April 24, 2019 – A Couple Silly Stolen Hours – Wissahickon Creek

A silly one today.

I guess it has been a minute since my last fishing trip.  I actually got a text from Reelin Ron asking if I was okay, which I appreciated.  All is good, though.  I just had a busy week and more company at home than usual.  Honestly, I don’t have the urgency of past years when I was unsure about how often I was going to get out fishing.  In fact, today was trip number 32 for the year already, and we’ve only just begun.  I had plenty to do besides fish last week, too.  The boy had off for ten days for spring break, and Tami had off for five days around Easter.  We had a couple dental appointments, a few social gatherings, plus I actually painted a room for my parents over the course of two days and was handsomely paid—a new toy, that redesigned Clearwater 10’ 3 weight rod, is on its way as a result.  Oh yeah, and I turned 50 years old on 4/20.  That was a trip to go to a bar to celebrate and have Young Kenny, Young Eric, Wardman, and other stars of Sick Days Fishing together in the same room!  Following a two day hangover, I did have the time on Monday, perhaps, but I still opted to rest up and spend some time with Tami since the boy had returned to school by then.  Tuesday is out this session with a couple classes and sometimes meetings that day, so even though I teach tonight in Center City, I took this Wednesday as my opportunity to get out for a couple hours.  It had to be local, the Mighty Wissy, but rain or not Thursday will likely be my first trip to NEPA for 2019 (Brodhead?). In the meantime, the Wissahickon provided me with my first silly fishing trip of the year.

Swinging the soft hackle during the caddis hatch chinned one...

After talking to a neighbor for a while, I finally got packed to go by 9 AM.  I arrived at the creek around 9:30 AM and took a walk to a favorite hole.  I planned to hunt around for fish that had moved into new spots or less obvious holes, but not before landing at least a handful of fish to get my mojo back.  As luck would have it, I walked into a sparse caddis hatch and, while no surface action materialized, I did spend the first 45 minutes of the morning nymphing up 7 or 8 fish and then catching another 5 or 6 on the swing, trying my best to imitate emergers.  I used the same two flies for the two hours I was on the creek, and after landing at least 25 fish in that short window, the flies looked pretty bad.  Both the purple CDC jig and the soft hackle (more like a sparse midge by 11:30 AM) continued to catch until I pulled the plug and called it silly and time to go home and rest for class.  The creek has not been stocked by the state since April 9, I believe, but there was a trout tournament in the city since then, and it appears that many fish are left, including some hot and plump brook trout, something the PFBC does not stock in the Wissy.  I did not catch any pigs or bonus tag fish, though I did briefly hook into some gold, which would have completed the cycle of brown, brookie, rainbow, and palomino. 

Some brook trout left over from the tourney (and the ratty purple jig)?

It was a good spring day, only mid-60’s while I was out, and plenty of fishermen and other enthusiasts were out enjoying the day.  I showed a couple little boys a fish in the net after I pointed out a bald eagle to them, and I played hopscotch (not literally) with three old timers who had success and kept some for the table.  I think the creek gets stocked for the last time this week, and it seems pretty warm already.  Fish were really in a fighting mood, not cold water sluggish, but a couple needed some time to revive too.  The problem with hot days this early in the year is no leaf cover to mitigate the effects of the hot sun.  The greenery is coming, and probably not too late, but if I fish next week, I will likely check water temperatures in the afternoon to avoid having to revive all of them!  Rain would be okay too, but flow and color were decent this morning.  I don’t expect a caddis hatch every time I visit the creek, but I was happy it happened today.  I caught a lot of fish in the first 45 minutes, but I was also able to find a few in some less likely spots too, so I scratched both itches.  Not bad for a man well into his middle ages.  I hope I haven’t forgotten how to catch wild trout, though! 

Bows and brown too, even a brief shot at gold...