Hendrickson Journal

I left the reader last with me kicking up rocks looking for bugs. A fun way to pass the time while waiting for the first hatches of the season. Below is a (relatively) verbatim transcription of my fishing journal entries during this year's Hendrickson hatch. With this heatwave lingering, thinking back to cooler days and rising trout might be the salve needed to get through the inevitable downtime. I hope you enjoy this and hopefully it brings back a few memories of your own time on the water. Happy 250th!!!

Note a number of references to woodcock. I recorded this simply because their evening sounds are so pleasant and a real part of the larger ecosystem in the spring, along with peepers and toads.

April 15

The first mayfly of the season is always a welcome sight.

A warm and sometimes humid day for the "official" camp opening with Roscoe and Anna. Air temp up near 80! River flows are over 1,000 after some rain yesterday. The lower river was stained.

Looked at xxx and saw one mayfly, maybe a baetis. At the yyy there were stonefles and maybe a mayfly or two. Headed to zzz and grabbed a BWO and saw what may have looked like a single Hendrickson.

Tonight the peepers are loud with toads mixed in at the Hill Farm. Down at Wagon Wheel we heard the distinctive "peent" of several woodcock.

There might be some rain overnight. Needed, but won't help with flows in the short term.

April 16

A hot day - up to 85. River at about 950 and reasonably clear. We had a smattering of Hendrickson's at the xxx. Just enough to say they were out. Right now, it is raining with thunder, hopefully brief!

April 17

A brief but heavy thunderstorm last night cooled temps but brought the river up over 1300 cfs. Off color and moving fast. We decided to head to xxx. Nothing happening at xxx so we went to yyy. At 2:58 the first Hendrickson hatched. They dribbled off for a bit. No rises, no surprise. Back at xxx saw a couple Hendrickson's along with some mating Siphloplecton mayflies. Big, curious bug.

Rich Norman reported good Hendrickson's at zzz; probably the first good hatch. [editorial note - this is 8 days earlier than the old "normal" hatch start of the 25th that the folks at the Anglers Nook used].

This evening we heard and saw woodcock at Red Mill and Hawley Bridge in particular.

April 18

The river is dropping but still over 1000 cfs - it's moving quickly. Trees are budding out with dogwood and forsythia flowering. The day started coolish - 48 - and got to 75 with clouds and sun and a stiff breeze.

The xxx had a steady, not spectacular hatch from 2:30 to 3:30. Early days still. No fish up, just too much water.

It cools tomorrow and Monday with some rain. Hopefully the cool down slows the hatch a bit.

April 22 - Earth Day

A cool day, again. High got to 54 and that was late and brief.

Water levels from Arlington on downstream are still high - 1300 range. Above the Roaring Branch the river is settling nicely.

At 2:30 or so there were some BWO's and a few paraleps perhaps. Not a lot. By 3 pm there were more BWO's and the first few Hendrickson's. This was all at XXX.

Bob (not his real name) showed up like clockwork! I headed up to YYY and by 3:30 there was a steady hatch, not heavy but a nice consistent supply of Hendrickson's. This went on here, at the zzz and back at xxx until about 6 pm. A wonderful hatch, but we need warmer water than 46 degrees.

April 23

It was a chilly night after a raw day. Woke up to 37 degrees and sunny. It warmed quickly and was 60 by noon and topped off about 64. On the downside, it was very windy.

Andrew and I decided to canoe float from XXX to YYY. Got on the water about 2:15. Bugs hatching here and there, mostly Hendrickson but also some paraleps. We drifted for a bit and set up in a nice run at about 2:30 or so as the hatch built.

By 3 the hatch was on and soon the first rise of the season was spotted. It took a while for the second rise. As the bugs drifted 3 fish rose sporadically to duns. No luck to them, but with water temps at 51 it was a start.

The rest of the drift was quiet, despite a strong and consistent hatch, until we got to ZZZ, shortly above our planned take out. We drifted over a fish as it rose. We backed up and saw a second rise.

It was about 4 or a little later and the supply of bugs was easing a bit, though there were a lot of black quill spinners about. We continued our float until we came to a huge logjam. Paddled back to ZZZ at around 5 pm where we were able to get out.

Jamie reported solid Hendrickson's down in NY at two different pools. Heavy wind, no fish.

First day of rising fish. It will get better. That said, great day!

Peepers are loud tonight and heard one woodcock along Hickory Hill Rd. Flows at 1090 cfs.

4/27

Fished the XXX on the 25th from about 3:30 till 5. Moderate Hendricksons brought fish up starting around 4. There were three good fish up. The top one was clearly the best so I waded over the other two for a shot at the big one.

Early spring deep water presents challenges to a wader. My friend Will is over 6 feet. Which helps.

This fish fed aggressively and I thought it would be easy. Nope. Instead of trying a somewhat tricky cast from below, I tried to get above him. He quit.

Bugs were done by 5:30 so that was the end of that.

Today (4/27) fished YYY then back to XXX and finished at ZZZ towards dark.

At YYY there were three very good fish going on duns but all I did was put them down. My superpower of late. At XXX my fish from the other day was up and feeding aggressively

again. Until I got within casting range.

At ZZZ three nice fish got going near dark. Despite challenges getting a fly on without a flashlight I did manage to bring up two, though I missed.

4/28

You know it's going to be a good night when the Henny spinners are as thick as trico's. Photo by Andrew Walker

What a night! There was a haze of spinners in the air (Hendrickson's). A steady procession of flies migrating upriver (note that these were egg laying spinners with their yellow egg sacs prominent).

