Yellow Breeches White Fly hatch

Or lack there of. I fished the fly only water last night and did not see many bugs at all. The calendar says it should be prime time. The weather this weekend and yesterday were perfect. I think things are just a little behind maybe? The hexes showed up at 730 or with some fish responding. I don't think I saw the first white fly till well past sunset like 830 or so and there were probably more caddis then anything else. The fish were rising and popping till after 9 in complete darkness but just no gang busters and not many bugs at all. It will probably happen in greater concentrations here in a few days. Will I try again? Who knows. I don't know why I do it every year. You miss something like 90 out of 100 takes, 90% of the fish are small like less than 12 inches and numbers are not that good. But each year I get very excited. The anticipation that you are going to hammer the fish keeps me coming back I think. That moment when there are hundreds to thousands of bugs within eye site with fish rising everywhere but on your fly sends this feeling of total determination and earning for revenge that I think it just keeps me coming back. I keep telling myself that I'll fish elsewhere outside of the fly only water. Last night I came close and stopped at Williams Grove. There's a feeder stream there larger than Boiling Spring and the water felt cooler. Plus I think there are more and better riffles equating to better habitat. But it's not the C&R water and many of the fish are probably cleared out. Or maybe that's just what everyone thinks. So yesterday I made the 1.5 hour drive in the evening, when many other waters much closer to home were fishing far better, and got skunked. I could have just as easily gotten skunked at Williams Grove in the open water or who knows, stumbled upon a gold mine without two fly fishermen within talking distance. The crowds were not bad yet but still a lot more than ideal. I did not get the spot I wanted last night in the riffle and had to settle for the pool/run water. Sure enough that guy did very well but he also admitted to catching more fish before the hatch. He was using a "tangerine shrimp, size 20" before the hatch and was doing rather well. He would almost just let it sit in the riffle and twitch it every now and then and they hit it as it swung or swam in the swift water.

I never did throw something big last night after dark. I went as far as grabbing an articulated mouse fly tied like a large gurgler from my SUV and placing it in the pocket of my waste pack but never bothered tying it on. Oh well. Till next time.