October 31, 2019 – No Monsters, But It Was Spooky Good Today – Valley Creek

Lucky enough to time it just right today.

I fished Valley today at about 60 CFS, and it was just silly fishing.  In under three hours of nymphing, I landed at least 30 trout, probably more.  I have had numbers days before at Valley, as there are loads of little fish, but today I also landed 10 or more fish in the 10 to 13 inch range, at least 3 of them at that longer mark on the measure net.  I was nearly having the game of my life.  Had I hooked and lost an 18 incher, shouted rat farts! to the heavens, and been struck by lightning, right out of Caddyshack, I would not have been surprised.  To be honest, I was a bit gun shy leaving the house after the experience Tom and I had with rising water over the weekend, and when it started to pour around 10:30 AM when I was almost to the creek, I really had my doubts.  Thankfully, I could see that there was plenty of visibility in the riffles, and not nearly the amount of leaf litter as Sunday.  My only regret was not bringing a streamer rod for a chance at a true giant, but to have any really honest regrets about a day like today would be sacrilege. 

Males and females are nearly ready to spawn, but today they ate.

All day I threw two bugs.  On the anchor I had a purple hot spot jig in size 18.  It also has some movement from CDC, so I even caught fish on the swing.  In fact, I caught a dozen, mostly smaller fish, on the swing.  On the dropper, I had a size 18 or 20 hare’s ear, ratty from serving as my dropper all afternoon on Tuesday too.  Several fish took that fly as well.  Fish were pretty much anywhere that looked fishy, but larger fish came when I let the small bugs get down deeper in pocket water, those prime spots.  A few times, however, I was shocked to catch 3 and 4 fish one after the other right out in the open in shallow runs, perhaps in a just barely perceptible depressions or behind one unseen rock breaking the current.  The feed was on.  A couple females were fat with eggs and bugs, and a few of the males were colored up big time, so this may be the last hurrah before they get down to the business of making babies.  I also caught plenty of those, from at least 2 year classes.  The YOY are about 3 inches, but there are 5 inchers aplenty in the secondary lies and softer water.  I guess the majority of the sexually mature fish are mostly 11 to 13 inches, so I don’t know how old that would make them by Valley growing season standards, maybe 5 years old?  Some days a couple 10 inch fish that stand out from the 6 to 8 inchers makes me happy (see Sunday) so today was a bit charmed.

Double digits in double digits.

It rained off and on, so I kept the rain gear on and the hood up most of the time.  It was so warm I was okay with just a t-shirt under my breathable jacket.  Unlike Sunday, when it poured and got darker, I was able to adjust to keeping my polarized lenses on, and they made a difference in getting, quick, good hooksets.  I only lost one decent fish on a jump and, unfortunately, had to actually land and remove the hooks from a dozen dinks, even two chubs and one sunfish.  I gave up on using the net and taking pictures after a while.  Besides the two little porkers above, the rest of the photos here are early shots or representative of a size class.  Hope you enjoy.  I certainly did.

October 29, 2019 – Wood is Good, Foam is Home, Slightly Wetter is Slightly Better – Berks County

Fog, drizzle, and wild browns.

I have not fished the little Class A creek I targeted today since March of this year when I was lucky to land some nice fish eagerly chasing early spring stoneflies and olives.  It is one I keep in my back pocket for a few, sometimes only a pair, of perfect days each year.  It is small, so low water makes it very challenging.  It is also surrounded by homes and roads, so I like to tread lightly and not have my Subaru parked in the same spot once a month.  I dread the future Posted signs that are inevitably going to get stapled to the trees one day.  Superstitious, maybe, but the self-imposed rules have worked to my advantage.  My short trips on this creek—there are usually only about 2 hours of fishing yardage—almost always end up in the win column.  I have never landed a true small stream piggie here, nor have I even seen one, but I have had days when the average fish is 11 to 12 inches, and I have had days like today when the tally eclipses 20 or 25 wild trout even if the average size is not as impressive.  I did not intend to fish here this morning.  I actually worked for 3 hours in the morning, and did not leave the house until after 10 AM, lured by the continuing mist and light drizzle.  I just pointed the ‘Ru west towards Berks County, thinking I might target some holdovers and the odd wild one on the Manny or something.

