Dry fly fishing on the Upper Delaware system requires patience and practice. Taking time to practice your cast before a float trip is highly recommended. The more muscle memo. The more muscle memory you can build up the better. Todd from New Jersey was in the boat today to test his skills on the West Branch. We had high humidity, bright sun, and the forecast was for storms in the area by late afternoon.
We put in and had targets within 20 minutes downriver. The pool was calm requiring a gentle and well place cast to fool these wily fish. A little before 2 PM, we had moved down to one of my favorite pools on the river and it turned on with sulphurs and olives.
Again, the relative stillness of the water meant that every cast had to be perfect and no drag. Todd was a champ working on his reach cast targeting different fish before the skies opened up.
In the fog, we moved down river and had another set of fish rising with Todd hooking up inches from the bank. We had plenty of targets today, but they wanted a perfect cast. I bumped into Todd the next evening and he fished on his own. He was proud to tell me he landed a nice one! Jack had floated the West a couple of times over the years, but Scott was a newbie and eager to learn. I rowed upriver to a set of riffles that hold a lot fish and a great workshop setting for someone learning the ways of the fly.
We got out of the boat and put Jack on a pod of rainbows slashing at some small flies. A few yards above him, I took Scott to start playing with a nymph rod.
