REACHING...and then some
The Spring trout season on CT's Eastern streams ended as usual in early June as temps rose and levels dropped, leaving the Farmington the closest and best choice for the dedicated trout fly fishers.
The Natchaug, Yantic, Salmon and Shetucket provided some steady Spring action; the Natchaug in particular held some nice fall holdovers. Hatchwise, an unusual Spring; very sparse Hendricksons, March Browns and Sulphurs. Even the usually reliable black and tan caddis were sparse. Olives were on most of the time and finding steadily rising fish was a challenge. Patient casting over "one timers" with a soft hackle in the film was a winner.
In late June the TEAM headed to the Upper Delaware for a week's stay at the Dream Catcher just outside of Deposit , NY on the Upper West branch, the finest west branch accommodations with a mile of private wade access water. It's a short trip to the Upper East or Beaverkill and Willowemoc as well. Some evenings 10-12 anglers lined up in front of the property mostly blind casting away during the sulphur hatch. However, exploring above and below the property finds few anglers, a wide expanse for the drift boats and some BIG sipping browns! Patience and sometimes casting over a fish many times with sulphurs, spinners, olives brought success. Browns between 16" and 20" are common in our "special" areas and we took some beauties during the short window between 7:30 and 9:00PM.
Daytimes we fished the East Branch,with limited success as it was low and unusually warm with daytimes air temps in the 90's that week. We scouted out some other West Branch access points that were not crowded at all and took big browns on afternoon spinners and olives. Unfortunately the Beaverkill was way to low and warm to fish.
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| DREAM CATCHER directly on the WB Delaware |
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| DREAM CATCHER CABINS |
Back to the title of this blog...the MOST important cast to have in your arsenal on the tricky-current WB is the REACH cast. Our typical set up is a Chris Fave tied up 10" leader with and additional 3 or more feet of 6x. Long flouro tippets are a must to get the extended drifts necessary. Of course we're using a stiff 2' or so butt section nail-knotted to the fly line to insure smooth transition.
You don't necessarily need to haul or double haul since your chances of getting a proper drift and hook set at long distances are limited in the WB current flow, normally between 500-600 or more CFS. For wading anglers, most of the WB big trout can be found in easily wadeable areas with patience, making short drag-free casts the ticket. The reach cast is essential on ALL moving waters but is a must on the the WB for these all-wild wary browns.
There are many videos on fly casting but here's a good one on the reach cast...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14njsZy47qg
We're heading back to the WB and the Dream Catcher for a few days in early October as the browns fatten up before the spawning period
Won't be long and we'll head for the SALMON ON THE SHETUCKET a great fall opportunity to catch Atlantic Salmon on the fly. Have you tried it? Give us a call and we'll set it up!
DRAG FREE!
TEAM7x
