The Sulphurs, Booking this Winter/Spring And Flies For Sale

Cedar Waxwings were flying in mass picking off the hatching sulphurs. (thank you Chuck for the bird identification) One came so close to my face I could feel the wing beat. The morning sun had that mid summer glow to it, much like a Monet painting and I didn't come within 200 yards of another fly fisher. I was really in my element and enjoying it all. - Me from July 2019




There are two occasions concerning this insect that I will never forget.  The first was about four years ago when we were shooting a video on the Swift down in Bondsville.  It was mid day in early June and it seemed that every trout that I caught, mostly browns, were chocked full of Sulphur nymphs that were either in the nymph stage or in the emerger stage.  The trout were gorging themselves to the point where they seemed to be forgetting to swallow the insects because their mouths were full of the bugs.  What was also evident was that there were no rising trout with just the occasion surface disturbance of a nymphing brown.  A Partridge and Olive in either size 16 or 18 did the trick big time.

 

The second occasion was just this past Summer on the Swift below Route 9 from the bridge down to the crib dam.  By 11:00 am the birds would be out in force swooping just of the surface catching the newly hatched insects. Again, the Partridge and Olive swung in the current would do it again with the occasional emerger fished in the surface film scoring well.

One may say that my emerging sulphur isn't YELLOW enough but neither are the REAL emergers which still have enough olive/brown/orange to their bodies. The real YELLOW seems to occur when the insect hatches and goes air born.  Note: these are my observations.  Yours may vary.


Maybe it's because the Swift is a cold tailwater but this hatch seems to start earlier (early June) and continue to late July.  It is becoming an event of the Swift and one cannot afford to miss it.  The spinner fall is a dusk event and I remember fishing one Summer morning below the Gauge and the spider webs along the shore were loaded with the sulphur spinners.  They were not there the afternoon before!!!

Booking

What a difference a year makes.  This time last year it was salmon fishing in heavy water but now the flow is perfect that there are plenty of fish and we haven't had any long bouts of chilling cold which drives trout to deeper holes.  Take advantage of it by booking a trip.

As I said in a previous post the fly orders are flying out the door.  Thank you!!!  Don't wait too long to stock up on your fly selections.

Ken