joeyd
Just finished a River Runs Through it!
That was my intention!
Give us a try!
Welcome back to the new NEFF. Take a break from Twitter and Facebook. You don't go to Dicks for your fly fishing gear, you go to your local fly fishing store. Enjoy!
The WB has officially seen its day
- Thread starter flyI4
- Start date
That was my intention!
Wbranch
New member
I've not visited this site in many months but I happened onto this thread and wanted to make a few comments.
Someone wrote; "C-dun may be old enough to remember having the place to himself, but the cat's been out of the bag longer than most people here have lived... certainly longer than the existence of a public internet.
I'm considerably older than C-dun and likely most everyone on this forum. I first fished the WB around 1970. I first fished the Beaverkill on July 05, 1965. The river was so good then that I had never fished above where Dream Catcher is now until around 1990. My favorite water for decades was that long straight section of river many call "The Refrigerator". Back in the day I used to park on Rte 17 all day and my car was never ticketed.
I'd walk across a little beaver dam and it a few minutes I was on the river. My Dad and I used to fish all day Saturday and for much of sunday on the WB and maybe see 2 - 3 other guys.
There were many more parking places then than now for sure! I'd park right in front of the DRC and cross that swift water channel and wade all the way up to the DRC campground and fish my way back. Up in that water I don't ever remember seeing anyone else fishing and of course there were no drift boats. Maybe an occassional recreational canoer. I don't remember when I saw my first drift boat on the WB but I do remember when it was on the main stem and it was around 1978 - I didn't even know what it was and the guy had a neat black fly rod and I asked him what it was and he said "It's called graphite".
So yes there were many years before the Internet and all the articles appeared in all the fly mags about the WB being the best dry fly water East of the Mississippi. Obviously the same goes for the main stem. We used to fish a certain section of water that my Dad, my friend, and I thought was our private Heaven. Weekend after weekend, year after year there were virtually no guys fishing the main. We would get pissed off if we saw some guy coming down to fish "our" water.
Many issues have affected the WB they have been discussed here over and over. I still fish the WB three days a week. Lucky for me I only fish Tuesday through Thursday and never fish weekends. Yep, I have a Hyde, and other craft, so it's true I can get on fish that waders can not. I did see fewer rising fish in 2013 but I still could find a few fish looking up and usually caught a few every day. There is still good fishing on the WB just maybe not as many big risers as in the heyday years.
Someone wrote; "C-dun may be old enough to remember having the place to himself, but the cat's been out of the bag longer than most people here have lived... certainly longer than the existence of a public internet.
I'm considerably older than C-dun and likely most everyone on this forum. I first fished the WB around 1970. I first fished the Beaverkill on July 05, 1965. The river was so good then that I had never fished above where Dream Catcher is now until around 1990. My favorite water for decades was that long straight section of river many call "The Refrigerator". Back in the day I used to park on Rte 17 all day and my car was never ticketed.
I'd walk across a little beaver dam and it a few minutes I was on the river. My Dad and I used to fish all day Saturday and for much of sunday on the WB and maybe see 2 - 3 other guys.
There were many more parking places then than now for sure! I'd park right in front of the DRC and cross that swift water channel and wade all the way up to the DRC campground and fish my way back. Up in that water I don't ever remember seeing anyone else fishing and of course there were no drift boats. Maybe an occassional recreational canoer. I don't remember when I saw my first drift boat on the WB but I do remember when it was on the main stem and it was around 1978 - I didn't even know what it was and the guy had a neat black fly rod and I asked him what it was and he said "It's called graphite".
So yes there were many years before the Internet and all the articles appeared in all the fly mags about the WB being the best dry fly water East of the Mississippi. Obviously the same goes for the main stem. We used to fish a certain section of water that my Dad, my friend, and I thought was our private Heaven. Weekend after weekend, year after year there were virtually no guys fishing the main. We would get pissed off if we saw some guy coming down to fish "our" water.
Many issues have affected the WB they have been discussed here over and over. I still fish the WB three days a week. Lucky for me I only fish Tuesday through Thursday and never fish weekends. Yep, I have a Hyde, and other craft, so it's true I can get on fish that waders can not. I did see fewer rising fish in 2013 but I still could find a few fish looking up and usually caught a few every day. There is still good fishing on the WB just maybe not as many big risers as in the heyday years.
Last edited:
Thursthouse
Tight Loins
One of the best posts I've read on this site...really appreciate you taking the time to post. Love the "it's graphite" part. Have never fished the Delaware but hopefully will get out there soon..
Trout Nazi
And...Boom goes the dynamite.
Thank you, this puts everything in excellent perspective. People should look at the big picture and realize how lucky they are to have a fishery like this in their backyards.