If not for the chubs...

Not long into my drive, I thought about the heavy rain that Tom and I experienced on Sunday, wondering if the effects were longer lasting on the freestoners.  By the time I crossed the muddy Skippack Creek, and then the muddier Perkiomen, I made my mind up to try this favorite little creek, which has some limestone influence but is pretty much a freestoner.  I was a little surprised at how low it was when I arrived, but I was content that a stain remained.  With the light rain continuing to come and go and the wet woods and fields still draining, a slow, steady trickle of dirtier water made the creek just high enough to commit to giving it a shot. 

That grubby caddis on the dropper.  Time to cut and retie.

I began with a hot spot frenchie on the anchor and tasty-looking caddis grub on the dropper.  I had success with this fly in the fall on tougher creeks like the Bushkill and Saucon.  I don’t know if it gives off an especially good October caddis vibe or if it just looks too good not to eat to pre-spawn fish that are fattening up.  Whatever the case, the fish were on it today within minutes.  I had to pick through chubs the entire time I was here today, so I landed over 10 of them too and had just as many come off the bigger nymphs I was using.  After a couple big chubs in some slower pockets and holes, I started targeting wood and bouncier deep water, and the trout started coming to the net as well.  The average trout was in the 7 or 8 inch range, and I even landed at least two young of the year that were barely 4  inches, but I also caught at least 4 fish between 10 and 13 inches—not too shabby for a small creek with an average depth of 2 feet or less.

A few in the 11 to 13 inch range.

Some of the fish were hitting the moment the flies landed in the water, which is a blast.  I basically had to do a tuck cast and try to keep a rather tight line almost immediately.  A couple fish came from deep plunges, and foamy eddies, but just as many were tight to down trees and under bushes and other bankside cover.  Because the water was low and the fish were hungry, it was not uncommon to pull a few fish out of the prime spots.  I like this creek better when the water is higher and the fish are spread out, but I was having fun with all the action, anyway.  Too quickly, I reached the end of the line, which is fortunately one of the best deep runs in this stretch of creek.   I have landed multiple solid small stream fish in this 40 foot stretch, including this March.  Today was not going to be that day, as the run was too shallow and too clear.  I knew that after I caught two or three fish that the ruckus would put them down.  Thankfully, before that happened I did land three fish from this run, including the best of the day, a plump 13 incher that ate the grubby caddis dropper.  He fought well, and as the picture shows, made a little mess of my rig while in the net.

Pretty, average.

As if to confirm my future fears, near my usual walk out point there was construction scaffolding on one of the streamside outbuildings, which has looked abandoned for years.  Because of these signs of progress, instead of sneaking through a backyard to reach the road for quitting time, I decided to rig up with smaller bugs and an indicator to target two flatter, deeper holes on the way back down.  On the walk downstream, I did my best to stay out of the water to avoid staining it too much, and I did manage to land three more small trout and some more chubs on the way.  I would be willing to bet there were some more trout stacked up in these holes for cover in the lower water, but I could not get the chubs to leave the flies alone.  They were even popping the indicator at 1:30 in the afternoon, so I had to be content with 3 more trout for the tally.  Definitely not as magical of a day as my previous 2019 trip, but for midday in average flows, I was certainly not mad at this little gem of a stream.  See you in 2020, friend?

October 27, 2019 – Yeah, Maybe the Beach Ball Was a Sign – Valley Creek

An Italian or French cinematic moment and a sign to quit.

