August 29, 2019 – Camp Dad Explores the Mighty Delaware River - Northampton County

Pretty spot.

The boy and I took a scenic ride up the river towards Northampton County today.  We didn’t leave home until after 2 PM, and we stopped for late lunch/early dinner on the way.  I was hoping we could stay out and make it close to magic hour with some exploring, wet wading, and hopefully some smallmouth bass.  After rigging up a couple spinning rods, I spent a little while in the garage packing a vest with some small cranks and soft plastics.  I had the idea that a drop-shot with some of Kenny’s Fitt Premium Lures would be effective and nearly snag-resistant for the boy, so he could just cast and take care of business himself.  Before walking to the river, we first explored a little Class A creek to see if we could spot any wild browns in the high sun and low water.  I saw only one, and the boy only saw minnows and maybe some fry.  It was my fault because I stepped up to a likely spot first instead of letting the boy go ahead of me.  I remembered to give him my polarized glasses but still rushed ahead like an excited kid myself in order to spot some trout in a tiny trickle!  When things started getting too brushy, we decided to go fishing.

He bested me!

The river is low, clear, warm, and wadable.  It is also loaded with shad fry, which were jumping and feeding all over the water.  Avoiding the stench of a deer carcass, we targeted a decent hole at the mouth of the creek, before bushwhacking and rock hopping our way along about 800 yards of river to a couple spots where I figured there would be fish.  We spent a lot of time finding random flotsam (sharpie markers, a Nerf dart, salt water lures, you name it) so fishing was only part of the adventure.  At one point, the boy said, “Oh, there’s a mountain, and another one,” so I think he too noticed the beauty of this little spot!  My fishing plan lasted about 10 minutes until Lukas realized that he could cast like a hero with my rod, loaded with braid and a shallow running crankbait.  I ended up fishing the drop shot rig on copolymer line.  My hooksets sucked on long casts.  I am used to braid or the fly rod, I guess!  I dropped at least three bass after a short fight, one decent bass after a longer fight.  The boy, however, beat me by landing his bass on the crankbait.   

Not a fish day, but a good day outdoors.

After a good two hours on the water, we still hadn’t made it to the magic hour, but I had to be grateful that we lasted two hours.  We talked to another father and son in the parking lot who tried for some catfish, and they lasted about 20 minutes, according to the other dad.  There were snacks and the Nintendo Switch waiting at the car for a good ride home—and the boy is always looking for bonus time on the device.  Not a big fishing day, but a good way to spend a late summer day, the kind of day I hope my pre-teen remembers when he becomes a more sullen teen, you know?

August 24, 2019 – First Taste of Autumn or a False Fall? – Northampton County Limestoner

A short early shift on a perfect morning.

A cool and drizzly Friday was followed by a cool and sunny Saturday, so even though I am not much for weekend fishing, I had to sneak out this morning to get a taste of the fall weather and hopefully the happier and hungrier trout.  The boy is in an in-between time, and I am home with him, also in-between—finishing two summer classes and getting prepped for my full fall teaching load—not to mention another graduate class towards my MFA.  Summer camps have ended, school is still over a week away, and Tami is back to work as of August 1.  Add another summer heatwave that just ended, and we have the makings of my typical August fishing output.  Looking back over the blog posts, it appears that I average a whopping two trips per August, especially now that I don’t spend as much time at the shore.  There will be more to come in September, and August is hardly prime time.  Even in the great conditions this morning—air temps in the high 50’s to start, water temperatures in the Lehigh Valley dipping a couple marks under 60—the fishing window lasts all of two hours in the morning, perhaps another hour in the evening, unless one fishes the night shift.  I was tempted this week, when I noticed how long it had been since I’d been out, but fishing late into the night and playing with a boy all day while still teaching two evening classes just sounded like too much work!

Only one in the first hour.

I arrived at my destination just before 5:50 AM, so by the time I suited up, I had enough light to take a short walk followed by my first casts.  The first hour was slow, as it often is, but it was still enjoyable.  I landed one little fish and again saw the two foxes that I encountered the last time I was on this creek.  They look full grown, but they must be young siblings because they were still running side by side, making the geese nervous this morning.  Perhaps their parents have left them to their own devices now, so they are not ready to go it totally alone.  So many geese this morning!  The creek is too small to share, so they will rarely pass here, as they would on a larger creek.  To avoid a ruckus, we had to play nice.  I eventually took the courteous steps up the bank, as if to say, “Go for it,” and they took my cue and whisked on by me downstream with nary a honk, which I believe is as close to thank you as the mean-spirited goose language allows.  Still, it was like waiting for a freight train to pass.

