November 26, 2019 – Working Hard in Late November – Brodhead Creek

Jay and I took advantage of a mild, sunny fall day to fish the mighty Brodhead.  With all the rain during much of the prime season, the creek had been blown out as often as it had it been fishable this year, it seemed.  In fact, I don’t think I have been to the Brodhead, one of my true favorite places, since the last time Jay and I were here in June.  I knew it would be challenging, as it often is this time of year: big water, cold water, tougher wading made more perilous with cold air and water, fewer hatches, and so on.  I also liked the prospect of good flows for fall and fishing the second of a two day warm up, however.  I guess I just wanted an excuse to visit a few favorite spots, and I was grateful Jay was up for an all-day adventure in NEPA, especially on a Tuesday. 

A couple smaller wild browns on the golden stonefly

I met Jay after 8 AM at his house, and he drove the rest of the way up.  We were suited up at the first spot and fishing before 11 AM, even with weekday morning traffic.  There was no wind and plenty of sun, until we got into the gorge, where it stayed shaded and cold for a good hour.  We were both nymphing to start with a combination that included some big stoneflies.   I had a size 10 pheasant tail as an anchor fly with a golden stone on the dropper.  After working some slower seams and getting some really great drifts in some slower pockets, I had to pop on a bobber and fish some much slower, deeper water to get my first fish of the morning, a wild brown about 10 inches long.  Not long after, Jay landed a better wild brown on a walt’s worm deep on a drop off that I had mined thoroughly with no results, so we were both on the board.  I would like to say that it got silly after that but, don’t let the warmer weather fool you, it was still late-November in the Poconos!  Fish were caught, though.

Jay's plump wild brown.

Keeping the indicator on and fishing a slower pocket behind a massive boulder, I landed another small wild brown and a decent size holdover rainbow, one on the stone, the other on the pheasant tail.  The sun had warmed the valley a little bit by now, and some small bugs were hatching, so I worked again the run where Jay had success, while he tried the walt’s in the deep hole where I landed two.  I came up dry, but he had another hooked before we hiked out of this first spot.  I promised myself that I would bounce around to different spots today and not spend too much time anywhere that was not productive.  We spent just short of two hours hiking into and fishing this spot, but we did move a handful of fish, so I don’t think we stayed too long.

Bobber bow on a big pheasant tail jig in a deep, deep hole.

Following some snacks and water at the parking spot, we took a little drive to another spot upstream that is often productive.  I was hoping that if the wild browns were not active we could at least get Jay hooked into one of the freight train rainbows that sometimes thrive in this stretch.  I have landed half a dozen in the 16 to 17 inch range here.  They are not wild, but they look like it: perfect fins, deep colors, football shaped.  I believe they move up from a stocked section downstream or from private clubs upstream and thrive in the better conditions in this stretch.  My first fish at spot two was not one of those fish.  Again with the indicator and the golden stone on the dropper, I was able to reach over some heavy current and dig a smaller bow out of a deep eddy.  While trying to duplicate my success, I lost both of my flies to a deep, unseen snag.  Instead of immediately rigging up to nymph again, I tied on a big olive bugger and decided to shake things up if I could. 

A nice little piggy (maybe 17" we guessed) on the big olive bugger.

After a couple bumps, I had confidence that this might work!  I worked to get the bugger deep, casting upstream at nearly 9 o’clock and stack mending or throwing a couple upstream mends before letting it swing and slowly pulsing it back to me.  Prepared to lose the bugger deep, instead I landed one of those aforementioned bows.  This was the fish I wanted Jay to experience but, full disclosure, after the big bow saw me and took a second drag-peeling run, I was selfishly happy to tangle with him myself.  Jay graciously took a few photos with his camera, so we actually have a face shot this year, I am afraid!  We could not duplicate the success here, though I did have another fish come at the streamer on two consecutive casts and not fully commit.  Jay even worked the same stretch with the nymphs, but the short spurt of action died out, and we decided to head to spot three.  This was the hail mary, our attempt to beat up on fall stockies in town.

A couple other rainbows, including one hail mary fall stocker on the bugger.

Besides one other fly guy, we had the stretch to ourselves, but neither of us could dig one up with the nymphs.  We lost the sunlight too quickly, I felt, so while Jay stuck with the bigger bugs on the tight line, I gave the streamer another shot before the sun set and managed one last rainbow for an even 6 fish for the day.  Just over a half a dozen fish between us does not make for a banner day, especially when we were on the water for at least 5 fishing hours, 6 with all the walking and driving, but it was not a bad day for this time of year on a freestoner.  I was grateful that Jay humored my need to visit the Brodhead at least one more time in 2019 (and he drove!), and we could not have asked for a finer weather day to be outdoors and fishing.  I do owe Jay an easy, perhaps even silly, fishing day in 2020, though!