El Zorro Plateado (Tom H.) and I texted back and forth on Friday about sneaking out today after the Eagles' game, especially if some rain made it even more worth our while.  I don’t think either of us were fully aware of our afternoon commitments, nor were we fully briefed on the timing and impact of this fast-moving and precipitation-heavy storm.  I had to drive the boy to something at four and pick him up later, and Tom had a viewing or funeral or something in the afternoon as well.  I decided to tempt fate and say meet me at my house at 7 AM this morning, so we could head to Valley.  I was hoping we might take advantage of the cloudy conditions early even in low water, and then maybe we would have a magic window later in the morning when the rain brought up the flows. 

Swinging in one of the first of a few dink dinks before the rain arrived in force.

Things were calm in low, clear water for the first hour, when Tom landed a couple uber-dinks, but it did not take long for wind and rain to arrive with purpose.  As the stream stained and flows improved, so did the leaf hatch, made worse by the gusts of wind.  We did have a sweet spot around 9:30 to 10:30 AM when some fish were caught, including one over ten inches, but it did not take long before we started noticing the flash floods rising.  First a couple branches washed by, then I noticed it got a bit harder to wade, then the creek turned an ugly color, and then the big beach ball with an octopus printed on the side floated downstream.  It was game over long before that point, I reckon.  Valley went from 20 CFS to 200 CFS in no time, and it peaked at close to 500 before it started coming back down around 3 PM.  Tom and I were peeling off wet cloths and waders in my garage by noon, so we could only watch the true impact on the gages during Bud Light Platinum commercials (Eagles win, though!).

Teamwork makes the dream work. My only decent fish of the morning in Tom's hand.

We had a nice, swampy walk back to the car, marveling at all the gulleys awash in fresh rainwater and all the flooded lowlands and trails.  This is what the sharp, upside down V of a USGS WaterWatch graph looks like in real life (or at least the first incline to 500 CFS)!  I have fished Valley many, many times, too many times perhaps.  I rarely fish it in rising water, mainly because it is very hard to time it right, although I have had some success in those conditions, however short-lived the productive window.  This is the first time that I decided, with Tom’s urging—he in waist-high waders no less—to cross at a bridge instead of wading back across to my car like I normally would do.  As if we had just finished blue-lining in the mountains or something, at some point Tom and I had to hoof it back along the road, hugging the guardrail and ducking cars while in low light and wearing drab rain gear, so that was certainly a new experience for me on Valley, at least.  Fish were caught and no one died?

Just before the game was called due to a muddy leaf hatch and 300+ CFS.

October 25, 2019 – Midday Success in Late October – Northampton County Limestoner

Fall colors.

There was a moment this summer where I grew tired of typing the words Northampton County limestoner, but today was not one of those moments.  I finally had enough work completed that I could get out for a few hours without guilt, so I was just happy that I could take a relatively short drive and get into some fish.  Twice in the last week or so I thought a little rain would give Valley enough of a bump to nudge me away from my grading, reading, and writing for a couple hours, but the gages were quickly back down to 20 CFS, so I just kept working.  I don’t like to be this busy or productive, but I knew it was coming once I started another graduate program while holding down a full time job.  I am also on a working group for an accreditation process at my school—an honor I suppose for a junior faculty member, but I like my fishing time!  I still wrote a very rough draft of a paper due on Monday night before I left the house this morning around 10 AM, so I was not fishing until 11 AM, but the creek I chose was in average shape for this time of year with enough water to work with even in sunny conditions.  It is also small, so I didn’t have to worry about a wet crotch.  My new waders have since arrived late today, but this morning I was still working with my Simms that are in desperate need of a repair trip to Washington.  As long as I stayed thigh-deep, I was good, so lower flows came in handy for once.

Umm, fall colors.

