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?