It was good to spend an afternoon on the river.
I enjoyed a little warmth, the sight of a sparse handful of mayflies of different varieties, and I even made a few casts, just to get those muscles reintroduced to the feeling of presentation. I was hopeful, more so until I checked the water temperature just after Noon, and relished the moment. Of course, once my thermometer registered only 42 degrees, I let my expectations recede a bit.
It is ten degrees warmer this morning than yesterday, and the high is forecast to reach 74 degrees. I hope this day will amount to more than another tease, for nearly two inches of rain are expected over the next five days of falling temperatures. This is spring in the Catskills, and it seems each year unveils a different scenario.
A case in point concerns last April. The tenth was my zero hour and it blossomed into a sunny day in the sixties. Though flies and rising trout were sparse, the three brownies I found feeding at the surface were duped by my offerings and put an arch in the Leonard. Good fish they were too, seventeen to nineteen inches, and I can picture each of their lies and the cast that seduced them still! Of course, it would not be April without Mother Nature’s mysteries. The week warmed daily until Friday afternoon flirted with ninety degrees. The sun shone, the winds blew, and there were neither hatches nor risers throughout.
Logic would lead one to expect continued good fishing with air and water warming daily, but it wasn’t in Nature’s deck of cards. Hatches and the fishing awakened once the afternoons cooled down to more springlike temperatures, though there were still fits and starts. Ah yes, April!
What devilment will the Red Gods bring today?
Bright Waters Catskill 