April 11, 2015 – Manada Creek - DHAL0

There are flies on the windscreen

I spent Friday night and Saturday morning at James Madison University.  I was presenting at a writing center conference, something I haven’t done in a long time.  On a whim, I threw my 4 piece rod in the case and put that and my sling pack in the car (I thought I grabbed my wader bag too), knowing that my route crossed many streams, including the famed spring creeks in the Carlisle area, like Yellow Breeches and the Letort.  I had read up on fishing Virginia a bit in the past, as I have been in rural VA a half a dozen times on service trips with students, and I even found a nice fly shop near Harrisonburg, but VA trout fishing is different.  It’s open all year, and anglers pay nearly 50 bucks a year just for a trout license.  It’s only 8 dollars for a daily, but to fish for trout, it’s another 48 dollars.   For many rural areas, it’s probably money well-spent, stocking the fridge with fresh fish year round.  For me, not ready to go blue-lining for wild fish in the Shenandoah National Forrest after getting no sleep in a Motel 6 and driving 5 hours the previous night, I ruled out fishing VA for another time.  My Saturday began with a visit to the local Walmart at 6:45 AM to buy a pair of brown shoes (sneakers and a suit = not a hot look). Luckily there was one pair of brown shoes in the store, and they were size 11. Forgetting footwear was a theme of this trip, as you’ll see below…

After the front that came through on Friday, it was a windy day, but otherwise it was beautiful and warm, in the 60s.  The presentation, the purpose of the long drive, went well, so after lunch and a keynote speaker, I decided to bag the rest of the conference and head for home.   I figured that if I got tired or tired of dodging 18 wheelers on Route 81, I would stop at Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shops, or maybe fish, to kill some time and regroup.   As I was heading north, I nearly ran out of windshield wiper fluid trying to get mashed bugs off, so that was swinging the meter toward fishing (not hard to get me to swing that way, though).

I am not confident enough as a fly fisherman to contend with the famed Carlisle streams on a Saturday in April, so at a rest stop, I used my phone to find the Manada Creek DHALO section just below Fort Indiantown Gap.  That was near the Turnpike and would get me to within 90 minutes of home, too, so it was a good goal.  My college is going to offer classes to the soldiers there, so I was also curious to see the area (a strange mix of casino, race track, golf courses, and Deliverance, by the way).   I also heard there were wild browns throughout the stream.

After a couple wrong turns, I found the creek, which was a pretty little trickle less than 15 feet across in most spots and rather shallow except for pocket water and a some long flat pools, not great for the 9 footer I had with me.  There were plenty of trucks parked here and there, and Delayed Harvest signs visible for a good mile along the road.  I figured I would find some elbow room despite the small crowd, so I located a pull-off and got out to rig up.  It didn't take me long to realize that I had brought my waders, but no boots!  In my defense, I did have to pack a suit for the conference, and my mind was on the long drive and the presentation, so things got left off the packing list (plus I am going to be 46 this month). Shoes were not on the list this weekend, I guess.  At any rate, I would kill some time and take a breather from the long drive.  Fishing was just a bonus.

I resigned myself to the reality of bushwhacking through brambles and balancing on wobbly stones and logs to get a cast or two in with the 9 foot 4 wt rod…  Long story short, I found some pocket water that looked fishy and eventually just wet waded to get into position a couple times to make casts.  I figured I could wear my new Walmart loafers into the Bowmansville rest stop when I had to use the bathroom on the way home, and no one would notice (or I’d look like a fugitive on the run with wet muddy feet, which was fine).

Manada Creek near Fort Indiantown Gap

After a couple false alarms with the little fellas below (a couple even popped at my indicator like a dry fly, they were that hungry). I did catch a beautiful hold-over rainbow.  His dorsal fin was the longest I have seen.  He looked part grayling (you can almost make out the long, ribbon like end of the dorsal in the pic below).  He hit a size 18 flashback hares ear.  I had taken off the caddis nymph (or hung it in a tree branch while bank fishing with a 9' fly rod) because it was creek chub candy! 

Loving the caddis nymphs and the foam indicators...

The farther away from civilization I got, the prettier the creek became, but the traveling was getting tougher too.  Tired of pulling stickers out of my thighs, muddied to the ankles, and wet (and a bit cold with wet legs in the wind), I headed back to the parking spot.  I was content to catch a pretty trout on a new stream under less than perfect conditions.  This creek might be worth a second look when the wild fish wake up and start eating.  It was worth the ride home in wet shoes and pants for an hour of fun on what was supposed to be a working weekend.

Some reward for the effort.