June 13, 2018 – Some Steamy and Soppy Stolen Hours – Oley Valley Limestoner

Cold water, hot and humid air, and this was at noon today!

I was a bit shocked and disappointed that I saw another car parked at “my spot” this morning, but I ended up having a good conversation with another fly guy who makes and sells his own bamboo rods, knows some of the same guys at TCO, and gave me some intel on his home waters, the Tully (not where I was today).  We worked out a plan not to overlap too much on a small but prime stretch of stream, and we spoke again briefly when he was leaving for the morning, so his presence in the end had little ill effect on my short trip.  I took a leisurely ride in farm land, I got rained on, even finished my coffee sitting in the ‘Ru in waders waiting out a heavier shower, got bit by a couple early mosquitos, but I caught fish, from one of those gold ones to wild browns to points in between, including some overeager chubs and even a rock bass.

A couple wild ones in the mix, but nothing like my last visit to the same creek.

I like this stretch for that reason.  The last time I was here, the wild browns were out in force (for here), but even though they were a bit quiet today, I managed a couple, along with some beautiful holdover rainbows that acted wild.  I saw an isolated sulfur take wing, and there were caddis and spotted sedges in the trees, but even though it was a blue winged olive kind of day, no hatches besides midges made the fish take notice.  Even then, it was the chubs rising to midges in the backwaters, not trout chasing sedges and mayflies in the riffles. 

My one for the year.

I fished right near the bridge for the first 30 minutes just to give the other guy some time to fish a stretch above me before I hopscotched him for my favorite hole.  There were two big palominos in this hole, so I decided to add a goldfish to my bucket list this year.  I average about one per season, so I met my quota.  He didn’t even realize he was caught until his second effort, which gave me a bit of a battle as he fled from the net on the first pass.  I also caught a bunch of chubs and one very nice rainbow here before moving on to better water.  Again today, I was using my 10 foot 5 weight, which made me a little over-gunned for a small creek, but I tangled with about 10 fish, so it didn’t hamper my day, and it may pay dividends later in the month.

Pretty fish, war wounds and all.

A couple of the browns I caught today, if not for some tell-tale signs like bad (or no) fins or merged, oddly geometric spots, looked nearly wild with good colors, even parr-ish marks.  The jury is still out on one of them.  When I got to my honey hole around noon, I may have tangled with either a large rainbow or a wild brown based on the quality of the short fight that I lost, but otherwise, it just produced a few very nice rainbows in great shape.

He thought he was wild, at least.

I started out with a jigged Frenchie anchor and a caddis pupa as my dropper, and I caught a few fish this way, but with all the midges around, I switched to the rig that worked so well on Tuesday, two midges on droppers with a split shot anchor, a basic drop shot rig.  When fish weren’t actively feeding in the riffles above my favorite hole, I dropped back into the deep water and dredged up at least three fish on this rig and got bounced one other time. 

He's been around a while, though likely not since hatching...

The water was still stained enough that the other fly guy had moved fish on a streamer on his way back to the parking spots, but I resisted the urge on the way back down myself.  It was humid and buggy, though not the right kind, and I had caught some fish, maybe 7 or 8, so I was ready to make a bee line for the Subaru and get some rest at home before high-fiving the boy and my mom and heading for class.  This was not an exceptional afternoon, but it was still a solid outing pretty close to home.

Skinny but colorful one.

Colorful, pale bow to end the afternoon.

June 12, 2018 – The Day After the Day After All the Rain – Wissahickon Creek

Plenty of color but enough bugs and visibility to nymph with great results.

The Wissy in Philly was still running a little high and stained today, but there was at least a foot of visibility and plenty of bugs to make the fish active.  Midges were swarming (if you squint, you may see the trails of midges, caddis, and some olives in the photo above) and I even saw some splashy rises.  I targeted one hole that is deep and full of current, and in three hours of fishing, I landed and even 12 fish, not bad for mid-June in a creek that is characterized as marginal water.  If I had more time, there is more water that holds fish too!

Looking good for mid-June!

I started out catching fish on the same two flies I had rigged from an earlier Valley trip, a walts worm in size 18 and a larger Frenchie anchor, but I ended up drop-shotting two midges, when I saw the number of bugs coming off the water (Plus, I just have thing about throwing expensive tungsten flies at stockies, even on my favorite place to catch stockies).  I quit when I felt like I may have batted around, landing a brown—let’s call him No Pecs because he had no pectoral fins—that looked very familiar to one I landed early on in the morning.

No pecs...

