October 29, 2018 – Went Out Looking for a Good One – Saucon Creek

A good one, but not on the streamer...

As the title says, I did go out this morning looking for a good fish or two with the streamer rod, but the good one I did finally land was not on the streamer, so I can hardly say things went exactly as planned.  I arrived at the creek around 9:45 AM, and the ground was still damp from recent rain showers.  The creek was up a little but mostly clear, except for in the deeper holes, so I would call it slightly stained at best.  Surprisingly, I did not spy any redds or fish acting funny in any of the spots where I usually see them about this time of year.  I know it will happen soon here, but the good fish I did catch was not an aggressive buck gearing up for the spawn but, instead, a fish deep in a feeding lane likely picking off emergers from the brief and light blue winged olive hatch that I was lucky enough to step into on this unsettled, cloudy, and windy day.

What are you doing down here?

Early into the trip, I had one decent wild brown jump off the streamer after a short battle, and I moved one that was nearly the size of the one I nymphed up later.  This fish was under a new down tree, smack dab in the middle of a favorite run, but I did coax him out to eat.  He bumped it once but did not feel the hook, I guess, because he kept charging until he cleared the rake of tree limbs and saw me.  He then did a quick about face, of course.  Shortly thereafter, I stuck the hook into a good bump and was disappointed to land a 12 inch rainbow that had been washed down from the stocked sections upstream, no doubt.  He fought well, and was in good shape, but he was not what I was hoping for after catching sight of such a big brown just moments earlier.

Arty, yeah?  Took a lot of pictures of this fish, but none were true keepers...

After seeing the aforementioned olives getting active, I could not stop myself from clipping off the streamer and digging in my bag for a nymphing leader.  Even though I was holding my 9 foot 5 wt, one that is more like a 6 wt—thus employed mostly as a streamer rod—I went for it nevertheless and tied a size 18 pheasant tail on the dropper and a heavier jigged pt on the point just to get down quickly in some pocket water and deeper, braided holes.  The big wild brown that I landed a few minutes later took the size 14 jigged pt, not the smaller imitation, and then proceeded to jump at least three times in rapid succession, at times nearly three feet out of the water.  This fish was a hot one, for sure.  Thanks to the deeper, larger net I scavenged from the Brodhead earlier in the month, I had no problem keeping this beautiful fish in the net once he was done putting on a show.  A quick hand measure had him just shy of 18 inches, and he was a healthy one.

Moving some water still but rather clear.

I was ready to go home content after that, but I had to turn back and try a couple holes I only swung a streamer through earlier in the morning, especially now that fish seemed to be eating.  There were no further sightings of the first big fish I saw this morning, but I did land one more acrobatic wild brown of about 10 inches in another nearby hole.  I am not sure he was worth all the backtracking and additional wading, but he did give me a good note on which to end the afternoon.   I went out looking for a good one, saw two, and landed one of them, though not the way I thought I would.  I am thankful I tie up some extra leaders once in a while and wrap them on old tippet spools, however.  Having one handy and ready to go quickly this afternoon was just good planning, even if it didn’t exactly fit in with the original plan for the day... 

October 23, 2018 – A Damn Fine Way to Beat the Wind and High Pressure – Fishing Creek and some Centre County Tributaries

Fishing Creek before the next front moved in.

According to Sam, who has been fishing a lot and guiding quite a bit this month when the water conditions allow, Central Pennsylvania creeks have been fishing great ahead of the spawn.  He and some buddies from the shop did well as recently as Monday, so I was excited at the prospect of a Tuesday of some bigger fish.  After a long three hour ride out there in the dark, my morning drive ended with a speeding ticket a block from my destination!  Good times!  I got lucky and was only cited for 5 mph over the limit, but they are certainly stingy with the signs out there.  Folks are so litigious around my area that there are speed signs every ten feet, it seems.  I just did not know, and my confusion must have been convincing to the officer.  The flashing lights right outside his house drew Sam outside to say, “Good morning, officer… and Chris.”  The day got better, however.  Thankfully, besides some wind and high pressure that limited our choices even more than the high(er) water, we were able to put together a good day.  No big, colored up males in the bigger creeks, but we caught some fish and ended on a great run through a tiny limestone-influenced gem, settling for some small stream beauties instead.

