Thursday, July 25, 2012—Just Another Day

DATE:  Thursday, July 25, 2012
TIME:  9:30 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER: High 70s to high 90s, sunny, windy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle above Island below McClellan’s to Mill Dam Eddy 
FLIES USED: Olive Norfork River Scud, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #14 Cockleburr 
ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX
HATCHES: Midges, crane flies
OTHER: Fished solo, but met up with Donnie at the riffle above the island.  I caught a few fish before Donnie arrived in the tailout of the riffle, and then Donnie rowed down from upstream.  We tried to fish Cockleburrs, both dry and stripped in the film, but the fish were not cooperating.  Susie and Tony came through on their way downstream to fish the Pool, and Donnie and I worked our way downstream along the island.  Donnie hooked and/or caught about 8 fish in the skinny water; he’s an excellent fly fisher, but had not fished this particular water before.  After the skinny water, he rowed downstream to catch up with Susie and Tony, and I waded for home, disappointed that Donnie didn’t get to catch any fish on the Cockleburr, but glad he got to fish the reach along the island.

Monday, July 22, 2012—A Big Fish Day

DATE:  Monday, July 22, 2012
TIME:  6:15 AM to 1:00 PM
WEATHER: High 70s to high 90s, sunny, windy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Otter Creek
FLIES USED:  Olive Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #20 black/red zebra midge, #14 olive Norfork River scud, various other midges
ROD USED:  Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX
HATCHES:  Midges, crane flies
OTHER:  Fished with Donnie, Susie, and Tony; used “loaner” frameless pontoon.  Today marked to earliest I have ever been on the river, not counting night fishing.  Mist hung in the air for almost 3 hours, but produced a beautiful sunrise.

The long riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole yielded 4 bites, but only one fish to hand.  I did not fish the Long Hole.  The riffle at the bottom of the Long Hole (above McClellan’s) did not produce any fish, though I fished it hard—it may have been too early in the day.  The Stairs at McClellan’s did not produce any fish.  Below McClellan’s, I hooked and caught 3 fish, and then fishing shut down for me for almost two hours.  I could not find a good drift, and with an upstream wind the fly would just suspend in the current.  Meanwhile, Donnie and Susie were catching fish fairly regularly.  When their action slowed, Donnie tied on two different midge patterns—one dropped below the other—and had consistent action.  I finally gave up fishing the pool below McClellan’s and fished along side the gravel in a leaf line where I found a decent drift.  With a #20 red/silver zebra midge dropped below an olive scud, I finally began scoring, and almost every fish was 16+ inches.  I caught a dozen fish within a short distance, including several 16-inchers, two 17-inchers, one 18-inch fish, and one shown below that measured 19+ inches (I couldn’t stretch it to 20, try as I might.)

Donnie and Susie had to leave at 12 noon, so we all began rowing downstream for the hour-long trip to the access.  I contacted Kay on the walkie talkie and she picked me up—what service!  The first 4+ hours were very tough for me, but the big fish the last 45 minutes made up for this long period of inactivity.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012—Retirement Cancelled

DATE: Wednesday, July 18, 2012
TIME: 7:45 AM to 10:45 AM
WEATHER: Low 80s to high 90s, mostly sunny, slight breeze
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units
LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Plunge Pool below McClellan's to just upstream of Mill Dam Eddy
FLIES USED: Green Wayne’s micro sculpin, #20 black/red Zebra Midge, #14 furnace cockleburr, #20 furnace cockleburr, #20 Kay's Gray, #20 Dunn's Dun, #14 soft hackle-gray with silver rib
ROD USED: Winston 8' 6" 5-weight WT JWF
HATCHES: Midges, Crane flies
OTHER: Fished solo. Wrote prematurely yesterday that I had retired the old Orvis wading boots. Before throwing them into the trash, I took the inner sole out and discovered quite a bit of gravel. I removed the gravel, and repaired the insole with Goop. The boots are now as good as new, except for new laces--no retirement for these boots!

I walked in that Mill Dam Eddy, walked up the Island and noticed this spider web highlighted against the sun.


I crossed the right-hand chute, and continued walking upstream to the Plunge Pool. I cast a number of flies at rising fish, but only caught a couple. I tied on a # 14 soft hackle, gray with silver ribbing, and the fish would take the fly on the surface. I caught a total of seven fish in the Plunge Pool. I began wading upstream and noted fishers across from Ottercreek, so turned around and waded back downstream to the riffle above the island. The soft tackle did not work there, so Wayne's fly, "Lucky", was tied on, and a black/red zebra manage dropped below. I caught 6 fish in the tail out below the riffle, fishing from the left descending bank. At the top of the island, I crossed to the right side, and fished "Lucky" in combination with the zebra midge along the island, taking another 4 fish before the water began rising.

