Posted on May 18 2020
For the first six weeks of the season, I was in the groove. No, I didn't catch tons of fish, but when the weather permitted I was in the right place at the right time and caught a good number of very nice fish. Covid-19 kept people at home. I could fish wherever I wanted. Whenever the weather cooperated, the bugs came, the fish ate and I was able to do my thing.
And then - - - Fishermen got tired of staying away, lodging opened up, guides started taking sports and the rains came. The number of boats and wade fishermen on the river multiplied faster than the number of cases of Covid-19 back in early April. The heavy rain Friday night took over 80 % of the water out of the equation for wade fishermen and opened up the Upper East to driftboats. The Beaverkill, Big East and the Big River went into the Doldrums. The increased releases of very cold water into both branches necessitated by the rain stifled the Hendrickson hatches on the upper reaches of both branches.
Took the weekend off. Drove around Saturday just looking at all the boats and wade fishermen. Went home Sunday (I refuse to wear dirty underwear), did a wash and headed back down. Arrived about 5:30 and was unable to find a place to fish. There were boats and wade fishermen everywhere.
Today the water was still too high to fish in many places but the number of boats and wade fishermen were reduced by about half. There were places to fish, there just weren't any fish feeding on top. Were there bugs? In some places, yes. In some places, no. But in all my travels I didn't see a rise until about 4:30 and then there were just a handful of one and doners.
At this time in the season it is most unusual to give the fishing a poor rating but that's how it was today. Sometimes the fish just don't do their part.
And then - - - Fishermen got tired of staying away, lodging opened up, guides started taking sports and the rains came. The number of boats and wade fishermen on the river multiplied faster than the number of cases of Covid-19 back in early April. The heavy rain Friday night took over 80 % of the water out of the equation for wade fishermen and opened up the Upper East to driftboats. The Beaverkill, Big East and the Big River went into the Doldrums. The increased releases of very cold water into both branches necessitated by the rain stifled the Hendrickson hatches on the upper reaches of both branches.
Took the weekend off. Drove around Saturday just looking at all the boats and wade fishermen. Went home Sunday (I refuse to wear dirty underwear), did a wash and headed back down. Arrived about 5:30 and was unable to find a place to fish. There were boats and wade fishermen everywhere.
Today the water was still too high to fish in many places but the number of boats and wade fishermen were reduced by about half. There were places to fish, there just weren't any fish feeding on top. Were there bugs? In some places, yes. In some places, no. But in all my travels I didn't see a rise until about 4:30 and then there were just a handful of one and doners.
At this time in the season it is most unusual to give the fishing a poor rating but that's how it was today. Sometimes the fish just don't do their part.
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