January 2, 2019 – Had to Break in the New License and Voluntary Wild Trout Permit – Valley Creek

A pretty good start to 2019.

There are a few voluntary choices for fisherman in PA this year beyond the required license, trout stamp, and Erie stamp, including permits for musky, bass, wild trout, and even general habitat/waterways conservation.  The wild trout permit is an extra $26.90 beyond the usual license and the trout stamp fees, but since I fish for wild fish a great deal, I figured I must do my duty.  I gather that the PFBC will monitor these sales closely to see how many of us take them up on this offer in order to help meet funding gaps (and we will likely want a report on the returns).  License sales are down, and no one in the State wants to own a raise in license fees, even though it is time.  To cover the losses, hatcheries are closing, and other cost saving measures are underway, so this sounds like a noble experiment to see who puts their money where their mouths are—that money targeted to the PFBC program they value the most.  More information can be found here and on the PFBC website. 

The new Voluntary Permits are designed to help maintain funding levels for several key fishing related programs. Revenues generated from the sale of these permits will be reinvested into their respective program. - PFBC, 2019.

I am off work until January 14, and we don’t have a printer at home, so I began my morning buying my license and stamp and the aforementioned permit online, and then I used our library’s cloud printing service to send a copy and retrieve my new print-outs while dropping off the week’s DVD and book returns (I am at the public library at least twice a week with the readers in my house!).  After all that, I could not rightly chase stockies, you see, so I decided to spend a couple hours at Valley Creek to bring in the new year.  

Wood and deep.

It was in the mid-40s and overcast, and the rain over the weekend promised a stain and continued good flows, so it was not a bad choice, and I ended up having a pretty decent 2.5 hours on the water.  I fished well upstream of the Park, in some skinny water that I have not visited since before the spawn.  Fish were in winter mode, schooling up, sometimes with suckers, in the predictable winter spots like deep slower holes, deep undercut banks, and deadfalls in deep water.  Because the spots where I fished were deeper, but indicators on Valley can spell disaster, I used a heavier tag fly with a rainbow warrior midge pupa tied off the bend, so that my flies would get down and I could tuck them into pockets more quickly.  I caught about 7 decent fish and a few micro-trout too, all but two on the midge.  The other two actually fell for a small green over black bugger slowly retrieved around heavy cover.  I was about a day late for the streamer bite, but it is always an option in the winter, when a good meal is hard to pass up, especially when the usual fare is about size 20 or smaller.  It was good to stick two on the bugger and move a couple others, even though the water was pretty clean this afternoon.  

A couple long but skinny ones.

I had the place to myself, and I caught at least two decent fish in the 10 inch range, so I would call it a successful afternoon.  I hope it is one of many fishing days this winter and that last year’s deep freeze and accompanying ice are not regular occurrences.  At least give me a few more days this January and February!  While the temperate weather lasts, I will definitely get out at least one other day this week, perhaps Thursday, perhaps even a little further from home now that I am legal-plus for 2019.

A couple even ate a streamer.