October 17 and 18, 2016 – A Couple Short Trips Close to Home – Valley Creek and Ridley Creek FFO section

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).  

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.