October 3, 2018 – Slowly Solidifying Itself as My Second Favorite Creek East of the Mighty Susquehanna – Northampton County Limestoner

Needed an extra hand or two for a hero shot, but this will do.

I was fortunate enough to nail the timing again after another round of storms last night and enjoy near-perfect small stream conditions today.  On my way up the scenic route along the Big D this morning, I was detoured twice for fallen trees, so I think the rain storms last night were more significant about an hour north of me than around my house.  Walking a favorite creek in Northampton County that has given me some very memorable days over the years, I had a great short day of fishing, logging just under 4 hours of productive nymphing, capped off by landing the small stream pig pictured above.  This thing was a beast.  I miffed on a few early photos, so I felt like I was keeping the fish out of the water too long to tape for an official measure.  However, I eventually did the old hand measure (pinky to thumb = 8”, plus pinky to thumb = 8”, and then some more!) and this was a heavy, fat fish between 18.5 and 19 inches.  I also landed a couple other solid fish and logged roughly 15 trout, a dozen of them wild browns.  I even caught a brook trout (and another fallfish or two).

A good start on the golden stone.

I had two particular runs/holes of the creek in mind when I arrived, but a truck parked in my intended spot had me guessing whether this angler was heading the same way, so I drove further upstream to another good stretch and never needed to regret the decision.  I considered heading back there when I had finished at the Plan B stretch, but I just decided to go home and not be greedy!  I must be getting older or wiser or something because I could have fished another 45 minutes or so at this original spot and still made it home for the boy and bus stop, but I was content with the day I had, which was a nice feeling.  Throughout the creek, the water was high but the visibility was good, so I started out fishing a golden stone with a pheasant tail as the dropper.  Within the first 30 minutes of fishing, I landed a couple rainbows in beautiful shape and a solid brown that was about 15 inches long, both on the stonefly nymph.  It was clear that I was probably still on the light side of what was needed to get down, so instead of adding split shot, I eventually snipped off the first combination of flies and went with a big soft hackle jigged pheasant tail on the point and a tungsten caddis larva on a dropper tag.  Again, no regrets, as I put on a show for a good 400 yards of creek after that, landing a mess of smaller wild browns from 8 to 11 inches, most of which ate the caddis.

Good flows and visibility for nymphing.

Many of the fish, including a bonus brook trout, were hanging on the soft edges on both sides of the creek.  I had the big spikes torqued into the wading boots today, so I worked the easy edge near me first, but then I did venture out into the current to work the far side too with success (and some misses).  Some of my favorite pockets in this stretch were just too swift today to be productive, but the fish were still near them even if they weren’t in them.  As is often the case, there is a sweet spot for brown trout in the current.  A fallfish or two reminded me when I was fishing current was that was a tad too slow for this time of year, but for the most part it was the small, feisty browns that were showing me a good time, provided I made the right casts. 

Where'd you come from, fella?

Caddis larva was eaten quite a lot.

At a deeper hole, more like a deep pocket on the edge of a deep run, one that is often snaggy but also full of fish, I risked my rig a few times and was rewarded with another beautiful brown that was probably 15 inches and wide.  The fish may be full of eggs or gorging pre-spawn, or both, but the bigger ones were more bulldog than dancing poodle today.  All three of the larger browns just dug for bottom, trying to dislodge my hooks, no doubt.  I may have gotten a couple short runs out of them, but the fights were mostly a tug of war on a short line.  I guess that was a good thing, as the battles were short, and the fish went back in great shape.  It is about that time when a lot of a caution wading and a bit of observation for redds and spawning behavior is probably the wise thing to do, especially on small creeks like this where the wild fish population fluctuates with the conditions each year and can easily dip if not given care.  A bit early, and I saw no such behavior today, but the bigger fish I caught at Valley last week already had eggs in her, and the fish today were certainly getting all colored up, which is a signal of things to come.

Two mediocre shots of the same fish, another solid wild brown.

After now landing two good fish and a mess of others, I did not need to land the next fish I hooked on the big jigged pheasant tail, but I did, and I enjoyed it.  Like the shorter but equally portly cousins, this last fish was in one of the prime spots, nearly at the point of the vee if you picture a current seam and soft water coming to a junction at the head of a riffle.  I set the hook and knew this one was bigger than the last two, but I also wondered if I had stuck myself a big sucker or other species.  Once the fish realized I was going to need to pull him out of that hole, he then started to do more than dig in.  When he ran downstream of me the first time, I saw the colors and the size, and I got excited, of course, but I resisted the urge to do much more than he was doing.  It was a short tug of war on a short line that ended with a great small stream wild brown in the net.  I snapped a couple pictures while he was still in the net, in case that was all I got, and then I tried to photograph a release, but those did not turn out so well.  I didn’t want to handle this little piggy too long, so I am glad I got a hand measure and two decent shots before I let him go, still green and determined to get back to deep water.

Same fish that opens the post, just in case the photos out of the net ended badly (most did).

As I said above, against character, maybe, I decided to fish out this hole but not get in the car and go anywhere else, just grateful for an excellent outing.  I may have caught one more smaller brown, and another fallfish is definitely what prompted me to put the flies on the hook-keeper and walk back to the Subaru.  Of course, I texted pictures to a few fishing buddies as I ate my Cliff Bar and dug out another water.  Kev, who is also a fan of this creek, was gently urging me to go to the first spot I intended to fish this morning, but I resisted and took the scenic ride, still detoured, home again.  On this creek there will be more good days and certainly more rainy ones this fall and winter!

Had to give bows this pretty some love too.