East meets West

We were on the river for two trips this weekend. Saturday’s float was from Long Eddy to Tower Road. Conditions were near perfect with overcast skies and light winds. Hatches were a little on the light side with occasional march browns, olives and a few caddis mixed in to keep things interesting. Considering the time of year, and that the FUDR One Bug contest was underway, the crowds on the lower river were surprisingly light. Regular risers didn’t show up until midafternoon, but prospecting with march browns was effective for the early part of the day. Many fish were hooked and not quite as many made it to the net.

Saturday was a new day, and we chased reports of epic hatches on the upper main stem. The float was from Shehawken to Buckingham (with a stop for hot coffee, hotter soup and sandwiches in Stockport). We had light rain with mild winds at the ramp, followed by driving rains and gusting upstream winds from Shehawken through Bard Parker. We cursed the weatherman, shivered in the cold, and rowed into the wind. An hour into the float the wind and rain eased and the olives showed up. The hatch was heavy but it took a little bit of work to find rising fish. Trout were mixed with the dreaded creek chubs in the flats. If you pass on every rise that looks like it may be a chub you will miss out on a few trout, so we took our shots and caught some non-target species along with a couple of browns and a rainbow. The cold temperatures put an early end to the surface activity.