CTobias
Professional BS'r
Thursthouse
Tight Loins
We can run up it in my jet sled.
Gas and beer on me
Wbranch
New member
Thanks for your nice comment. Here one of my biggest measured rainbows in all the years I've fished the main stem. I see lots lots of guys post up stories about all the 22" - 24" main stem rainbows that they are catching. That is hyperbole in it's most grandiose sense! I know two guys on this site whose names will not be divulged that have caught a handful of very large, measured, wild rainbows. Other then those few fish I have never been close enough to see anyone land, and measure, a 22" rainbow. Guys they just don't live long enough to get that big in meaningful numbers.
This fish was caught in late April of 1966 on a #14 Adams and it measured an honest 21". Maybe I'm not good enough, or lucky enough, to catch many rainbows this size. But it stood to be my largest main stem rainbow for thirty-eight years. I finally caught a larger fish in a very popular pool between Bard Parker and Buckingham on a #16 rusty spinner. The darn fish kept moving and I had to keep chasing it in my Hyde. I had to lift the anchor, row upstream to get ahead of it, drop the anchor, and quickly strip off line and make a cast or two and try to put the fly about a foot in front of the fish and right in her line. I was by myself so it was a bitch to be moving, rowing, dropping the anchor, trying to set up on the fish. It's somewhat embarrassing but it took me over two hours to finally get all the boat, and my cast, in the perfect position for the fish to come up and suck in that spinner. It was awesome and since the water was about 6' deep the fish started to sound when I got it near the boat and I had trouble lifting it off of the bottom. Then a big ole striper of about 15# came in and started to check out my trophy like "Hmm an easy meal". But my fish was a little too big I think and the striper just kind of observed my antics of trying to end the fight. I had to use my long handled wooden boat net with one arm and somehow lift almost 5# of rainbow trout up with the other. A video would of been great to capture my folly! I have a picture but I prefer not to post it up because I had to put this noble fish in the bottom of my Hyde with my rod and took a quick photo with my first gen flip phone. I didn't want to photograph it like that but it was either that or no photo.
I caught that big ole striper about four years ago. That was exciting, thought I had a monster brown until I saw it turn on it's side and saw those stripes.
This fish was caught in late April of 1966 on a #14 Adams and it measured an honest 21". Maybe I'm not good enough, or lucky enough, to catch many rainbows this size. But it stood to be my largest main stem rainbow for thirty-eight years. I finally caught a larger fish in a very popular pool between Bard Parker and Buckingham on a #16 rusty spinner. The darn fish kept moving and I had to keep chasing it in my Hyde. I had to lift the anchor, row upstream to get ahead of it, drop the anchor, and quickly strip off line and make a cast or two and try to put the fly about a foot in front of the fish and right in her line. I was by myself so it was a bitch to be moving, rowing, dropping the anchor, trying to set up on the fish. It's somewhat embarrassing but it took me over two hours to finally get all the boat, and my cast, in the perfect position for the fish to come up and suck in that spinner. It was awesome and since the water was about 6' deep the fish started to sound when I got it near the boat and I had trouble lifting it off of the bottom. Then a big ole striper of about 15# came in and started to check out my trophy like "Hmm an easy meal". But my fish was a little too big I think and the striper just kind of observed my antics of trying to end the fight. I had to use my long handled wooden boat net with one arm and somehow lift almost 5# of rainbow trout up with the other. A video would of been great to capture my folly! I have a picture but I prefer not to post it up because I had to put this noble fish in the bottom of my Hyde with my rod and took a quick photo with my first gen flip phone. I didn't want to photograph it like that but it was either that or no photo.
I caught that big ole striper about four years ago. That was exciting, thought I had a monster brown until I saw it turn on it's side and saw those stripes.
Attachments
Wbranch
New member
Hello Moosekid,
Yep, they surely do look like the same shirt. That picture was taken in 1966, probably long before you were born. Fifty years ago it was a lot harder to keep warm than it is today because other than bulky down garments there were not yet too many advances in clothing to keep you warm without the bulk. I can remember often feeling like the Michelin Man with all sorts of layers on and usually by the time I got to the river I was all sweated up. I'm glad for all the advances in cold weather clothing.
P.S. I am the Boss.
Yep, they surely do look like the same shirt. That picture was taken in 1966, probably long before you were born. Fifty years ago it was a lot harder to keep warm than it is today because other than bulky down garments there were not yet too many advances in clothing to keep you warm without the bulk. I can remember often feeling like the Michelin Man with all sorts of layers on and usually by the time I got to the river I was all sweated up. I'm glad for all the advances in cold weather clothing.
P.S. I am the Boss.
Last edited:
