November 5, 2016 – A Fall Morning in the Lehigh Valley

After a frosty morning, the sun was appreciated, even if it put the fish down far too quickly.

I have not had a spare weekday to take off, not even a morning, since the last time I fished in October.  I picked up another class, so I am teaching two now in addition to my normal 9 to 5 day.  We also stopped using aftercare for the boy, so Tami and I are platooning on bus pick-ups and drop-offs.  It has not been bad, but it has cut into my fishing for sure!  I keep waiting for a sign to head east to the beach, and I am actually rigged up and ready (maybe Monday), but I have not had the energy to fish the night bite or get up at 2 AM to make the morning drive.  I needed to fish this morning, however, so I decided to head less than an hour north and give the fall trout a shot.  If nothing else, it would be a morning out in the woods in some beautiful weather.

See what I mean?  A chilly start!  

I arrived right before sunrise at a new stretch of a creek I have only fished once or twice before.  Parking was easy, and I had mapped out another access point in case the first area was dead.  It was only 37 degrees at dawn, but it was crisp and beautiful.  The first round of the leaf fall has slowed, and those trees still holding on were full of vibrant yellow.  I didn’t take a water temperature reading, but it was cold, about as cold as the air, no doubt.  

A dark and lovely right before sunrise.

I moved my first wild brown on my second cast, and after a handful more casts, I landed my first of the morning.  He was dark from all the decomposing leaves in the stream but still rather lovely, even in the low pre-dawn light.  He jumped a couple times before I let him go, which was a great way to start the morning.  I wish it had continued like that, but as the sun got higher, I could see how low the creek was.  Cold, clear, and low water on a cold, high pressure, sunny day does not usually equal an awesome fishing trip.

On the suspending Dynamic Lures HD Trout.  It stayed out of the leaves more than the Rapalas.

A little further upstream, under a picture perfect overhanging tree, I hooked my second of three trout.  All of them hit a Dynamic Lures HD minnow in black.  A CD 1 tended to pick up too much debris, as the bottom was blanketed with vegetation and fallen leaves. I walked quickly trying to cover ground and find deeper holes, or at least braided water to cover my approach, but I eventually ran into some posted signs and turned back.  I picked up one more little brown on the way back to car, and as a bonus, I tossed the plug in a small mill pond across from one section of the creek, and I picked up a little bass too.  Why not, right?  I think it was a public pond?

Why not?

I decided to take a ride to another access point and give the fly rod a go for an hour or so.  I saw one pair of trout on a redd and one riser in a flat pool, and I left both alone.  Instead, I targeted a couple riffles and eddies that would have been decent spots in higher water.  I did not get a hit in any of the nymph-friendly pockets, so I even tested my patience going slow and low in a different flat pool.  I missed one half-hearted strike, probably because it was time for my tired body to go home.  I’ll say it was a chub in case it was actually a missed opportunity on a nice brown (I spooked one in this hole on the way back down to the Subaru that was probably 15 inches!) After taking a nice walk to explore further upstream, I turned back and called it a morning.  I do like this weather, but it’s going to be a long winter if the creeks stay this low and I can’t continue to chase trout!  Hell, I will take snow if it raises the gages a bit.  I grow tired of complaining about low water.