Posted on September 01 2022
For those of you that are just looking for a new blog post to read with your morning Joe, or worse yet, those of you that are still fishing, I'd say it's time to get out the honey-do list and start crossing items off. Never, in the thirty-two years that I have owned the fishing camp have I seen really good fishing turn to excrement as fast as it has the last ten days.
Why? I've touched on most of it. Too many fishermen in too little river, irregular flows, an endless string of sunny days with above average temps, no rain and fish that know the game and have taken their ball and gone home.
The outlook - If the weatherman can't get tomorrow's prediction right, how do you expect me to give you a meaningful outlook? We are sliding down the mandated release scale due to the date (it's September 1st) and because of the dry conditions. Without major rain events there will be significant reductions in the releases, starting today with another decrease October 1st and a winter release level we haven't seen in years. BUT, if the River Master has to meet minimum flow at Montague with Cannonsville water (and he currently does) there will be the probability of larger releases from Cannonsville during the coming weeks. If that make sense to you, you're not drinking coffee.
The fishing? It just isn't worth coming right now. The only fishable water is the WB and the BR down to Stockport, the fish have been pounded and are next to impossible to fool. The olive hatch which created a feeding frenzy just ten days ago has declined to a point where I could count the rising trout I saw during the peak of today's hatch on one hand. Rose four fish and all refused my fly. If you just want to be out on the water and don't care if you are likely to catch fish, come. If you need to have fish eat your fly to enjoy the trip see paragraph one above.
Know this, as quickly as things went to hell, it can do a u-turn and become fabulous again. When it does I'll do my best to let you know.
Don't want to wish a hurricane on anyone, maybe just a tropical depression that ends up coming our way.
i saw rising fish tonight on the BE. first time in months. it was at dusk and it didn’t last long. if you come here, be careful on my stairs, some are loose and wobbly, Haven’t had time to fix them.
Amazing… when ever the fishing goes in the tank. It’s always about the”conditions” and the fish….. never about the fisherman
Angler119. Thanks for the report. The conditions sound pretty difficult even though Max found bugs last night. Think I’ll give it a rest until the fishing improves. Have a great Labor Day weekend. Ed
I fished the red barn last night. I had it all to my self. Hooked 2 on a iso. And had a few refusals on a 20 min surfer hatch. The olives were very sparse.
Not many rises at all. What rises there were one and done.
Hope things change soon
A119,
I found a decent olive and another fly I wasn’t familiar with hatch last night on the middle of the WB. There were plenty of fish up and quite a few took my offering.