Wading out I noticed this pretty bloom floating in the rising water.

Monday, July 16, 2012—Lucky is Back

DATE:  Monday, July 16, 2012

TIME: 10:00 AM to 12:15 PM

WEATHER:  Low to mid-80s, partly cloudy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream to Mill Dam Eddy

FLIES USED:  #20 furnace cockleburr, Olive Wayne’s Fly (aka Lucky), #20 black/red zebra midge

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight Winston WT JWF

HATCHES:  Midges, a few crane flies, a few sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished solo.  I walked in at Mill Dam Eddy, waded across the river, walked upstream to the top of the island, waded further across to left descending bank. It felt like some gravel has gotten into my left boot/neoprene sock, so off they came, but nothing fell out.  I checked the boots and the lugs had worn through the insole.  These Orvis boots are over 10 years old, and were only being used for wet wading and boat fishing when waders were required.  They were good boots and are being officially retired today!

After putting the neoprene sock and boot back on, I continued upstream, fishing Wayne’s “Lucky” fly with a black/red zebra midge dropper.  (In talking to Wayne about this absolutely wonderful fly pattern, I told him I often referred to it as a micro sculpin; he laughingly said he just called it Lucky!  Having watched him catch thousands of fish with it, I can see why.)  I caught 3 fishing in this area at the top of the island, but wanted to try the cockleburr.  Wading in between the left and right riffles, I cast a bunch of times, but didn’t get so much as a look.  I waded across to the right descending bank, tied on Lucky with a red/zebra midge dropper and managed a couple more fish, both on Lucky.  Here are a couple of photos, upstream and downstream.  Notice that there are no other fishers.  It’s awesome to have a world-class river all to one’s self!

Wading back across to the island, Lucky was in a zone, and I caught 8 more fish between the top of the island and Mill Dam Eddy. all on Lucky.  A couple of casts at Mill Dam Eddy didn’t produce anything, and the old boots were getting pretty uncomfortable, so the boots and I called it a day.

Sunday, July 15, 2012—Swimming Armadillo

DATE:  Sunday, July 15, 2012

TIME:  1:30 PM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER:  High 80s to low 90s, mostly sunny, breezy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream to Mill Dam Eddy

FLIES USED:  #14 furnace cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, #20 furnace cockleburr,

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight Winston WT JWF

HATCHES:  Midges, a few crane flies, a few sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Kay.  We walked in at Mill Dam Eddy, waded across the river, walked upstream to the top of the island, waded back across, and walked upstream to the riffle.  We both began with a #14 furnace cockleburr.  I managed a fish or two in the riffle on the left descending bank, switched to a #20 Kay’s Gray and caught a couple more, then switched to a #20 furnace cockleburr, and caught several more fish.

  Kay missed a few fish, but hooked up with fish in the right descending bank riffle.  Kay fished the tail out, but it produced nothing.  As Kay reeled in, we noticed an armadillo on the right descending bank upstream at the riffle.  It came towards us, then turned towards the water.  We both commented that it definitely would not go into the water—it did.  We then commented that it wouldn’t swim—it did, quite efficiently.  It played, dove, and played some more, very similar to an otter, then swam back to shore an waddled off.  We wouldn’t have believed it had we not seen it for ourselves!

Shaking our heads, we waded back to the island, and Kay hooked up with a fish just upstream of the leaning trees.

We continued walking/wading downstream to Mill Dam Eddy, and I managed to fool a couple on the small cockleburr, including one at the drop off at the end of the island, just like the old days.  I didn’t notice that the fish had a zebra midge fly in the center of it’s left gill plate until I saw this photo—the zebra midge is almost centered between the eye and the edge of the gill plate.The whole afternoon proved to be difficult fishing, but I ended the day with 10 fish, though no big ones.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

DATE:  Wednesday, July 11, 2012

TIME:  8:15 AM to 12:00 PM

WEATHER:  Low 70s to high 80s, mostly sunny, breezy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream

FLIES USED:  #14 olive Norfork River scud, #18 clay zebra midge, Wayne’s olive micro sculpin,#14 furnace cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 9’ 6-weight Boron IIX

HATCHES:  Midges, a few crane flies

OTHER:  Fished with John.  John is one of the best nymph fishers around, and it’s always fun to watch him fish.  We fished the tail out from the right descending bank, and it was pretty tough fishing.  I waded across to the left descending bank, and fished the tail out across from John.  It seemed that we would alternately catch fish.  Here’s John with a “fish on” in the riffle.

