I have cleaned the ferrules on the Maxwell Leonard, checked the line and leader on my 3-1/2 inch Trutta Perfetta reel, and just tied half a dozen flies: twenty olives and the bright olive/Hebe facsimiles foremost. I will spend this afternoon along the Delaware!
It is rare for me to angle the big river in spring, the season of frequent rains and spilling reservoirs, for in that season it is a boaters’ river. Come September though, with lower flows and cooler weather I can feel it’s call each season. Late summer, with it’s introduction to autumn in these Catskills, is the perfect time.
There are blue skies this morning, and I was counting on the earlier forecast for cloud cover, but if some flies show themselves the trout will take notice. They say the winds will be gentle, even calm, and that portends to a pleasant afternoon.
The holiday has passed, and I expect the miles along the Upper Delaware will be quiet. A few local anglers will likely show. I expect their thinking is much as mine: enjoy their time to wander the Mainstem without the frenetic pace of springtime, perhaps have the thrill of a good river rainbow light up the drag in your reel.
Since I have some time on my hands, perhaps I will tie a few flying ants. Since that sun intends to shine after all, and the winds remain calm, a flight could find their way along those same miles I chose to wander. If they do, I will hope they aren’t the teeny-tinies I last encountered on a late summer Catskill river. Tying on a fly smaller than size twenty seems to tax my capabilities these days.
Bright Waters Catskill 