May

May is the epicenter of spring flyfishing, the climax of all of the hopes and dreams we shepherd through winter. Called to the outdoors since a very early age, it has always been one of my two favorite months of the year.

Well, it is May indeed, and more than half of this pivotal month has passed without fishing. Like most anglers, I waited, struggled with the loss of one quarter of the year’s perfection while doing my best to keep hope alive for the month’s legendarily glorious last half. But what truly lies ahead?

The week ahead boasts another grand helping of chilly, damp, rain-soaked weather in a season that has already raised questions as to the health of our rivers’ insect populations. So what indeed lies ahead?

Though I confess a particular joy in spending a warm, sun-kissed day on the river, I have sought to always remember a few of the factual precepts of angling for trout: Fish are already wet; Chilly weather begets cold water where trout thrive; and mayflies often hatch best on damp, cloudy days. While these truths are not always correct, they have been written and recited since the first fly was cast because untold generations of anglers have suffered the less than perfect weather days to reap their rewards of the creel. In a month and a season like this one, it is best that we keep that in mind.

The first members of the group of pale-winged yellow mayflies we fondly call sulfurs should arrive upon the rivers’ surface this week. We shall hope to find their numbers impressive and the trout as excited as we are. In the back of my memory, I have stored any number of days when chilly, damp May afternoons held me shivering in my waders, unable to leave the water due to the continuous hatching and dining (on the trout’s part) to a heavy and extended hatch of sulfurs.

There is no rule requiring an angler to pack away his warm fishing clothing come May and, being a veteran Cumberland Valley angler who regularly enjoyed the 52-degree spring-fed streams during every month of the year, I have a goodly supply of said clothing. I also have at least two fishing rain jackets and waxed cotton caps, to say nothing of a pair of impregnated Thomas & Thomas fly rods. May? Well, might as well plan upon using them all!