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| No it's not the Lehigh River, just the Pohopopo near flood stage. |
I wanted to fish this morning, but I didn’t have the energy to do a lot of planning or walking, and even the driving had to be easy! I even left all the packing until the morning, as I wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t just turn over and go back to sleep when the alarm went off at 4 AM. With that attitude, I probably should have stayed in bed because trout fishing this time of year does take a bit of work looking at USGS gages and weather and water temps. Well, as I told my buddy Kenny yesterday, at least I was fishing. Today was not great, and I should have packed up and tried a nearby Class A stream for some little brookies or browns, but I was fishing on a weekday close to August and still had a few fish in the net.
Part one of the quickly hatched plan failed. Instead of 4 AM, I got up to use the bathroom
at 3 AM and decided to stay up. After
making some tea instead of coffee, I went to the garage and packed up two fly
rods and my gear to put in the Subaru. I
figured I would take my time driving up 476 and even stop at the Allentown rest
for a Starbuck’s latte. Well, the
Starbucks was open when I got there, at least the lights were on and the
displays were full of treats, but I waited for a barista who never showed. I could feel daylight creeping up, so I left
without coffee. That was part two of the
plan that failed. I also nearly hit a
skunk on Old Mill Road as I approached the creek, thinking, I hope that’s not
an omen.
The plan was sounding bad. I could hear the creek roaring over the low head dam as I got out of the car… I did take a cursory look at gages the night before, but I haven’t fished this tailwater in a long time, so I didn’t know it would be blown out of its banks based on the current levels, which were steadily dropping but not quickly enough for my small fishing window this morning. A day later on July 30, the flow was looking great, but today it was still reading close to 400 instead of a good 200 to 175 or so like earlier in the month. The water temperature was under 64 degrees, so at least that was encouraging for late July.
The plan was sounding bad. I could hear the creek roaring over the low head dam as I got out of the car… I did take a cursory look at gages the night before, but I haven’t fished this tailwater in a long time, so I didn’t know it would be blown out of its banks based on the current levels, which were steadily dropping but not quickly enough for my small fishing window this morning. A day later on July 30, the flow was looking great, but today it was still reading close to 400 instead of a good 200 to 175 or so like earlier in the month. The water temperature was under 64 degrees, so at least that was encouraging for late July.
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| The coolwater release from Beltzville |
As I approached, the creek was clearing up and looking fishable, but it was still creeping up on the banks and making the cover of overhanging trees and rhododendron all but impossible to cast underneath. Not knowing the water well and by myself, I used a lot of caution wading in the low light too. I saw some midges rising all morning, and even shook one caddis off a tree branch I was using to steady myself in the swift current, but no fish rose all morning. I managed to bring 4 small fish to the net on a green weenie, 3 rainbows and one wild brown. I know they stocked rainbow fingerlings this year, but one of the little bows I caught had par marks and bright colors. The creek supports wild browns, but I am thinking some wild bows exist too, which is quite cool. With the humidity, my camera was fogged and the pic didn’t turn out. He managed to slip out of the net before I realized the photo was bad. Nothing about today was working out as planned, so why should the pictures be great?
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| Sadly, the biggest fish of the day, a 10 incher... |
The fish I caught were tight to the banks in slack water and in roots of trees. I caught my first wild brown while standing on the bank high sticking a nymph under a tree. As I said above, a lot of the bank side cover was dangling in the creek, making it impossible to cast under, and the wading was just challenging enough that I couldn’t cover much ground to look for structure in the creek that would obstruct flow. Below the dam, the creek is pretty much a straight shot, so the fish need the cover on the banks to rest and feed. I should have grabbed the 3 wt and headed up the little creek nearby, but instead I got an early start on the ride home. I am not a fan of the dog days of summer, so I impatiently wait for some cooler fall temps. Oh, wait, we still have August to get through…
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