Well, things on the trout river may be looking up. The last time we fished Rick and Terry went to the Gunpowder. It was one of those miserable Sunday afternoons a few weeks back. With water temps in the mid to high thirties, no bug activity and not much to show for the afternoon there was not much to report. I am happy to say this past week things were different. We have had several promising reports as well as a good first hand experience on the rivers this past week. The good weather this past weekend had the fish active and the rivers full of fisherman willing to take advantage of that. My son, Tyler had a decent afternoon on the White Clay on Saturday. He only had a few hours to fish and brought a few fish to hand. We have had several customer reports stating the same thing, "if you can find a spot that hasn't had too much pressure there are fish to be had" one customer told me this weekend. The Clay is chock full of fish and the warmer weather should only make this local river fish even better.
Sunday afternoon commitments kept Terry and I from fishing together. The need to be home early sent he and Rick to the Brandywine. They spent the afternoon casting their two hand rods. Terry was trying his new 13 foot 8 weight NRX for the first time. I am sure there will be a review to follow, but the text I received Sunday night says it all; "this thing is a rocket"! Stay tuned, more to follow on this I am sure. Terry and Rick reported the water level looks good with temps in the mid forties. One interesting thing was the hatch of Early Black Stoneflies Sunday afternoon. This is the right time of year for them, but Terry said he can't recall ever seeing them on the Brandywine in numbers like he saw yesterday. This may be a good sign of things to come.
As I was on the river Sunday afternoon my phone started to ding. One Boot Ed had been on the West branch of the Octoraro earlier in the day. He sent me the three pictures posted below. He said in one of his texts that these are the best looking stocked browns he has seen in a while. Well, that big ole' Bow looks pretty good as well buddy. Nice pictures, thanks for sharing.
Sunday afternoon commitments kept Terry and I from fishing together. The need to be home early sent he and Rick to the Brandywine. They spent the afternoon casting their two hand rods. Terry was trying his new 13 foot 8 weight NRX for the first time. I am sure there will be a review to follow, but the text I received Sunday night says it all; "this thing is a rocket"! Stay tuned, more to follow on this I am sure. Terry and Rick reported the water level looks good with temps in the mid forties. One interesting thing was the hatch of Early Black Stoneflies Sunday afternoon. This is the right time of year for them, but Terry said he can't recall ever seeing them on the Brandywine in numbers like he saw yesterday. This may be a good sign of things to come.
As I was on the river Sunday afternoon my phone started to ding. One Boot Ed had been on the West branch of the Octoraro earlier in the day. He sent me the three pictures posted below. He said in one of his texts that these are the best looking stocked browns he has seen in a while. Well, that big ole' Bow looks pretty good as well buddy. Nice pictures, thanks for sharing.
I had forgot about the Click 4 reel in stealth. Sweet!
Uh, you are gonna need a bigger net!
Gotta love big ole' hookjaws
Octoraro water temps were in the mid to high forties with minimal bug activity Terry D from our tying classes reported a great Caddis hatch while fishing a stretch of local private water. He and Paul R were fishing Saturday afternoon within a half hour of the shop.
Sunday found me on the water flying solo. This is the first time I have fished by myself in quite a while. I love being on the water with good friends and the camaraderie that goes along with it. I would never want to change that. I must say there is something zen like being on the river by yourself that I have also come to enjoy. I had a great day on Sunday fishing, thinking, learning, and clearing my head, oh yeah and catching a fish or two.
I got a late start and hit the water at about 2:15 in the afternoon. Part of the reason for the late start was because I was getting my new Umpqua Overlook 500 pack ready. I REALLY like this pack and I am sure after a few more outings with it I will post up a review.
Sunday found me on the water flying solo. This is the first time I have fished by myself in quite a while. I love being on the water with good friends and the camaraderie that goes along with it. I would never want to change that. I must say there is something zen like being on the river by yourself that I have also come to enjoy. I had a great day on Sunday fishing, thinking, learning, and clearing my head, oh yeah and catching a fish or two.
I got a late start and hit the water at about 2:15 in the afternoon. Part of the reason for the late start was because I was getting my new Umpqua Overlook 500 pack ready. I REALLY like this pack and I am sure after a few more outings with it I will post up a review.
Stay tuned, a review will be right around the corner.
The thermometer showed the water temp to be 46 when I started. As I was walking to the spot I wanted to start a hatch of Stoneflies started to come off. The air was full, and I mean full of Stoneflies for about 10 minutes. Then, like somebody flipped a switch it was over. It lasted just long enough for me to cut off my tandem nymph rig and tie on a dry and dropper. By the time I was finished re-rigging it was over, so back to the tandem nymph rig. As I type this I just realized, I rigged and re-rigged my set up three times before I even had a wet line! While flipping rocks I found Clinger Nymphs, Caddis Larva, and Midge larva. My most productive fly was one of my nondescript patterns, basically a modified Hares Ear tied with SLF Sowbug tan dubbing.
By far my favorite picture of the afternoon.
All in all it was a great week to be out on the river. Hopefully you were able to get out and enjoy the weekend. Now that we are in the middle of March better weather and better fishing are right around the corner. If you had a good day locally or a great trip to somewhere exotic we would like to hear about it. Click here to check out our "picture sharing page" and see some of the recent photos we have received. Until next time.
Tight lines...
Tight lines...
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