Pickering Creek DHALO - 4/3/15 - Good Friday and the Day Before Opening Day...

Pickering looking a bit low, and feeling pretty cold.

I was on the fence about fishing this Friday, mainly because I didn't want to drive far since the family was going on a road trip to Jersey to see my wife's family over Easter Saturday and Sunday.  But I knew I was going to miss opening day, which I could take or leave, especially since my opening day of trout usually starts in January most years (although not until 2/22/15 this year, with the frigid winter).  Still, it is a tradition I have kept with my dad and my buddy Ward for a long, long time, so this would end up being my consolation day and a very memorable day for a new fishing buddy.

While my wife and I were taking our son out for a walk/big wheel ride after dinner on Thursday night, I ran into a neighbor Eric who loves to fly fish, but hasn't lived in Philly area all that long, so he's still collecting spots.  He asked where I was fishing on Saturday, which lead to my story, which lead to us making a plan on the fly to hit a local DHALO.  Pickering was stocked around March 20th, so I was sure there would be some fish, and it was going to be a cloudy 60+ degree day.  Anticipating a crowd and rain, we decided to get there at sun-up and try to beat both, which we pretty much did.

The water was cold and low, but stained a bit from the rain.  We both started out fishing green weenies, and most of the fish came on those today, nothing fancy, just slow and deep.  I left Eric at a good stretch near our parking spot, and I headed upstream, covering a lot of low un-fishy looking spots quickly.  I had one hit under a down tree, and that was the entirety of my action for the first hour or more. Eric finally caught up to me, and shared that he'd had some success, one decent bow and a couple misses, so that gave me a shot of new life.  I finally stepped in below a nice deep hole, saying, "This looks good in here," and, sure enough, got two nice rainbows in short succession on a jigged pheasant tail.  They didn't fight much in the cold water, but they were healthy, fat fish.  Not the best shot of my first fish of the day, but you can see the jigged pt in the top of his jaw.  

After that, Eric and I fished back downstream together, just hopscotching back to the parking spot where we dropped in.  At one brief stop, Eric got another to cooperate by sheer persistence and casting accuracy.  He is definitely good with the fly rod.  This brown was tight to the roots of a down tree, and Eric made repeated accurate casts to a little pocket until the fish responded.



We ended the morning by fishing where I left Eric in the morning, a couple nice deep holes close to a bridge, which means it was stocked better than the farther reaches of the stream. Here, I got to witness Eric catch the biggest trout of his life!  I actually saw his indicator go down, he set the hook, and this thing broke water.  I am usually not one to run to help a friend, more of a, "You hooked it; you land it" kind of guy...  But I had to see this thing up close.  After a short battle on a 4wt and 5X tippet, short only because this beast had nowhere to go in such skinny water, I got a net around a big healthy rainbow. He even got a deserved close up shot.

Eric's personal best.

A real piggy!

Oh, and Eric did let me catch a couple here too.  I think I ended the day with 4 and he had 5, including the beast.  It was a great day to be out, but the conditions were tough.  Even with the smallest indicators and shot to get the nymphs to the bottom, my fish barely touched the fly.  I missed a few and I know Eric dropped a couple early.   We didn't see many guys out either, especially for a Good Friday holiday for many.  Maybe this area got hit hard after the stock, and with the cold, low water it's been tough.

Eric and I had never fished together before, but we will go again.  He's a good dude and a fisherman, like me (and my father and my boys Kenny and Ward), someone who loves it. No coffee, no water, no food, no nonsense, just get up early and try to catch fish.  I figure I have good mojo coming my way after sharing a new spot with Eric and putting him on a personal best trout too.  Either way, it was a good day.

Yes, Eric let me catch a few.