I caught an even number of rainbows and browns, and surprisingly no bass or other panfish, who were likely smart enough to not hang in the current for their meals, as the eddies were probably full of spent midges too.   I don’t see this often on the Wissy, but a few fish were spitting up bugs and husks of aquatic worms and caddis larva.  I even saw a couple splashy rises, likely fish coming up for emerging caddis of which there were a few.  I know next year could be completely different, and I do recall that this year started out warm and mucky, but the creek seems to be doing very well over the last two years.  

White tips on the fins and great colors on this bow..

Unless we get a real warm up again, I should have a couple more weeks of fishing close to home, and I do appreciate a break from Valley in the early summer.  I took possession this week of the 7 weight line I had to replace, so when the river calms down again, a few smallmouth bass will help too.  I didn’t bring the fly rod to Canada this year because I destroyed the last 7 weight line on the beach last winter and had forgotten about replacing it until the day before we were leaving…

Fish are in the riffles and runs, but water temperature was 64 degrees at 11 AM even in the shallows here.

I have some grading to do on Tuesday night, and I still have to teach on Wednesday evening, but I am thinking about a trip to a favorite Berks County creek for a few hours between bus stop duties.  Tami gets home from seeing her mom on Thursday afternoon, so things will get back to normal for a little while at least.  I am thankful that the Wissy still provides a beautiful and productive outing fifteen minutes from home.

Day of midges....

June 7, 2018 – Another Solid Day Rather Close to Home – Northampton County Limestoner.

Checked a lot of boxes today, including wild brown.

I took an under an hour ride to a favorite Lehigh Valley creek today in hopes of catching the tail end of the stained water and maybe some bigger fish.  The creek was in great shape, no longer high and with a limestone tinge like normal, perhaps a little more flow than an average June.  The water was cold, as it should be, and there were plenty of bugs active, but only a couple splashy rises.  Size 16 and 18 caddis were mixed in with a few large stones and even some big mayflies.  I caught almost all my fish, and I would guess I landed 10, hooked 3 or 4 more that came off, in the riffles.  Fish seemed to be suspended in the water column looking for emergers because when they wanted it, they wanted it, and a couple fish I lost were ones that grabbed the nymph on the swing as I was lifting to re-cast at 1 or 2 PM on the Czech clock.  When I actually swung a couple flies, I managed a little brown and a little brookie, so I just stuck with my money maker, a heavier anchor and a caddis pupa or larva dropper up higher.

Late spring/early summer in Northampton County with the babes.

It was a day of babes.  I tried to take more pics, but without more zoom, the photos don’t do justice to the sights and sounds of late spring.  I saw the requisite goslings and mallard ducklings, but I also photographed a formation of fish-eating merganser youngsters herded past me by mom.  The highlight on this front was watching two does drinking creekside while a new fawn frolicked in the water among them, curious about not only me but the goslings swimming nearby, that nervous and excited prancing of a young buck that hasn’t learned the ropes yet.  Granted, traffic aside, his or her life may be quite cush in suburban Allentown/Easton/Bethlehem.  

Merganser youth in formation.

As I made my way up the road that parallels the creek at about 10:30 AM, I could see a lot of angling activity, but I was happy to see no one in one of my favorite spots, one that often gets overlooked as private or posted.  After suiting up, I walked past a few runs that actually produced fish for me later in the day in an effort to get to the prime spot before the morning got too late or the sun came out in earnest.  Besides all the baby waterfowl and the deer, I had the place to myself for roughly 4 hours of good fishing.  This section is adjacent to stocked waters above and below, so one never knows what it will produce.  Besides maybe a wild rainbow, I think I covered most of the possibilities today, catching brook trout, wild and stocked browns, stocked rainbows and pristine hold-over bows too.  I did not re-tangle with a couple brutes that I hooked and/or hooked and landed earlier this year and late last year, but I did land one bow that was pushing 17 inches.  

Best bow of the morning, maybe 17 inches.

In anticipation of putting more time this June into bigger water like the Lehigh River and the lower Brodhead, I had rigged up my 10 foot 5 weight rod today, just so it felt comfortable in my hands.  I am glad I had it for a few of these fish, however, as a couple of the bows were fat and tough from spending so much time feeding on big bugs in heavy water.  

A little guy on the swing, but good to see a few year classes in here.

