have been bested by the trout there twice already this year and wanted to try to get even. I didn't.

To begin with there was nothing anyone would call a sulfur hatch. There were a few fish rising to eat only God knows what. Did they come to my fly? You bet. Did they eat it? One nice rainbow and one three year old brown did. Several of the fish stocked in Oquaga with major parts of their mouths missing did. Half a dozen nice fish came up open mouthed and didn't, and I saw another couple dozen come up under my fly just for a look. Fished from 2:00 until 4:00 and it was more than enough. Drove back to the Lordville estate and took a little snooze.

 Forgot to mention that on the way back, in what was heavy traffic for rte. 17, there was a bear right across the river from WBA that was stopped under the guard rail waiting (they usually just bolt across) for an opportunity to cross the road. I was third in a line of six cars. Saw the driver ahead of me tap his brakes and I was past the bear. A stream of cars and semi's was heading west, hope he made it across.  

Awoke from the snooze in time to drive up the PA side of the big river. There were no cars at Buckingham (with the recent warm temps in the BR, there shouldn't be), and  a couple of cars at Stockport (perhaps pushing it a little bit). Shehawken appeared to be deserted but I did have a drift boat (no arrowhead, probably not a guide) row right by in front of me, not half a cast away, in the lower WB where I ended up fishing from 7:15 until 8:45. How was it?  Way better than my afternoon in the Sulfur Zone. In an hour and a half I hooked 10 rainbows, losing the first five in a row and then landing four before having the last one break me off.  It's better to have hooked and lost 

4 comments

  • Andy B.: August 12, 2022

    Thank you, 119 for the post. It is a highlight. I was at the Red Barn pool (an admitted addict, but happy contributor to the modest dues) on Wednesday. I had a truly great day. First and foremost, I met Ed Smith, who posts here regularly. What a friendly, kind, and knowledgeable fly-fisherman! I could have packed-up before throwing a fly and would have been grateful. Second, I had two Osprey call to each other (one who flew in and perched in sight) for almost 30 minutes. Their call is beautiful, and they are by far my favorite bird (great fishers AND fliers). I stopped fishing just to watch and be present. What a river system! Third, consistent with your observations, the hatch was weaker and the rises harder to correlate. Still, there were lots of fish coming up to eat. It was hard to discern what they were dialed-in on (emerger, dun, etc.) and it seemed to vary. But I and others managed to dial in at points, and I landed a quality (fully-jawed) rainbow and brown. Many refusals and some whiffs. All tremendous. Went down to fish above the Oquaga later in the afternoon. Still a good number of rises. They were not as keen to my over-eager line slaps, as up river, but I still caught two nice fish and missed a few more. Called the wife on the way home and told her it could not have been a better day! We are blessed to have the Delaware so close by.

  • Dennis: August 12, 2022

    As the Sulfur hatch wanes what flies can we see on the river that the fish will be eating. I seem to struggle as fall gets closer. BWO I know are a main stay but what else will be on the menu.
    Please relay any tips you may have for fall fishing. My bird dog turns 11 and we can’t hunt as much as we like so I plan to do a lot more fishing.

  • Kip Herner: August 12, 2022

    Hit the river above the Red Barn yesterday. Between 1pm and 4pm, I was able to bring 2 15" browns to the net, loose one and had one bump my fly with his nose and refuse. I also missed a couple. The sulfur hatch is definitely on the down turn. Here is to hoping for cooler weather to open up more areas to fish.

  • Greg Tarris: August 12, 2022

    Last Thursday took the canoe for a float trip from Gentlemen’s Club to Balls Eddy. First part of trip about a mile or mile and a half past connected with my personal best with a 22 inch brown on an 18 size Sulphur. Afterwards nothing would even look at the Sulphur and I did not see any on the water. By the time I reached Barking Dog there were BWO size 16 (?) all the way to Balls Eddy. Question- does that mean the BWO hatch will make move was up the river?

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