Father's Day Morning

......found me on the Tulpehocken, waving a fly rod. I haven't fly fished
for any species since April, due to a combination of vile conspiracies,
including massive flooding, family obligations and work schedule. I was
greeted by pleasant conditions....not too warm, water
levels clear(well, that sort of green-clear PA streams get) and with a
fair flow to them. Water temps in the mid to upper 60's. The stream at
shortly after dawn brought forth a range of bugs. There were cream and
grey midges, smallish mayflies, tan and grey caddis in about 6 varieties
and a few large cream mayflies. After much trial and error, most success
came with #18 Adams midges and parachutes, although I took fish with a
cream palmered gnat, a tan CDC caddis and two on #14 Light Cahills. Most
of the fun was over by 10 am, and just to punctuate that fact, a couple
of Great Blue Herons mounted their lookout spots to start the
professional fishing day.
A nice start to Fathers Day, it was. The morning and casual pace led to
pleasant ruminations about Fatherhood, now Grandfatherhood, life and all
it's remembrances. My choice of tackle reflected that spirit as well, as
I had chosen to use a 4 weight from Kettle Creek Tackle that I've owned
for 22 years,roughly as old as my daughter. The reel was an Orvis
Battenkill that previously belonged to the late Joel Axelrad, one of the
truest old-school fly anglers I've known. I would hope he would have
approved of a leisurely morning, on familiar waters, lobbing traditional
dry flies with a drag-free drift to rising brown trout. For my part, I
found it restorative. Happy Father's Day, all!

Tom