On Tuesday, November 15th I’m presenting for our local Chapter of Trout Unlimited.  Seth Green Chapter of Trout Unlimited is the Rochester based Chapter that meets at Gander Mountain (300 Jay Scutti Boulevard – Rochester, NY 14623  (585) 424-4100).  There is a fly tying demonstration that begins at 7pm, followed by the business meeting at 7:30pm.  My presentation should begin shortly after the business meeting.

The topic is Fishing the West Branch of the Delaware River.  I’ve prepared a neat compilation of photos, videos, seasonal observations, entomology, flies and overall observations that should help the fly fisher be more successful at this challenging tail water.  I’ll share specific WBD strategies and will reference plenty of hours spent fishing this awesome fishery.  My favoritism and bias towards this river will likely come out.  If you are a trout fisherman and don’t get excited about 20″ plus browns on dry flies, then your angling pulse requires attention.  The WBD is capable of trophy trout, as well as epic rejections.  This presentation should generate  good discussion regarding selective trout strategies.  Come join me on the 15th to learn more about this fishery, or to talk about catching wary trout.

Timing is everything on the West Branch of the Delaware.  If I manage a trip to the WBD in late August,  I try to coincide my fishing time with overcast conditions.  The absence of bright sun and heat seem to improve the quality of the blue-wing olive hatch.  While some might favor heat and sun for the diminutive WBD trico hatch for an August morning, I prefer to  fish the olive hatch.  Heavy cloud cover or even damp, drizzly conditions are ideal for these baetis mayflies.  Olives still hatch on sunny days, but trout feed more aggressively on olives during overcast conditions.  As such, it’s important to monitor the forecast and optimize conditions that present sloppy weather, and in turn, beneficial olive scenarios.

A friend and I managed to clear our calendar for a day trip to the WBD.  Based on the projected weather model, we planned ahead and selected the most cloudy, least sun friendly day.  To be honest, we selected a dark, damp, rainy and soggy day.  It was pretty iffy fishing weather.  It rained, drizzled, blew wind, rained more, showed some distant sun, then rained some more.  It was an exercise in securing the hood on my rain jacket every few minutes, in between bursts of rain.  At one point it rained buckets and I thought I was going to next see cats and dogs dropping from the sky.  I suppose all this may have something to do pre-conditions of a Hurricane named “Irene”!

At one point, the heavy rain interrupted what looked to be a promising olive hatch.  Between the heavy downpour and spooky lightening, we had to seek refuge on the bank of the river.  I was forced to abandon our position at the tail out.  Minutes before this gully washer, a large brown took up position in a foot of water, at the very tail out of the pool.  It was beginning to comfortably feed and I had just moved into position.  I was on my third pattern change with this beautiful fish, when the next rainstorm moved through and shut things down.  Unfortunately, I never saw that same fish rise again.  I’ve never seen small trout rise in that particular spot and was disappointed to not spend more time targeting that gorgeous fish.

Once the final rain stopped around 5pm, we actually enjoyed a two hour window of a minor olive hatch.  There were size # 20′s and #24′s on the water, with trout sporadically consuming emergers/cripples.  I witnessed very few duns eaten, with the huge majority ignored.  My best fish was a 17″ to 18″ brown that ate a #18 deer hair wing rusty spinner.  I missed several more and wasted too much time on smaller fish.  It’s tough to ignore a close, rising 14″ fish in favor of targeting larger fish.  I managed four browns for the day, all on my high-vis, rusty deer hair spinner pattern.  In hindsight, I should have experimented more with olive nymphs and various olive cripples/emergers.

That said, I still managed several fish despite unfavorable conditions.  Wind, heavy periods of rain, constant fog and poor visibility were all limiting factors during this trip.  The morning trico hatch was sparse and we only observed small fish feeding.  Rain, wind and heavy fog shut down any decent sight fishing for the majority of the day.  Late afternoon when the weather finally broke, we enjoyed two solid hours of olives.  It wasn’t a heavy olive hatch and I never saw constant gulpers.  Regardless, it was nice to see fish feeding on the surface, stick a few and miss a few more.  Between now and Fall, the olive hatch is likely to pick up on the WBD.  If you have confidence in your olive patterns and like to fish a fine and long leader, give the WBD olive hatch a try over the next month or so.  The crowds are gone, the trout healthy, the 600 plus cfs water level ideal for wading and you should catch a decent olive hatch.  If you want to improve your odds, check the long term forecast and plan your trip on an overcast day.