Small, but picking up on the perdigon.

The water was normal, very clear and almost low, this morning, so as it got brighter out, and I had a better grasp of the conditions, I had to make some adjustments and use smaller bugs and tippet.  I was tempted to go back to the car and get my 8’6” 3 weight that was rigged with a dry dropper, but I stuck with my nymphing rod instead, and it all worked out eventually.  The first couple of fish took a small CDC jig, but once I started catching fish with consistency, they preferred a blue perdigon in size 16, so I tied that as my point fly for efficiency sake, putting a smaller pheasant tail on the dropper.  Tricos were present in the same spots I usually see them, but even when some spinners began to fall around 9 AM, nothing took notice on the surface.  In fact, fishing slowed to nearly nada not long after 9 AM, so the trout may not totally trust this short break from the summer heat.  At least some days in July, I can get them to eat until 10 AM!  Fish were smaller than my average here earlier in the summer, too, but I caught nothing under 8 inches, I suppose, and I landed a couple pushing 12 to 13 inches.  All were in good shape despite last week’s heat; many jumped and dashed for undercut banks with some power.  

Some decent ones showed.

After only landing the one trout in the first hour and following my adjustments, I put together a modestly productive two hours of fishing.  I was happy to be out there and happy to be catching pretty, feisty wild trout again after nearly a month without.  I could not land 11 fish, even after trying a green weenie on the dropper and even mining one of the few deep holes with a bigger jig.  Going deeper from 9 to 9:30 AM, all I got was algae on the hooks, so I had to be content with my 10 fish morning.  I was back in the driver’s seat of the ‘Ru by 10:05 and home cleaning up before 11:30 AM, so that is one upside of these early shifts.  Besides being a little tired and/caffeine up, which nixes a nap, there is still a lot of day left.  The boy and I actually took a hike along the Wissy later in the day, as it stayed breezy and below 80 degrees all afternoon.

Another healthy one.

With an Easterly or Northeasterly flow continuing, it appears that the cooler temperatures will remain in the forecast this week, so Camp Dad might get outdoors more this week than last.  The boy and I even talked about fishing one day this upcoming week.  That may be my motivation to get all my grading done on Monday and Tuesday, so I can have a brief vacation before the fall semester gets going.  Even just a little taste of fall—a teasing false fall or not—today got me excited about the end of the summer doldrums and the imminent start of one of my favorite fishing times of the year.

That little perdigon worked for a solid two hours.

August 9, 2019 – A Walk with a Fishing Rod – Wissahickon Creek

Gutsy moves.

Not that I had any major plans in mind, but fishing this week was made nearly impossible because I am doing drop off and pick up for the boy’s summer camp.  He is only participating for a couple weeks, and then it is back to camp Dad (or Mom if he goes to work with Tami).  Valley is too warm for my liking right now, so I decided to take advantage of a break in the humidity and rain to walk the Wissy near my house.  I have some decent smallmouth bass spots deeper in the City, but today I did some prospecting in an area that I trout fished a lot as a kid and which always looks fishy.  I walked this particular area on Monday this week and watched some little bass set up and sipping midges.  I figured that the little guys came from something bigger, so I made a mental note to give this area a shot if I needed a quickie close to home this summer.  Today was the day.  I was hoping for more clouds than sun, but that did not happen.  I did catch a few small fish in the first hour to ninety minutes, however. 

It was good while the shade lasted.

The water was stained and had good flows for this time of year.  Before the sun got too high, I found some eager sunfish and small bass in the shaded riffles and tight to the banks.  I even got a couple sunfish on a topwater slider/popper.  I fished a popper/dropper for about thirty minutes, too, when the streamer bite all but died.  I did see a few lethargic bass come out to investigate, but it was around high noon, so that was all they did, investigate.  On the walk back to the parking lot, I threw a larger streamer, a hail mary, I guess, and I actually moved a hold-over trout.  I would expect a few would live through this wet summer, but I did not expect one to have enough vitality right now to move towards a streamer.  Not surprisingly, he did not move again.

They are in there, but the larger ones are smarter than these fellas.

I may have to sneak out very early on Sunday morning for a short trip.  I am jonesing a little if you can’t tell.  The cooler temps at night and the rain storms that preceded them may give me a short window with which to play.  I know the lows were in the low 60’s in the Poconos last night and that will likely continue tonight, but I will probably check out a Lehigh Valley limestoner or two instead to minimize the drive and maximize the fishing time.  I say I will fish the tricos, but you and I both know darn well that if the flows are good, I will be nymphing the riffles and runs…

Brave subsurface too.