February 13, 2019 – A Brief Afternoon Visit to Stretch the Legs – Valley Creek

Pretty.  High.

More snow and ice arrived this week, which meant early dismissal and a day off in the freezing rain for the whole family.  The boy is also off this Friday and the following Monday for President’s Day, so I think he’ll be home this month almost as much as he’s been in school.  I have to teach on Wednesday and Thursday nights, but unlike Thursday, where my day is booked this week, I had a couple hours to get out this afternoon after having breakfast with Ward, my first fishing partner now immersed in coaching his athletic daughters.  That should have been enough of an outing, but I was antsy when I got home.  Where to go for a short 90 minutes or so?  With the temps hovering just above freezing all night, and the snow slowly melting on top of the increased flow caused by rain, the local freestoners would be cold and high.  Valley would be cold and high too, just not as cold or as high, so Valley again it was….  I can get there in under 25 minutes in mid-day traffic, and still get back for the boy’s bus in 30 minutes later in the day, so it is a good call this time of year.  Unfortunately, there was another dude suiting up when arrived at about 12:30 PM.  The section we both intended to fish does not allow many anglers to fish at once, so I said hello and goodbye and drove further upstream.  The creek looked gray and cold, so the snow was already melting.  This never bodes well for any creek, even one with limestone influence to moderate the low temps, so I did not grab a streamer rod.  Instead, with measured expectations, I decided to nymph a few high percentage holes and then maybe check out another area I have not fished since the spill.

Pretty.  Small.

It was a picturesque walk through the woods, punctuated by a few random puffs of cold breeze and some slushy mud puddles to skirt.  By the time I left, the wind was blowing pretty hard, but I landed a couple Valley average fish, 8 to 9 inchers, deep while tightlining the beginning of the tailouts of two good holes before snow flurries began and made the heated seats of the new(er) ‘Ru seem very attractive.  These fish were likely actively feeding and may have even chased a streamer on a warmer day.  One took a size 14 prince and the other a size 18 pt on the dropper, so the latter may have been suspended up looking for BWOs.  I had no luck hooking up in a couple softer holes, and I was not in the mood to stand in one place in the cold and watch midges under an indicator, so I ended the day poking around a section of the creek that was affected by the chlorine spill last year.  I did not move any fish, but I noted some new deadfalls and deeper pockets caused by the rainy year we have had.  I will likely return on a better day, perhaps in March when regulations limit my fishing to wild streams, DHALOs, and FFOs.  Although March often means more cars in the lots too…