1st Day of summer on the Susquehanna North Branch

[HenryDavid]

I finally hit a hatch on the river when the bass were actually rising. This spot has produced for me in the past and is my Shangri-La for dry fly fishing. Please excuse the poor audio and camera work. This is recorded by a small head mounted action cam which is enclosed in a water proof housing. I'm also constantly pulling it off my head to make sure it's recording.

I ended up with 7 on the fly rod. Here are a couple of video stills including a quick dip in the river.





The first clip is the biggest smallie I've caught this season, about a min. long. The 2nd video clip which includes the entire playlist is a little under 15 minutes long. I'll be working on some editing software soon, hopefully make things less painful to watch.

 

[troutspinner]

Congrats!

 

[Solitario Lupo]

Great job. They sure like the white flies.

 

[Bootfoot]

Great day. What we’re you using? Looks like some kind of popper.

 

[HenryDavid]

Great day. What we’re you using? Looks like some kind of popper.

That's a small white popper made by Boogle Bugs, probably a size 10. It turned out to be a pretty good imitation of the Sulphurs that were on the water. I had the popper on before the hatch and as things progressed they were taking it steadily. I'd normally use a traditional dry fly imitation but the smallies can make a mess out of a dry fly and it's a pain to try and keep it floating.

 

[HenryDavid]

I just priced them, last time I ordered some was 2 years ago. They were for sale on Ebay, with shipping it was around $3 each. Now they are no longer on Ebay and listing for $6.95 + shipping. Nice popper but I'm not paying $11 for one. Melvin's poppers work just as well, maybe he can crank some out at $5 a pop, lol

 

[Bootfoot]

I’m not paying $6.95 with free shipping for one. That’s why I tie. It’s my experience that SMB looking up will hit anything on top wether it be a whitefly, a white boodle bug, a white popper or a white gurgler. the white gurgler is a must have for me.

 

[HenryDavid]

Tonight was a complete bust with the insects. Temps dropped like a rock, what a difference from 2 days ago, steam coming off the river big time.

 

[troutspinner]

Tonight was a complete bust with the insects. Temps dropped like a rock, what a difference from 2 days ago, steam coming off the river big time.

If we didn’t know better, there have been a couple of days the last week that you could swear we are in September already.

 

[Solitario Lupo]

It’s funny how them bugs just leave like then in a little bit of cold weather.

 

[HenryDavid]

It’s funny how them bugs just leave like then in a little bit of cold weather.

There were a few out but it was very sporadic. When I see 1 fish rise 50 yards upstream, then another 100 yards downstream, then nothing for 10 minutes I consider it a bust.