I did notice some small bugs in the air when I arrived and walked down to the creek.  They may have been olives smaller than size 20.  I also saw an isolated caddis or two, so I had a size 18 pheasant tail jig on the anchor and a weightless caddis soft hackle on the dropper.  Not one fish took the dropper, so it was just window dressing.  I thought of dropping a midge, but the pheasant tail, really more of a pt version of a walts worm, perhaps even a bottom rolling caddis imitation, picked up several fish in the pocket water I targeted, so I just fished instead of tying and retying and experimenting further.  I think I landed 8 fish and missed one with the net in well under three hours of fishing, so it was a fine day on the water.

Measure net got out today.

I landed a handful of typical small stream fish, 9 or 10 inch beauties, but I also landed one over 12, one over 13, and a solid 16 inch fish too.  A couple of the males were looking ready for love, getting those deeper, darker fall colors.  The largest fish was a mystery fish.  It was in good shape and fought well, but even as I fought it I thought in real time that is was not battling as well as a wild fish of a similar size would.  My educated guess would be stocker despite a blush of blue on the cheek and some good colors.  The tail and one of the fins did not seem right.  I have also caught many fish from this creek, and none of them have had this look; it did not have a mess of fused spots or anything, but it was just too spotted and too pale.  The creek does not get stocked in this area, and the only escapees I have tangled with have been club stocked rainbows that travelled miles.  In other words, I am NOT going on record saying I landed a 16+ inch wild brown today!  I enjoyed catching him nonetheless.  It's been a while since I have had that kind of bend in the rod.

Another one colored up pre-spawn.

Because I had to target riffles and runs with some depth to them, I ran out of water more quickly than normal along this stretch.  I was spoiled by the higher water all summer that allowed fish to spread out more.  Before quitting, I dropped into a high percentage hole that only gave up an 8 inch fish the first time through, and this time I managed to hook and almost net a nicer fish in the 11 or 12 inch range—that would have been 9 fish.  I had one more potential spot in mind, so I checked my phone for the time.  It was just past 1 PM, so I figured I would try this last spot and call it good.  

A pair pretty of ones.

As I was slowly working my way into position, I thought I heard something big in the woods, so I stopped and looked around for someone’s dog behind me.  There was nothing behind me, but across the creek from me was a massive whitetail.  I told a couple of my buddies later today that it looked big enough to pull Santa’s sled, and it had at least 10 points too.  I tried to take half a dozen pictures with my phone, but none of them were worth posting here, unfortunately.  On the walk out, I also spooked another smaller buck, so they added a little excitement to the final fishless half an hour.  Like I said above, if you had told me I would be happy to type Northampton County limestoner again this year, I would have called you a liar.  But after a mere 45 to 50 minute ride home, I was grateful for a few stolen—well, earned—hours of fishing today, regardless of where I was.

Stocker a long way from home.

October 11 and 19, 2019 – More Low Water, Boy in Waders – SEPA in Mid-October

Friday fall foliage and fickle trout.

I know if has been quiet on here for over a week.  I have been out twice, but there was not much to write about, just more of the same: busy with work and my own class and uninspiring conditions despite beautiful weather.  I fished the Bushkill on Friday, October 11 and barely avoided a skunk by landing one 8 inch wild brown.  I know I have written about how fickle the fish on that creek can be and how the good days make me doubly content.  I keep going back because of the challenge not because it is easy.  I also got a wet crotch, the seams on my Simms finally giving out, so it was an interesting day and not all that fun in retrospect.  I patched up a few spots, trying to avoid the long wait if I send them to Washington for repair, but I still had a damp crotch this afternoon when the boy and I quit, so I will be heading to TCO this week to ship them back.

The joys of wading.

Today was much more fun, though not any more productive.  The SEPA creeks that get a fall stocking have fish in them now, for the most part, so I took the boy out today to give them a shot with the fly rod.  My dad found him some waders that nearly fit, and I searched Amazon for some inexpensive felt-soled boots.  As you can see from the pics, the highlight for the boy was wading the creek, a joy I’d forgotten but vicariously relived on a beautiful Sunday afternoon on the Pennypack.  The park was loaded with people and dogs and fishermen, so the fish were skittish in low, clear water.  We did give the boy his first on the water fly fishing lessons, even if we landed no fish.  It is good to know they are in there, however.  I like to have some options for a couple stolen hours during the week.  Besides some grading and one meeting on Monday, I have most of next week open, and I will surely get my fix of fishing. For now, I pray for rain!

