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?