 

I succumbed to the furnace cockleburr and took a few more in the film and on the surface.  We moved upstream to the plunge pool, where fish were occasionally midging, but were not successful in taking any fish, despite changing flies (John is shown here tying on a new pattern).

As we began wading downstream, I finally talked John into fishing a cockleburr, and he took 4 fish, mostly on top and fished dry.  We both ended with a dozen or more fish, and several were beautifully colored.  It was a fun day, and John is one of my favorite fishing partners.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012—Camera, Action, Roll

DATE:  Tuesday, July 10, 2012

TIME:  11:00 AM to 12:15 PM

WEATHER:  Low 80, mostly cloudy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle at the top of the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access

FLIES USED:  #14 Furnace Cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES:  Midges, Craneflies

OTHER:  Fished solo.  I only wanted to fish a short while, so walked in close to home, and it was crowded, with fishers scattered everywhere.  There was an open spot in the pool below the tail out of the riffle at the top of the island above Ackerman/Handicap Access far enough away from the other fishers so as not to bother them; still, I asked permission from them to fish the area.  The downstream fisher was a well known local guide making a DVD on midge fishing (he is an excellent fisher, a good guide whom I would recommend, and a world class fly tier—in other words, he’s a good guy), but he had a poor spot in which to fish, as did I.  I lucked out and caught a small fish, then two fishers at the riffle left, and I waded upstream to fish there.  Fish were taking midges on top and in the film, and I was able to take 5 in pretty short order on the furnace cockleburr.  I felt bad because the camera man kept turning the camera my direction, and it was a bit embarrassing.  I finally waded out, spoke to the guide and offered some insight into the fishing, and left.  It was difficult fishing, and none of the other fishers caught anything, but they were fishing nymphs, midges, and other flies that just wouldn’t work given the time and place they were fishing. 

Monday, July 9, 2012—Neuropathy and a Few Fish

DATE:  Monday, July 9, 2012
TIME:  8:15 AM to 12:00 PM
WEATHER:  Low 70s to high 80s, cloudy, breeze
WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s downstream to Mill Dam Eddy
FLIES USED:  #14 olive Norfork River scud, #18 clay zebra midge, #20 red/silver zebra midge, #14 furnace cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges, a few sulphurs, a few crane flies
OTHER:  Fished solo.  Rain was forecast and today was supposed to be a rest day—i.e. no fishing—but like the T-shirt says, “I fish because the voices in my head tell me to.”  The river was shrouded with fog until about 9 AM, but the fish seemed to be a little hungry after almost a full day’s generation.  The clay zebra midge was working well, but I missed far more fish were missed than were caught.  A switch to a #20 red/silver zebra midge was attempted to remedy the situation, but to no avail.  I took a half dozen fish on the two midges but fished hard.  About 9:45 AM, a few fish began midging in the film, so a #20 furnace cockleburr was tied on, but didn’t produce any action.  After only a short while, a #14 furnace cockleburr was tied on, and the fish smashed it as it hit the surface.  I caught 2 nice 16-inch browns in almost the same place, then took this 14-inch, again in about the same location (note the cockleburr in the corner of its mouth).  Cold and cold-induced neuropathy forced me to the bank, and I walked downstream a few yards but the midging fish enticed me back in and this fat rainbow succumbed to the cockleburr which can be seen in the corner of the fish's mouth.  I waded across the top of the riffle to the left descending bank, and took one of the most beautifully colored cutthroats I have ever seen, about 8 or 9 inches long.  Without much feeling in my feet or hands, I walked and waded downstream to Mill Dam Eddy, where a few fish were working the film and surface for midges and other aquatic insects.  I caught a couple of fish, then hooked into a big, big cutthroat, but lost it about half way back on the retrieve.  It was an omen because no other fish would bite.  I ended the day with about a dozen fish.

Saturday, July 7, 2012—Where Have All The Fish Gone?

DATE:  Monday, July 7, 2012

TIME:  8:15 AM to 2:00 PM

WEATHER:  Mid-70s to low 100s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units, 1 unit of generation at 1:00 PM

