A short notice fishing trip to Montauk was able to attract six members this week. We started off with four of us meeting at the Eureka lot, Jim Craig, Scott Payne, Vern Preston, and Bob Hassett. Not the usual banter on the way down this time. We had some sleepers in the back! We met Sid Aslin and Tim Klotz in the park a bit later in the morning.
The weather started off overcast, but the hot sun burned the cloud cover away very quickly. A great day to wet wade!! Before the cloud cover disappeared though, fish started finding the net. But truthfully, the bite was a bit slow in the morning. We all spread out on the river, which was not overcrowded, but had fishermen. Water levels were a bit low, and clarity was gin clear. We were not able to hide from the fish at all. So, we started attacking fish from downstream, casting upstream. The thought process was to cast to fish looking upstream and away from us. It seemed to work, especially when we were sight fishing. Afternoon bite was much better, and the river was much less crowded, especially after 3:30-4:00. We stuck around until 5:20. Overall, we put 80 trout into the net combined.
A variety of fly combinations caught fish. Sid and Tim did well below the boulder, in the slower water, using crackle backs and wooly buggers. Vern had success using a white mop fly pattern. He was up near the spring. Bob did really well with a big hurt, above the boulder. Scott caught his on a hairs ear (sz 14) and a house-of-payne. A lot of his fish were caught below the powerline in the fast water. Jim had luck using a variety of smaller patterns.
Big tip learned from this trip is to take a bottle of water with you to the river! Weather got hot quickly, and a few guys were a bit dehydrated. So, pack a bit less gear, and take some liquid to drink between casts. Will sure make the hot days more enjoyable.
We got back on the road about 6:00 and headed to Salem for some celebratory pizza. The heat did take it out of us, but some pizza, drinks, and a/c from the restaurant, gave us the needed energy for the ride home. Guess what, we had sleepers in the back seat again! Oh well, they deserved it.