November 30, 2017 – A Mid-day Reconnaissance Walk – Lehigh Valley Limestoner

Big redd had a big fish in it too.

I took a walk today in southern Northampton County with my streamer rod.  I wanted to cover a lot of ground on a creek that I have fished quite a bit but only in certain areas and usually slowly with nymphs—which means I tend to stay within 100 yards of wherever I access the creek and rarely take a walk.  With low water, high sun, and a late start, it was a better day for a walk than fishing, anyway.  I wanted to expand my knowledge of the creek and maybe find some new holes and runs, and I would say it was a successful day for that.  The fact that it was sunny and mild, a great day for a walk in the woods, only made things that much better.

Kind enough to pose with the Roberdeau in its mouth.

I covered probably a mile of creek, stuck two wild browns, landed one of them, moved a handful of others (a couple of them large, which was nice to see) and even watched fish on a few redds (a couple of them quite big too—the redds and the fish on them).  I also found a popular wintering hole, which had three guys in it on a Thursday, but for good reason.  It was slow, deep, and full of bugs, and probably scuds based on the weed beds on the fringes.  I even saw a few wild browns chasing emergers in this hole; one fish of 15 or 16 inches came clear out of the water at least two feet.  The other fly guys had the place pretty covered, so I didn’t stay, and I didn’t see them land anything, but I will sneak back on a nastier weather day in December or January when I will have a better chance of having the place to myself.

I moved a few fish that I would have liked to have seen up close, mostly on timber and tight to cover.

I steered clear of the tailouts where a few fish were still spawning and/or eating eggs, but I moved fish along down timber and deeper bankside runs.  With a little stain, I am sure the mighty Roberdeau streamer would do a lot more damage than it did today.  Hunkering down with midges and small olives may have similar results.  I will certainly be back to some of these holes, and I am glad that I took the time and resisted the urge to camp out in fishy looking spots.  Up at 3:30 AM tomorrow to take the long ride to the beach with my dad, so it was probably good that I went at a leisurely pace today but also walked enough to tire myself out tonight.

November 26, 2017 – I Tell You, He’s Bad Luck (for Me, at Least) - Stony Creek

The mitch is back, and he didn't forget how to cast.

I had the rare, impromptu treat of fishing with Eric on this chilly, windy Sunday.  We both had a very small window, so I decided to show him around Stony Creek, which normally gets a Black Friday stocking.  We got out way too early for the weather, but it felt nice to have the place to ourselves for a couple hours before it got warmer out. With low water, high sun, and a few other anglers eventually walking around, the fish had lock jaw, but they are in there and should provide a winter diversion close to home.  Until rains spread them out, it’s much like fishing the swimming pool at a sportsmen’s show, but that will improve with time, I hope. I had one pod of mildly interested fish until a bait guy inquiring about how I was doing inadvertently projected his shadow across the hole, which prompted the fish to scatter in all directions.  The fish are bigger than last year, thank goodness.  Last year’s crop were barely 7 inches and fed to the gills to get them to grow, I guess.  Only time can grow length, I gather, because they were all short, mini-footballs, barely big enough for a frying pan.  Though I landed zero, breaking off one on a poorly tied knot, mission accomplished, as the young mitch stuck two fish and was just happy to get out.  

November 21, 2017 – Lucky Enough to Stick One on a Scouting Trip, Or Simply a Blind Squirrel? – Ocean County, NJ

Slacker.

A real surf fisherman would not have been photographing the sunrise from 10 miles off the coast this morning, but it’s been too long since I have been a real surf fisherman, I suppose.  After Sandy, I took up fly fishing again in earnest, partly because the beach was off limits, jacked up, or not productive enough to warrant all the long drives I once made.  That said, I still love it, especially catching fish on a plug.  It is hard to describe the alien excitement of picking a piece of soft structure in the vast Atlantic Ocean, often in the dark, mind you, delivering a cast with confidence, somehow knowing something has to be waiting there, and then feeling the thump of a bass as it ambushes your plug in a washing machine of suds and crosscurrents.

Too short: taped at 27, so close enough to have to dig around in my bag for a tape!  Bone SP minnow.

My first trip of the fall is a late one this year, but I wanted to take a ride today and scout a few miles of my favorite beach.  Leaving earlier may have been more productive.  Staying longer to walk the beach at low tide may have been more informative.  However, I was just happy to be out there in sporty conditions, tossing an SP Minnow into the wash, and tangling with a fat 27 inch bass.  I had nary a bump after that, in almost 3 hours of walking and throwing, but the bait guys were doing nothing either, and I saw no signs of life, even offshore.  I did find a few new cuts, holes, and even a rip that has always formed in approximately the same place ever since the super-storm, so I am hoping to head back next week.

Got a little breezy on the walk back, and not the good kind: SW 20-30.

The week after Thanksgiving was one of the few good ones last year, so I am hopeful.  I am also a fan of the schoolie run that usually takes place in December, and I may even try to catch one on the fly rod this year.  Talk about a blind squirrel there!   That’s not what it’s about for me, though.  When I first started surf fishing, I used to plug the early, early mornings and then soak some bait to make the long drive worth it.  But now I am of the mind that if I can catch one or two on the plug each time I take the long drive, then I have beat the odds, especially on foot and not in a buggy, and it is a good trip, even if I drove 90 minutes to fish 3 hours..  Today was a good first trip of the fall, and it will not be my last.