My cousin and his pre-teen son recently took up fly fishing.  They live in Massachusetts  and we hadn’t yet enjoyed the opportunity to fish together.  We agreed that it would be nice to take an overnight fishing trip and decided upon the West Branch of the Delaware River.  I was confident that I could guide them to a trout or two.  Our only free time was mid-August.  No worries, as we would still have bugs and I reassured them that we could fool a few trout, right?  Heck, my cousins fishing goal was to land one trout.  That seemed pretty silly to me, as I was prepared to help him tangle with multiple fish.  Well, the WBD sure was stingy and fickle.  It stymied them and me as a guide!

They hooked several fish, but weren’t able to bring any to net.  There were minimal tricos and the fish weren’t rising to them.  We didn’t witness any sulphers upstream and the touted olives showed up in minute numbers.  The surface fishing was as slow as I’ve seen in years.  There wasn’t any evening spinner fall and the trout never comfortably fed on the surface.  Insect activity and surface feeding had been good, up until the previous few days.  When you don’t have bugs hatching on the WBD, you don’t have rising fish.  We talked with fellow anglers and they got blanked, or managed a tiny dink.  I know of a full day guide/float trip that yielded two small rainbows over the course of the entire day.  Things were slow.

My plan was to swing soft hackles in the riffles and pick up acrobatic rainbows.  Well, the rainbows weren’t  cooperative.  We pounded three stellar riffles and barely earned a strike.  An advantage of fishing in August is that you have long stretches of water to yourself.  For tactics, I had them fish two weighted soft hackles (#12 & #16 sizes) on a long leader and they covered plenty of water.  One riffle gave up four hook-ups, but each fish became unbuttoned for our fledgling anglers.  I even swung soft hackles and only managed two rainbows, after hours of prospecting.  It wasn’t fishing well.  When we compared notes, fellow anglers reported similar conditions.  Just before my cousin and his son arrived, I fished a stretch and picked up two browns on a spinner pattern.  That was my only promising dry fly fishing over the course of nearly two days.  It seems like the stellar hatches of the spring and early summer are taking a break.  Once nights begin to cool off, olives should pick up.

Despite the slow fishing, w didn’t give up and enjoyed the overall experience.  We lifted up rocks and studied aquatic insects.  We fished a warm water pond and practiced casting.  We tied a few knots and looked for wildlife.  Perhaps the most fun activity was introducing a ten year old to fly tying.  He was a quick study and enjoyed making his own wooly buggers.  Fly tying with kids is a great back up activity when the fishing is slow.  He may not have caught a WBD trout, but I think he’s already looking forward to tying his next fly!

After a self imposed two week hiatus from the West Branch of the Delaware, I longed to return.  The calendar said it was July.   I reasoned there wasn’t a better way to start July 4th Weekend than tangle with wily WBD browns.  I invited my brother along and he was a good sport to join me.  Although he also grew up with a fly rod in his hand, he is less addicted about our quiet sport.  Still, he enjoys fly fishing and we relish opportunities to spend time on the water.  We take our kids fishing, but rarely have a chance for both of us to fish alone.  So, it was a brotherly treat to share this fine fishery together.  He had never fished the WBD.  He loved the scenery, the quantity of bugs, the visible risers, the screeching eagle perched above us in a tree, the serenity of wading and the chance to relax on the water.  He was also thankful that I reminded him to wear thermal underwear, as the water temp was in the upper forties.  Even on warm days of Summer, the WBD (being a dam release fishery) runs cold.

On the drive down, I talked about specifics of this fishery and techniques that might help us.  It’s tough to impress upon a casual angler, or a WBD rookie, the complexities of this river.  Add in the fact that it is July (more pressured fish, longer leaders required, stealthier approach needed, more discriminatory trout, algae in the water, etc), and the  deck is stacked against the non-exacting angler.  The WBD in July does not suffer angling fools easily.  He managed to hook two fish over the course of fishing several hours.  He landed one small brown (hooray) and experienced many refusals.  We enjoyed a decent sulpher hatch (size #18) that was intermittent between 1pm and 8pm.  Around 5pm a wave of blue winged olives emerged (size #22) and there was a limited spinner fall towards dusk.  We also saw the odd isonychia (size #10) prominently floating on the surface.  I witnessed some of the smaller browns eat isonychia duns.

