Posted on July 07 2020
Over thought the sulfur hatch timing problem this morning. With a cloudy, cooler day forecast I thought that the water would take longer to warm up and the hatch would be later. Arrived at a pool with hatching sulfurs at 1:30, only trouble was they had been hatching for over an hour. Hatch was basically over by 3:00.
The river that was deserted yesterday was crowded with both boats and anglers today. Norbord had cars parked on both sides of the road and the Gentlemen's Club lot was full. With the number of boats on the upper river, barking dog launch site had to be full of trailers.
Had to share pools on all stops today. Had 6 or 8 nice fish feeding in front of me in the first pool.
Got looks from all of them but only two ate. The first fish, a 17 incher, turned out to be fish of the day. When fish know you are there they become very difficult to fool. Being able to move from fish to fish is a huge advantage for the fisherman. Standing in one spot fishing to the same fish for a couple of hours gives the advantage to the fish.
Drove back to camp for a couple of hours and then decided to try the UE. It has been my favorite place to find solitude and quality rising trout the past two years. This year not so much. Guides now float it whenever water levels permit and a multitude of wade anglers have descended upon the river trying to escape the madness that the WB has become. At summer levels (currently 165 cfs), the riffs are no more than a foot deep and the pools are clear and slow moving. Wading in the riffs sends trout darting into the pools where a single step sends a wake from one shore to the other, putting all feeding fish down. The water is too low to float and the crowds of anglers , perhaps discouraged by lack of success, have thinned but the damage has been done. Shared a pool with another angler during a modest sulfur hatch. Never knowingly cast at a fish larger than the 11 incher I caught. With two anglers disturbing the water, a hatch that would have interested some quality fish in prior years attracted nothing but juveniles.
The WB beckons.
The river that was deserted yesterday was crowded with both boats and anglers today. Norbord had cars parked on both sides of the road and the Gentlemen's Club lot was full. With the number of boats on the upper river, barking dog launch site had to be full of trailers.
Had to share pools on all stops today. Had 6 or 8 nice fish feeding in front of me in the first pool.
Got looks from all of them but only two ate. The first fish, a 17 incher, turned out to be fish of the day. When fish know you are there they become very difficult to fool. Being able to move from fish to fish is a huge advantage for the fisherman. Standing in one spot fishing to the same fish for a couple of hours gives the advantage to the fish.
Drove back to camp for a couple of hours and then decided to try the UE. It has been my favorite place to find solitude and quality rising trout the past two years. This year not so much. Guides now float it whenever water levels permit and a multitude of wade anglers have descended upon the river trying to escape the madness that the WB has become. At summer levels (currently 165 cfs), the riffs are no more than a foot deep and the pools are clear and slow moving. Wading in the riffs sends trout darting into the pools where a single step sends a wake from one shore to the other, putting all feeding fish down. The water is too low to float and the crowds of anglers , perhaps discouraged by lack of success, have thinned but the damage has been done. Shared a pool with another angler during a modest sulfur hatch. Never knowingly cast at a fish larger than the 11 incher I caught. With two anglers disturbing the water, a hatch that would have interested some quality fish in prior years attracted nothing but juveniles.
The WB beckons.
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