Two days ago, on 7/11, the hatch was on! the action reminded me of last summer after the big flood, when the action was phenomenal. I stood in one spot for two hours and casted to fish in every direction, rising rythmically. I looked in the water for some indication of their targeted food source, and saw small sulphur duns emerging, and lots of spinners, some rusty. The prvious Sunday, Ed had hooked two on a rusty spinner, so I thought that would be the key. But nothing seemed to work—standard sulphurs, parachutes, spinners, Cahills, etc. Finally I caught a nice 14" brown on the swing!, and missed two other takes. Based on the swing strike, I wondered, Were they feeding on caddis? The rise forms were not as dramatic as a caddis emergence might indicate.

After almost a week of high water, I started wading again on 6/27. The hatches were sparse, and shut down during the last hour of light, usually the best time. I struck out on Friday, and lost one on Saturday. Although the river was perfect in all ways, the hatches were minimal. Last night, there was a pretty robust sulphur hatch from 7-8, but I managed only to get two takes, one on a cdc sulphur emerger, and one on a parachute sulphur.

Ryan arrived on Monday 6/16, and we started flyfishing the next day. Fishing the same section of the river below the house we had a pretty good week. We each caught several browns, but the fishing was much more difficult than before his arrival.

Ed Rompala took us on an afternoon float trip down the lower West Branch (to Junction Pool). We landed one small brown, but hooked a couple of others.

On the last night, we fished with Ed and my buddy Paul Robilotti from Montrose, and struck out except for one hooked fish by Ed. Then the rains came and blew the river out, so our family duties on Ryan's last day were easier to embrace since the fishing was over.

The day before Ryan arrived from Texas, I fished alone on a section where he caught his first brown two years ago—a 22+" brown that came to the net after Ryan had fished in the rain for six consecutive days.

I landed a 20" brown, and then a 15" rainbow for the best evening I'd had in a long time.

Ed invited me on an afternoon float trip from Balls Eddy to Buckingham on the main branch. Before the rains came and immobilized us for about 45 minutes, we both caught 17-18" browns on a pheasant tail beadhead nymph below a snowshoe comparadoun floater. After the rain, however, we struck out for the remaining float to Bukingham.

I didn't fish 5/28 or 5/29 because of family duties in Brackney, PA, but the conditions continued to be perfect. Ed fished one of those evenings and caught "several rainbows" before the rains came for several days. The resevoir was already full, so the extra water had to be "spilled" while the bottom releases continued to regulate the river temp somewhat. The river was unwadeable until two weeks later!

I went back the next evening and fished alone below the cabin, and landed a 17" brown on a #16 sulphur. I took a quick picture before quickly releasing it.

We arrived on May 25, and found the river to be perfect for wading at 900 cfs. I fished May 26 with my neighbor Ed Rompala and caught two 16" rainbows for a great start to the season. Caught them on tradiitonal tie #16 sulphurs.