October 1, 2018 – Exploring a New Creek with Some Wild Fish Present – Hay Creek

A nice looking creek even in high, stained water.

I have fished a lot of the creeks within an hour of my home in SEPA, but I had never fished Hay Creek until today.  It has been on my list for years because it is under an hour from home, not far from a few other creeks I do fish a couple times per year, and while stocked also has a good-to-decent wild population of brown trout that by all reports is a product of rather unique circumstances.  The water quality of the creek is categorized as exceptional; meaning it is clean and also supports plenty of bug life, even though I believe it is mostly a freestoner with a pretty decent gradient.  The fact that it flows through an isolated wooded area for a good portion of its length, rare enough in SEPA, and has that steeper descent already mentioned—those factors seem to keep it cool and healthy and able to support Class A in its headwaters and varying populations of wild fish throughout.  Having never fished the creek before, I feel lucky to confirm (at least 5 times, maybe one other that I dropped) that wild brown trout, beautiful ones, do swim and eat and mate here. 

Small, pretty wild browns today like this 8 incher.

When I arrived around 10 or 10:30 AM, it was already getting warm and sunny.  The surroundings were not all that breathtakingly beautiful until I got a good half mile into my upstream walk.  I also slept terribly last night.  Expectations were low, in other words.  I was hoping just to see the creek and maybe land the odd hold-over rainbow from the last spring stocking.  The water was still stained and moving; I could see just how high it had been recently.  I was encouraged by the visibility, however, so I nymphed to start and stuck with it all day.  I also moved quickly, not staying in one place too long, determined to catch fish, sure, but also to see a good stretch of the creek. 

Not all that encouraging to start!

Though suburban to start, it was fun water to fish: shallow riffles and flats at times, but just as often deeper bends and even deeper and swifter narrows.  It was perfect nymphing water, at least today, probably dry dropper in lower water.  I am sure the stocked rainbows hang right in some of those deeper runs, but the small wild browns I caught today, and at least a dozen fallfish, some of them 12 inches long (!) were hanging in the slower seams and pockets.  I could get close enough with a 9 footer, the same I often use on Valley or Monocacy to nymph in much the same way.

The Fallfish King, over 12 inches long.

My first fish of the morning, perhaps my first three or four, were chubs and fallfish, which can be an indication that the creek warms too much in the summer.  I do believe fallfish are not as bad a sign for a creek as creek chubs, however!  The fallfish took the nymphs with purpose and fought like trout.  I remember catching these acrobats on topwater in the Delaware River as a kid, and more recently I had them taking a Rapala CD3 in another Berks County wild trout stream.  Still, I wanted to see trout, even if it was a rainbow, so I kept pushing upstream.  I was throwing small bugs, a pair of size 16 to 18 tungsten beadheads and jigs.  The size 18 walt’s worm took many fish, but so did a jigged pheasant tail and a soft hackle hares ear.  Anything small and presented well, and near the bottom, was given a nudge if not eaten.  I am getting my touch back slowly, as I only missed one or two fish that I at least turned with my hookset even if I didn’t seal the deal.  I lost one fish after a couple jumps, but that happens sometimes with small barbless hooks anyway.

Small pretty bugs and fish.

Most spots that looked fishy held at least a fallfish or two, plus a trout, and some spots that looked very trouty only produced fallfish or overeager dace (I think my hookset is coming back,did I mention that above?).  One particularly deep hole, one of the deepest I encountered, in fact, was pretty stained, and so I didn’t spend much time with it on the way upstream.  However, on the way back down I added some more weight and dredged up two of biggest fish of the day, a holdover rainbow and the alpha fallfish pictured above.  The stroll back downstream was hot but enjoyable.  There were a few dog walkers and hikers out on a warm day and a bit of activity from a nearby quarry and railroad line that got noisy at times, but there were also times when I felt like I was alone on a little mountain freestone stream. I will surely venture even farther upstream the next time I visit, perhaps even start farther upstream.

One healthy rainbow about 11 inches survived the PowerBait, the frying pans, and the summer heat.

I was starting to run out of water to drink and I didn’t think Hay’s fine water quality meant consumable for humans, dig, so I turned back around 1 PM.  Besides the one stop at the deep hole that I fished impatiently the first time, a productive stop, I suppose, I just walked back and observed some of the water I had fished on the way up, now that the sun was higher and the stain was continuing to dissipate.  I saw one riser to the midges that were coming off in places, but I did not stop and re-tie, as I wanted to be on the road by 2 PM and beat any 422 traffic.   I had no issues on the ride home, and I was happy with my first visit to Hay Creek.  It is worth exploring again, maybe next spring a few weeks after the last stocking if the weather is right.