Posted on July 23 2026
It's 9:45 and I'm beat. Got in the water on the WB at 12:30, which was about an hour too early. There were plenty of bugs on the water but the fish knew what was coming and were in no hurry to get started. It was crazy windy, or to say it better the wind was crazy. There were times when it was dead calm, times when it blew twenty and the crazy part, it came from every direction on the compass. Missed a rising fish by 15 feet. Two fish hooked themselves when I was watching "my fly" so far away from where it really was that I never saw the rise. Had countless refusals, had three fish suck my fly under the surface and not have it in their mouth when I lifted. Hooked 10 fish, (two of which were foul hooked). Landed but three. Frustrating, exasperating, exciting and just plain fun.
Drove back to the Lordville Estate, put my feet up and got about a third of a crossword done before I nodded off. Left at seven and decided to get out of Dodge, (Deposit). Since the boats have stopped going past Barking Dog the fish down river have been pretty well rested and I picked a place where by the looks of the trail not many wade fishermen have bothered them either. Put on an olive and rose a fish that refused, changed flies and he ate. In the next hour I hooked seven more fish and landed them all. Quit with fish rising in front of me, (never use to do that), and walked past two fish that rose within easy reach on the the way back up the shore, (I'm getting old), but there was a spring in my step and a smile on my face all the way back to the car.
Authors Note: A day or so ago Harry L asked a good question and Brian jumped in with a clear, concise and correct answer. To be honest, for the past two years I've done a poor job answering readers questions, I've always enjoyed answering them but by the time I sit down to write a Wind Knots and Tailing Loops, half of the questions are no longer relevant. There are a lot of experienced anglers contributing to the reports. If you know the answer to a question, feel free to answer it, I promise management won't cut your pay. For starters there several unanswered questions starting with the Wind Knot piece, if you have the time, jump in and answer what you can). Thanks to all who have taken the time to ask, and hopefully, thanks to those who are comfortable answering.
A119
I agree…everyone needs a day when the stars are aligned and the fish rise to your flies.
Brian
My rule of thumb is 6x tippet on the WB and 5x tippet on the Main. I know I can handle a 20" fish on either set up. But fly size may change that. Tough to fish a #14 ISO on 6x and can’t toss a #20 sulphur on 5×.
Brian, Thx. so much for responding regarding the flouro tippet question. As A119 stated its nice to share tips on this site to gain knowledge on the WB fishing for those elusive browns and bows!
Great info Brian. I also would rather catch nothing alone than be shoulder to shoulder.
Thanks for the shout out, Angler 119. There was antoher question regarding the flouro tippet setup, but I didn’t want to answer it and look like a know it all. The question was “Is the preferred 3’ of tippet 5X”?
The answer to this is: The tippet you are attaching to your leader should always be a size down from the leader itself. I, personally use a half size (Trouthunter), and prefer 5 to 5.5X for flies sized 20-14, and 4X-4.5X for larger bugs in the 10-12 range (Iso’s, March Browns, etc). 5 nylon to 5.5 flouro, 4 nylon, 4.5 flouro. I personally use Trouthunter 14 foot nylon leaders with 2.5-3’ of trouthunter flouro tied on the end, creating a 17-ish’ leader. I, personally, avoid going smaller than 5.5X, as the added stealth of the flouro prevents break offs or having to fight a fish too long with a lighter tippet.
I also avoid the Red Barn and anywhere above Barking Dog during the Salmon River season, as , in my experience, you end up either pissed off at someone or someone is pissed off at you up there. I would rather catch nothing alone that big fish shoulder to shoulder, just my 2 cents.
Fished above the town bridge and for me had a good day. 3fish in the net all between 13-15 in. The hatch was slow to get going and picked up a bit before I left. I fished from 1:30-6:30. At 6:20 it was dead. Glad I am off the bench