Weekend Roundup

Got out twice this weekend, stuck a rainbow and a brown. First try was Friday on the extreme Upper D just below the riffle at the farm flats.

The rainbow fell for a PMD parachute I dug out of the Western box as I didn't have any good Cahills. Tied a couple of Cahills Friday evening, #14 with CDC wings which fooled a nice brown below the cornfield riffle.

Friday saw an unexpected realease increase from the Cannonsville Reservoir which caused an immediate watercraft hatch. The guides apparently had advance warning as they were out in force with sports in tow by lunchtime. The farm flats had surprisingly few anglers. I was able to gain access to some good water through sly application of the secret slap & tickle technique. After trying various sulphur dries I switched to the PMD to match the Cahills. There were also very pale sulphurs on the water. The waxwing flycatchers were having a field day. Friday evening was concluded under a party tent at the Chestnutt Inn for their Friday evening Rock on the Dock. The tent was required due to torrential downours.

Saturday was very crowded at the farm flats. The pipeline crews are making final preparations for laying the gas pipeline under the river just below the farm flats riffle. There are two parellel sets of survey stakes spanning the river at the pipeline crossover point. All this activity convinced me to head downstream to the Men's Club access. Following the long walk I arrived to my favorite riffle and found it belssedly angler free. Nymphing the pockets in the riffle dredged up nothing but big gobs of stringy green algae. Cleaning the hooks, split shot and strike indicator was required after every 3 to 4 casts. The Cahills and Sulphurs started popping and the flycatchers started feasting as I reached the run returning to the main flow below the island. A scan of the flat pockets below the riffle showed some nice fish rising near the far bank. I broke out a new CDC Cahill and immediately got a take and LDR. A few more of my longest, and not necessarily prettiest casts, later got me into a nice 15 inchish brown. The fish were still rising as I fought the brown. Shortly after unhooking, the watercraft hatch started in earnest. First a single canoe floated right over the risers. I gave 'em the stink eye! The first riser to start back up after the canoe was quickly put back down by a string of 7 more canoes. I hadn't given up hope until 2 drift boats and a pontoon boat made their way through the run. A quick trip upstream to see what was happening showed 3 more drift boats anchored on the flats. Oh well, back to the house for an evening campfire and a couple bottles of wine.

Thunderstorms on Sunday chased me off the water and over to Roscoe for the Catskill Flyfishing Museum's Jubillee Day. Rain chased about a third of the vendors away also. Looked over lots of bamboo rods and antique reels, none purchased. Found a couple of nice artistic maps of the Delaware river system in the museum shop. Look for them soon on a wall at Coach's.

Later!