Trico time

Fished Saturday August 13th, arrived at Bald Eagle well in advance of the hatch & spinner fall, dressed and walked to the stream, found a section to wade across and stalked upstream to a position above most of the fish and away from the dam ducks! I started to see the birds working above the water and Trico's comming off, then the rain came Hard! Of course I did not take a rain jacket, believed the weather man about showers later in the day, walked into the woods and stood under a large tree till it slowed, no problem just go back to the car and get the rain gear, ok long wade and walk back- no rain gear in the car, just to old to remember it, swear I had it, do now. Decided to move to another spot, another long walk and wade, a few on small tan caddis but no Trico's, back to the car and off agin. Stopped at the bridge in Milesburg, the pod is back downstream, parked and down the hill, took 6 in quick order and another 5 smaller ones before the boats came down. The spinner fall was late due to the rain and really not that srong but the fish ate them.
  Have you ever looked at a past favorite rod and had the urge to use it and when you do, it sucks! Friday night I was set on using my Scott 8'8" #2 but looked at my 8'8" #4 and remember how much I love that rod on the Missouri, well it should be used out west and not for Trico's plenty of power but not enought finess. I guess when your old you forget and relearn the lesson fast! For Trico's stick with a 2 or a 3 weight line and 8' and above.

Still Too Hot To Fish

Hey it's still too hot to fish but the Swarm fellow just keeps tripping over his own words, now he's on the brook trout- go figure? With the lowered water levels and the intense heat it is best to leave the trout alone even night fishing make no sense. If you really want to kill trout go to the stocked sections and hook and play them and for heavens sake take them home but don't waste them.
  The white fly is on the river below the Fiber Dam in Sunbury, just look at the East end of the bridge along the road and you'll see piles of the spinners in the mornings. I have not been down to see the activety yet but based on the past three years I'm not willing to stand in the river and wait to see nothing rise! most people do not know that the white fly is a hatch that occurs on the edges of the river and doesn't reach the middle section! If your standing in the middle your too far out, fish the 1/3 from the banks. The North Branch side seems to have the strongest activety. If anyone sees strong activety, drop me a line and I'll wade out and sample it, even the channel cats can be fun, they are easy to spot because of their habit of making a "V" as the move upstream taking flies off the surface.
  Years ago we would load up a car or Russ' old jeep and make the trip to Falling Springs and fish the Trico hatch/spinner fall, then go to Big Spring or The Letort and fish scuds or beetles and end the day fishing The White Fly on The Breeches, then drive home- not gonna happen at this age, hell we'd fall asleep at dinner before going to The Breeches.