I managed to find some sub-70F water this past Sunday. Regretfully, I also picked a popular spot to fish, although I think I was the only person to get into some fish.
I got to the river about 6:00 p.m. and immediate checked the water temperature. It turned out it was cool enough to fish and even cool enough that I was questioning my decision to wet wade. Flows had come up a bit in the White from storms earlier in the week. While they were on their way back down, there was more water than the last time I'd been in the White.
I started with a double nymph rig - a Fly Formerly Known As Prince in purple (of course) and a juju baetis. I fished for over an hour with no luck. By this point in time, I had one fisherman upstream and 4 downstream, so I just stayed in one hole. I've had a lot of luck in that hole the past two years, and it's where I hooked a big brown three weeks earlier.
But, things were dead. I did work downstream a bit, being careful to stay out of the way of the people already there. I walked upstream to where a newbie was flailing with a Hendrickson dry that he couldn't get to float. I suggested a different fly and some different techniques, and even offered him a fly, but he declined.
I noticed that as I was helping him, another inexperienced fly fisherman had moved into the hole I'd been fishing. Suddenly, I had no water to fish and I decided I didn't like the crowds, and I'd just go home.
But, it was only 7:15 with a 7:49 sunset, so I just stepped back instead, changed flies (beadhead Prince Nymph, size 14, and a Rainbow Warrior in size 20). Not long after I'd gotten the flies changed, the fisherman left the hole I'd been in earlier. I stepped back in, and on my 3rd or 4th cast, I almost had the rod ripped out of my hands by a strike. Despite the viciousness of the strike, I failed to hook the fish.
But, as sunset got closer and the sun left the water, the fish became more active. I started getting strikes regularly, and I hooked a few. I got three wild rainbows to the net, all on the Prince Nymph.
About 8:00, the street lights on the bridge above me turned on. And with that, the fishing turned off. After 10 minutes with no more strikes, I headed home. But, three wild rainbows caught after I had considered going home was a nice little reward for my patience. In my previous day out, I'd taken 5 smaller wild rainbows in a tributary of the White.
But, while I normally fish 40+ days per year, this was only day number 11 for this year. I haven't caught a fish over 12" yet this year. To be honest, I've hardly caught any fish at all.
Cancer sucks and it stole half of this season from me. I still have some vacation time planned for next month, but this will certainly be my worst fishing season in a long time, in terms of fish caught.
And, I have no way of knowing if next year will be better or not.
Next weekend, I'm taking my daughter back to college for the year, so I might not get to fish at all. On Labor Day Weekend, I'm hoping to fish the Battenkill.
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