Acristic Kid already covered the hatches/temps/water levels. Here are my additional comments.
The BWO hatch came off quite late, perhaps around 2:30 or 3:00, funny among the three of us, no one brought a watch....a common occurrence for our gang. Typical of Spring, the nymphing was difficult before the hatch: you get one shot at one of those wily, wild brownies and that's it! And when you think about it, exactly the way it should be. But, we did move fish, with the takes very subtle and soft.
The key for yesterday was presentation: even with a more than adequate amount of duns on the water, the fish were not interested in coming to the top at all. The night before I had tied up a dozen #18 soft-hackles (dun, hen hackle and #39 hareline) and they, combined with the traditional soft-hackle/wet fly swing were the ticket. Kid and Leo, worked the runs just below the old No Wading Wire while I moved upstream to the runs below the blue bridge. I had only brought three to hand on nymphs before the hatch, but with the soft-hackles I managed 14 trout, 2 long-releases, and more misses....all the takes were that familiar tug,tug, tug.....tremendous fun!! Curiously, none of us caught a trout over 14 inches. Mine were all in the 9"-13" range, but colored outrageously. Not many fellow flyfishers on the stream. simply a perfect day on one of the crown jewels on PA flyfishing.
Mark
The BWO hatch came off quite late, perhaps around 2:30 or 3:00, funny among the three of us, no one brought a watch....a common occurrence for our gang. Typical of Spring, the nymphing was difficult before the hatch: you get one shot at one of those wily, wild brownies and that's it! And when you think about it, exactly the way it should be. But, we did move fish, with the takes very subtle and soft.
The key for yesterday was presentation: even with a more than adequate amount of duns on the water, the fish were not interested in coming to the top at all. The night before I had tied up a dozen #18 soft-hackles (dun, hen hackle and #39 hareline) and they, combined with the traditional soft-hackle/wet fly swing were the ticket. Kid and Leo, worked the runs just below the old No Wading Wire while I moved upstream to the runs below the blue bridge. I had only brought three to hand on nymphs before the hatch, but with the soft-hackles I managed 14 trout, 2 long-releases, and more misses....all the takes were that familiar tug,tug, tug.....tremendous fun!! Curiously, none of us caught a trout over 14 inches. Mine were all in the 9"-13" range, but colored outrageously. Not many fellow flyfishers on the stream. simply a perfect day on one of the crown jewels on PA flyfishing.
Mark
