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| Fall colors on Valley Creek |
In the time between any significant rain and the start of the fall run in the surf, I snuck in two trips this week with the fly rod. Yesterday, I had a doctor’s appointment that ran long, so by the time I got home, it was after 12 noon, and I hadn’t even eaten yet. What’s a guy to do on an unseasonably warm day? Go to work? Nah, I worked too hard over the last two weeks. Instead, I decided to sneak around Valley Creek with some midges.
The water temp was barely 60 degrees but the air was pushing 80 by the time I reached the creek. The fall “leaf hatch” was in full swing, although even more so when I hit Ridley Creek FFO for a while today. I learned from my mistake of wearing waders yesterday, and wet wade today, so at least I was cool on a hot day. I was sweating it out at Valley even in the shade! Today, Ridley Creek was crowded for a Tuesday. I saw at least 8 different guys in about 2 hours of fishing. Unlike Valley, whose flows are okay for this time of year, Ridley was a bit low for my liking (and full of leaves).
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| Another Valley wild brown. He liked the big streamer! |
I worked hard on Monday for 3 eight inch trout, a chub, and the
rare Valley Creek green sunfish, but I did stick a decent one of 11 inches with
a big streamer, which was the highlight of the day. I was home for bus stop pick up after about
90 minutes on the water, so I was happy.
Today, at Ridley, I wet wade, and I was much more comfortable, but the
fish were all dumped in a couple spots, all of which had dudes standing in them
and all of which I tried to avoid for the first hour.
I was rewarded with finicky sunfish and chubs away from the crowds, even in spots that usually get stocked. Before I left for home, however, I spent
about 45 minutes in the honey hole to catch two stocked bows on a midge, just
to avoid the skunk. I probably won’t be
back to Ridley until the spring or a good rain spreads the fish out. My surf stuff is all ready to go, including a
new Commando Surfcasting plug bag (!), so I may begin making the long drives
this weekend or the next.