The Trip
Our 8th Annual Fish Camp in May felt more like fishing in June. It was very warm and humid, with temps in the 80s much of the time, and with many severe thunderstorms all week long. We only had one or two days without a storm, and most evenings included pounding rain with lots of lightning to chase us off the river early. We were able to fish in between the storms, even though the water levels were up. The West Branch flow was between 1,300 and 1,700 cfs most of the week, so we fished further up in the Upper No-Kill area most of the time. We saw good hatches of Hendricksons and Baetis during the week, along with Blue Quills and caddis, and there were lots and lots of spinners on the water. The Hendricksons tapered off toward the end of the week, and the fishing slowed down. But this was by far our best year as far as big fish go. We hooked a lot of very big fish with some breaking the surface and giving us a nice broad-side, and of course lost some of them, but we landed most fish and got photos of a few of the larger ones. Nearly all fish were 16 inches or more, with many in the 17 to 19-inch range. Jimmer caught nice browns measuring 18.5 and 19 inches. Risty landed several nice fish in the 16 to 18-inch range and a nice thick 20-inch brown, and he also landed another one that measured 20.5 inches (his biggest trout yet on a fly rod). I landed several fish measuring 16 to 19 inches, and landed my biggest trout ever on a fly rod - a really nice thick 21-inch brown. I had one large brown run me into my backing twice, each time taking all the fly line and about about 20 feet of backing. We were all pleasantly surprised at how big and thick the fish were this year. The drift boats and other anglers reported many fish taken over 20 inches, so it seems like another great season on the West Branch.

The Hatch
We had Fish Camp the second week of May again this year, hoping the weather would settle down before we got there. It did warm up, and nearly got too warm, and we ended up getting pounded with some severe thunderstorms. Thankfully, we were able to fish every day and didn't lose too much valuable fishing time. The Hendricksons and Blue Quills were hatching in good numbers early in the week, along with Baetis vagans, caddis, small olives, and some stoneflies. There were plenty of spinners on the water all week long in lots of different sizes and configurations. We were prepared this year with some upright spinners and loop-wings, and the fish seemed to key on these more than the spent spinners. We saw spinners as early as 11 AM, with many on the water throughout the afternoons. Fish rose to the naturals fairly steady early in the week and then got fussy later in the week when the Hendricksons tapered off. There were plenty of Brackies this year, but the fish didn't seem to care much about them. The hot flies were cripple and emerger patterns for the Hendrickons, Blue Quills, and Baetis, as well as parachute BWOs and Blue Quills. The BWO CDC Comparadun was a good choice as usual, and some fish took black caddis imitations. When they started getting really selective and sipping smaller flies, a size 18 Blue Quill parachute or comparadun worked well tied on 6x tippet. A size 18 BWO CDC Comparadun also worked well during these times. We caught many large fish this year on dry flies during these hatches. It was definitely our best trip ever for big fish. The browns were big and thick this year, and they really gave you a run once they were hooked. By the time we left, the Hendricksons were pretty much done, and the river was in between hatches gearing up for the March Browns. Soon the big flies would be on the water, along with sulphurs and the big drakes. What fun!

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