Baffled about today!

Hi Dave and others, Fist of all I was invited to attend the TU program at the Isac Walton League last night but I forgot! Big time stupid thing for me! Anyway I was on the Middle Branch of the WW today and fished the hook and release section above the group camp to Callahans Hill Area. The day was great! Lots of wildlife, eg. wood ducks, wood peckers, squirels, deer, Canadian Honkers, and lots more! A great day except the fish were not turned on at all. I fished for three hours and did not have a take. There was a blue wing olive hatch every place and I did not see a fish rise. I am guessing the water temp was down. I fished pheasant tail nymphs, hairs ear, green flash back, and a few others. I fished size 14 to 18. I mean it was dead for me. I am going back tomorrow on the north branch of WW. Any ideas about this lack of catching would be appreciated.

SM,

You missed a good meeting on Monday. The DNR guys talked about creel surveys and fish populations, then I gave a power point on nymph fishing while Wayne Bartz gave a presentation on dries. On e thin he talked about was hatches. The BWO hatch you’re encountering is a true #20 hatch, so making sure your dry is of the right color matters. Also, don’t be afraid to nymph during the hatch, especially for picky risers or no risers at all in this case. Did you happen to try fishing an emerger, like a cdc emerger, then giving it a lift at the end of the run to mimic some movement?

I’m sure water temperatures played a role, but was water clarity an issue on the MBWW? The only reason I ask is that we’ve had plenty of rain, and the snow pack disappeared quickly as well.

I was far south and east this weekend and everything was clean that way.

Have a good day,
D.A.

My son and I fished the MBWW on a fairly nice day in March with almost the exact same results. He caught 1 fish on a spinner and I caught 0 fly fishing. I’ve done ok the other places I’ve gone. The water was perfect color for nymphing when I went.

It just seemed like the dead sea then too. The water had some tint so it wouldn’t be overly easy to see fish, but we never even saw another fish. Normally I would expect to spook a few and see the movement in those types of conditions.

Hi, I fished the N.Br. of WW yesterday. The cloud cover was on, the temps were warm, I fished nymphs (hares ear and pheasnt tail). I caught only one brown. I caught one really nice fish on an oversized copper, beadheaded nymph with white wings and a red tail. I hooked it in the stomach area on the area down by the tail area. I thougt I had on a 6 lber. I fought it for over 11 minutes as I had on a 6x tippet. I was disapointed in in the size because it was only 19 inches but to look back it was really fun!