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?