Anticipating a repeat of last Saturday, I journeyed to the West Branch of the Delaware hoping for another epic day of sulpher fishing. With the sulpher hatch well under way for a month, we knew that the fish were getting selective.  Sam (West Branch Angler’s Resort) encouraged us to throw a tiny ant, beetle, over sized spinner, olive emerger or something different during the thick of the hatch. Anything that might get their attention and cause them to vary their focus from sulphers.  During  a thick emergence, the trout become so selective and focused that it is nearly impossible to compete with the quantity of naturals.  Artie (ADK Trout Bum) joined me to fish a length of river on the Trophy Stretch.  We were blessed with rising fish from 11 am to 6:30.  In particular, waves of #18 sulphers from 1:30 to 6 pm.  In between, tiny #24 olives and the odd isonychia floated by.  For multiple hours, we fished to large trout stationed in lanes, feeding on sulphers.

The mass of sulphers on the water was impressive.  As was the concentrated emergence of olives late afternoon.  The frustrating aspect was that these fish were so selective, they stymied us.  Other than a few smaller fish that we each landed, we couldn’t connect with the larger browns.  I lost one pig brown that buried itself in thick weeds as I was about to net it.  My 7 x tippet survived two spectacular jumps and a decent tug of war, only to part within a foot of the net.  That lost trophy brown (estimated 21″ to 23″) haunted me on the car ride home.  Otherwise, we didn’t land a fish over 13″.  Despite hours of snouts feeding, we couldn’t get a take.  Or, if we managed  a strike, we had so much line out that we managed to miss it.  I’ve fished the WBD sulpher hatch for years and have confidence in my ability to consistently fool fish.  Yesterday’s bag of angling tricks didn’t work (super long 17″ 6x or 7 x flourocarbon leader, stealth approach, accurate casts, drag free drifts, multiple mends, arsenal of cripple/emerger patterns, various sizes of rusty brown spinner, sneaking in a terrestrial, timing the feeder, etc).  The surface film was littered with so much competition that we didn’t land a single big fish.  Great to sight fish large feeding trout for hours, maddeningly aggravating to miss so many opportunities!  Artie and I took some consolation that the two guide boats and other wading anglers didn’t manage a hook up on our stretch.   It probably doesn’t hurt our angling ego to get humbled now and then.  The sulphers will continue to get smaller as the season progresses and I’m already scheming for a rematch!