Summer Ain’t Foolin’

Sunday July 6th, 5:35 PM and the official porch sitting temperature here in Crooked Eddy sits at 100 degrees Fahrenheit: a pleasant summer evening here in the Catskills. I am not sitting on my porch, though I am sitting here in front of the fan thinking about fishing. The fan is on high, so tying flies is impractical to say the least. One cannot tie a dry fly when the feathers and the dubbing keep blowing away across the room.

I tied the balance of this weekend’s two dozen dry flies this morning, with the air at a comfortable 60 degrees. They have been packed in the single fly box which is occupying my small chest pack, ready for the morning. Warm days and low water is upon us, New York City having decided to drop the releases from the Delaware system reservoirs despite the fact that they are nearly full (98.5% of capacity). Trout don’t count much in their world, and trout fishermen count even less.

I put the five weight Leonard back in the rod rack and drew my four weight Sweetgrass from the tube which harbored it since last September. Dennis Menscer’s three weight is on standby as the week progresses. I checked the line and leader on the Trutta Perfetta reel my Sweetgrass is comfortable with and rebuilt the business end of the leader. Good to go with the sunrise.

There’s no ballgame tonight, and no chance I would try any evening fishing in this heat, so I am here musing about long summer days. A lot of guys seem to want to fish the evening rise to exclusion, but the fact is the rivers are at their warmest point at that time of the day. Yes, even after sunset. I hope they carry a stream thermometer and use it. Earlier in the spring was the time for evening fishing, and even then I find myself spending my days on the water rather than my nights. I spent both out there when I was younger and dumber, but now I like to see what I’m doing, as well as the glorious places I get to do it.

It looks like this week will be all eighty and better degree days, though the early mornings will feature the more friendly sixties. I guess I won’t be getting too much sleep again, but I’ll be driving to the river with the windows open!