Posted on May 29 2016
The upper East Branch is marginal it hit seventy at Harvard yesterday. The Green Drakes are hatching and it has been SRO up there. Unfortunately the lower part of the upper EB is where the drakes are. Use a thermometer and discretion fishing there.
West Branch -
Went out early on the lower WB and saw more boats than fish. The flow increase cooled the water and slowed both the bugs and fish. Fished the no kill and above in the late afternoon and early evening, there were a few boats and almost no wade fishermen. It's been dead up there since the end of the Hendricksons. Did see a few of the spring sulfurs (the big ones) but the fish were not impressed. Went downstream below the gamelands about 7:30 and found a modest hatch of green drakes and isos. There was some feeding subsurface but there weren't enough bugs to get the fish going on top.
The West Branch is a mess - algae carpets the bottom, the near shore water and back bays are also full of it. Flow increases, wading anglers and boats all dislodge it and is suspended in the water so that every cast picks some on your DRY FLY. Subsurface fishing is out of the question.
If you hook a fish the algae slides down the line adding its weight to that of the fish. You can't use six x tippet as the combined weight of the algae and the fish will break it. When the algae covers the fish's eyes they stop fighting and become dead weight on the line. This is the peak of the big bug season and the heat wave has cut the
fishable water in half and the green slime has made fishing the WB an unpleasant experience at best
West Branch -
Went out early on the lower WB and saw more boats than fish. The flow increase cooled the water and slowed both the bugs and fish. Fished the no kill and above in the late afternoon and early evening, there were a few boats and almost no wade fishermen. It's been dead up there since the end of the Hendricksons. Did see a few of the spring sulfurs (the big ones) but the fish were not impressed. Went downstream below the gamelands about 7:30 and found a modest hatch of green drakes and isos. There was some feeding subsurface but there weren't enough bugs to get the fish going on top.
The West Branch is a mess - algae carpets the bottom, the near shore water and back bays are also full of it. Flow increases, wading anglers and boats all dislodge it and is suspended in the water so that every cast picks some on your DRY FLY. Subsurface fishing is out of the question.
If you hook a fish the algae slides down the line adding its weight to that of the fish. You can't use six x tippet as the combined weight of the algae and the fish will break it. When the algae covers the fish's eyes they stop fighting and become dead weight on the line. This is the peak of the big bug season and the heat wave has cut the
fishable water in half and the green slime has made fishing the WB an unpleasant experience at best
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