October 5, 2018 – Good Fishing Continues in NEPA – Northampton County

Best brown today.  Egg-laden or ate a duck?

I did not land any hogs today, but I believed I might at any moment and fished each drift as if the possibility were real because the conditions were great and the fish were eating this morning.  The best wild brown of the day was probably 13 inches and pre-spawn plump, and another was probably a good 12 inches, but I also landed a couple fat rainbows too, one that was probably pushing 14 inches.  Today was more of a numbers day, which does not always happen on this particular creek.  This is one of those places where you would swear there are no fish some days, or only hold-over rainbows some days, but the wild fish are there when they want to be seen.  I have had some awesome days here, but awesome usually means a handful of fish with a couple very big ones in the mix, including a 19 this year and a 24 incher I lost and, if you read this blog with any frequency, you may be tired of hearing about.  Today, was the rare day where the wild browns, mostly 9 to 10 inchers, were out in force, so I enjoyed the rare numbers day here, landing over a dozen fish on a beautiful fall half-day excursion.  The majority were scrappy jumpers too!

Moving but rather green and clean.

The flows have been higher than normal all week, but with the last two outings in the NEPA region I have found stained but rather clean water at two different creeks.  Basically, there was enough stain to make the fish feel safe and to cover my approach, but there was enough clarity that I did not think streamer but instead tightline nymphing.  The creek was a deep early season limestone green.  Just gorgeous, you know?  Nothing fancy was needed, and big bugs did as well as small bugs, with just as many fish taking the point fly, a big jigged pheasant tail or a hares ear, as they did the caddis larva on the dropper.  There were tiny fall caddis in the air and in the bushes.  About five fish in a row in one short run took a grub-like caddis pupa, almost the squirmy wormy of caddis flies…  I had to add one big removable split shot in a few holes, but I tried to keep a clean rig with just two tungsten nymphs most of the time.  I had to grab a stick from the bank more than once to use as a wading staff, but the going was not as treacherous as I thought it might be, perhaps because the visibility made it easier to pick places to cross when necessary, and I did not have to cover more than 500 or 600 yards of water to find four hours of solid fishing.  Plus, I was smart enough to be wearing my boots with the Brodhead/Lehigh spikes!

Day of numbers.  Mostly smaller fish on bigger flies.

I got a pretty early start, leaving the house by 7:30 AM for the one hour drive, but I was not the first one to arrive.  A young guy was suited up and walking in at the spot I had in mind, but I just drove a few hundred yards down the road and worked another area that ended up being loaded with small browns and one good rainbow.  During the last hour of the trip, I did sneak up into the other spot, looking for the one, maybe.  Knowing someone else had fished the area before me, I normally would not have been so confident, but the fish were eating today, and the last hour in this hole did not disappoint.  I hope dude caught a few because I must have landed 6 or 7 more fish here, including the best brown of the day and a rainbow that looked wild, all flared out fins and good colors (no infamous “white whale” sighting, however).

I see you pretty rainbow!

I teach on Thursday nights, so I don’t get to bed very early, and if I over-caffeinate to make it through a long day, I sometimes have iffy sleep patterns.  As a result, I was a little tired by noon today.  Finishing my water and pausing to eat a beef stick helped out for the last hour, but I was starting to make mistakes after a great, efficient morning, so I decided to quit shortly after 1 PM without taking a ride to another spot.  I drove by a couple, of course!  I just didn’t stop.  I may have been in the same state of mind as Wednesday when I left them biting.  Getting out three times this week, and a couple the previous week, must have been good for my psyche or something.  I felt lucky and grateful instead of feeling like I would be missing out on something.

A grubby caddis larva and the reliable jigged pt were equally productive.

I have to get my car worked on this upcoming Monday, a month-long electrical/module/pricey saga with a still unknown conclusion, so I don’t know if Monday is the next day I will get out.  I would not think twice of wearing waders in the loaner car though!  I will more likely use this loaner to restock on tippet and some flies to get me through until I catch up with Sam.  Let’s hope the rest of October continues to be half as good as the first five days.  I am praying for a few dry days in a row, so that State College makes sense the week of October 22 also.  Not too dry, though, as all the rain this year has been a blessing and a curse.  This week, it has made for some very good fishing.

A few decent ones in the mix.