Having learned my lesson about the limitations of bootfoot waders last winter in State College, I decided to order a pair of replacement stocking foot waders using some LL Bean dividends.  They should arrive by Wednesday or Thursday this week.  It is always good to have a back-up pair, and the Bean’s will be covered for a year, even though they ceased honoring a lifetime replacement.  I have owned multiple pairs of the model I ordered, and the features and layers of material just slightly outpace the comparably priced Orvis Encounters (and I had some Bean bucks, as I mentioned above).  In the meantime, unlike the boy, I will not likely test my wading skills in any kind of depth unless totally dictated by the situation.  It would be nice to stand knee deep and chunk a streamer for some pre-spawn pigges, you know?  Rain, please.

October 8, 2019 – Well, That Didn’t Last All That Long – Valley Creek

It's been a while, Valley girl.

I have been waiting on a rain, a real rain, for too long.  It’s so bad that this morning I actually got excited enough at the sign of a spike on the Valley Creek gage, a spike to only 40 CFS from 18 CFS, mind you, that I suited up and took a ride over.  I knew it would not be streamer water, but I was hoping for a little more flow and even a hint of a stain that would allow me to nymph for a few hours close to home.  I left the house a little after 8 AM and hit the rush hour traffic, of course, but even with that I was suited up and fishing by 9 AM.  The creek flow looked just about normal, but thankfully there was a tinge to the deeper holes and runs that lasted a couple hours, at least.  It was one of those days where I could watch the creek recover in real time, it seemed.  By the time I quit at 1 PM and started walking back, the creek was clear and low again, but I did take advantage of the all too brief prime time, landing at least one solid fish for Valley, a few average fish, and over a handful of young of the year too.  It was cloudy and cool, slowing turning to breezy and bright, so it was just a nice day to be out.  Even when conditions got tough again, I kept fishing a while longer, grateful that I only had a 20 minute ride home.  I had to teach tonight, but I have not been to Valley since July 12, so one might say I also had to fish.

Every little bit of extra cover helps.

I began tossing the same bugs I had on when I left Northampton County last week, a purple hot spot jig in size 18 and a size 18 hare’s ear on the dropper above.  I landed one 7-incher on the hare’s ear before I swapped out the anchor for something a little heavier and brighter.  Noting that the water was not all that stained, instead of the dark hot spot, I went with a more natural and brighter frenchie on the dropper, and I kept the hare’s ear on until I also swapped that for a something caddis pupa-looking.  There was little bug life beyond midges, and no steady risers, but a few fish seemed to notice very small bugs, perhaps the midges or tiny olives.  Since I caught all my fish in the riffles, some fish in six inches of water right in the head of the riffles, I decided that I needed to get deep quickly.  The plan worked because I caught my best two fish on the frenchie within an hour of making the switch.  The first decent fish was about 10 inches long, but healthy and getting colored up for the fall.

Another pretty and pretty decent one.

My second decent fish, the one with which I opened this post and my best of the day, was closer to 12 inches and rather thick.  It too took the frenchie right in the riffles.  This one also happened to be tucked up under the cover of some branches.  A workable pattern establish—granted, the usual low water pattern minus a dry dropper, I guess—I quickly covered some water, targeting just the plunges and riffles with cover adjacent or within.  The little ones starting waking up as the front moved through and the day brightened, but because I was using a larger point fly, most came right off.  I landed and quickly returned at least three YOY that took the dropper, but I probably hooked and lost five more on the bottom fly as well. 

Count 'em?