As for pressure and being the 4th of July Weekend, it wasn’t very bad.  One stretch had an armada of drift boats and pontoon boats that departed by late afternoon.  For many hours, we enjoyed hundreds of yards of river to ourselves.  I managed half a dozen smaller browns, no pigs.  There are plenty of 6″ to 14″ fat, happy browns in the WBD.  I broke off one large bank feeder and never stuck a large snout this trip.  Those easier to catch trophy browns in May and early June are now wily, selective, easily spooked fish.  I fished a 17′ 6x flourocarbon leader and found it impossible to mend enough, or preserve a drag free drift on numerous occasions.  Add in floating slop, competition from naturals, complex currents, fish that are keyed in on one specific stage of an insect, and you have a technical fishing challenge.  At this point, they have consumed thousands of sulpher emergers and know what a legitimate mayfly emerger looks like.  Their feeding is very specialized and there is less need to break the surface for a natural.  Each rise is an economy of motion.  These fish easily bolt and will shut down with reckless wading.  Hefty browns flee their comfortable feeding stations on seam lines/current edges/shallow water banks if they sense an unfamiliar wake, or get lined by the errant leader.  Any unnatural drift puts them down. Algae dragging across a leader has the potential to spook them.  Despite these factors, it is still one of the most spectacular wild trout fisheries in the East.  My advice is to fish it any time you can.  Each trip makes you a better angler and the vistas are superb.  As for me, I’m already anxious to get back to the West Branch of the Delaware.  After his first experience, I bet that my brother will also jump at the chance to fish the WBD again.

If you have faith in your favorite fishery, good things tend to happen.  Such is the case on the West Branch of the Delaware River.  High water, heavy wind, and cool temperature put a damper on early season wade fishing.  Recently, conditions improved as warm, stable weather coincided nicely with the start of sulpher season.  Late May or early June, sulphers begin emerging on the Delaware River System in prolific numbers.  Experienced WBD anglers place faith in this quality hatch and count upon the fishery to provide outstanding dry fly action.

Between coaching, teaching and a young family, it’s been hard to find time to manage a day trip to the WBD.  Over the past eight days, friends provided tantalizing, stellar reports of superb dry fly fishing.  March browns, cornutas, baetis, green drakes, brown and tan caddis, light cahills and beloved sulphers were emerging.  When a friend reports landing and measuring four browns between 20″ to 23″, he is likely to quickly grab your attention.  That’s how good this place fished recently.  Based upon previous experience, I knew that this particular convergence of bugs creates some exceptional sight fishing for large snouts.  It’s almost as if the normally shy WBD browns, lose a degree of caution  and become “sulpher silly”.  There is week to two week window at the start of each sulpher season, when these persnickety fish let down their guard and feed with less abandon.  Sulpher silly sipping browns are easier to catch.  The only emergence possibly better is the start of the hendrickson hatch in early May.  For me, early June has repeatedly afforded great moments of sight fishing large WBD browns.  Finding time to make the trip was my obstacle.

After juggling schedules and commitments, I was recently able to make it on the water  by 2pm.  There were 15 angler cars at the state parking lot.  I opted to hike upstream.  There were size #18 cornutas on the water, sporadic tan caddis, the odd march brown #12 and a few sulphers #16.  I carefully approached the tail out of a large flat and gently waded above and across a pair of rising fish.  I checked my 16′ 6x tapered fluorocarbon leader and tied on an antron cornuta emerger pattern.  After several refusals, I rested the fish and opted to tie on a sulpher emerger.  About the same time, a fellow angler came sloshing upstream, sending a wake and putting down these fish.  These browns may be what I call “sulpher silly”, but they aren’t fools to sloppy wading.  I chose not to say anything to the fellow angler and instead, invited him to fish for the risers above me.  Next, I carefully waded to the far shore and set up above a different feeding fish.  I made a 40′ reach mend cast downstream, continued to feed line to ensure a drift free presentation and watched the snout poke through to intercept my sulpher emerger.  I lifted tight and let the brown charge downstream.  Two minutes later, I admired a beautiful 17″ brown and gently released it.

