Don't Stop Believe 'in

With my printer refusing to print crosswords and sudokus, there was not much more for me to do today, but go for another drive and talk with anglers, (mostly my age), who were all happy to still upright and above ground, out experiencing some of the most beautiful weather imaginable after a long cold winter cooped up inside. They've done the dance before and none seemed disappointed that there were no bugs or rising fish to throw at.

The downside - Degree days matter and this winter, the iced over river did not provide enough degree days to allow nymphs to mature. We've had six straight days where the water got up to, or over 50 degrees, (over 60 today), and yet nothing but micro caddis and stone flies are hatching.  

The upside - There have been dandelions in bloom on the south facing banks of homes in Hancock for the last three days, (regular readers will know that the "south bank dandelions" precede the streamside ones by up to a week). Saw my first mayfly today, it was on a west window of the Troutfitter and may have been one from last year that Dave took out of the freezer and glued to the window before my arrival. There were a plethora of stone flies hovering over the water on a placid pool in the WB and I saw a fish come up and eat one.