Jay in action.

November 19, 2019 – How a Fisherman Grieves for Another? – Berks County

Nicest one of the day.

I spent part of a bereavement day in fitting fashion today, logging about three hours on a Berks County creek that usually has more holdovers than wild fish.  I thought of this place this morning because it was one of the places I was going to take my dad this fall to give him a break from fall stockies and the chance at some more challenging and potentially fun fish.  Services are Wednesday and, since my dad was also a Marine, there is a military service in Washington’s Crossing on Thursday, so today seemed like a day I could grieve in my own way. I spent a lot of time at my mom’s house over the weekend, but I have had the flu or a bad cold too, so I stayed home on Monday to rest and catch up on work before all the mid-week events.  Obviously, neither grief nor illness has me bed-ridden, and it felt good to be outside on a lovely late fall day.

Small bugs, clear water, only one holdover.

I stuck a couple fish early, both of them wild, one a solid 13 or 14 inches, on a size 18 CDC jig with a purple hot spot, but I hung that in a tree shortly thereafter.  The water was very clear, even though flows were good, so all the fish came from spots tight to wood.  The leaves are all off the trees, however, which is nice.  I did not see much bug life, if any, so I retied with two natural-looking larvae, one lighter gray the other a darker pheasant tail color.  I was expecting to find holdovers, but of the six fish I landed, five of them were wild fish.  I only dropped one other fish, so the action was not red hot, but it was challenging and productive enough to keep me engaged for three hours of stalking and fishing.  Flooding has changed the course of the creek and has silted other once-deeper spots, so I moved through a lot of unproductive-looking water and then fished the productive spots with care and patience.  Patience on my part helps when fishing small bugs, even after a tuck cast.  

Pretty average.

Fish were still in bouncier water looking for caddis, I assume, as most took my anchor fly rolling on the bottom.  I tried to dredge one up in a couple go-to winter holes—even tied a midge off the bend of the anchor at one spot—but the fish are not in a winter pattern yet.  I did not spook any spawning fish, either, but I think the spawning in this watershed takes place in tributaries.  For what it’s worth, my choice of stream today took into consideration the avoidance of spawning fish, but I will take pretty wild fish instead of somewhat-improved stockies any day of week. 

Pretty below average.

I passed a couple unoccupied tree stands and skirted around one buck decomposing in 3 feet of water, and I also ran into a few more fresher looking posted signs, so I turned back a little before 2 PM.  I did try a midge in one deep hole, but came up empty, so I resisted the urge at one other spot on the way back downstream, opting instead to beat rush hour traffic back home.  Wednesday and Thursday might be tough days, certainly long days, so I was glad I got out to clear my head and lungs today.

November, 14, 2019 - Rest in Peace Joey

I lost my first (well, second after Wardman) fishing partner on November 14, 2019.  He was also my dad.  He was only 72, so he had a lot of fishing days left in him, but he went the way he wanted to go, suddenly at home, not after any prolonged illness or suffering.  I guess the euro-nymphing master class will have to wait, but I am glad I got the fly rod in his hand this year.  I will slay many a stockie in his honor next spring.  Hell, I may even soak a chunk this fall.

November 3, 2019 – Not the Day We Expected, But Not for Lack of Effort – SEPA Tributary

The Silver Fox in action on a very challenging day.

One of us is bad luck.  Last Sunday, Tom H. and I nearly floated away on Valley during a flash flood, and this morning we drove to a usually productive blue line and ended up with just over half a dozen uber-dinks.  When we last fished this tiny creek together in late May of this year, we had a blast on wild browns and native brookies up to 11 inches.  Today, as the collage below shows, only the babes felt the need to eat.  The flow was up a bit, but not in a bad way, but there were no bugs present until later in the afternoon.  Even then, I had one tan caddis land on my shirt sleeve and saw a couple size 20 olives.  I think the combination of high pressure and two nights of frost had the most to do with our lack of success, however.  The water got much colder pretty quickly.  We saw no redds in the area we fished, but that does not mean that many of the adults have moved to spawning areas.  Theories abound when one is not catching fish.  We gave it a good 5 hours, hoping a warm up might spark some action or some bugs, but despite out best efforts, the fish kept their distance.  We even tried to move something with small buggers, but saw very few fish that we did not catch.  One of us is bad luck, but both of us fished on a crisp, fall weekend morning, so it was not all bad.