Wild rainbow or two in the mix?

We started out at Fishing Creek, and planned to hit Bald Eagle later in the morning when it warmed up.  The first stop produced a few fish for me, mostly small, and Sam landed a nice 16 inch brown and moved a couple more on a streamer.  The highlight of the first stop for me was landing a wild rainbow, maybe two of them, as I caught one smaller than the one pictured above too.  ←PFBC stocks fingerlings here...  At this section, the usual crossing spots or in-stream wading stretches necessary to reach some other good holes ended up being a little off limits due to the heavy water, so we left a couple holes alone for the day and decided to move on to another access point upstream.

I got into a handful of smaller browns early.

After a short ride, we worked another nice stretch of Fishing Creek that I have fished with Sam and his buddy Austen as recently as last winter.  Sam nymphed a bit more here, but he also tried a streamer in a few likely big fish spots, only moving a couple fish.  The flow was also high here, but I did some more aggressive wading now that I was waking up and found a few productive holes that gave up some fish, maybe 5 smaller browns, but only a holdover rainbow was of any size.  Like the first stop on Fishing Creek, the water conditions on this beat made it inconvenient if not impossible to fish a few other holes where we did well last visit, so we took a break around 11:30 AM to eat something and decide on the next stop.  It was clouding up and looking unsettled as we walked out of this spot, but by the time we finished eating, the wind was honking through the gap near Bald Eagle Creek, our intended third stop of the day.

Nice fat hold-over rainbow.  That tail was 7 inches wide!

One good thing about fishing with Sam is that he knows these creeks, and not just the ones he guides.  In fact, he has many spots that he saves only for himself and his buddies, some of them spots that would be overlooked in an area with so many well-known choices.  He tossed out a few options, and we settled on one that was close to his house with another potential spot also nearby if this one did not fish well.  I had also fished here with Sam and one of his friends late last year, but on that day, I was exhausted by the time we visited and, honestly, a little intimidated by the small size and the amount of cover—not just root balls and overhangs, but also midstream rakes of branches and patches of spring creek grasses like watercress and elodea.  I was in much better shape today, and so we had a lot of fun fishing two different spots along this same creek, landing a good number of fish and ending our day here without having to make another longer move.

One of Sam's better small stream browns.

This creek is small, sometimes not even 10 feet wide, but it moves some water and has strong spring creek character even though it takes a steeper descent than the usual spring creek.  At Sam’s suggestion, I suppose, we fell into a good system for two guys to fish close to each other on the same small creek: Sam worked a small streamer under every bit of cover and over every piece of sunken structure, while I switched my nymphing rig out to smaller bugs and plied every plunge and deeper soft seam in each and every riffle and run.

My good fish from the same small tributary.

We caught a mess of fish in the last few hours of the day working this pretty gem of a creek at two different access points, and we even landed a couple pushing 14 inches.  After landing my best wild brown of the day, I remarked to Sam that this fish gave me more of a fight and twice the amount of pleasure as the 16 or 17 inch rainbow I landed in the morning.  He too was having fun catching good small stream fish on the streamer and seeing and moving plenty too.  I stood and watched him take a couple, and he stood and watched me land a few nice ones too.  His best fish took a small version of his Roberdeau streamer in the tailout of one of the only deep, manmade holes in this stretch.   I hustled up to take a picture of this beauty before the quick release.

Sam's best from this creek today.  Ate a small Roberdeau streamer, one of his own very effective ties.

Most of my fish took an orange caddis pupa or an even smaller tag fly, something size 18 and mayfly-ish, that I was using here as my dropper.  Most of the fish were smaller, sure, but I would kill for consistent 10 inchers someplace nearby like Valley.  The fish were also pretty spring creek fish, some darker from hanging in wood and weed, some pale as can be from hovering over sand and lighter stones.  Besides the two better fish we landed, a couple were also 11 or 12 inches long, and  Sam also saw one about 18 move for his streamer.  I only heard the whoop and mild expletive that followed, but I did try to get the fish to come out again and hit a little caddis or mayfly nymph.  No such luck, but I did land a couple more decent fish in the same run and the smaller pockets above. 

Small and tight, even in the more channelized stretches.

