September 2, 2017 – Out There with the In Crowd – Little Lehigh Heritage Section

The Heritage Section on a fall-like morning.

Don’t ask me why I decided to fish on a Saturday on a holiday weekend in, of all places, the Heritage stretch of the Little Lehigh, but that is I what I did today.  It has been years since I fished this section; in fact, the fish hatchery dam was still in place the last time I visited, so it had to be 2012 or 2013 (?).  I guess if I had been writing this blog then, I would know for sure (I also write this thing for selfish, practical reasons too!).

This beautiful brownie took the olive scud dropper.

I was organizing a new shipment of flies yesterday, just playing and organizing, you see, so I was ready to go if I got the urge and the opportunity this weekend, but I had no set plans in place.  I suppose that is why I just pointed the Subaru towards Lehigh County, got off an exit, and fished this morning.  Though it was crowded with runners and walkers, and I ran into about 7 other fly fisherman, all keeping their distance except for a quick chat, it was not a bad call, actually, as I tangled with 5 decent fish and a few other dinks.  This year’s parr were active here like they were at Valley; I even landed two on a size 12 jigged pheasant tail, so they were hungry AND brave.

First of the day.  Jigged pt took most of them.

I caught my first rainbow right at sunrise, right in front of the hatchery building, in a deep run, tightline nymphing, so that became the plan: highstick the riffles and runs and work my way down to the good stretch of pocket water below the Heritage shop.  My biggest fish, a rainbow just over 14 inches, took the pheasant tail in a pocket under an overhanging bush and fought very well.  I landed a couple wild dinks and one brown about 8 inches before I got to the area had in mind.  Of course, there were a couple other fisherman in the vicinity who had worked it or were working up to it, but I did manage to sneak in without messing anyone up and take a decent wild brown that fought well in the braided pocket water. 

The best of the morning, pushing 15 inches and hot.

The water was plenty cold, and the air temp was in the 50’s when I arrived, so fish were in good shape and fishermen were happy with the hint of fall in the air—me included.  The water above Fish Hatchery Road was definitely changed with the dam removal, but I hope winter storms and such continue to scour and re-create some more runs and holes.  Midges were active, and caddis were in the trees and bushes, but I only witnessed one bow who looked to be actively midging, and he was staying subsurface in a flat run that I didn’t have the patience to fish (correctly, at least).  I fished from about 6:30 to 10:30 AM and called it an enjoyable morning.  Even though I would have encountered fewer people in the National Park at Valley today, I wager, this particular stretch of the Little Lehigh, while a mere shadow of what it once was, is still a unique spot and a nice place for a good walk on a cool day.

Can you guess where the better fish was?