Weird night of fishing

Temps have dropped way off in the past week.  Sunday never got about 65F or so, and the river was close to 60F in the evening.

I didn't have much time, so I went to one of my tried and true places to fish.  This is an interesting location, because it's very easy to reach, it gets a lot of pressure, yet I always seem to catch fish there.  It's simply a stretch of water that holds a lot of fish, including some big browns, smallmouth bass, and the primary residents, the rainbows.

When I got there on Sunday, I was stunned by the low water levels.  These were the lowest water levels I've ever seen on the White River.  There were rocks sticking up that I had never seen uncovered before.

But, I knew there were a couple deep pools that would be holding fish, so I geared up, walked to the water, double-checked the water temperature, even though I knew it would be OK, and then moved to the top hole to start fishing.

This particular hole has been kind of slow for me this year.  I've had plenty of strikes, and I hooked a big brown here early in the year, but I've caught just a few fish there this season.  At this time of year, I typically start with the same fly rig every time out on the White - a Prince Nymph of some sort (size 14 or smaller) and a tiny juju baetis off the back of the Prince.

Because of the low water levels and the water clarity, I opted to not use a strike indicator.  I didn't want the indicator to scare any fish.

I started with my normal approach to this hole - stay far away from the deep water and fish the water closest to me first.  I always work this hole very methodically because it's common to catch fish in some spots where a careless angler would wade right in.

And, on my third cast, I had a strike.  In the next five minutes, two more.  But, no hookups.  I spent the next 45 minutes or so fishing this hole, watching fish rise all over the place, but I got no more strikes.  So, I moved downstream to the next hole - a hole that has been very productive this year.  And, in 30 minutes with my nymphs, I got nothing.  Not a single strike.  Plus, no fish were even rising here.

Sunset was approaching, so I decided, just like the week before, to try a dry fly in the fading light.  Once again, I went with a size 18 Klinkhammer with a fluorescent orange post, hoping I could see the small fly in the dwindling light.  And, I moved back to the upper hole, because that's where fish had been rising earlier.

At the end of a pretty good drift, the fly starting to sink into the film, and as I started to retrieve it for another cast, a fish grabbed it.  Because I'd been pulling the fly in, I hooked the fish easily.  It was a small wild rainbow.

After drying my fly with Top Ride, I went back to working the hole, but it was getting very tough to see the fly.  Fish weren't rising any more either, so I was about ready to give up.  Then, on a cast where I knew I had a bad drift and the fly had to have sunk, I felt a subtle bump.  I set the hook, and this time, I knew it was a decent fish.  It was stripping line off the reel at times, and trying to use the current to its advantage.  But, it wasn't that big, and in a few minutes, it was in the net.  This was another wild bow, about 15" this time.

I made a half dozen more casts, but it was pretty dark by now.  And, the two fish had meant no skunk, plus I had a decent fish, so I headed home.

So, I caught two fish on dries in the main branch of the White, something I do very rarely.  But, the fly was not on the surface either time the fish hit.  Is it still considered a dry fly if it brings in fish while under the surface?