I guess after losing a big wild brown last week, I was hopeful that the big fish on the bigger creeks would continue to cooperate today, this time while I had a net man nearby, but I cannot complain about the day I ended up having.  As I said above, anyone in SEPA would kill for a creek in his or her backyard like the one we ended on today.  Then again, if it was in SEPA and not hidden among a dozen better known creeks with higher profile names in one of PA’s trout meccas, then it would not be what it is for long.  I can see when we are here that Sam loves this little gem, and I am glad I got even a taste of how great it can be on the right day.  In today’s conditions, it was certainly the right creek at the right time. 

Pretty female with parr marks still, even at 8 inches long.

The blooper reel?

I left my order for some of Sam’s big golden stoneflies and sexy walt’s worms and bottom rolling caddis, so I will be ready to chase big fish again next week after the next rounds of rains this weekend.  For today, I was content to do some more small stream fishing, technically challenging and therefore rewarding, with good, knowledgeable company.  I am already checking the calendar for my next available break, provided I can afford the long ride after paying my frigging speeding ticket…

Broke in the new, deeper net, bit overkill for these gorgeous small stream guys.

October 19, 2018 – Like We Needed Two Cold Fronts in One Week – Oley Valley

They didn't want to come out and play even when I managed to drag them out.

It was tough going again today.  Although I did manage to catch four fish, I had to work for them, as the creek was a wreck from floods, with new channels and sand and silt deposited in spots that used to be deep holes.  The deep holes themselves seemed devoid of life.  It was also cold and windy and sunny, so the fish were not active, even though some fall caddis were trying to wake things up.  With the high pressure and altered state of the creek, the fish I did catch were all very tight to cover.  The only wild brown of the day was basically under the wood pile you see above, and he was so dark from spending time under there up against that wet, dark wood that I almost thought I had a brook trout for a second as I watched him fan out across a sandy flat before taking a half-hearted leap.  He was a better fish for this creek, however, maybe 12 inches, even if he seemed surprised to see me and yet ill prepared for battle.

It took a lot of effort and many risky casts to catch 4 fish, including this guy.

I spent a good 3.5 hours on the water, and I covered a lot of ground to find what I did find to cooperate.  I even tried midges for 40 minutes or more with only creek chubs to show for it, and like the trout I landed, they too barely hit my flies.  I doubt I would have caught a thing with an indicator as they were so skittish and the hits so subtle.  It was just one of those tough days.

A twelve inch rainbow or two, as well.

I refused to believe a couple reliable spots held no fish, as I have caught many good ones in them, albeit before the last rounds of heavy rain a couple weeks ago, so I tried different flies and sizes, but it was quite obvious that a size 16 or 18 caddis would have worked if the fish had any interest in feeding because there were many adults fies in the bushes and trees.  Instead, because the fish were tight to cover and on the bottom, my point fly, a jigged pheasant tail in size 16 took all four trout.  The rainbows looked healthy with great fins, and the brown looked like many of the more drab residents here, though a little darker than normal.  None of them gave a great account of themselves, which only fuels my theory that the pressure from the cold front had them off.  The highlight, really, is that I got out today for the eighth time this month, and it was a lovely fall day!  After the summer I had, I will take it.

Lovely fall day in a pretty spot, altered by the floods earlier in the month.

October 17, 2018 – I Grow Tired of Big Fish Stories – Northampton County Limestoner

A handful of very pretty rainbows this morning in the 12-13 inch range.

I never really saw this one, and the fight lasted all of 10 seconds, so I will spare you much of the details of another lost pig story today.  The short story is that the going was tougher today, a bluebird, cold front sort of day with leaves falling and the water still a bit on the high side.  I was out looking for a good one (or two) in a tough area to access and fish, especially in high water, and when my moment came, all I could do was watch this horse take off downstream with a full head of steam until *ping* I felt the hook come loose when I tried to slow it down.  The section is already snaggy with rip rap and old industrial rubble and even a couple tires, some newly deposited wood from all the rain, so I had gotten used to pulling snags out for a few minutes leading up to setting the hook on this fish. I truly thought it was another snag or a big sucker (though suckers aren’t usually holding in water this fast and the one I landed today was in a soft deep spot) until it shook its head twice and then took off.  It looked like a brown, but I only saw it for a second as it turned, so it could just as well be a big bow, as I have landed fat 18 inch rainbows in this stretch.  Perhaps one has continued to grow?  Can someone have two white whales?  I am going to land one of these things soon, I know, and I should be grateful that I am hooking them, as I know these fish are not easy to fool and don’t exactly bounce your rig when they open their mouths to take a fly, but I am a little tired of fish stories without the fish pics!  First world problems?