Tough day when I have to photograph parr!

November 1, 2019 – I Got Greedy and Went Back with a Streamer – Valley Creek

Greedy payoff.

The last day of October, outing 71 of 2019, was an excellent fishing day on Valley Creek.  My only regret was that I did not put my streamer rod in the car.  Of course, there was no guarantee that yesterday would have been an exceptional streamer day, since it was in fact an exceptional nymphing day, but there were just a few spots that I nymphed yesterday where just knew a monster had to live, and my right arm ached to toss a streamer.  Last night was a mess weather-wise, with tornadoes nearby taking out trees and powerlines, so I was not hopeful about fishing today.  In fact, I proposed chasing stockies today at the Tully to my dad last night since it looked like the lake was holding back the crazy flows of other creeks.  I did not check this morning to see if that were still true, but I did have to check on Valley.  How happy was I to see 100 CFS and falling fast?  My dad was tired and so declined my offer in the morning, so I took my time and finished some reading and had my second cup of coffee, but I was tossing a bugger on Valley by 11 AM.

A bit too dirty to start, but things eventually got good.

Things started out slowly since the water was just a tad too high to start.  I experimented with different colors and sizes of streamer, and I finally started getting bumps on a small black leech about 45 minutes into the trip.  The first fish I landed after a couple that took one jump and got off took the black leech, but I did witness some others roll on it—which can be a sign they don’t want to eat it, just want it out of their territory.  To sweeten the pot, I guess, I found a black crystal bugger that I thought might pick up a bit more of the sunlight and also had a bushier profile that might move more water.  It was small, so I pinched a good size split shot ahead of the bead too.  In dirty water, pretty is not a prerequisite for effective rigging.  That was the ticket.

Presentation does not have to be pretty in dirty water, just effective.

Casting across to let the bugger get down, and then slowly pulsing the swing was met with a lot more enthusiasm during my second hour on the water.  In that time, covering 500 yards of water, I moved, hooked, jumped, and landed over a dozen decent trout.  By all accounts, streamer fishing can be a 50/50 proposition.  Part of the excitement is not only the ones you land but also the fish you see, and batting .500 is not uncommon.  After landing a couple fat 12-inch fish, and losing a gorgeous male that was an angry 14, maybe more, I wanted to see a really good one.  Inching my way in the right direction, I landed a couple 14 inch fish, including a perfect pre-spawn male.  Using a stouter rod and 10 lb. test, I tend to muscle the fish a bit more, quickly landing and releasing them.  I took my time with this one, just so I was sure to net it and get at least one good picture of a nicer fish.

Fruits of improving conditions.

As sometimes happens, I began to see the creek clearing up.  Fish may have been up in the cleaner riffles now taking nymphs, and a definitely saw a few little guys noticing a hatch of olives on the surface.  Like yesterday, though, I chose only one weapon in the garage this morning, so there was no going back to the car for a nymphing rod. Instead, I worked some deeper, still muddy holes, especially around down trees, and I landed at least three more nice 11 to 12 inch fish in the slower holes too.  As it approached 1:30 PM, I started seeing a few other guys coming out to fish the dropping water, so I turned back.  I could have quit and been happy, but twice on the walk back I gave into the nagging feeling that I experienced yesterday as I walked by (big) fishy lies.  Now rigged with a streamer that was regularly getting noticed and eaten, as I approached for the second time one of those too-perfect spots, I just had to give it a shot.  Man, was I glad I was feeling greedy today!

At least 8 + 8 and a solid fish.

The two photos, above and below, and the one that opens this post, are of the fish that made my stop worth it.  I quickly and efficiently wrestled this beautiful fish out of a deep and bouncy log jam with the help of 10 lb. fluorocarbon, and the measure net had him just over 16 inches and beefy, just a perfect wild brown trout.  I did miss one other and catch one more nice fish at another too-perfect spot that did not show me any love on the way downstream, but this 16 inch fish was the kicker, so the last fish did feel gratuitous.  It could have gone either way today, and I don’t always benefit from being greedy after an exceptional day, especially returning to the same creek (though a different stretch of Valley today) but thankfully it all worked out.

The kicker on a second fine day in a row on Valley Creek.