August 2, 2015 - Brodhead Creek- Early Morning August Wet Wading

A much tamer late-summer Brodhead Creek

I hung up the fly rod for today and headed to the Poconos with Kenny for some August wet wading with the spinning gear.  The plan was to target a stretch of the Brodhead that only receives a stocking of fingerlings every few years and has a decent population of wild browns too.  In order for a creek to have this type of stocking, it must be able to sustain favorable year-round conditions, so short of a limestoner, tailwater fishery, or a small, heavily forested mountain trickle, this area of the Brodhead was one of the few good bets for this time of year that was within a reasonable drive.  The flows looked good for August, slightly above normal at 37 CFS, and there was even a good flooding rain on July 27^th, so I was not surprised that the plan worked out, but I am always grateful that a plan works when I have another fisherman along for the ride.  I knew we only had a short window to fish, from about sunrise to 9 or 10 AM, before it got too warm and too bright to fool some fish, especially the skittish wild browns, so Ken was at my house by 4 AM.

Ken wet wading into position to target a nice pocket of water.

After parking and a little hike up the railroad tracks, we dropped into the water and began casting Rapala CD 3s and 5s.  The air temperature was a comfortable 62 degrees at 5:45 AM, and the water was reading about 64 degrees.  I had wading boots and long pants and even a layer of wools socks, but Kenny in shorts and a t-shirt was borderline hypothermic for the first hour, I think.  After his third piss in less than an hour, he asked me if his lips were blue.  They weren’t, and he survived, even catching a few nice rainbows and a little wild brown on an arsenal of spinning lures.  I think he got one on each type of lure he threw: Rapala, spinner, soft plastic, etc.

A fingerling who grew up to be a strong, healthy rainbow with a taste for other little fish.

The creek in this area, especially in high flows during the spring when whitewater enthusiasts sometimes give it a run, is like one long riffle.  I love the Brodhead in general, but fishing this type of water in particular is some of my favorite because fish are in pocket water and behind mid-stream boulders and bankside runs and riffles.  Rainbows seem to thrive in this fast mountain water, and they did not disappoint today.  Besides one nice brown that I fooled on a zebra midge that I tied as a dropper under a trout magnet, it was all nice rainbows.  They fought well, much better than the average stockies, as they have been around fattening and strengthening up for a few years in some fast and fertile waters.  Hatches were minimal today, however, some midges, though we were headed home before 10 AM.  I did catch one lone yellow stonefly in my hand, I believe, and found stonefly husks on a few rocks.  Ken found live stoneflies turning over a few rocks, big 1/ 2 inch black ones, so I know what I will be tossing on the fly rod next time I visit!

Some beautiful stonefly water.

I landed 9 rainbows and had a least a hit or some action in every stop, so I was pretty content.  The highlight of the morning, besides my fishing partner decked out in pick-up basketball gear and flats booties, was my tenth fish, a great wild brown.  The Rapala only managed to trick one bow out of a hole that I knew had to hold a dozen fish.  A couple other fish showed themselves chasing emerging midges, so besides the fact that it was one of the few legitimately deep holes in this otherwise mile long riffle of the Brodhead, I just knew we couldn’t leave it without giving the hole another approach.  I tied on a purple trout magnet and a float and quickly landed another bow.  

A few rainbows on the trout magnet too.

I still believed 2 was not enough for this prime spot.  While looking for another color magnet, I saw one to which I had previously tied a dropper with a zebra midge on some prior trip—and lazily never clipped, separated and put away.  I tied that “dropper rig” on the line and got two more bows on the white trout magnet.   But the last fish I fooled in the hole took the midge, and it was a solid wild brown trout, what I was secretly trying to catch all morning.  

Mission accomplished.  Wish we had found more!

We pushed on and had a few more fish, but after about 9 AM fishing slowed.  We still were getting hits, but more often than not we were missing fish or just getting noncommittal follows as the sun made its way over the valley.  Instead of beating ourselves up, we decided at around 9:40 AM to hike back to the car and let Ken finally warm up.  We were home before noon, tired, but happy to catch double digits during the dogs days of summer.

One long riffle if there were higher flows.