Clucks, ducks and stoneflies on the river

A July grab bag of recent fishing notes:

• It hasn’t rained much lately and it’s hot. Not good news for trout fishermen, and if you are thinking of fishing the Housatonic you should consider either targeting smallmouth bass or waiting for the weather to break. Even careful catch-and-release handling will be rough on trout with warm, low water.

• I caught a largemouth bass with an example of the only fly I can tie: a single piece of chenille wrapped around a hook and glued in place. I pick the fuzz off and the two strands of thread remaining serve as a tail. It’s called The Poop Bug, and it fools nothing — except a largemouth bass, which is essentially a swimming mouth.

• I watched a guy put on a nymphing clinic on the Esopus Creek in New York state Friday morning, July 2. He was working a famous hole called The Greeny Deep, methodically working his fly upstream and down, gradually increasing his range, until he took a nice brown on the swing.

The fish fought harder than its weight class, but the fellow got him in (and released) with a minimum of fuss. It was a pleasure to watch.

My only quibble was the use of a strike indicator, which I think is cheesy.

• I discovered the World’s Sharpest Rock, also on the Esopus, by the simple expedient of sitting on it in a moss-induced hurry. The resulting flow of obscenity was overheard by a passing angler, who smiled gently, did not make eye contact and kept moving.

• Low water in the Esopus means spots that would either be out of reach or require difficult wading are suddenly in play. Low water also means the sluggish trout, wishing it would cool off, can see the angler coming a mile away.

They are also spookier than usual. For the first time this year I used flies smaller than size 14 and dug out a spool of 5X tippet.

• Call me a convert to the paste type of weight added to a leader to get a fly down. I tried it out this weekend in the conditions detailed above and it is much easier to work with — and literally less splashy — than split shot. The only problem is it eventually comes off, so you have to keep checking.

• At long last, stonefly casings are appearing overnight on rocks in the Esopus. They’re late. These big, clumsy bugs crawl around on the riverbed and are easy pickings for trout. When they do hatch, they are still big and clumsy, and can be imitated by big dry flies such as Stimulators.

Of course, I couldn’t get anybody to rise to one.

• I had the opportunity this weekend to see Harry the Heron and the Duck Family doing their thing on the river. Also, the weird sight in our yard of a mother deer and her two young ones being tormented by a male deer who kicked one of the kids and then ran around in circles for about five minutes, before abruptly dashing off into the multiflora pricker bushes. All this Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom mayhem at 5:30 a.m., before I’d had my coffee.

• And once again I must report clucks — this time a matched set, male and female, who emerged from the woods and charged right up to the Esopus opposite from where I was fishing, maybe 30 yards apart.

Mr. Cluck was more aggressive. When he didn’t get a strike on his first three casts, he waded straight through and barged on past me. Didn’t say a word, either.

Mrs. Cluck was a little more discreet. Or maybe she didn’t trust herself in the current.

Sure sign of cluckdom: They were wearing neoprene waders in this heat. That’s the fishing equivalent of a tweed suit plus overcoat.