Uber Sucker!

Before the drama, I landed 4 nice holdover rainbows, followed by a solid and beautiful 14 or 15 inch wild brown too.  That would have been enough, especially the pretty brown who fought well and was holding in a very challenging spot where I always imagine the 20 incher on this stretch lives at least part of the year.  It is just too perfect not to hold numerous fish, and yet it usually holds nothing or only one fish good enough not to be too intimidated by Walter or Bertha.  Perhaps the one I lost today does live in this spot at times, as I have read that big browns may have several spots in a given stretch of creek that they rotate through in search of prey.  I will continue to approach this spot as if it does potentially hold the one (or a one?)…

Two shots of my consolation prize.

Fishing pocket water and deeper runs, a jigged pheasant tail took 3 of the fish, but two of them took a caddis larva too.  I saw one big mayfly, perhaps a late isonychia/slate drake, but fall caddis were still in the trees, so I am not surprised the caddis is still working well.  The stonefly was left alone today, and I am not quite ready to go to the midge just yet, so I am glad that well presented bigger bugs are still working.  I started fishing around 9:15 AM, and by 12:30 PM my long night of over-caffeinated teaching and grading was catching up to me.  Diminishing returns: When I hang one too many missed hooksets in trees or stumble one too many times in cold, fast-moving water, then I usually heed the call to quit.  The problem on this stretch is there is no way out besides to backtrack (which is always challenging enough the first time) or keep on keeping on until the next available place to climb out, at the end of the line, so I finished out the stretch placing a few casts in likely spots, secretly hoping to no avail to undo the earlier miss.  When I see the photos of the fish I did land today, I feel better, and it was a good crisp day to be outdoors, but dammit I do wish I had more than another big fish story to share with you today.  

Green and still moving a bit this week.

October 16, 2018 – More Autumn Small Creek Sneaking – Valley Creek

A decent sized one, getting all colored up for the fall.

I took a short drive this morning to the upper reaches of Valley Creek, just to get out for a couple hours on a crisp, autumn day before I have to work this evening.  It was breezy and cool, with plenty of leaves in the water following yesterday’ showers, but it was pretty low and clear, too, normal for this time of year, especially nearer the headwaters.  With some muddy run-off still coming in, there was a slight stain, however, so I was able to creep around and toss a couple small nymphs on a short line.  The mostly small fish cooperated, so I had no shortage of action.  It was good to see so many young of the year from last winter/spring, but I saw no spawning fish yet in the likely spots.

Guess where the fish like to hide?

The muddy banks revealed human and deer visitors in recent days, but I only hopscotched around one other fly fisherman, and even he was as surprised to see me as I him.  I only passed him once at a prime spot when I took a longer walk to give us space.  I got a couple from the hole he was fishing on my way back, so that is always a bonus.  The fish were in the riffles or very tight to cover in flatter water.  Deadfalls are always good on spring creeks, almost any creeks, and Valley is no exception.  They do require some kneeling, and ducking, and a lot of bow and arrow casts, however.

Pretty male was right in the wood...

I landed at least a dozen fish, but 5 of those were 4 inches or under.  A couple were pushing 7 inches, and a couple were over 8 inches, but no bonus piggies in these conditions, even sending flies deep into the woods.  The hot fly was the same fly I had on from late last week, a jigged euro-nymph that looks part scud and part caddis.  I also got a few on a size 18 electric caddis (just a bright green larva, really, nothing too lavish). 

Perhaps the winner for looks today?

The fish are beautiful here even without the imminent spawning season, but a few were exceptionally gorgeous today.  I took a few photos of the fish, the creek, and the surrounding environs as I worked my way back upstream.  When I stopped catching fish, I figured I had reached the places where the other guy had had some success, so I put the flies on the hook keeper and walked back to my parking spot, spooking some deer along the way.  After doing a drive-by of another spot that I often visit in the winter and early spring and seeing a couple cars in the pull-offs, I headed for home to rest up for class and get a real meal.  I am hoping for a trip that is a little longer, with fish a little bigger, tomorrow, but this was an enjoyable couple of hours close to home.

