West Branch Report

With last night's rain, the water levels were up a bit (~450 cfs at Walton) and the water was a bit more cloudy than its been for a few days. According to the pros, the higher water and cooler temps should be good for fishing so here's hoping. While out on the West Branch near Hamden I did see some decent bug activity, though the surface feeding was sporadic for most of the evening.

Best guest at what I was seeing is that we had Hendricksons, Blue Quills (dark bodied, dark winged mayflies), and the occasional bright green apple caddis. I fished a few different patterns throughout the evening, starting with a basic March Brown wet fly, and then progressing to a Hendrickson parachute, a blue quill, a BWO with CDC wings, and a rusty spinner. Dark flies definitely seemed to be the most effective tonight. I had trouble seeing the small #18 blue quill though I think it was probably the best choice based on color and size of the naturals. I tied on the #14 BWO since it was a little bigger and floated a lot better making it far easier to spot. It caught a beautiful 16" brown that casually slurped it from the foam. I admit, I knew he was there, but I thought he was a much smaller fish when I casted to him.

West Branch Report

Thanks to the men and women of our Armed Forces who fought and died for us, I was priveledged to be able to go fishing with my buddy on Memorial Day. I think war is a terrible option to have to take, and I hope we never have another, but I have nothing but respect for all those who have gone to battle to defend our freedom throughout history.

Back home in central New York, Memorial Day was beautiful, sunny and warm. The Upper West Branch near Hamden was running a bit high (USGS says 650 CFS at Walton and it seems best at 300-400), but it's starting to clear up and should be perfect in a day or two if the thunderstorms don't muck it up again.

I hit the water a little after 5PM and the insect activity was moderate. I noticed quite a few small caddisflies dipping and diving to deposit their eggs (dark dun Chimarras) and there were Hendricksons out and about. A few fish were feeding at the surface in select spots, but I had to cover a lot of river to find them.

On the evening, a Biot Parachute Hendrickson pattern in size 12 seemed to draw the most interest.  I landed a nice 15" brown, an 8" chub, and had a few takes that I wasn't quick enough to connect with on that fly. I also had a strong take on a CDC & Elk caddis pattern. I was swinging it as a wet fly when the strike occurred, but my tippet gave way. It didn't raise any fish as a dry, which led to the switch to the Hendrickson Pattern.

As night fell, there were a few vicious outbursts where browns jumped clear out of the water after a meal. My guess is that they were hitting caddisflies based on the violence of the takes, so I switched again to a CDC Biot Caddis Emerger. It did draw a strike, but I lost the fly and the fish when I set the hook - something I clearly need to work on.

West Branch Report

I spent a couple of hours on the waters between Walton and Delhi tonight and while there were definitely bugs out and about, there wasn't nearly the surface activity I expected. I netted a few Red Quill (male hendrickson) spinners and saw quite a lot of small dark dun caddis (Chimarra, I believe) and slightly larger greed caddis (apple?) out and about, but the fish seemed to be feeding elsewhere. Perhaps I arrived too late for the main feast. Even so, I did manage to hook up with a few small browns. I'm guessing the stocking truck came through recently because the fish I caught were in the 6-8" range and were pretty pale.

Once again, the dark dun CDC emerger was a killer, as was the Madison Guide Cripple in red quill coloring. While the CDC Emerger is deadly, it's tough to fish in that it's hard to see and a little fish slime pretty much trashes it. I fish it mostly as a dropper off of a larger, more visible fly (a Hendrickson or klinkhamer for example) unless the water is fairly calm. Last night it was my go-to for sight-casting to a rising trout. I stuck with the MGC for prospecting in the faster water since the parachute made it easier to track and it's far more durable.

Red Pheasant

An attempt to imitate the male Ephemerella subvaria or Red Quill (aka male Hendrickson) without red rooster quill. I will also be tying a few parachute style to fish as a truer emerger. Should be fun to see which performs better. 

Hook: Daiichi 1160 (klinkhamer) #14

Thread: Brown

Tail: Pheasant tail (4-5 fibers)

Body: wrapped pheasant tail

Rib: gold wapsi wire counter wrapped

Thorax: UV cinnamon ice dub

Wing: Mallard flank or woodie

Hackle: Natural dun

Elk Hammer

I'm a bit infatuated with the klinkhamer, I admit. This is another modification I'd like to try out this May. Elk body hair for the tail and abdomen to give it hopefully a Hendrickson look. I haven't seen elk hair used for body wraps much so maybe it's a mistake, but added wire counter wraps should make it more durable and I love the look. 

Hook: Klinkhamer 14-16

Thread: brown

Tail: elk body hair

Abdomen: elk (same as tail)

Rib: Wapsi wire (used silver and wine so far)

Thorax: March brown or Hendrickson pink dubbin

Wing Post: poly yarn or calf tail

Hackle: natural dun

Madison Guide Cripple

Quick to tie hi-vis cripple/emerger pattern. 

Hook: emerger 14-18

Thread: to match (cream/brown shown)

Tail: Zelon or hair (Himalayan goat fur shown)

Abdomen: peacock herl or dubbed (caddis green & march brown shown)

Wing: Poly yarn tied cripple style

Hackle: to match (grizzly)

Notes:

- trim wing butt to end of thorax. 

- cut notch out of bottom of hackle so fly rides low in the water. 

Biot Parachute Hendrickson

Hook: Dry 12-16

Thread: Tan

Tail: Natural Dun Fibers

Abdomen: Turkey Biot dyed Hendrickson

Thorax: Dubbed March Brown or Hendrickson 

Wing Post: Poly yarn

Hackle: Natural Dun and Grizzly

note: whip finish on post under hackle for cleaner fly. 

Parachute Hendrickson

Hook: 12 or 14 Dry

Thread: Cream

Wing Post: Poly Yarn

Tail: Natural Dun Fibers

Body: subbed Hareline "March Brown" for usual Hareline Super Fine "Hendrickson Pink"

Hackle: Parachute-style Natural Dun and Grizzly

Notes:

- Whip finish under hackle

- use small thread ball under base of tail to lift and splay tail fibers. 

Light Hendrickson Dry

My attempt at a classic from Art Flick's Streamside Guide:

Pattern:

Hook: Dry Fly (12 or 14)

Thread: Brown

Wing: Wood Duck Flank (Mallard subbed above)

Tail: Natural Dun Hackle Fibers
Body: Hendrickson Pink Super Fine Dubbing
Hackle: Natural Dun

Instructions:

• Start thread behind eye leaving 2-3 eye lengths bare per Catskill style, wrap back halfway, then forward half-way.
• Size wing to be one shank length and tie in using 2 pinch wraps, then 2-3 tight wraps in front of wing around hook.(Helps me prevent spinning of wing).
• Trim wing butts at an angle to help taper body.
• Using cross-wraps split wing evenly and position wings. (Use flat of fingernail along hook shank to fan out wing and help divide evenly.)  I leave near side wing a little flatter at this point since tying in the hackle always causes it to push upward later.
• Wrap thread back and tie in tail using thread to form nice even taper.
• Form tight dubbing noodle and dub thorax (less is more!) stopping with a little space behind wing.
• Tie in hackle on near side and be careful about it skewing your wing.
• Wrap hackle 3x tight behind wing, then 2x tight in front.
• Tie off hackle and trim.  Can use a half hitch to push back any hackle fibers at this point.
• Whip finish and cement. (Watch that you leave space behind the eye and don't make your head too long!)

When to fish:

Late April to first 3/4 of May.