An EB Morning And The Seasons Change

"Tailwaters are what Thomas McGuane called "the great theme parks of American fly fishing," with their more or less stable water temperatures and artificially inflated populations of insects and fish. They are irresistible for all kinds of reasons, but all of those trout breed the peculiarly postmodern sense that anything short of a 20 fish day is a bust, so when things are slow there's the temptation to lie about numbers or to vaguely allow that you are "getting your share" - John Gierach

The car thermometer read 46 degrees when I pulled off to park just before the BIG gate at the Bend Run on the EB. Then came the 15 minute walk down to Les's Pool and then a morning of hopscotching upstream ending at the Bliss Pool. The EB has been a question mark this year. With the exception of 2016 (drought) this may be the slowest season I've experienced on this river in 20 years. There are fish there but not in the insane numbers that we have gotten accustomed to which is a good thing if you like to have a mile or so of river to yourself. I think it's a good thing!

My hope was to find some rising fish at Les's, 2 Mile Run and the Bend during the morning. Actually I haven't fished the EB in the morning since June which is a safe bet during the Summer but with the air temperatures of late it was time to change tactics.

There were rising trout but they were cruising around which makes targeting them difficult and others were simply beyond casting range. So I threw on a size 14 possum nymph with a weighted body (no bead) and began to slowly dredge the deepest parts of the pool. There is a quiet anticipation involved here as you wait for the "tap". The tap came and with a quick raising of the rod the fish was on!

Now, this is a DEEP pool with depths, I believe, that are in the 10 foot range and this bow headed to the bottom. My goal was not to let him run at will so he could wrap himself around a snag but to keep the rod high and force him up where he doesn't want to be and make him thrash and tire himself out on the surface which he doesn't want to do!! I won that battle but not after two reel screaming runs. It wasn't a giant trout but a bow of 14 inches who tried to use the depth to its advantage.

So did the next one!!

I then began to move upstream, landing one at 2 Mile on a large hairwing Adams and then getting one at Slant Rock (finally!! This pool has stumped me this year) All bows. I wanted to end this short adventure at the Bliss Pool but the sun was getting high so I decided to call it a morning

A few hours latter I got an email from friend and EB, MB and WB expert Gary who said he fished the EB over rising fish all morning and never saw a soul. I told him I was up by the Gorge and he said he was far below Indian Hollow. All I saw was a lone jogger which was perfect!

September 1 is almost here. We have lost a lot of daylight over the last month and the sun has the same strength and angle in the sky as it did in Mid April. The Summer doldrums are pretty much over and we are gearing up for the "Second Season" which is Fall. Book a trip now for the Swift, Millers, EB or the Ware. You will not regret it.

Ken