Over the next few hours, I landed several more fish, up to 21″.  All fish were caught on sulpher patterns.  Some were landed in side channels, others in the main channel.  All were browns that I identified, crept up on, got into position and worked a nice presentation to.  I’m saddened to confess that I lost as many fish due to angler error.  The pattern wasn’t as important, as was the presentation.  The best fish came towards dark, within four feet of the bank.  The white snout came up, engulfed the fly and we were off to the races.  Larger bank feeders tend to move closer to shore when the insects are heaviest, towards dusk.  Mending, ensuring drag free drifts and timing your presentation are critical.  The reward, a hefty, acrobatic sulpher sipping brown.  The only drawback from this experience was an aggressive bout of poison ivy that I caught while bushwhacking back to the car.  My hands still itch as I type this!

Over the past three weeks I’ve closely monitored the USGS Water Flow for the West Branch of the Delaware River.   It’s been plenty high this season.  Wading has been limited and it’s been tricky to catch this superb fishery just right.  This is the first year in many, that I haven’t spent a number of days already fishing the WBD.  When I observed the cfs close to 1,500, I knew it was time to make a trip.

A friend and I drove down for some late afternoon fishing.  It was hot, humid, sunny and we were sweating in our breathable waders.  Reports had indicated fish feeding on the surface early and late.  We arrived to the Upper WBD around 4pm and didn’t observe any risers.  Not to worry, fellow anglers and the local fly shop told us that things get going between 6pm to 9pm.  We sat along a grass point that provided an excellent view of river.  For two hours we relaxed, enjoyed an early supper and scanned the water for risers.  No such luck.  Somehow, the trout ignored their alleged heavy feeding period set to begin at 6pm.  Around 7pm, we noticed a few splashy risers, along with several sulphers on the surface.  Better late than never!

I opted to move upstream.  My intention was to target large, shallow water, bank feeding browns.  Over the next two hours, I never saw the large snouts, consistent risers, nor conveyor belt feeding pig browns that I hoped to tangle with.  I managed four mid-sized browns on a sulpher cripple and then a rusty spinner.  Yet, I was surprised that there weren’t any pig browns (19″ to 22″) that the WBD so generously blesses us anglers with.  Perhaps the flow had these fish off, or  perhaps it was the heat.  Another probable reason was that there was limited insect activity.  The march brown emergence was fading and we only saw a few few of them.  Meanwhile, the  sulpher hatch was  just starting and not heavy in numbers.  Over the years I’ve caught numerous large fish along that grassy bank and know the potential of the fishery.  For some reason that afternoon/early evening, large snouts never  showed where I was fishing.

My friend fished downstream and enjoyed better results in the glassy pool where he fished.  He managed eight fish, several in the upper teens.  All caught on a sulpher compara dun.  Speaking of sulphers, they are starting to come off strong in many creeks.  Go enjoy that hatch and stay on the water  until you can’t see.  Some of the best action (spinner fall) occurs towards dark.  This will be especially the case if we continue with bright sun and hot days.  As for me, I’m already planning my next WBD and can’t wait to try out some new sulpher patterns!

For several weeks I’d been planning a Labor Day escape to fish the West Branch of the Delaware River.  Over the years, I’ve enjoyed solid Labor Day angling conditions on the West Branch.  Consistent olives, isonychias, light cahils and streamers were typically on the menu.  Uncrowded water was another bonus.  In addition, fishing the WBD over Labor Day is symbolically sentimental.   It marks the end of summer fishing and ushers in the start of the school year (a return to teaching/coaching).  Truthfully, I find it tough to leave that river, no matter how well or poorly it fishes.

This year, Mother Nature threw us a few challenges and we only fished the WBD for a day.  The Cannonsville Reservoir  turned over a few days ago, releasing chocolate, turbid water through the West Branch.  The water release also increased from 500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 1,1oo cfs.  Finally, Hurricane Earl added to the mix by contributing blowing winds all day.  The forecast called for gusts up to 43 mph.

