February 17, 2016 – More Warm Winter Wild Browns on the Spinning Rod

A plump 14" wild brown with a Dynamic Lures HD Trout in his mouth.

Despite some cold days and snow, this has been a very wet and warm winter, two things that have made the trout fishing very productive and enjoyable—most of the time.  I am still wary and wiser from my fiasco of a trip earlier this month!  Mid-February already: I can’t believe that the FFO and DHALO stretches of creeks will be open for business with a fresh load of hatchery trout in a matter of weeks.  For the time being, I am enjoying the solitude of the limestone creeks within an hour of my house.  With the early blue winged olives will return the hibernating fly fisherman (myself included), but today I had a SEPA limestone trickle all to myself with great results.  In a matter of two hours, I had at least 8 good wild fish, the smallest measuring just over 10 inches.  At least 3 were over 13 inches and fat.  

Just high enough and stained enough to make for a good day for the spinning rod.

The area had about an inch of rain on Tuesday, but the gages looked great in the morning.  When I arrive about 9:45 AM, the creek was still muddy in the deep holes, but there was enough visibility for the fish to see my lures, obviously, and enough flow and stain to make my work a little easier.  I knew I could catch a mess of little fish throwing magnets or a CD 1, so I decided to try and fish a bigger lure for bigger trout, even if that meant fewer fish to hand.  The conditions today were perfect to lure some of the big guys and gals out from under the banks and roots.  The air temp was about 41 degrees when I started, and it may have gotten to a cloudy 45 before the front passed through and it got windy and sunny.  The water temp was about 46 degrees, even with the snow melt this week.

Another well-fed fish.

Tired of being a slave to the Rapala CD3, I started throwing a Dynamic Lures trout plug.  They are a suspending bait, so despite the size, they work well in shallower water.  I doubted my choice when I didn’t catch a fish for a good ¼ mile or more of prime water, but the first fish I caught was a good one, especially for a creek that is no more than 15 feet wide in most sections, so I stuck with it.  At least 5 of the 8 fish today, and all of the bigger ones, took the Dynamic Lures plug.  Did I mention they are considerably cheaper than the Rapala CD 3 plugs too?

I was so excited to bring this one to hand, I guess I dropped my glasses ...

I had some success holding the plug in prime pockets and undercut banks, and I even got one fish working it like a jerk bait, but the majority came while working the plug downstream, just like I fish a Rapala 90% of the time.  Despite Kenny thinking I was torturing him while he was hard at work hanging cabinets somewhere in North Philly, I was actually so happy to catch fish consistently on something other than a CD1 or CD3, that I had to text him a couple pictures of nice trout with Dynamic Lures hanging out of their mouths.  He has every right to hate me, of course, but it was he who suggested the plug a couple years ago and he who gave me a couple to try.  I have caught fish on them before, but I am so confident in the effectiveness (despite despising the crappy manufacturing) of the CD 3 that I had never stuck with the new plugs long enough to give them a fair shot under the right conditions.

Snag city.

I also enjoyed throwing copolymer line this morning.  I think I am a believer.  It is limp and has a bit less stretch.  I believe it may be a hair stronger than mono or fluorocarbon too, as I retrieved a few more snagged plugs than usual.  Even in high water, the better fish tend to stay close to cover, so snags are part of the experience.  As a bonus, none of the Dynamic Lures ended up with broken lips from snags and bumping rocks the way so many Rapalas do.  I hope that I can continue to have future success with both the plugs and the line.

I didn’t beat myself up, putting just 2 productive hours in before heading to work late, so I have learned from my previous errors this month, I hope.  The weekend is supposed to be warm, but I am pretty booked up with family plans.  I do hope I can get another couple of trips in this month, however.  It has been a fun fishing winter, especially after how frigid it was last year.  I know I owe Kenny a trip...

A brightly colored carnivore.