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Riffle above McClellan’s

FLIES USED:  #14 Olive Norfork River Scud, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #14 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, #10 Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES:  Midges and a few sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Whit, Patty, and Whitten. The riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole did not yield any fish, but the run from this riffle to the top of the Long Hole produced 3 fish on the zebra midge.  The deep trough on the right descending bank of the river in the Long Hole looked promising, and a number of nice fish were breaching, but yielded nothing to a fly.  The riffle at the bottom of the Long Hole did not have birds darting in and out over the surface like on previous days, and few fish were rising to insects.  None were interested in the Big Ugly, but the #14 and #20 furnace cockleburrs worked well.  A few fish began midging on the surface in the riffle’s far left bubble line, looking downstream, and a few fish succumbed to the Kay’s Gray, including a nice brown and a nice cutthroat.  The wind began howling upstream about 12 noon and Whit and I rowed downstream in the pool below McClellan’s to meet up with Patty and Whitten where we found Patty harassing the fish with a midge pupa.  We enjoyed great chicken salad sandwiches compliments of Patty at the top of the gravel and had planned on fishing the riffle above the island below Otter Creek, but generation began and we began our downstream float to exit the river.  Thank goodness for the little things as Bill and Larry and others had fished the riffle in the morning and all are really good fishers, likely leaving giving all the fish sore mouths.  I ended the day with maybe a dozen fish, including a couple of cutthroats, three browns, and the rest rainbows. 

Friday, July 6, 2012—A Good Day’s Fishing

DATE:  Friday, July 6, 2012

TIME:   7:15 AM to 12:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 70s to high 90s, mostly sunny, slight breeze

WATER CONDITIONS:  0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, riffle above the Island below McClellan’s upstream to above the Gravel above Otter Creek, and back downstream

FLIES USED:   Olive micro jig, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #14 Gray Norfork River Scud, #14 Olive Norfork River Scud, #14 Furnace Cockleburr

ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES: Midges, sulphurs

OTHER:  Fished with Bill.  River was shrouded with fog when we walked in and began wading upstream.  The riffle and tail out above the island did not produce many fish; I caught 3.  We moved upstream as far as low water depths would allow to the pool above the gravel at Otter Creek.  I began fishing the left descending bank and Bill fished the right descending bank.  He took a fish, and then I took a fish, and he took 4 more, and I took none; none would hook up with me, even though I switched to the right descending bank.  Changing to an olive #14 Norfork River Scud proved to be the ticket as I caught 6 browns in a row, then a rainbow, another brown, and another rainbow before calling it quits.  I wet-waded and got a bit cold despite the near 100 degrees air temperature.  I have been wet-wading now for 5 fishing trips and have a tan line above the ankle where the wading socks/boots stop—kind of like “farmer” hands—and yes, I have those, too.  

Wednesday, July 4, 2012—The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

DATE:  Wednesday, July 4, 2012

TIME:  12:30 PM to 2:30 PM

WEATHER: Low 100s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, the riffle at the bottom of the Pool to Cook’s Island

FLIES USED: #14 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, #14 Black Cockleburr, #14 Olive Cockleburr, Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER: Fished with Kay.  We both wanted to fish, but neither wanted the crowds.  As we had guessed, everyone was off the water, at least in this particular area, by lunch, leaving us to fish without any crowding; and we both caught fish (the Good).  Regrettably, it was very windy (the Bad) and hot at 103+ degrees (the Ugly).  We began at the riffle below the Pool (top of the island above Ackerman-Handicap Access).  Fish were midging, and we took a few fishing the Furnace Cockleburr as a dry fly, and stripping it in the film.  Wanting to see the “improvements” made downstream, we waded to the riffle on the left of Cook’s Island, and again took a few fish on the surface and stripping.  We waded to the downstream end of the island and fished the right side of the island, and Kay got into a zone and took more fish stripping the Furnace Cockleburr.  She ended the day with 5 fish to my 3, and fell in love with the Winston 9’ 6-wt boron rod.  I tried a bunch of flies, and had lots of refusals and missed fish, but we both had fun on this hot July 4th day. 

Tuesday, July 3, 2012—The Cockleburr

DATE:  Tuesday, July 3, 2012
TIME:  8:30 AM to 12:30 PM
WEATHER: Low 70s to high 90s, sunny, windy
WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Riffle above McClellan’s
FLIES USED:  Yellow Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, #20 Special K, #14 Big Ugly, #10 Big Ugly, #14 Furnace Cockleburr

ROD USED:  Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES:  One sulphur (or crane fly); nothing else observed
OTHER:  Fished solo via an Outcast pontoon. Unlike the previous two times, the riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole did not produce any fish, though I tried a yellow Wayne’s fly with a zebra midge dropped below.  I took time to rearrange fly boxes, flies, etc. so as to avoid wearing the heavy vest.  As written earlier, the entire reach from below the Resort Hole all the way to the top of the Long Hole is a continuous riffle, with water depths varying from almost two feet to almost 4 feet.


