April 29, 2018 – Sunday in the Park, Looking for the One – Brodhead and McMichaels Creeks

Still high (on meth from the tent city?) and stained, but getting there.

Tami and the boy had plans all day today, and I had worked around the house most of Saturday, even cutting my lawn for the first time this year, so I decided to get up early and do some scouting of one of my favorite creeks.  I have not visited the Brodhead yet this year, and I don’t love the weekend fishing there, but I figured I would fish large and look for that one fish to make the day, staying away from the crowds in the process.  They must have stocked because it was crowded!  I arrived at 8 AM, and the park had several visitors in place already.  With Route 80 so close by, I have learned to expect a lot of Jersey and New York plates on the weekends.  Saturday was gorgeous, but Sunday started unsettled then settled into a cold front kind of day.  I was glad I brought a soft shell because it never got above 50 degrees and I never took it off, even after hoofing it through the gorge below the park in hopes of tangling with at least one decent wild brown trout or at least a big rainbow gone rogue.

Chased the skunk away with a couple of these before moving on to a tamer spot.

Wading was a bit scary, so I spent a lot of time fishing the soft water on the same bank on which I was standing, which means a few hooksets into the overhanging trees too.  I only got bounced once down in the gorge and the water was too cold to throw a streamer, so the morning was a bit challenging, especially as the wind kicked up and made the possibility of shooting an indicator impossible.  There were olives on the water, and a couple larger mayflies, too, but the only risers I saw were in a flat across the river where I could not reach them without a jet boat.   Before leaving for nearby McMichaels Creek, a smaller creek and a more relaxed wade, I managed to catch two stocked browns by the parking lot.  A father and daughter fork-sticking it across the creek left with a limit, and a group of guys from North Jersey all had stringers of freshly stocked fish.  One guy stopped me to ask for help identifying a fish on his stringer.  I wish I had taken a picture of it: an American Shad, maybe a 5 lb. roe, too, in the Brodhead!  I assume with high water in the river, she took a wrong turn.

Ended with a mess of stocked rainbows as a consolation prize.

Even though I ran into two high schoolers as I was leaving, I was the only stick on the crick at McMichaels.  I found no bonus browns in a few of the potential spots, but I salvaged the day with probably 10 ornery stocked bows.  The heavy water has made the fish strong and athletic—and hungry!  Most of them took a big stonefly or a size 12 pheasant tail.  Even though it was a long, tough day, it was enjoyable to be on the mighty Brodhead and in the mountains, which are ready to pop into spring.  I may head back one day this week, as dry fly fishing can be had on the olives, and as the water recedes and warms, the pocket water fishing will improve.