While some in Hacklebarney slaved away at the Whippany River cleanup, others made their way to Tightlines North to fish the Beaverkill and surrounding areas.
That said, there wasnt much happening on the Beaverkill. The flows were very weak. The West Branch on the other hand was brutal if you were wading-a flow that was between 950 and 1200 CFS. Just like the three little bears though, the third bowl of porridge was just right-The East Branch.
I stopped into Dette, to get a report and ended up buying some Caddis pupas on the recommendation of Joe. His description was "you probably wont need them, but if you do and dont have them it can be maddening." How prophetic!
I hit the East Branch and fished nymphs for over an hour with no results. I then saw some sporatic rises and tied on the pupa. Bang, bang, bang. My luck changed. I caught ten over the next hour and a half. Granted, not one of any size, but my luck changed 180 degrees. Thanks Joe!
I then headed over to a different section of the East Branch and caught a few on Sulpher emergers in the riffle water.
Last, I headed to junction pool to meet up with the other Hacklebarney boys. Some guys were doing very well, but for me, in the main stem, the flow was very heavy and I couldnt put anything together.
I walked over to the side channel, and saw a few nice rises. I tied on a #18 risty spinner and threw. After 3 or 4 drifts, I placed a perfect cast. It drifted down a foot and slurp! The fish was NICE and bolted. Plick! The leader separated between the #2 and #4 tippet. By the time I retied and tried to cast to some of the other feeding fish, it was pitch black and I couldnt see a darn thing. Game over. Whaat....whaat...Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
Anyway, John Eng sent me some shots of the trip, but I cant find them this minute. When I do, ILl post.