I think I counted seven fish that were countable, so without the uber-dinks the action would have been pretty slow for more than 4 hours on the water.  As I mentioned, I did stay out for an extra unproductive hour just to enjoy the improving weather (for humans, not fish).  I also spent some time watching a couple larger fish mixing in with the suckers in two deep holes.  When the water gets low, depth is also cover, but I am not sure many of those fish are catchable without a hatch or dirtier water.  It is certainly beyond my skill set, so I don’t do much more than look at them.  As my last post stated, my short trips have been averaging an hour from home, so today was far from a bust.  I was very happy to get out for a while without the longer drive, especially since I have the boy off from school on Wednesday this week.  I am not as busy with meetings this week, so I will be watching the conditions for Friday and getting all my work done just in case it looks like go time.

A close-up to close?

October 3, 2019 – Rain Gear Was Donned, Fish Were Caught – Northampton County Limestoner

Still finding a few as the tougher conditions continue.

With Valley Creek so low and rain events so few and far, two or three creeks just under an hour from home have become my new Valleys this late summer and early fall.  On days when I only have a few hours to travel and fish—like today, when I had to be on an online conference at 3 PM and teach a class starting at 5:30 PM in the City—these creeks have filled a niche.  Granted, these are creeks I do normally fish several times a year, but I usually would not count them as places for short, “local” trips.  Case in point, I drove 45 minutes today to fish 3 hours, and then drove 45 minutes home.  The medium-sized limestoners in the Lehigh Valley, like this one, are holding up, even though they are far too low to be optimal, and I haven’t caught a fish over 12 inches since the good one from the Bushkill in September, I bet.  I have put a lot of stealth and gamesmanship into fooling some dink wild browns and some slightly less wary holdovers, so I was hoping to get a shot of rain today to make things easier, but although it was cloudy and drizzling, the conditions were not unlike the last few outings.  

A couple on the dropper, a couple on the point fly, none over 11 inches.

There was a chance that we could get .25 inches of rain or .10 inches of rain, but it seemed like we barely split the difference.  Friday may be better, but I have meetings all day, so good luck to those who can take advantage if the creeks get a little bump from any rain over night.  Valley went up all of 5 CFS and is back down as I write, so this was not the front to make an impact.  Hopeful but realistic, I was back to long leader, small bugs, and small stream sneaking again today.  I was throwing a size 18 jig with a purple hot spot on the anchor, and a couple fish took that, the others ate either of grubby hare’s ear or pheasant tail on the dropper, also size 18-ish.  No tricos today, not that I expected them, but I was hoping to step into a hatch of olives or midges.  It was rather dead on the bug front, unfortunately, so the fish I caught came from pockets, deep in the riffles, as they did the last time I was out.  This time, however, they were barely taking the flies, and I got hit without hooking up and lost a couple fish that were noncommittal, ironically, something that did not happen when I encountered hatches and bugs while out in high sun last week.

Only one bow today.

I planned to move through some riffles and runs rather quickly and maybe take a short drive to another creek if this one was dead, but when no rain of note fell while I was out, I just stuck around and worked the entire usually productive stretch.  I landed an 8 inch brown in the first half hour, and then I had a very quiet hour with maybe one half-assed hit.  I finally landed a couple 10 to 11 inch browns, and then a holdover rainbow, and then at least one more brown.  I counted 5 fish that actually made it to the net, but I lost at least one other small fish and, as I stated above, had a handful of frustratingly light hits.  On the walk back to the ‘Ru, I stopped at a favorite hole, much like I did last week, and fished it from a different bank and angle, but this time the plan did not add any more fish to the tally.  The time was approaching 12:30 PM, and I wanted to be on the road around 1 PM or sooner, so I just called it good—well, half-decent.   This week was really busy, I even had the boy home on Monday (and next Wednesday too), so I was content with just getting a fishing day on the books.  I hope that the weather pattern has changed for good now and that the rest of October is more eventful!  Man, at least this man, cannot live on Northampton County limestoners alone.

A pretty little thing.