Downsizing?

August has been hard to figure out. For a terrestrial fisherman like myself, high summer is the time for Nature’s trout food to get bigger. Trouble is the water is shrinking and I have been sitting here at my bench this morning tying shrunken patterns.

Usually, I am fishing the larger versions of my stable of summer flies, with the exception of flying ants, but their productivity has trailed off. The trout tend to range at this time of year as water temperatures rise and flows decrease. That seems to be amplified due to the general lack of summer hatches. I have seen very few of the once prolific summer sulfurs, none of the little pale olives, and no tiny spinners. Common sense says the trout should be eager for a substantial meal, yet here I am tying miniaturized versions of my summer killers.

Rod work has gotten in the way of my fishing too, as I race to finish my bamboo flyrod project in time for the 31st Catskill Gathering just after Labor Day. Divided intentions don’t lead to the perfections of either quest.

Better weather is coming they say, with a week of true Catskill Summer weather ahead. Those kinds of days are conducive to longer angling outings, giving me a break from the heat as well as the trout. Sadly, there looks to be just a trace of rain in the ten-day forecast.