December 12, 2017 – Keeping it 100 – Valley Creek

My 100th fishing trip for 2017 so far, and these little guys were my company of choice?

I reached an arguably auspicious milestone for 2017 in a totally inauspicious way today by logging my 100th fishing trip.  Not too shabby for a guy with a full time job that is not in the fishing guide business, no?  I should have marked the day with something more memorable, like a State College run or a striper in the snow this past weekend, but I have tried to keep an accurate log of my trips as they fall, skunks and all, planned and impulsive, for the last few years, so why should this year be any different, I figured.  The saying is, Keep it 100, which is keeping it real, yo, so I marked today in totally realistic fashion.  I also marked the day by purchasing my 2018 license and restocking with some midges and size 18 BWO’s, and I am expecting an early Christmas present to myself from Sam’s vice this week too, so if we get a mild patch before the end of the year, I may well exceed the century mark (by like 5, 10?) with something more, you know, memorable.

So, yeah, the risers I missed were on the OTHER side of that riffle, under the bushes, of course.

I have been sick for a few days, an upper respiratory thing that keeps me up nights and wears me out from coughing all day.  Yesterday was milder, but I felt even worse yesterday.  Today was not bad, maybe 45 degrees with cloud cover and drizzle, which is blue-winged olive weather, and I felt just as miserable, so I figured miserable at home or miserable getting some fresh air and a fish or two? Valley Creek was extremely low up where I visited for an hour this afternoon, but I found fish active in one fishable hole.  I was not all there mentally, so I left my polarized glasses in the car, and I walked all the way to the creek with my 9 foot 5 weight in my hands, like I was going to chunk streamers or something, even though I had a dry dropper already rigged on my 3 weight still sitting in the Subaru.  Oh, well, I landed two dinks on a small bugger, and I miffed on two risers who splashed at my dry fly too.  Just keepin’ it a hunnit, right?