May 24, 2019 – When Life Gives You Chocolate, Make Chocolate Milk - Valley Creek

Blue skies, brown water.

Another hot day was predicted for Friday, and I only had until 11:30 AM to fish because the boy had an early dismissal ahead of the Memorial Day weekend, so thank goodness for more rain in SEPA….  Only half-kidding, of course.  Enough with the rain, I say!  Even though I am predominately a nymph fisherman, I can totally empathize with those who would love to get after trout rising to the numerous hatches present this time of year, and I am itching to fish the Brodhead, Lehigh, the Lack, and so on, but I have tried to embrace the ever-present chocolate water.  By targeting small streams like Valley that recover more quickly, and chunking a streamer or appreciating the ability to euro-nymph instead of dry or dry dropper, I have put together a memorable spring of 2019.  I did not throw the streamer today, and I did not land another 19+ inch fish, but I did land one that measured 16 and another that was 13, so a very solid day for Valley Creek.  Both fish took a size 12 frenchie in deep riffles, where fish are still taking caddis emergers, I assume.  Nevertheless, I only caught one fish on a caddis pupa on the dropper, which I had tied on specifically to address this possibility.  I had a bunch of little fish come off the big jig, which was to be expected, but most of the ones that stayed on the hook were good fish, beating the Valley average.

Not 19 and change, but a 16 inch hen, the second fish of the day.

I probably caught 10 other fish in addition to the two bigger ones, and the trip was mostly bookended by these better fish.  I arrived early for me on a school/bus stop day, before 8 AM, and the water was dirty, showing signs of being up higher in the night, but back in its banks and cleaning up.  I spent a little time in deep holes, but most of my effort and concentration was spent in the deeper riffles and runs.  My first fish of the morning was a Valley average of 8 inches, but the second one was a beauty.  I considered taking the measure net off my pack this week but forgot again this morning, so I had an accurate measure of a millimeter short of 16 inches on this big, healthy fish.  As with many big fish I have caught nymphing, the take was very subtle, just a pause in the drift, but when I set the hook, it was clear this was a nice one.  She just bulldogged and dug for the bank on the other side of the creek until I got her head out of the water long enough to slide the net under. 

6 + 10 and 8 + 5.  Yay, math.

I kept moving and covered a good bit of water in a short time, probably 2.5 hours total.  As I mentioned, I was using bigger bugs, so I missed more hits than normal and watched more small fish jump off the line, but I was content with the possibility of sticking a better fish or two, so I stuck with the plan.  I landed two more in the 11 inch range before my persistence paid off with a gorgeous 13 inch male.  Like his bigger cousin downstream, this fish did not do anything acrobatic, but it was clear right away that I had stuck a good fish based on all the digging for bottom and nearby cover.  It was getting close to 11:00 AM, so the heat was coming, along with a breeze carrying more pollen than necessary, when I decided to turn back downstream.  I did catch two more little fish in a hole I skipped on the way up, but the two good fish really provided the soft beginning and end to a good morning.  I still await better, clearer flows on my bigger, favorite creeks, but I was grateful to little old Valley for providing a banner month of May.  The title says it all.

He would have made my day any other month!  Beautiful fish!

A little clearer than the first shot?