We rented a driftboat from West Branch Angler’s Resort and floated the approximate 7 mile trip from Stilesville (below the wier) to the resort property, below Hale Eddy Bridge.  During our entire float, we didn’t witness another bank fly fisherman.  Our only other company was a fellow drift boat.  Our strategy was to pound the banks w/ streamers the entire float.  We rigged a 7wt and 8wt w/ a sink tip and experimented w/ various streamers all day.  All told, we landed two browns, the largest 21″.  There was a rocky bank that produced several strikes within a 100 yard stretch, but most of the river blanked us.  Sparse streamers, buggy streamers, massive articulated streamers, varying retrieves, dark and light colors, were all part of our arsenal.  Clousers were the fly that produced most interest.  We only observed four rises during the entire float and minimal insect activity.  With the discolored water, the fish had 15″ or so of visibility.  While the wind wasn’t as bad as we expected, we think the turbid water hurt our quality fishing.  If we were to repeat that day under similar conditions, I would increase the length of our float and concentrate streamers on the rocky bottom and prime lies.

Nonetheless, it always a treat to fish the WBD.  Under challenging conditions, we managed to land two fish.  We also witnessed a graceful bald eagle fly a few feet overhead.  It’s such a beautiful fishery with so much promise as a big fish producer.  I doubt that I will have another chance to fish it this year.  Now, it’s time to start gear up for our tributary fishing.  New York State has so much to offer the angler and I’m greateful that another season is quickly upon us!  For those interested and willing to pay your angling dues, the WBD will continue to give up trophy browns over the next month or so.  In my case, Lake Onario tributaries start heating up and these fish are much closer and quicker to target.  Choose your wonderful angling options within the Empire State and remember to take a kid fishing this Fall!

Two friends and I recently enjoyed fishing a quality sulpher and blue winged olive hatch on the West Branch of the Delaware River.  There was a good flow (600 plus cfs) and stable water temperature (50 degrees).  With this heat spell, the Upper West Branch has been one of the more trout friendly fishing venues in New York State.  Even better, it is the most consistent option to enjoy surface mayfly fishing.  You may find blue winged olives any month of the year and the sulpher hatch generally lasts from late May to September.  That said, you are hard pressed to find more selective trout.  With so many naturals, those WBD fish become conditioned to and capable of discriminating against flies.

We arrived on the river at 11 am and immediately spotted rising fish.  Only  yards from our car,  I noticed a nice snout feeding.  Claiming that fish, I eagerly crossed a side channel, crept through tall grasses and positioned myself above the trout.  I stayed low, crept closer to the fish and stripped out sufficient fly line.  I also noticed a few olives on the surface and observed the feeding pattern of this particular fish.  Then, I tied on a #20 blue winged oliver emerger to 7x and checked my 16′ leader.  Again, I observed the feeding patterns of this fish.   Timing my cast, I dropped the fly five feet above the fish and fed out line as it drifted towards the trout.  On my first cast, the trout rose, I saw the white mouth engulf my fly and I gently lifted tight. After some side pressure and patience, a beautiful 18.5″ brown was led  head first into my net.

It’s not always this easy.  Yet, there are a number of aspects to improve your odds.  Selective trout don’t automatically jump on your fly and you need to maximize your chances.  Here are hints that should help you land wily summertime trout:

1. Try staying out of the water and slooowly move into position.  If you have to enter the water, avoid sending a wake and spooking fish.  I prefer an upstream location that allows me to present my fly first, then the leader.  It’s all about the presentation and your stealthy approach helps.
2. Your first few casts are usually your best shot.  Strip out your line in advance and avoid lining (casting over) the fish.
3. Lengthen your leader.  If you can cast a 16′ or longer leader, there are advantages.
4. Mend and continually control your line.
5. If you manage half a dozen more drag free casts that were clearly in the fish’s window and didn’t earn a take, change flies.  Again, observe the water, seine the surface and ascertain what the fish might be consuming.  The rise form, combined with an observation of the surface film should help unlock some of the guessing game.
6. Your next fly should be distinctly different over the past imitation.  Ensure that you are giving the trout something new.  Spinners and cripples always take their share of summertime trout.  Or, sometimes movement is a key trigger.
7. Sometimes the fish are so focused on naturals that you can’t compete.  Consider throwing a tiny attractor (wulff/stimulator/terrestrial) or something beefy to get their attention (streamer/chernobyl/isonychia/drake).  The majority of fish won’t vary, but now and then an opportunistic fish pounces on something different.
8. Patience is a virtue, but know when to leave a fish to find another.  If you have an aggressive fish downstream that is gulping down insects steadily, go for it.  There is great reward in finally hooking that super selective fish.  At the same time, there is  merit in taking a break and restoring your confidence with a fresh fish.
9. Consider fishing until you can’t see any more.  During this last trip to the WBD, I hooked three quality fish between 9:20 pm and 9:40 pm.  Position yourself with the best possible light and cast minimal line.  Lift up when you hear, see or feel anything promising.  Your instincts will guide you.  During the heat of the summer, the best surface fishing may occur the final twenty minutes.  You should be able to get away with an over sized fly at this time.  Surface feeders may also be observed in low light, early morning conditions.
10. Had enough of super selective trout?   No problem, we all need variety now and then.  Head to your local farm pond for some bluegills on poppers or throw some foam/deerhair sliders at  bass!

