Blew out of town here on the Jersey Shore around 3 pm and beat the traffic and had a nice ride up to the Catskills. Picked up the drift boat in Roscoe and headed to the Capra Motel in Hancock where I'd call home for a few nights. Had a nice dinner and some drinks with a friend and checked out the West Branch where I planned on floating the next day.
On Thursday I had Tom along in the boat and it was a great day. The West Branch was running 1970 cfs and we had a high, bright, hot sun for our noonish start. Tom threw streamers for the morning session as we kept an eye on the sporatic sulfer that would come down the river around us.
After a nice lunch we went hunting for fish and soon found them taking sulfers. It was like that for the rest of the float till dark. We found a few pods of very cooperative fish that allowed us to cast to them for, what seemed hours, until Tom hooked and landed the above beauty as the sun went down. As darkness fell we where witness to what seemed like hundreds of trout sipping sulfers and olives as the moon kept light on the pools. That night a few of the guides and some anglers at the Capra held court till about 1 am trading fishing stories and secrets with a few cocktails and cigarettes mixed in. It was a great long day.
On Friday I had the pleasure of having husband and wife team John and Theresa up from New Jersey for an Upper Delaware float. They found my card at the Orvis Marlton, New Jersey store and gave me a call. What a great connection. John has fly fished for a while and this is Theresa's second time fly fishing. No problem, the West Branch was 1670 cfs and there weren't many wading opportunities, perfect for a beginner! Well she did great. She started with a 7wt Hydros set up throwing streamers with a Bank Shot line and switched over to smaller sulfers and olives as the day went on. Theresa and I worked shoulder to shoulder for hours and it was super. We had a few refusals, a few misses, and lots of laughs up and down the river.
After lunch and were lucky to find fish rising off the beaten path from late afternoon till the evening. Targets, we had targets....and that makes for a great day, along with a great couple that enjoy and have a love of fly fishing together.
