No Hatch, No Cry

The last weekend of April saw my buddy Ryan and I heading north to New York. A fabled trout stream awaited us that is home to beautiful wild browns, large holdovers, and some freshly stocked fish. We eagerly anticipated the first onslaught of Spring hatches: black caddis, quill gordons, and hendricksons. When we arrived just before sunset, our hopes were dimmed a bit. The temperature read 33 degrees and the day called for 25-35 mph gusts. Needless to say, but we didn't see any fish rising over the course of our day and a half of fishing. Despite mis-timing the bug activity, we still made the best of our situation and had a great little trip up north...

With it being the end of April, I was already used to wearing t-shirts and shorts on the Delmarva peninsula. When I stepped out of the Subaru for the first time, I felt like I was back in Pulaski about to swing for some steelhead. The temperature wasn't too bad but the wind cut through you like a knife, sending chills down your spine.

When noon approached, Ryan and I were stilling holding out hope for some fish to begin rising. During hatch season, I like to take advantage of fish eating emergers and I'll dead drift soft hackles through a run and then swing them at the end of the drift. The switch in tactics started to produce some nice fish and I kept that tactic up for most of the day.

A surprise stocked tiger trout...

Ryan opted to throw a lot of meat, mostly the articulated variety, and he had consistent action throughout the day and caught some really nice fish.

I love to hike and fish, but this particularly place can be grueling. A full day of wading, fording, and scrambling over boulders can wear you out quick. By noon of the second day, both of us hit a wall. My knees hurt for over a week from scrambling over the rocks wearing a pair of cleats to improve my traction. However, the further you walk, the better the fishing can be.

Ryan called this fish before his first cast in the pool. A 4-inch articulated streamer was inhaled on the second strip and Ryan started hooting and hollering. When he released this beauty of a wild brown, Ryan was content with a day that was just heating up...

Beauty...

You can always tell when your holding a stocked fish. Why even stock wild trout streams?

My favorite fish from the trip...

Wings...

A nice holdover...

One ugly stocked brook trout...

One of the prettiest fish I have ever seen...

There was a half hour of killer streamer action after this picture was taken. Some really big fish chased our flies, missed, or simply shook free of our hooks. It was awesome...

These black caddis were all over the rocks and in the air for certain parts of the day. However, the trout were not interested...

An awesome brown trout...

Some Hendrickson nymphs about to pop...

Spring hatches often come down to timing everything right. If you aren't able to drop everything at a moments notice and hit the river, you run the risk of mistiming or missing the best action. On this particular weekend, the weather through us a curve ball. In order to not miss out, be ready for anything and make sure you are prepared for multiple fishing styles. In doing so, you'll still put a bunch of fish in the bottom of the net and have a memorable trip.