A couple big browns welcome me back.

 It's been so long since I've been to the LVE that I had to punch the address into the GPS just to find it. Was delayed yet another day by an unscheduled social obligation that arose last night. This morning Jean and I drove down in separate cars (her's has the trailer hitch), unloaded a trailer full of junk metal, unhitched the trailer at camp, exchanged cars, Jean headed back to Lafayette and A-119 headed out to fish.

With no clue what was happening when or where, I drove up to Deposit and stood on the town bridge. The water has a greenish cast to it from the silt now being pulled out of the reservoir. It doesn't affect the fishing one bit. I've had fish come up out of three feet of silt laden water to refuse my fly when I couldn't see bottom in water six inches deep. It's not pretty but the important thing is whether there are bugs and rising fish. At 2:00 pm in the bright sun there weren't.  Got on 17 and headed east to rte. 30 and then up the UEB. It's running at about 500cfs of gin (or vodka) clear water.  Found lots of sulfurs hatching above Corbett and lots of olives hatching below Shinhopple. Rising fish? Not so much. Next to none upriver in the still bright sun. Down river in the shadows there were one and two year old's.  Hooked a few of the risers, saw but one older fish and he refused my offering.

About 6:00 I walked into a spot on the BE and stood for a good twenty minutes without seeing a bug or a rise. Was heading back to camp to watch the SU vs Ohio game when I decided to stop at Junction Pool "just to look". There was but one car there and when I saw a couple rises down towards the tailout I waded in. It wasn't great, there were occasional rises but the fish were moving around looking for bugs and the rises were so far apart you never knew where the fish were. It wasn't until after 8:00 that a few fish rose enough so that you could get a fly in front of them. Got two nice browns to eat (one a 19 incher) before the fly got tangled up in the landing net. Had to cut it off and tie it back on while a good fish was rising not 30 feet away.  Just as I was ready to cast, a flock of about two dozen mergansers spooked and took off right over the fish with wings and feet beating the water into a froth. Reeled it in and got back to camp in time to watch the second half of the game (SU now has as many wins as it had all last year).