West Branch

[flyman23]

It's been so slow I figured I post a report. Just got back from Dream catchers on the West Branch. Slow nymphing in the morning but at about 3:00pm the sulphers would start hatching. They were between size 16 and 18. Early on in the hatch if I did everything just right I was able to get a few and some nice big fat ones. After about 6pm everyone staying there tossed just about every fly you could think of and nothing. There were a lot of naturals on the water so I think that was part of it. I was down to 6x, down stream presentation and at least some of the time I was sure I didn't have any drag. These fish wouldn't even look at it. Everyone else had pretty much the same story. Anyway, I continued to get in the water early, catch 1-3 nice fish and spend the rest of the evening getting frustrated. All in all good trip and some nice fish. If you are up that way I highly recommend Dream Catchers, very nice cabins right on good water.

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[Rusty Spinner]

Spinners! Those highly pressured wild trout will NOT tolerate a high floating fly in slow water like where you fished. It must be flush to the surface. And even the very smallest micro drag will get refused. Even perfect drifts on that river are normally refused, but keep at it and switch flies until you get that head to eat.

[flyman23]

Spinners, I didn't think to give them a go. Fish were taking duns like crazy. As I mentioned I had some success early on, I was using emergers.

[flyman23]

On a side note they were ignoring a bunch of small olives and also a fair amount of ISO's.

[MACFLY]

Those fish just see too many flies. This time of the year back in the 90s and up to say 2010 you didn’t see many people after bug week. They spent most of the year with little to no pressure at all. It’s completely inverted now. Sad

[Rusty Spinner]

Spinners, I didn't think to give them a go. Fish were taking duns like crazy. As I mentioned I had some success early on, I was using emergers.

Emergers also sit flush on the surface. By this time of year, no trout will ignore a rusty spinner at any time of the day. They see them nearly every day and know they are food. I will fish that fly even during a hatch when they are eating duns if they don't immediately eat a dun imitation. As MAC said, those fish are hammered now more than ever.

[moosekid]

Flyman,

These clowns fish on the Delaware like 4-5 times a year, and aren't really qualified to give you advice on a gamelands sulphur hatch. I saw Mac and his brother floating a few times this summer w Marty. They are so fat, Marty had to hang (2) 40lb anchors off the back of his boat to keep them anchored. If you want advice on propane and propane accessories, ask Mac -- but when it comes to the sulphur hatch you've already proven you can outfish him by catching 1 fish.

Rusty spinner, on the other hand, is an expert on dream catcher lodge. He books a trip there each year around April 15th and then logs onto NEFF complaining about high flows and being there two weeks before the Hendricksons begin. Don't let that fool you, though -- he is a clearly an expert and everyone should listen to him. Check out his post earlier in the thread where he educates the group on emergers. This guy is a frickin encyclopedia!!!

[greg s]

As noted above, you can never go wrong with a rusty spinner. I was talking to a guide up there a couple years who told that there was their summertime go to dry fly because it always worked. In the film or even an inch or two below, it doesn't matter, it will catch. It seems like 3/4 of all mayflies end their lives as a rusty spinner of some size.

[flyman23]

All right you have me convinced, we have another trip planned for the end of August and I will be tying up some small rusty spinners.

[denniscabarle]

So you're claiming that Mac should hang it up and stay home and eat cheeseburgers? lol.