The Freedom Float - Yough River

Did a little Fourth of July float fishing with David. God bless America it was hot out there!  We put in above Ramcat around 7:30 and floated down to Ohiopyle.  Big rubber hatch on the river with the rafts and kayaks.  Unfortunately that was about the only thing that was hatching.  Not many bugs at all - just a few BWOs and caddis and that was about it.  The fishing pretty much followed the bug activity and they just wouldn't eat.  We found one small pod of fish that were rising and were able to trick one on a BWO dry, but that was it for the top water.  It may be time to focus on the upper tail race section and hit the late evenings / early mornings only for now. 

But we had a great day as always and spent some extra time stopping the boat and checking out the river lines so we can continue to learn.  David manned the oars in his boat and we definitely learn more each time we get out.  This section below was the one that really jacked me up on my first trip down.  Of course the picture doesn't really do it justice, but as you can see, there is no real clear line to get through.  And I know for a fact there is one big pointy rock that is currently tattooed on top with some white drift boat paint.



This time around, we followed a couple rafts that tucked in behind the big rock on the left in the picture below and the rapid was butter after that.  I'll remember that line for sure.  Live and learn.

Towards the end of the float I was throwing big streamers and my sinking line was lazily dragging under the boat as I took a break and sat down.  We hit a rock and I just knew what had happened....cut that $70 right in half.  Ahh, just one of those days!  But any time you can get onto the river on a Wednesday, you can't ask for much more!  Happy Fourth!