This has been a cool spring with lower than average temperatures and not a lot of rain. While the hatches have been strong — this year’s Hendrickson showing has been far better than last year’s — I have yet to have a seems-like-a-fish-on-every-cast wet fly outing. (The river is usually good for at least one by month’s end.)

I gave James a wet fly lesson in mid-April, and we managed only one to net. We pounded several sections of river north of the PTMA, and managed only one bump. (Our lone fish came from within the PTMA.) I managed a day to myself during the Hendrickson hatch in the PTMA, and the number of rising trout fell far short of the bug volume. That certainly could be a function of me fishing where there weren’t many fish. Historically, though, the mark I fished holds a multitude of trout in April. On Tuesday, I did some advance scouting for Wednesday’s wet fly lesson. It was a fish here, a bump there, and none of it very impressive. I ranged from the lower river in Burlington up to the PTMA. I did manage to foul a beast mid-river; when the fish swam the leader over a rock, we parted ways.

Which brings us to yesterday’s lesson with Michael. We fished two marks, the lower end of the PTMA, and then mid-river. While the action wasn’t spectacular, we did find fish that wanted to eat in both locations. Our session began at 11am and we wound up at 3:30pm, a little over, but for a very good reason.

The second mark featured faster water, and it was a little deeper in spots. Even though it was a mid-river location, there were a surprising number of Hendricksons coming off. Nothing too wow, but there were a few trout rising in the frog water edges, and farther down from us in longer pool where the current slowed. We’d switched to a Dark Hendrickson BH soft hackle on point, and our next fish, a stocked brown, ate that fly. Even though it was close of business, I wanted to make a few casts at the fish feeding downstream.

We waded down and out as far as we comfortably could. Because the fish were rolling on mergers, I removed the BH point fly and replaced it with a Dark Hendrickson winged wet. Good call, because that’s what a gorgeous high teens wild brown hen decided to eat. Great job, Michael, fighting and landing that fish! If you head over to Instagram some time today, you can see a photo.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of better wet fly action. May is a strong caddis month, and caddis are a dish best served to trout subsurface.