The best fish I caught took a golden stone in like size 8, although the wild browns took caddis imitations in the same fast runs and riffles.  As I alluded above, I was fishing as light as possible in heavy water, and I didn’t have to dredge bottom to get hits.  If a big bug like a golden stone or a size 12 jigged hare’s ear showed up in the right spot, the fish took it without hesitation and then went skyward a few times in anger or desperation or embarrassment.  I had to fish an indicator to completely cover the most productive hole, which is chest deep on the soft side and probably 3 feet of heavy water on the far side of the creek.  I landed a couple good fish close to the opposite bank this way with a huge reach mend and another mid-drift for good measure, but I also had a couple fish pop off because they took it on the swing when I was out of contact with the path of the nymphs hanging below the suspension device.  It happens, especially when switching between modes of nymphing.  

Nice looking brookie or two, also.

A small brown and a pretty brookie took the dropper on the swing, but a couple nice bows and at least one better wild brown grabbed the anchor right in the heavy current on a long line, which is a lot of fun.  Even after quite a battle, I found myself telling the fish to calm the heck down so I could show you pictures and let them go.  I gave up on one decent brownie, but the one that opens this post was about the same size.  I know the local TU puts the brookies in at other spots, and I don’t know how much brook trout move around, but with all the rain this year, anything is possible.  Without dams, there could have been shad in the creek!   With a couple resting periods to try a different combination of flies, take a drink, or answer a few emails, and don’t forget the failed photos of wildlife, I fished the prime hole until I landed probably 8 fish before the bite died down.  I decided to fish a couple spots I skipped on the walk up the creek, so I tied on a streamer to swing on the way, but I had nary a follow now that sun was high in the afternoon sky.  Convinced that a couple of these holes had to hold fish, I resigned to re-rig to Czech nymph, and it was worth the effort, as I put more numbers on the board tangling with some chunky fish, including a fat likely stocked brown, in some sporty water.

Fat, 14 inch stockie or wild with bad tailfin or one of those new stockies with eye spot and better markings??

I had to leave them biting because it was approaching 2:30 PM, maybe later, and I wanted to be on the road before rush hour in order to be home for the boy’s bus.  Mom is away this week seeing her very sick mother, so he has spent a lot of time with my mom or watching television while I catch up on grading or household upkeep.  I made it home on time and had a celebratory pizza dinner on the town since his 5^th grade closing ceremony is in the morning.  A little Avengers: Infinity War on Friday after his early dismissal?  Weather permitting, I am itching to take a ride to the shore this weekend, so maybe I will get the boy on a couple fluke too.  If not, Monday is my next opportunity to fish, so I am glad today was a good one!

Ended with a few solid bows in riffles before heading for home

June 6, 2018 – A Few Good Hours Close to Home – Valley Creek

Sure are pretty, even in dirty water.

After teaching in the city last night, I got soaked walking to my car.  I guess I don’t trust the weather forecasts anymore, or I would have at least carried an umbrella, right?  Having been away from local fishing for a week, I wasn’t really dialed into the conditions, but I saw that Valley had a spike earlier in the week, and I figured it would spike again after these gully-washers, so I checked the gages in the morning.  I liked what I saw, stained but nearly back to normal flows after the evening's rains, almost identical conditions to the last time I fished the creek and had a good day nymphing.  I figured, what the heck…

Chasing caddis in the riffles for the most part.

As the gages indicated, the creek was still turbid, but there was at least a foot or more of visibility, so I decided to stick with the nymphing plan and not fish a streamer.  In fact, I resisted the urge early and by the time I thought about it again, the creek was clearing up and the sun was peeking out after a cloudy and cool morning.  Fishing the riffles and runs with two nymphs, usually a caddis of some kind or a walts worm as the anchor and then a pheasant tail variation with a pop of color on the tag up higher, I caught a bunch of fish in about 3 hours of fishing.  The largest was one of the first fish landed, maybe 12 inches and strong.  The average was the Valley average of 6 to 8 inches.  No real tiny fish today, so I didn’t catch 20 like last visit to the creek, but I landed at least 8 fish and hooked a handful more in addition to those.

A mayfly jig worked too, though...

While Czech nymphing, small fish do tend to come off because the first hook set pulls the little guys nearly out of the water, so I lost the smallest fish but kept the decent ones on long enough to net and sometimes photograph.  Even in the cloudy water, the fish are still beauties in this creek!  I only had a small window, as I teach on Wednesday night too, but I was glad I spent some later hours grading on Tuesday to allow this quick, successful outing.  I have more time on Thursday, so I may head a little further from home, perhaps the Lehigh Valley, provided it doesn’t pour again tonight, I suppose.

A few Valley-respectable fish in the mix of average ones like below.