November 17, 2017 – Slipping and a Sliding on a Windy, Sunny Day – Lehigh River

Sporty.

I have had a busy week on the home and work fronts, and I spent last weekend on a food and drink bender with some old (now older) friends in Asbury Park, NJ, so I was itching for a fishing trip on Thursday.  The boy woke up sick that morning, however, so he and I spent the day home comparing the classic King Kong to the Peter Jackson jaunt from 2005 to the Skull Island film of last year—I know which one I prefer, but the verdict is still out for the boy.  No, it’s not the 1976 version, either, though I am sure Jessica Lange made an impression on another 10 year boy when the film made it to VHS back in ’78 or ‘79.  I think the boy finally stopped coughing and passed out around 11:30 PM that night, so I had to listen to him cough, poor kid, while I graded papers before going to bed, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day for both of us.

Jersey fresh weekend: mitches, blow outs, pork roll and many flights of fancy beers in the local breweries.

Friday is the day I take the boy and a neighbor kid to band practice at 8 AM, so I was up, hoping that Lukas did not need another sick day.  A family meeting was held, and his fate was decided: not band practice or lessons with all the coughing, but his teacher should listen to him hack for a day instead of me or mom.  After squeezing the boy and his backpack into the Subaru loaded with all my fishing stuff, I dropped him off at school and was heading north by 9 AM.  It was windy and sunny, and it got windier still as the day progressed, probably gale force at the shore, the kind of NW shot that will send a T-Hex 200 yards into the surf if it doesn’t blow the surf out past the bars.

Best intentions: See, there's a sign and everything.

I wanted to be home by 4 PM to let Tami go out with a girlfriend for happy hour or something, so I stopped about an hour into my drive, just past the Lehigh Tunnel, and found some water to fish.  In an effort to give spawning fish a break, I figured I would target some nice holdovers in the big river.  As luck would have it, I drove right past a familiar landmark and realized that Tom C. had taken me to a spot near here, so I figured what the heck.  We didn’t have much action at this spot earlier in the year, but it certainly looked fishy at the time.  I sort of felt like a bad friend, but I knew Tom C. would be happy that I found some fish at one of his honey holes!

Wild?  Or just a really quality stockie?  Had the blue spot behind the eye and all.

After a short walk, I arrived on the river, and the conditions looked great.  I was rigged up to toss a streamer, but the flows were not up and the water was pretty clear, so it took going down deep with a couple tungsten nymphs to hook up.  Fish took both a walt’s worm and a beadhead caddis in size 18-ish.  Despite favorable water conditions, it didn’t take long to determine that I had brought the wrong wading boots for the occasion.  I usually toss in my felt bottoms as a back up when packing, and I could have used them (with studs) today, but I just had rubber with studs, which was a bit tricky with the slime from leaf decay all over the already rounded river rocks.  A slip cost me a picture of a gorgeous rainbow that measured over 17 inches in the measure net.  The barbless hook must have slid out already, so despite being in the net, he took a swim when I nearly did.  In windy 45 degree conditions, I am happy it was him and not me!  Yes, I am aware that I took a tumble with the same boots on the Brodhead last month, but it’s the boots, not that I am too stubborn to carry a wading staff (Okay, it’s both. I'll admit it).

Another pretty brownie.

I ended up catching a handful of quality fish between 13 and 15 inches, so the fish have been eating well and looked fat and healthy.  Besides the big rainbow, I got at least one more, and I landed two browns too.  The browns looked wild, fittingly enough, as I tried to avoid them today, but the same thing happened with my best intentions on a heavily stocked section of the Brodhead last time.  I really need to start surf fishing, I suppose, maybe Sunday or Monday if my old buddy Dolf can get out.  He and I have been trying to plan something for the last week or so.  I saw birds, bait, boats and whales last Sunday in Monmouth County as I sipped a latte sans fishing equipment on the sands of Bradley Beach, so Thanksgiving and early December might just produce this year! .

A fat rainbow, though not the little piggie I dropped.....

November 9, 2017 - All’s Well That Ends Well – Brodhead Creek

A dreary, BWO kind of day, when I needed a streamer to catch fish....

I have written before, I know, that I am not really a dry fly fisherman.  I do not carry many with me, and even then, I carry a basic selection of different size classics like olives, caddis, midges, the odd Wulff or Adams (which I wish I had the right size of today).  I do like figuring out puzzles sometimes, and dry fly fishing can be a puzzle of size, color, approach, tippet size, tippet length, and so on.  Even then, however, if you don’t have what the fish want in your box of tricks and flies, sometimes it can be frustrating.  On the other hand, when you do get it right, it can be a lot of fun!  Today was not that day.  It did end well, though, and you know what Shakespeare said...

A beauty of 15 inches.

