Fished the Beaver Kill, Willowemoc, and West/Main stem Delaware over the weekend. Will post a separate report later. Short story: BK fished well; Delaware mixed (though Ross caught one fish and it was twenty-one inches long); Willowemoc.....well, let's just say I'm convinced there are no fish in that river.

While fishing the Willow on Sunday morning I was tying on a WD40 that worked very well last time I was on the Housy and an idea suddenly formed in my soggy head.

I asked Ross if he'd like to go to a place where I knew there were fish.

Of course, he agreed.

Ninety minutes later were were fishing a popular hole along Route 7. Flows were perfect and the hole had only two guys working the water. We'd only have about an hour to fish and then scoot home by the appointed hour we'd mentioned to our wives.

I started nymphing with a #14 Lightning bug and #18 Olive WD40. I was very quickly into fish on the WD40 -- a hefty brown and his little brother. Worked my way out into the current and started catching grass on the bottom pretty regularly. It was about the tenth time I was clearing my hooks that the lightbulb went on again.

Grass = Scuds.

So, off came the Lightning Bug and on went a #16 BH Green Scud.

More fish, now 'bows. Two quick fish on the 12-14 inch range on the Scud.

I then moved on up to one of the better lanes in this hole after two guys moved upstream. After a couple of drifts I got a very solid tug. Line zipped off the reel like it does when you foul hook a twelve inch fish in the tail but it turns out that he was solidly lip hooked on the WD40 and powerful enough to have his way with me for a bit. After a nice fight with several good runs I had an eighteen inch Rainbow at hand. He had a nasty slash on his right flank that was mostly healed. I can only imagine how he got that one. Either a bird of prey or maybe he tangled with that Survivorman guy.

I spent the next fifteen minutes casting an emerger pattern to a couple of rising fish. I got two fish to take a slash at the emerger but nothing on the hook. By now the lack of sleep and hours of casting had caught up to me and I was actually ready to leave the water even though the best of the hatch was to come.

Sometimes enough is enough.

It's nice when the water and trout cooperate with your plans.