Resetting June

It is just past sunrise, and it is 45 degrees here in Crooked Eddy. The second half of June begins, with an unexpected fresh chill in the air, and our rivers have freshened a bit too. Ushering the hot, muggy weather out, some thunderstorms have provided a bit of sorely needed rain. River levels are quickly seeking their former all too low flows, but the combination of storm runoff and yesterday’s cold winds have added some oxygenation.

I have some hope for good fishing as this half of June kicks off. The ten-day forecast includes just one day with an expectation to reach 80 degrees, and as much as an inch of additional rain might just help our rivers and angler’s spirits. I am looking forward to putting some serious time on the water.

I have re-shuffled one of the fly boxes residing in my summer vest and tied some sulfurs and Cross Specials to replace the March Browns and Drakes that filled it. I have filled some rows and compartments with fresh terrestrials in the green primary summer box as well.

I won’t be concerned with reaching the stream by dawn just yet on chilly mornings like this one, nor the stormy one expected tomorrow. Days like these, variable weather days, are perfect to take an easy pace, to spend a morning and a long afternoon watching to see what develops.

I would love to see a surprise, some little olives dancing down the edges of surface currents, or a few deep claret colored Isonychia duns. I have seen little of either of those mayflies over the past couple of seasons.

I’d like to find just a quiver near a well-loved log or rock along a favorite bank, with a surreptitious tiny rise ring when I drift my 100-Year Dun just right!

I have still a couple of hours to think about it; pack my gear, stow the rod, and pull my waders and boots on, and then take the leisurely drive to whichever haunt I settle upon. No schedule, no trying to work out just which hours of the day on which reach of river might bring activity, just taking the day as the river offers it.