A Day Late

When I was a young fisherman, the veterans of that long-ago time gradually began to accept me. After all, I was constantly on the stream and occasionally bumped into notable season-long fishermen like Michael “Pike” DiBartolome and Sam Lower, often bugging them about fishing strategies and times to be on the water. A few other “old timers” might not have always been truthful; but when DiBartolome or Lower told me something, it was trout-fishing gospel.

One piece of advice these local legends shared more than once was to be on the water as soon as possible after a rainstorm. “The water will be...