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!

As anglers, we tend to enjoy all aspects of fly fishing and relish each opportunity to wet a line.  I don’t know where I’d be without my annual dose of crashing bluefish, lazy farm bluegills, fresh tributary chrome, salmon madness in the fall, Thousand Island smallmouth, and so on.  We are blessed with so many fly fishing possibilities.

At the same time, most of us possess favorite fisheries and prefer specific styles of fly fishing.  One of my annual highlights is fishing the sulpher hatch in June on the West Branch of the Delaware River.  Drifting yellow mayflies, intercepted by lazy snouts poking through the surface is a perennial favorite.  Those white mouths breaking the surface, gulping in sulphers provide angling motivation throughout the season.

I invited two friends (Artie and Greg) to join me for Friday afternoon and planned on meeting another friend from North Carolina on Saturday (Bob).  Each of us drove several hours, just to fish the late afternoon and evening hatch.  Fellow blogger Artie Loomis-ADK Trout Bum and I started fishing the PA Gamelands, looking for bank feeders.  He has a smooth cast and it was nice to watch him work two shallow water fish as they periodically fed.  Within minutes he was tight to a 17″ brown that took a sulpher emerger.  Next, we hiked upriver and continued to look for feeders.  It looked like the sulpher hatch recently ended and we were faced with waiting/slow time.   With a bright sun overhead and clear visibility, we managed to spot several shallow water fish on a gravel shelf.  Artie hid in the grass, parallel to the fish while I worked it from above.  He did a great job of letting me know where the fish was and how it responded.  Thirty casts and eight flies later (cripples/spinner/nymphs), another fish pushed it out and they both disappeared.  I worked that fish as well as I could and never managed a take!  Sulphers picked up again  around 6 pm and we managed a few smaller browns, but we didn’t see many quality fish feeding.  I lost one large fish that I didn’t finesse on the take.  Still, it was a slow night for the three of us.  Discussing things at the parking lot, we had more questions than answers regarding our disappointing night and lack of decent fish.

Saturday morning, I hooked my first fish at 5:30 am.  It was a chunky 14″ brown that ate a rusty spinner.  Not much else rising in my stretch of water, so I enjoyed a several hour breakfast and reading break.  After 10 am, I returned to the PA Gamelands and promptly observed risers.  Staying on the bank, sneaking up and crouching low, I managed two dozen casts to a steady fish.  I didn’t like my position and the brown didn’t like my presentation.  So, I dropped back down, crossed the river, walked upstream and gently waded into a better casting position.  There were plenty of # 22 olives on the water and fish apparently enjoying these baetis delights.  I broke off my first fish on the hook set-total angler error!  Minutes later, I relaxed when I saw the white mouth engulf my fly and was soon hooked up to a fiesty 20″ brown.  Over the next six hours, I landed another nine fish, most over 15″.  The two most memorable included a chunky rainbow that cartwheeled downstream and pulled valiantly. The second was a 21″ measured brown that ate my #20 cdc sulpher emerger within 4″ of a large boulder.  That fish was feeding tight to the rock and it was a tricky reach cast w/ plenty of mending to keep the fly in the zone.  It was awesome to watch that fish rise up, turn with the fly and chase it down as it was passing.

The WBD provides superb sight, dry fly fishing for selective, trophy trout.  It will humble an angler and there are some fish that leave you shaking your head in disbelief.  Despite my successes, one larger brown rejected every sulpher and olive imitation that I threw.  Cool, yet aggravating to watch a trophy fish feed on naturals within inches of your fly.  Still, pay your dues and the fish will reward you.  Fishing a 16′ leader, casting to rising fish and wading like a heron improve your odds.  Combine these stealth tactics with patience and an arsenal of flies, and you may experience the thrill of dancing trout on the WBD.  I can’t wait for my next trip to the WBD.

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