While checking out WWW with Anna, after fishing for a bit ran into Bill Bullock, who related that Peter Basta got a big brown the night before. Then Peter pulled up and told the story of a 23" brown caught at XXX. We wound up at YYY.

I spotted a fish coming up and made my way down to it. First cast, bang! Shortly thereafter I netted a 20" brown. We then spotted another fish feeding below an overhanging shrub. The fish was hoovering bugs. It looked easy. It wasn't. It took 30 minutes of casting, losing flies, and finding the right angle to finally get a take. It was a chunky 19" brown (note that Deanna thought there were two fish in that little pocket. I disagreed. A friend caught a 22" fish from that spot the next night. Never ignore what your wife says!).

A chunky brown fooled by a parachute spinner.

With that it was time to head back to camp. On the way back we spotted a good riser at ZZZ. I managed a take, but it was not to be. But the spinner fall was great and the fishing superb. A memorable night.

4/29

A pleasant but breezy day. Roscoe had a great time at Cross Street. The wind only abated very late and as a result no fish to target.

4/30

Rain overnight led to a cool day, not a particularly fishy day. We did have a nice evening at the Fly-Fishing Festival.

5/1

All the guys are in for the Fly Fest. I headed out to plant trees along the Green at the slide. Nice turnout of people and got about100 trees planted.

Jim H also planted a bunch of trees / dogwood at the HF property (where the property owner had removed invasive honeysuckle).

In the PM I headed to XXX for a look and a little snooze. I was enjoying the sun when I was awakened by the splash of a rise. I noted a fish rising to Black Quills drifting spent and grabbed my rod. A simple flip of the fly and a short drift resulted in a lovely 10" brookie. One cast, one fish.

Black Quills are more common than folks realize. You need to understand their habitat needs to find them.

5/4

A surreal evening. There was yet another cloud of Hendrickson spinners. A literal swarm of flies up and down the river. The demise of subvaria is greatly exaggerated! Andrew and I started at XXX. We spotted a good riser and Andrew headed out for it. The fish was rising about 3/4 of the way down the pool under an overhanging branch. A tricky spot. It took a couple of casts, but Andrew got the fish up and the fight was on. The fish gave a good account of itself with a couple of strong runs before coming to the net. A big male of 20/21". Gorgeous.

There is a reason why we call 'em Battenkill gold.

I was up next and we headed to YYY and fished the lower end of the pool. A couple of fish were up, I targeted the further (larger) one. Got a take on the second or third drift. The fish took, ran, jumped and broke me off thanks to a poor knot at the leader / tippet connection. Guessing it was a 16 - 18" fish.

The moment when you realized you tied a poor knot! Screen shot from a video by Andrew Walker

Light was fading and I scooted down to ZZZ and I found the one I had missed the week before feeding steadily. It was in an easy spot and took on the first cast. Once hooked, it exploded into a hard downstream run before heading upstream, straining my bamboo to its limits. Unfortunately, the hook popped and I let loose with a vigorous "F" bomb. Despite not bringing a fish to hand it was a remarkable night.

Yeah, I wanted this one! Screen shot from a video by Andrew Walker

5/5

A day of squirrely weather and towards eve (at just the wrong time) a thunderstorm. Bugs were still out but many mistook Rte 313 for the river. It cooled pretty quickly and the bugs were not terribly thick. Even so, I managed a 9" brown at XXX.

5/10

The river was up over 1100 cfs yesterday. The waterfall at camp is going nicely. A breezy, seasonable day to 65. A surprising number of spinners in the air. A few duns ( invaria? ) hatching about 4.

After looking at a few spots headed to XXX. A couple of fish were up. A genuine dink and another. I went for both, of course. I managed a 7" brookie that took a # 16 brown parachute. A couple sporadic rises up at YYY. Woodcock still peenting and the peepers are still peeping. Trees are leafing out, if slowly.

Andrew noted good bugs down along 313 with a few fish up despite high flows.

5/11

A cool day. Only in the 50's up at Merck Forest. Roscoe and I hiked to Birch Pond, which was being drained. Repairs to the culvert?

At WWW some apple caddis and Red Quills were hatching sporadically. Also, some paraleps coming off. The day never warmed to speak of. Also, a few bugs out at XXX and saw Margie at YYY. She noted that she had missed a couple. I saw a good one come up at ZZZ but as I got ready a father / son from Canada came in. I left it for them to give it a go. Naturally, the fish quit once they got into position. The evening cooled quickly and any remaining bugs went back to the trees.

Thus ends a very exciting Hendrickson year that featured some excellent hatches and epic (truly) spinner falls.

5/12

Well, I added a day to the trip! There were Hendrickson's hatching at the brook behind Wahoos (in Wilmington Vt). I got the forecast for Arlington - low 60's, light wind. I headed back to fish.

After keeping Roscoe busy for an hour, I hit the water. At XXX the father and son were back with a guide and a few fish popping. I left them to it and headed to YYY. I was immediately greeted with a couple of risers. The next hour was spent trying to figure things out working over several impressive fish. A number of bugs were on the surface - Hendrickson spinners, paralep spinners and a few duns, also some apple caddis. I tried every spinner I had. In retrospect, an emerger just under the surface may have worked OR perhaps some Baetisca spinners had mixed in.

Roughly a month of Hendrickson's from the first duns to the last of the spinners has finally come to an end. It's been a great year!