Wind Knots And Tailing Loops.

Was up early this morning as our visiting family members had six am departure times at the Syracuse airport. It has been a busy week of graduation parties and 21st birthday celebrations. Always fun when they are here, followed by a long exhale from tired grandparents as they pull out of the driveway.

With flood watches posted by the NWS for Delaware County, any predictions as to fishing are folly. Keep your eye on the weather forecasts and USGS flows for the system. I'm hoping to be able to get in a full week of fishing but it's raining in Hancock as I type and the forecast for the next two days isn't good.

With time on my hands, I'll try to answer questions.

Dennis2 - You encountered a big, smart old fish that knew you were there from the first cast. Most fish will stop feeding or move to another lie when they encounter a fishermen but there are some fish that are confident in their ability to go right on eating while you are casting. In a heavy hatch they will often wait for your fly to pass over them and then almost tauntingly take a natural. I have unintentionally  hooked a couple of them in the dorsal fin when they did that. Best to tip your cap and move on.

Ed Smith - On the absence of big fish in the Willow. As the hatches wane, the big browns usually change their diet to fish and are seen less frequently eating flies.

Andrew - On the relationship of water temp to Invaria coloration. That one is for someone above my pay level. I can't even seem to find a correlation between water temp and where and when they hatch.

Jim N. Wants to know what's going on with the bugs, so do I, and based upon the fish I caught Thursday night, so do the fish. I gave it my best shot in the Understanding Sulfurs page and there does seem to be a little improvement in the hatches the last few days. Hopefully the Doretha's are just a few days behind schedule. The sulfurs (both duns and spinners) I encountered Thursday night were Dorthea's.   

John K. and Dennis - The application for approval of the fly floatant is still pending with the EPA and the product can't be marketed until it gets their OK. 

Ed Smith - I didn't mean to be an alarmist with my comments about the girth (or lack thereof) on the WB fish. I've been fishing the freestones where there are far fewer fish and (considering the now lengthly period of meager hatches on the WB), probably more food per fish. The difference in the WB fish's condition was pronounced. It became even more noteworthy when all four big browns were in the same shape. Based upon the abundance of yearling trout I saw on one of my earlier visits to the Deposit area I expected to find the big browns fat from eating them. The observation about the size of the yearlings is also specific to the WB, as the BR and EB yearlings seem to be the "right "size. It might be worth noting that the UEB which seems to be less fertile than the WB almost always has a slower growth rate for the yearlings. If I were to draw a conclusion from my ramblings it would be that the number of  fish in the WB is, at present, greater than the rivers ability to keep them well nourished and growing at rates common in most years. Tim P. ? is the DEC biologist for the region, I'll give him a call and try to get his thoughts.