Posted on September 29 2022
Those of you who have read the blog for the past few years should all have known where I would go today. I drove up the PA side of the BR and checked out the WB at Shehawken and again at the Rte. 191 bridge but safe money was on me being somewhere on the BR. The where part was determined by the number of cars and trailers at Buckingham and Stockport. Today there was a combo of nine at Stockport and seven at Buckingham. Went farther downstream and found no fishermen, a modest bug hatch, rain squalls and no rising fish - - except to my fly.
The fishing - Don't remember ever having a day quite like today. Got on the river about 3:00 and hadn't been there fifteen minutes when the first rain squall hit. Pulled the raincoat out of the back pocket of my vest, put it on and kept on fishing. There were a few isos, some pseudos, Hebes and brown caddis. Not nearly as many bugs as yesterday on the BK but enough that some fish should have been up and eating. They weren't. Never saw a rising trout in the almost four hours that I fished. By the time I had to put my raincoat on I had already lost two fish. Lost a third fish a few minutes later. After the third lost fish I gave myself a talking to, settled down and rose ten more fish, nine ate what was put before them and one refused both an iso and a brown caddis.
There were bugs on the water, but I didn't see a single fish rise, thankfully the fish were ready and willing to eat my fly whenever it floated over them. Most of the fish were three year olds (15 - 17 inches) and my bright yellow backing was off the reel and in the water at least a half dozen times.
The outlook - If you haven't put your gear away for the season, you ought to come and give fall fishing a try. The weather looks good for the next week with highs in the low sixties and lows mostly in the forties. That should keep the water temps in the fifties. As long as there isn't a river rising rain there should be bugs almost everywhere. Think 2:00 until 6:00. Bring small stuff, a few isos and some brown caddis, forget the Hebes there just isn't any meat on their long skinny wings.
Nice to get fish on dries without having to wait for risers. Further downstream than Buckingham. The only public accesses I know of are at Lordville and Calicoon. Not being local, how do you know where it is legal to access the river without tracking down a land-owner? Once in the BR you can wade anywhere you won’t drown, but how do you first get your waders wet?
P.S. I did do a lot of blind casting with a tan caddis and picked up one fish. You are converting me from a “stand and wait for a hatch” fisherman to a “ get your fly on the water,can’t catch fish if your standing on the bank” kind of guy. Thanks
Angler119. Glad to hear you had a successful afternoon on the BR. Fished the Willow in various places and there wasn’t much doing. A few sporadic rises and hardly any caddis and a few olives. But we did get the rain squalls you experienced. Stayed till dark.oh well that’s fishing.