 



The right descending bank has been stabilized with a combination of downed trees with root wads intact, rock, and earth.  It’s probably the “best” environmentally acceptable method, though I would like to have seen less uniformity, less rock, and more trees, letting the trees/root wads do their thing.  Anyway, about halfway down, the riffle produced several fish, including this nice 16-inch brown (yeah, I know the marker shows 14+ inches, but the tail extends a couple inches beyond the “0” marker).
  Just below the top of the Long Hole, a deep hole on the left descending bank produced a couple of fish, but held many more, though I was in a hurry and did not fish it long.  I rowed against the wind the remainder of the Long Hole, anchored the pontoon, and fished the riffle at the bottom of the pool (aka the riffle above McClellan’s). The zebra midge worked on a couple of fish, but neither the large nor small Big Ugly resulted in a hook-up, though both experienced several misses; somehow, the fish just would not hook-up.  I tried a #20 Special K but had a couple of refusals, then tied on a #14 furnace Cockleburr.  This fly was apparently the ticket as I hooked and landed about 9 fish, including a nice 16-inch rainbow, and missed at least that many more.  By then, it was 11:35 AM and having an appointment at 1:30 PM, I began the arduous job of rowing downstream against the wind.  At the riffle above the island below McClellan’s, I visited with a young man who inquired about scheduled generation.  It was his first time to fish the Norfork, and he was really enjoying the experience.  He was a biologist with the Florida equivalent of the game and fish commission.  I made it to the takeout point about 12:30 PM and Kay there to pick me up, having communicated a few minutes earlier via walkie talkie.  It was a good day on the water, but would have been even better If more time could have been spent fishing the Cockleburr! 

Monday, July 2, 2012—Fishing Nearby

DATE: Monday, July 2, 2012

TIME: 6:30 AM to 8:15 AM

WEATHER: Low 70s to low 80s, sunny

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units

LOCATIONS FISHED:  Norfork River, Cook’s Island upstream to the riffle at the bottom of the Pool

FLIES USED:  #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, #20 Furnace Cockleburr, #20 Kay’s Gray, Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 8’ 6” 5-weight WT JWF

HATCHES: Midges

OTHER: Fished solo. This was a quick, early morning trip due to other commitments at church later in the day, and scheduled early generation.  It’s the first time I had been to this particular area in several weeks as the aesthetics have gone to heck in a hand basket because of the work done under the auspices of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.  Even at the early hour of 6:30 AM, the river was already crowded.  Finding a spot away from nearby fishers, I tried the nymph/zebra midge combination and connected with only one fish. Switching to a #20 Furnace Cockleburr, I began fishing the far side of the bubble line, and hooked up with a fish.  A group of fishers waded up from the access downstream, and crowded me a bit.  Recognizing one of them, I gave him my spot, a couple of flies, and some direction on how/where to fish, and then waded upstream. As the sun rose above the horizon, the fish actively pursued the Cockleburr, and I took over a half dozen fish.  A fisher above me, recently moved to the area from Alaska, waded down and asked about the fly and technique.  I gave him a couple, told him how to fish the fly and area, caught 3 more fish, and left—too many people!  This “being nice to people” sure goes against my instincts—guess Kay will be proud of me.

Sunday, July 1, 2012—The Upper Norfork, Again

DATE: Sunday, July 1, 2012

TIME: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

WEATHER: Low 90s to high 90s, sunny, windy

WATER CONDITIONS: 0 Units, 2 units of generation at 3:00 PM

LOCATIONS FISHED: Norfork River, Riffle below Resort Hole to Riffle above McClellan’s

FLIES USED: Green Wayne’s Fly, #20 red/silver Zebra Midge, #16 Bead Head Pheasant Tail Nymph, #14 Special K, #10 Dave's Hopper, #10 Big Ugly

ROD USED: Winston 9’ 6-weight BIIX

HATCHES: None observed

OTHER: Fished solo. The riffle at the bottom of the Resort Hole was the first place I fished, and it produced a couple of fish. The tail out had been fished, and the fisher was working his way downstream to the top of the Long Hole. We exchanged pleasantries and I continued rowing downstream. I fished the Long Hole hard from the top to about 2/3 of the way downstream, wading via the center of the channel, picking up only one fish. The wind was howling upstream and made a drag free drift near impossible. At the riffle at the bottom of the Long Hole, birds were attacking insects like crazy, just above the water's surface, though no hatches were observed. A couple of fish were caught in the bubble line on the zebra midge, then a Big Ugly was tied on. Fish would suspend on the surface with open mouths waiting for the fly to drift in. A couple of fish were taken this way, and a switch to a Dave's Hopper, provided similar results. And then, the water began rising via apparent generation, and I began rowing downstream passing above a big, deep hole holding more large fish than I have seen in a long, long time. It will be on my itinerary next time, maybe July 4. The day ended with less than 3/4 dozen fish caught.