Trip Report: Neversink River Fly Fishing 8/15/14 – 8/16/14

Alright, so here is another short trip report. We’ve been trying to hit the trout hard this year, and this past weekend we gave the Neversink River a try. The crew consisted of me, Rich, and his brother James. Since they couldn’t stay out on Sunday, we decided to go up on Friday night after work, so we can have the whole day to fish.

By the time we got to the forest is was dark. We fumbled our way through the woods for a while, eventually finding a clear enough area to set up camp.

It wasn’t raining, so we did just a basic set up. I just put down my sleeping pad and sleeping bag. Rich and James hung up their hammocks. The night was fine. Rich ended up being cold because he forgot his under-quilt. Temperatures were about 50F (10C). In the morning we packed up, ate, and headed for the river.

We weren’t sure what to expect from the river. I had read that further up river the Blue Winged Olives were hatching, but we were quite a bit further down on the river. All three of us tried some form of nymphing. I stuck with an emerging Caddis for most of the day. Rich and James tried a bunch of other combinations. Unfortunately, we weren’t having much luck. All of the Caddis flies appeared to be in pupa stage, and the trout weren’t biting on the nymphs.

I hooked one early in the morning after wading my way across the river to reach a spot I had my eye set on. Unfortunately he was a big one, and I wasn’t prepared. He jumped up, then quickly tucked into a fast current, and immediately snapped my line. I was using 6X tippet for a better presentation, but it snapped it clean through. I switched to 5X for the rest of the day, but luck wasn’t on my side. Rich and James each hooked once as well.

We did a lot of moving up and down the river. There was a lot of fast moving water, and a bunch of good spots, but the fish weren’t biting. Lunch was our only consolation.

The rest of the day wasn’t much different. A lot of moving around; a lot of trying; and not much luck.

And that’s it. Long day of fishing without much to show for it. I’m sure in a week or two the dry’s will be out, and things will change quite a bit.

If any of you are interested, I can try to put together a post on my fly fishing gear. I have just basic stuff, but so far it has been working out okay. My kit is also small enough that together with my waders fits inside my 40L pack, which has made reaching certain areas quite easy.