July 19, 2019 – Phoneless, so therefore Camera-less, but not Fishless (Eventually) – Northampton County Limestoners

Cold stained water for Ron.  Ended up being the only successful photo of the day, too.

I am about due, perhaps overdue, for a new cellphone.  I may have gotten the motivation to shop that I needed today, too.  My morning began with a dead phone on the charger at 4 AM.  I plugged it in to charge before I went to bed a little after 11 PM last night, but instead of charging up it discharged, just one of many little annoyances the device has presented in the last month or more (a lot of blurry pictures too).  Good times.  I had decided to take about an hour ride towards the Bushkill, which was high but dropping, so I figured I could charge it up on the ride north.  If the Bushkill was not happening, I knew I could visit Bethlehem before it got too hot.  I wanted to quit by 10 AM at the latest today because of the excessive heat warnings in the forecast.  Even the creeks that have been low 60’s would likely spike today, but the rivers were flooded out, and I did not have the time or energy to take a longer ride to the beach or something more adventurous.  Well, the ride to the first creek gave me about 30 percent of a charge by the time I arrived.  Power saving mode and hope for the best.  The creek was more stained than I would have liked even though it was fishable and wadable.  Since I took the phone out to try and capture a photo of a mink along the bank across from me, I also managed to get one good creek picture, which opens this post.  Not long after, I also managed to drop my 30% charged phone in the water!  Again, good times.  It seemed okay, but about an hour later, it was at 2% charge and then shut itself off.  No big deal since the Bushkill was not happening for this guy today. 

Artist's rendering....

I tried both nymphing a pair of bugs and also high sticking a black leech to see if a streamer bite might happen before I quit the Bushkill.  Fishless.  When I got back to the car, I tried to charge the phone, but it was acting squirrely, so I ended up taking it apart and removing the battery to let everything dry when I arrived at the Saucon for a short round two.   Phoneless.  Camera-less.  Murphy’s Law would say I would land a 20 today on Saucon, but while I caught fish that did not happen.  The flow and clarity were better here; there were even some tricos hatching.  I quickly caught three small wild browns, probably 9 to 10 inchers, while nymphing a run with some decent visibility.  I tried a weenie on the dropper and tucking the flies up in the softer water by the bank too, but the first 4 fish I caught all hit a pink tag fly, about a size 14 on a jig hook.  At least one of the first 4 fish took the bug on the swing, too, so I started letting the drift go longer and ended up getting another on the swing and a couple chasing the bug to the surface and missing or refusing.  After that, I decided to clip off the weenie and add something caddis-like.  I hooked three good fish and landed two of them on this caddis dropper.  Both that I landed were hot hold-over rainbows about 14 inches, so I will let myself believe that the third was also a rainbow.  When the third good fish came off, the flies ended up in a tree behind me out of reach.  It was after 10 AM and already hot.  I was also hungry, tired, probably thirsty, so I snagged again a few minutes later.  Diminishing returns, yo.  Since fishing was decent, though, I had to retie one more time, and I did land another wild brown about 11 inches on the tag fly in the last riffle I targeted before crossing the creek and taking a worn path back to the car.  Sorry, no fish pics, but I was happy to catch some trout, maybe 8, in my last hour of the morning, especially after that trying first stop.  My other plan worked too, as the reassembled phone did take a charge on the way home.  Nevertheless, I will still be shopping for a new one this weekend, as it will be too hot to fish anywhere but the beach (at night), anyway!