Got out Thursday to the local waters for a pleasant late afternoon.
Water had warmed a bit to the upper 40s, was clear but running a bit
higher than is often the case. The afternoon sun brought a heavier hatch
of bugs than I'd seen earlier in the season. Small tan caddis,
larger grannom types, and a few Blue Quills and spinners of the latter
were in the air. I took a stocked fish early on with a White Streamer,
changed over to Submerger wets and got a couple of natives on #16 Tan
versions and then, finally, I saw it.....The first rising trout of the
season for me. Problem was, he was in a 10 foot long slick on the far
side of some churning water pumping over large rocks. Challenge
accepted, I managed, after 2 horrid efforts, to get a #16 Red Quill to
float past him and he took. The fish was all of 7 inches long, but a
native brown at any rate. I found a slightly easier taker, by a log, on
the walk back to the car. In a few short weeks, Pennsylvania will be
heading into prime time, with Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, March Browns,
Grey Foxes and Sulfurs all doing their thing before a short burst of the
really big bugs by late May or early June. I can hardly wait for the
real action to begin!
Tom