Tonight was a classic late summer evening on the West Branch. Of course, I say that, but it's the first time I've actually experienced a night like this first hand. First off, the water was clear and low (~85 CFS), but very cool for this time of year. When we arrived in Walton at a little after 5pm, fish were lazily rising all over but I targeted faster water where it entered into slower, deeper water figuring that's where the trout would congregate. I pretty much assume anything rising in slow water during the day has got to be a chub.
Despite the near constant rises and the ability to actually see trout holding in certain spots, I could not figure out what the fish were eating. I threw a dozen different flies at them with no result. Based on the lazy rises, I figured they were after something dead or at least not very fast so I tied on a rusty spinner. Finally, I got a take: a chub. 20 or so casts later I finally caught my first small brown trout on the same fly but not much more interest than that.
Giving up on the holding trout, I decided to see what was rising in the slower water. Pretty much as expected, the only thing I could interest in my spinner was the occasional chub. Why couldn't I figure out what they were eating? I didn't see any bugs flying around or on the water, but apparently I didn't look closely enough. Finally, while standing beneath some trees during a passing downpour, I noticed tiny flying ants on my arm. A-ha! Too bad I had nothing like that in my fly box. Best I could do was a #16 dubbed ant-like thing I had attempted, failed, and abandoned. The naturals were at best #20s or smaller. Still, I went with it. No trout, but the chubs were definitely more interest in this than anything else.
Thankfully, the passing downpour I mentioned and the oncoming dark stirred things up nicely. Soon I noticed small Pale Evening Duns rising from the riffles. Excitedly, I tied on a mayfly imitation and headed back to the riffles where I saw the trout holding before. Still nothing! Frustrated and having trouble seeing, I decided to go with a #14 Light Cahill just because I'd be able to see the damn thing. Man! Was that ever the right call! First cast hooked a 17" male brown trout.
Darkness was really settling in now, but I couldn't leave, especially since I noticed an increasing number of mayflies rising from the riffles and aggressive rises all around. For about 15-20 minutes, I could do no wrong catching another 4 or 5 trout including a pretty 16" female. By the end I was casting blind in the dark and lifting my rod at the sound of a rise. I missed a few takes to be sure, but I caught a couple more as well. Magic.
Soon, it was too dark and I was no longer hooking up. Turning on my headlight revealed a blizzard of Light Cahills like I've never seen. The water surface was littered with them and they swarmed around my head and landed all over me in the lamp light. I quickly turned off the light and decided to fumble my way out before I swallowed anymore mayflies. Save 'em for the trout.
And you better believe I looked into some flying ant patterns as soon as I got home!
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