A recent weekend brought a disparate group of folks together for our annual fishing trip. Seven years since our first outing and we've moved beyond being virtual friends, having all met on a message board. For the last 4 years we've set up shop on a cozy little campsite with the river gurgling just beyond the shrubbery and no neighbors to speak of. By day we disperse all over in search of the gems of the Delaware river system. By night we partake in the most ancient of human rituals, encircling the campfire. We move to the rhythm of life that suits us and the fish best. Time ceases to be relevant. We are surrounded by a hundred shades of green and the never ending song of the river flowing nearby.
Our first day found us plying some familiar water that has been good to us over the years. The strong wind downstream winds made casting challenging to say the least. One of the maddening things about the D is that one never knows what to expect bug wise, fish wise or weather wise. There were not a lot of insects on the water but just enough to get the occasional rise every 5-8 minutes. Lady luck was on our side this day as we all caught some trout on top.
One of the gems of the D.
Making the long cast.
Everyone setting up shop for the spinner fall that never happened.
Never get tired of the scenery.
Safely in the net.
Trusty rusty
The morning had us fishing some new water and dealing with bright sun and no bugs. When in doubt, swing the riffles which resulted in this large fall fish that at first had me thinking I had a good trout. Later on I lost a good rainbow on a jump. A small brown also graced me with its presence. Then nothing. We headed to a different spot for the evening spinner fall.
Amassing over the trees, the most epic large mayfly spinner fall I've ever witnessed.
The stars of the show.
A March brown spinner
Green Drake Spinner AKA the Coffin Fly
The star with the most star power on this particular evening, the Brown Drake Spinner. The cloud of bugs was mostly Brown Drakes. They were hard to see in the dim light while the Coffin flies were easy to see. Glad I noticed because as soon as I put this spinner on it was on. The masses of insects danced over the water for a long time before dropping en mass. Then things got loud on the water as every fish was up and greedily eating.
A slob of trout that I got at O dark 30. I was fishing the pool solo and instead of turning the camera setting to auto, I hit the effects icon and got this crappy shot of one of the most stunning bucks I've ever seen on the D. I'll never make that mistake again.
Dead soldiers found in the am.
That's one way to dry socks.
The fire bellows.
Breaking camp.
A parting shot of the trip. Tough conditions and my friend got it done.
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