Posted on September 12 2017
You almost know without asking. The salmon are running! How do I know? The Delaware is deserted. Most all of the guides and fishermen have moved up to the Salmon River to tangle with the big guys. Me? I'm down here trying my best to keep the fish from getting too easy to catch - and - apparently I'm doing a good job!
Today I worked on the BEB fish. Went out about two and stopped at a big slow water pool I hadn't fished all year. In the bright sun there were at least a dozen fish up and feeding, on - what else? Ants!
Donned waders at had at 'em. Half an hour later, I was reeling it in and moving to the next place, my job done. How'd I do? Threw at eight fish. Got two refusals and six ignores. Only two fish dared to rise after my first cast and my second cast quelled even their urge to eat.
My second (and last) stop was at a riff where often times fish get in too big of a hurry to grab food as it speeds by. Sure enough the fish were up and somewhat careless as I rose eight fish in less than half an hour - two of them even ate my fly (landed one).
There were a lot of year and a half (10/11 inche long) rainbows in the riff and I decided to teach them what a hook felt like. Finally found a fly they would eat and proceeded to hook and loose far more fish than I thought possible (just one of those days). Ended up getting well over three times as many refusals as takes, two times as many fish lost as landed and still had a good day.
But the strain of the job is beginning to tell. If you have a free day, come down and help me out. There is almost no one fishing, there are ants, isos and olives on the water and the fish are in danger of becoming too easy to catch.
Today I worked on the BEB fish. Went out about two and stopped at a big slow water pool I hadn't fished all year. In the bright sun there were at least a dozen fish up and feeding, on - what else? Ants!
Donned waders at had at 'em. Half an hour later, I was reeling it in and moving to the next place, my job done. How'd I do? Threw at eight fish. Got two refusals and six ignores. Only two fish dared to rise after my first cast and my second cast quelled even their urge to eat.
My second (and last) stop was at a riff where often times fish get in too big of a hurry to grab food as it speeds by. Sure enough the fish were up and somewhat careless as I rose eight fish in less than half an hour - two of them even ate my fly (landed one).
There were a lot of year and a half (10/11 inche long) rainbows in the riff and I decided to teach them what a hook felt like. Finally found a fly they would eat and proceeded to hook and loose far more fish than I thought possible (just one of those days). Ended up getting well over three times as many refusals as takes, two times as many fish lost as landed and still had a good day.
But the strain of the job is beginning to tell. If you have a free day, come down and help me out. There is almost no one fishing, there are ants, isos and olives on the water and the fish are in danger of becoming too easy to catch.
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