I packed up my Subaru around 8:30 AM after dropping the boy off at the bus stop, but I knew I had some work to do before fishing today.  I actually ended up doing quite a bit of work until about 11 AM, including a couple frustrating email exchanges, so when I talked to Tami around 10 AM, she could sense that I was pissy.  She offered to do pick up for the boy in the afternoon for me if I wanted to go fishing longer into the late afternoon.  I love that woman!  And I quickly took her up on the offer.

The big olive bugger rescued the afternoon.

When I arrived at the Brodhead, my intention was to target the fish that were stocked in October, but because the weather was a bit cold and wet, I walked into the tail end of an afternoon hatch of blue winged olives.  Fish were sipping everywhere, and a couple little guys were making splashy shows of enthusiasm too.  I was rigged up to nymph, so I had to take some time and re-rig with a 9 foot leader tapered down to 5X and dig around for some olive matches in size 18 to 20 (mostly 20’s).  There were about 6 fish working right out in the open, so I picked one and delivered my size 20 olive, which was ignored by this fish and a couple others.  I changed up to other patterns, sizes, and lengthened my leader with 6X.  I even added a dropper.  Nope.  One fish took a swipe at a bigger pattern but in the end didn’t like what he saw.  I even swung some wet flies before giving up on these finicky fish.

A couple pretty 12 inchers too.

I am glad I did not go home, however.  I spent the last hour of the afternoon chunking a big streamer and catching nothing but wild browns.  The biggest was a healthy 15 inches, and the skinnier one I landed before dark measured 14 inches.  I also landed two in the 12 inch range that fought well, as wild river fish do.  Besides landing those four beautiful fish, I moved a couple others, dropped one after a leap, and had a few other strong bumps—all part of the charm of streamer fishing, definitely less delicate and certainly more visceral than dry fly fishing.  I was surprised to find no stocked rainbows, which made up half of the earlier rising fish, but I was happy that these wild fish, often ghosts in a heavily-pressured, easily accessible section of the creek, came out to rescue my day.  The Brodhead continues to be a confounding and rewarding creek for me.  I would not have it any other way, I suppose.

A skinny 14 just before dark.

Low light early due to clouds and drizzle, but still colored up this time of year.

November 2 and 6, 2017 – Tully, Manny, Meh – A Few Stops in Berks County

The other kind of rainbow, somewhere over in Berks County.

In an effort to give spawning fish a break and this year’s babes a chance, I made an attempt to fish for stocked trout last week on the Tulpehocken.  It did not take long to remember why I rarely fish the Tully!  This was a Thursday—a pleasant, warm Thursday, mind you—and the place was packed!  I found 3 to 6 cars at every pull off and lot within the DHALO section.  I saw anglers in every hole I drove by or stopped in; it was ridiculous and, if I hadn’t driven nearly an hour, I would have gone home.  I ended up fishing for a pod of fish bulging the water for midges and landing two of them right at the Reber’s Bridge, not my favorite place to fish.  I also hooked a couple others on the midge, and I even landed another on a bugger when I got tired of fishing slow water with an indicator.  The only photo from the day is of a likely rabid or injured raccoon loitering in the parking lot, as I inadvertently left the phone in the car after taking a couple pics of him while I was suiting up.  Not much to see, anyway, three recently stocked fish of 10 to 12 inches.

No one told Rocky he's supposed to be nocturnal?

I was not enthused to fish on Friday last week, and daylight savings time and couple of drinks on Saturday put Sunday on ice, so today was the next opportunity to fish.  Rain was in the forecast, and had me a little excited, but it never amounted to much.  I may have gotten slightly damp once around 1 PM as I snuck around the Manatawny looking for holdovers or a few wild browns.  I was hoping a steady rain or thunderstorm would come through, but neither happened.  I did get to take photos of some cows, a snake, and a rainbow (in the sky), though.  I guess I was just trying to enjoy the experience on a warm November day.  I drove past a favorite little trickle that comes alive in the rain, but it was low and clear, so I committed to finding a couple on the Manny, which I did, including a nice 12 inch wild brown that fought well after taking a caddis dropper in a deep, leaf littered hole.

Snakes on a bridge.

I kept getting interrupted by work-related calls and emails, which I took as a sign to head home after a couple hours of walking and casting.  There was no bug life this afternoon and no signs of redds, but I didn’t cover much ground.  It sounds silly, but I am hoping for cold, nasty weather so the fair-weather anglers hang it up for the year!  I like winter fishing, even the tedium of hunkering in a hole with midges, because I often have the creeks to myself.  This just feels like limbo!

I am also getting my surf gear together, hoping a fall run of bass materializes.  The warm weather isn’t helping there, either, but they have to move eventually.  I just hope there are enough of them to warrant the long drives and ghastly early mornings now that the clocks have fallen back!  I am home with the boy on Election Day, and I am working Wednesday and Friday, but maybe Thursday will be my next trip this week?  At the very least, I will toss some plugs in the not too distant future, as I have a boys/drinking weekend in Bradley Beach and Asbury Park this upcoming weekend.  It will begin the process of getting the kinks out in anticipation of the real fall and, hopefully, a fall run, too.

A fish pic: a nice wild brown from a marginal section of the creek.

A creek pic: because Ron likes them!