Looks like we will have a total of 12 for this year’s trip with 3 new Louts joining the gang.  I am also reporting that one of the new Louts is a martini drinker so it will be a nice change of pace for some of you stuck in the singlemalt rut.  After all variety is the name of the game this year as we’ve moved from a single hatch (Hendricksons) to “Bug Week” simply to satisfy our collective need for diversity - let’s embrace the change!  And also, a hearty welcome to our three new Louts.  I’ll nail down the final figures soon and let you know the new totals for the trip.

By the way, Little Black Stoneflies are out right now so head to your favorite stream for some surface action in the warm afternoons.  Look for me plying local north Jersey streams on Saturday if we don’t get blown out with the rain that is predicted for Friday.

Calling all Louts. The NY DEC has proposed a ban on fishing from inside a boat on the upper West Branch of the Delaware. This proposal is in no way based on science - it is purely the work of a lone biologist who prefers wade fishing over boating. This is just another attempt at limiting our fishing freedoms and I strongly urge each of you to click on the link below and speak out against this proposal! Imagine if the reverse were true and boaters outnumbered waders and passed legislation to ban wade fishing. How would waders feel then? Since the Louts participate in both types of fishing, please speak out during this public comment period. If you had done so previous to Feb. 6th, you need to do so again as the DEC has revised its original proposal and any and all comments posted prior to that date will no longer be considered. This is a trick used in the past by the DEC to avoid or greatly reduce negative comments on a particular topic. After they’ve passed limiting (to the fishery or to fisherman) legislation in the past using this trick, they’ve stated that “there was little opposition to the proposal”. Remember that NY’s DEC does not answer to an autonomous fish and game council as does New Jersey and other states, so politics are alive and well in the DEC! I urge each of you to email the link and tell the DEC “NO on # R4-5″. You do not need to live in NY to do so.

Tell the DEC NO WAY on #R4-5! 

Well, the Louts are all lined up for Bug Week in the Catskills. You wanted mayflies, you got mayflies! Here is a list of must have (dry) flies for the trip in addition to the regular cast of charachters such as nymphs and streamers:

Green Drake duns tied parachute or Comparadun style in size 8

Coffin Fly (green drake spinner) tied parachute style in sizes 6 and 8

Olives -because “olives happen” and are the # 1 most common mayfly on the WBD when adding all species- tied in emerger, parachute, CDC or Comparadun styles in sizes 12-20. We also see some Cornuttas at this time which are the big # 12s

Rusty Spinners tied spent wing style in sizes 10 - 12 and my personal favorite!
Isonychia tied in Comparadun, parachute or spent wing style in sizes 8 -12 (# 10 will do fine)

Sulphurs tied CDC, parachute or Comparadun in sizes 14 - 18 (# 18 should have gray wings to match Dorothea hatch)

Sulphur Spinner tied spent wing in size 16

Pale Evening Duns tied parachute style in sizes 14-16. I don’t have much experience with this hatch although I had great action one evening on their spinners.
Black Caddis (Rhyacophila) tied in Elk Hair and LaFontaine sparkle pupae styles. This hatch can fool even the best angler as you see fish taking subsurface and assume it is one of the many emergent mayflies that you see on the water (drakes, sulphers, etc.) while the trout are actually selectively feeding on black caddis emergers to the exclusion of all else. I saw this over a 2 day period last year during Bug Week on the West Branch. Tie these in size 14

Two of our tying fool Louts are working up a little care package for everyone of hand tied flies to cover many of the above hatches, but you will need more than one each of the above. I love you all, but I’m not a commercial tyer and can’t find time to stock everyone’s fly box, so stock up before you arrive or tie your own! Wasn’t fishing the Hendrickson hatch much easier???