When the water of the East Outlet chills and the foliage brightens in reds and yellows, I hope for low flows and a day off to fish for Salmon and Brook Trout. John P. calls and we make plans. He’s made home made soup, I’ve packed some sweets and we have coffee on board. We arrive to see a modest crowd of drift boats and anglers upstream, but we find a nook above the big pool and begin to work down. John’s given me some superbly tied tiny olive nymphs and I hand him a streamer. It’s always fun to see a buddy catch fish on a fly you’ve given him. The first few casts bring smallish fish to both John and me and we’re convinced that the larger fish have been pushed into the deep runs by the pressure. We move down river and again, we find more anglers. “The fish will likely move away to avoid these fishermen”, I say to John. He agrees, so we hang back. We’re in no hurry and besides, John and I enjoy fishing slowly, and chuckle if we catch fish behind the more desparate flailers. As the day warms (a relative term as it’s in the 50’s) we begin to see the tiny Olives now and then…. and there! Rolling Salmon! Then another boil! THIS is what we came to see. Because of the rise forms we see, John and I are convinced that the fish are not eating Duns, but are on the emerging nymphs. So, the trick becomes to position yourself above a fish and drift the nymph in front of fish down stream. After several drifts, I add some weight to the leader. Salmon are holding in a lower depth and must see the nymph. TUG! The take is firm. An immediate vault from the silvery Salmon and the fight is on!There’s so many techniques you can use on this river. That’s what makes it so interesting. No two days are alike. Sometimes the fish will turn on a streamer so aggressively they will surprise anyone. Other times, the subtle take is hard to detect. We can drift big stones dry or heave heavy nymphs deep. Sometimes the best fly is a midge pupa or a Griffiths Gnat, or a Caddis Larva. You have to change until you get a clue. The fish were so satisfying on these days because they were so hard to fool. So exciting that that evening, I called my friend, Fred. We went to EO again and encountered even harsher weather but the same fishing scenario. Tiny #24 Olive Nymphs on the menu. Fred even landed a nice Salmon on a small dry. These two days will give us some great memories and John, Fred, and I know that this October ’05, we had the best the East Outlet had to offer us.