May 3, 2015 – Huge Bucks County Wild Brown Trout

A gorgeous wild brown trout.

For a change of pace this morning, I got up at 4:30 AM and took a drive to a little tributary of the Delaware River that holds a reproducing population of wild brown trout.  Heading up Route 611 along the “Big D” always makes me happy.  My dad and I used to run the river for smallmouth and walleye in a Grumman square back canoe back when I was barely a teenager.  Today I decided to try a spot I have fished a few times before with limited success.  The fish I did catch in the past were gorgeous 8 to 10 inch wild brown trout, so I was not at all prepared for the two monster brownies I caught today.  I am not a religious man, but I gave an NFL-worthy two gun salute to the sky after landing both of these fish today, especially on a 3 weight rod and 6X tippet.  I am also not superstitious by nature, but I have shopped for a new landing net a few times this spring and haven’t pulled the trigger yet, mainly because the ones I like are close to 100 bucks for a friggin’ net, and yet I have landed a bunch of big trout this spring without having a net with me.  I know I need one, fish as big as the ones today, especially wild fish, need me to net them, but now I am afraid it will jinx me or something.

Today's choice: a Delaware River, limestone tributary.

I arrived around 6 am to the sun just coming up.  The first stretch I fished for a full hour with one hit, a swing and a miss on a little brown trout I saw flash before I even noticed that the indicator had paused in the current.  No early risers and I didn't even spook any in the shallow water.  That was it for all my driving and walking.  However, I had done a lot of research on access to this creek using Google Maps and the like since the last time I fished it, probably winter of 2013, so I thought I had found another place to park that wasn't posted and gave me access, after a little bushwhacking, to a good half mile or more of the creek as it ran through farmland with only a couple houses in sight.  I hoofed it back to the Subaru along a country road without meeting any guard dogs or goats, and drove a couple miles upstream to find this new spot.  The pull-off was not posted, which is nice, and it was not a bad walk, more like a steep slide, down to the water.  Some nice water greeted me, deep holes under an old footbridge or aqueduct, and a couple undercut banks guarded by tree roots. 

Deep water and signs of life at last.

I tied on a caddis dry with a pheasant tail dropper after I saw a splashing rise on the tail-out of a pool above me.  I stood and waited and he never showed again, so I moved down to the deeper hole and tied on a caddis nymph.  As I crept close to make a cast, I saw a good size trout suspended in the water column and feeding.  I made about 4 or 5 casts in this hole, keeping a low profile, thinking I was targeting this actively feeding 12 incher, which would have been a prize for this creek any other day.  At one point, my indicator slowed just slightly, maybe a rock, but I set the hook as any red-blooded angler would do.  Holy cow, I was off to the races with a huge brown trout.  All he wanted to do was get back into the deep water and under the riffles, and I could barely turn him with my light rod.  I just prayed I could get a good look at him.  I finally played him into the shallow water of the tail-out and got my hands under him.  He was probably 20 inches of beautiful wild brown.  I botched the one picture I took because all I could think was that I have to get this thing back in the water healthy, which I did, but a 30 dollar net would have helped—again.

Close to 20 blurry inches of wild brown trout.

I revived him and did a subdued touchdown dance as he moseyed back home, my middle-aged heart racing with the sheer surprise of seeing a fish like that, especially where I was, and then actually landing him.  I almost quit and went home on that high note, for a 10 inch trout would have been anticlimactic, but I had to investigate the next hole in sight downstream.

Couldn't quit when this one was the next hole in sight.

As I high-sticked my first cast through this great looking hole, my indicator stopped again.  I set the hook and had another big feisty brown on the line, this one trying to get under the tree roots across the creek from me.  The colors on this one were unreal.  After another touch and go battle, I glided this one into the shallows and brought him to hand.  Crazy, I tell you.  He was a good 16 inches or more based on the marks I use on my rod to estimate length.  This trout was so colorful that I gently put him down in the water and placed the rod down next to him.  This shot turned out, thank god, because it will likely be my wallpaper for some time.  After some deep breathing, I did quit fishing—how could it get better, seriously—and I started climbing out, doubly grateful for the hot streak I am having this spring.  I hope the net I buy this week doesn’t ruin it.

Another big, beautiful brown.