I put in another afternoon at West Branch and this time everything just clicked. I must have landed over 20 fish, maybe more. I didn't bother taking pictures, they were standard stockies, but I did catch a larger one that was around 15 or 16 inches that jumped out of the net before I could get a photo. Almost all of them took a size 20 pheasant tail- which has become my go to nymph this season. One fish I caught was spitting up some type of larvae that was the exact size and color of my nymph. I took that as confirmation that I was onto something.
But, the best part was that when the sun was setting there was an amazing Caddis and Sulphur hatch. Mostly caddis, I think. And the trout reacted accordingly. Rising fish everywhere. I rigged up a dry dropper rig (light Cahill and pheasant tail dropper) and the action was just nonstop. After it got dark the big guys started to show up. I saw a good 20" brown just smashing the surface repeatedly and rolling around. As I tried to get in position to cast to it I got hopelessly tangled somehow and it was just too dark to fix that kind of mess. When I went for my headlamp and found it hooked solidly to a stray fly in my bag I knew it was time to call it a night. Still, a great day on the water. I think I know where I'm going tomorrow night... And this time I'll have my gear prepared for dark.
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