Sure are cute, though.

October 12, 2018 – Treading Lightly on the First Day that Felt Like Fall this Year – Berks County

One in every pocket it seemed!

One cannot call what I did today blue-lining, as that implies exploration, and I have been to this little creek many times, but I did sneak around a little wild trout stream in Berks County where I found some access while blue-lining with the spinning rod probably 6 or 7 years ago.  The creek is tiny and has some spring influence, and I have had some great days here, including today, but I usually treat it gently and only visit once or twice a year.  I don’t need more landowners posting, and I don’t feel the need to disturb this honey hole too often.  Today was the first time here this year, I believe, and it did not disappoint, which only reinforces my position to leave it be for another year, or at least until February or March after the spawn is over!

The colors, yo, the colors!

Today was the day I should have had on Wednesday, when I thought I would take it easy but instead spent 5 or 6 hardboiled hours on the Brodhead.  The weather was cool, the wading was easy, the ride was under an hour, the fish were beautiful and plentiful, I was relaxed, and I was home before 2:15 PM without breaking a sweat or wearing myself out.  At least one hen was full of eggs, and the males were getting colored up, but I did not see any redds yet.  I have no doubt that it will be happening very soon, though.

Fat with future fry.

After the rain last night, which was not a huge amount despite some really heavy but brief downpours, maybe a half an inch, the creek was stained in the holes, but once again, I was fortunate enough to find perfect nymphing water in the riffles, runs, and pocket water.  This is odd fall weather.  Tropical storms are not rare, I know, but the water level is already high, so the rain events create less extreme fluctuations than they normally would.  It often feels like I am fishing in the early spring.  Using small bugs and a size #6 shot a couple times in deeper water, I was able to catch close to 20 browns, I am willing to bet, some of them quite nice for a stream only 15 feet wide.  The hot fly was my point fly, a jig that is part caddis and part scud, I suppose, just a simple Czech nymphing creation.  I also got a few on the size 18 pt I had as a dropper, and at least a couple on a hare’s ear before I switched to the little euro-treat. 

Showing signs of being stocked?

But then others have similar fins or markings.

With stained water and tight quarters, I was able to stalk around with a light 9 footer, and besides a few casts under bushes and trees, I was just lobbing a short line into the likely holding spots in such conditions—soft pockets and seams just out of the current.  Too soft, and the chubs were on it, not surprisingly.  I did dredge a couple decent ones out of stronger current too, though very deep, hunkered to the bottom out of the current.  I caught one in the first hole I fished that looked almost stocked, although the fish was beautiful, and other wild fish also have some of the same markings here, like the white edges of fins, for example.  With all this rain, it is possible he was washed out of somewhere, or someone placed him there, or I was just mistaken and the fish was wild.  It felt like each fish was trying to one-up the next in terms of beauty, so I did take a lot of fish pics, even though I handled them quickly and with care.  Many photos were throw-aways because I was rushing, but with 20 or more fish, there were some good ones too.  The largest fish came from the best, deep run where I have caught good fish on a streamer before and even found them one year by tossing a barbless Rapala CD 3 with the front hooks removed.  Today, I snuck up the soft side and pulled about 5 decent fish out of this run, including the best of the day, possibly, at least the widest, as a handful of other fish today were all close to 11 inches or more.

More colors to the palette.

The parr marks and deeper hues, especially with the fall sunlight and changing leaf colors kept me taking photos until the end of the short day.  After about 3 hours, I reached the end of the line, the last hole before more posted signs, so I climbed out and walked the road back instead of doing any more traveling through the creek bed.  Happy and grateful that this little gem is still accessible after some 7 years of sneaking in, I even picked up a load of trash along the road as I walked back.  No one saw me do this, but I know I kept some debris from ending up in this pretty little creek, and maybe a landowner will notice, and those two things are really what it was all about.  Man, I should be grateful and continue paying it forward and treading lightly because I have had a great October thus far!

Another likely laden with eggs.

Until next year?