March 29, 2019 – Still Just Paying My Dues This Month – Saucon Creek

Old like me, but we were both rocking on a weeknight.

I did not do much fishing this week, not since Monday, actually.  The boy was home sick from school on Wednesday, and I went out and saw live music with my brother after my evening class that same night, so I got home late after a long day (and drank a few beers on a weeknight).  We let the boy sleep in a bit on Thursday morning, and I drove him to school instead of having him take the bus. Thursday ended up warm in the afternoon, but it started cold, so after taking the boy to school and some work at home, a late morning nap felt more attractive than a fishing trip.  I did not sleep, but I caught up on grading and got some rest, so I was ready for more of an adventure on Friday, when the morning would start much milder.  I considered chasing brookies in the mountains today, but instead I had second cup of coffee and took a much shorter drive to the Saucon Creek trophy trout section.  Expectations were measured, as they often are when I visit here, but conditions seemed promising.  The last time I fished here, I landed an 18 inch wild brown and moved one with a streamer that was even larger (and landed an out of place rainbow—more on that below), and this is usually how it goes for me on this section of the creek—feast or famine.

Looked fishy, but the fish had other ideas.

March is a tough month, and Saucon is a fickle creek with fickle fish, but I was hoping that the drizzle and clouds might amp up the blue winged olive hatches.  No such luck.  There were trace numbers of olives and midges coming off all day, but the water was a tad high and off color still, so nothing took notice of what little bug activity was happening.  Even birds were just mildly interested.  I was not in the mood to run and gun with a streamer, especially since I really only move fish on this creek with a streamer in pretty high, stained water.  They are pressured and smart, so I often move 5 or more to catch 1 on the streamer—sometimes a good one, but that takes a certain mindset that I didn’t have today.  Instead, I took my licks with the nymphing rod and managed to hook two rainbows, only landing one of them.  Rainbows, you might ask?  Yes, with all the rain this year, stocked fish are ending up all over the wild trout sections of Lehigh Valley creeks—Martins, Bushkill, Monocacy, Saucon, you name it. 

Lotta bows got moved around in the floods.

I don’t mind catching a fish on a tough day, but there is always a bit of disappointment when I set the hook on a decent fish on a wild trout stream and it ends up being the errant bow.  This one was 13 inches, and he fought very well.  I caught him in rainbow water, really, a pocket in the middle of a riffle.  The other came from water more friendly to browns, but I could not keep him on the line after a mediocre hook set—overhead branches!  I just knew from the bright silver and the white belly that it was not the intended target.  I have not had a real banner day this month, but that is often to be expected.  I don’t mind paying my dues, and days like this, months like this, make me appreciate even more the good days to come.  And how quickly I can forget March 11 this year, ingrate!  I can only guess that the very cold nights this week set the clock back for a minute in the Lehigh Valley, and perhaps tomorrow will be better for the olive-chasing weekend crew?  Opening day tomorrow, too, so I think the boy and I are going to visit the mighty Wissahickon, a do-over from the miffed Mentored Youth Day.  He paid his dues last week, so maybe the warm day tomorrow with make the city fish that have been in a while longer active.  Montgomery County was stocked at the eleventh hour, like after 3 PM today, the day before Opening Day (don’t get me started), so I will probably not waste any time there until next week, when you may start seeing my mentions here of the Wissahickon eclipse even my winter musings on good old Valley Creek….