January 6, 2020 – Why You Frontin’ On Me Like That? – Codorus Creek

A long, skinny, post-spawn hen that will likely be much more of a trophy come spring!

Two hours is a long ride for four fish, even with winter expectations.  I chose to visit the Codorus Trophy Trout section for only the second time ever today, and I had mixed results.  The first time I visited was two years ago, also in January, and I caught a decent number of mostly small fish after finding productive water.  When I reread the blog post from 2018, I noticed that I said I was not likely to return unless I was passing through for other reasons, but I guess I forgot.  I wanted to have a little more of an adventure today, since I am still off this week.  I also thought it was going to be a more conducive weather day.  I noted the milder air temps in the forecast while planning my trip, especially in contrast to midweek, but I did not drill down and learn that a front would push through.  I left the house about 8:30 AM in cloudy conditions, but as I crossed the Susquehanna River, I could see the edge of the sun and clouds meeting in the sky.  I had to take care of some work at a rest stop, and then I helped Tami with something on the phone at my eventual parking spot, so by the time I began fishing, the breeze starting picking up in blue bird skies.  I was also hampered by other fishermen in two other productive beats.  I drove past three good spots on the way in, and there were trucks at two of them.  In the sparse winter foliage, I could see two fishermen, one targeting the spot that made me want to return today to Codorus.

First and second cast curse....

Two years ago, it took me a couple hours to run into a friendly Codorus regular fishing a stretch of creek with deep pocket water, some the results of his TU chapter’s man-made improvements to the creek.  This is where I wanted to start, as it seemed to present my best chance at one of the eponymous “trophy trout,” but this is a small creek, and a fly guy was already working his way upstream through this beat.  Another guy with spinning gear was fishing another stretch where I actually caught fish last time.  Thankfully, I had at least one remaining good beat, so I drove back and parked there.  The water was a lot lower than the last time I was here, too, but there were plenty of newer log jams, so even in high sun I was confident that I could sneak around and coax a few out of hiding.  Perhaps I also had to contend with the first (and second) cast curse!  I landed two pretty little fish not 5 minutes into my day, and I landed a little better one about 15 minutes later.  I counted several redds throughout the course of the day that looked rather recently abandoned, which is great for the future population of the creek, so I took a lot of care wading around and spent a good deal of time not in the water at all.

The third in 15 minutes, and then wind....

Thirty minutes in, however, I was already dealing with gusts of wind, prompting me to change first to heavier bugs and a bit later to try both an Airlock indicator and then a pair of Palsa foam buttons when I realized the holes I remembered were not all that deep or bouncy in lower water.  It was a bit frustrating dealing with unexpected gusts up to 15 MPH, maybe more.  Had there been more water, I would have just thrown a small streamer and covered a lot of water.  I stuck with my plan, however, hoping the wind would settle eventually as the front passed.  The wind did calm down a good deal by 1 PM, so when I reached my parking spot again, I took a drive to see if I could fish one of the other beats.  Both fishermen were gone, so I chose the upper end near all the improvements.  I also tied on my hot fly of the week, perhaps the fall/winter season, what I have been calling the grubby caddis.  

The spot + signs in Sheetz country.

None of the man-made improvements produced fish, but I was fishing after another guy had worked through them, so maybe he did well!  I explored a lot further upstream than last visit, and I found a couple really nice looking holes with deeper runs.  I had one hit in a soft pocket tight to my side of a good deep(er) run, but I did not connect.  After going into the fields to bypass a long flat, I found a spot that had to hold a fish.  Current was pushing right into the roots of a tree and a deeper hole had formed in the eddy behind the roots.  Sure enough, the beautiful small stream fish that opens this post took the grubby caddis right in the bouncy water.  In trying to pull her to the back of the hole so as not to disturb any others up there, I actually spooked another decent sized fish that was chilling in the eddy, so that plan was a bust.  I just concentrated on landing the one I had on the line, a skinny wild brown about 15 inches long.

A little low today, but a lot of wood in the water.

After taking a picture, I released this post-spawn hen in good shape and climbed up the bank to skip another shallow flat.  Unfortunately, I ran into posted signs and a couple wires across the creek before I found the next honey hole, but it was pushing 2:30 PM anyway, and I wanted to leave before 3 PM if I could in order to beat some rush hour traffic through at least two urban centers along my return route.  I did give the really fishy looking beat close to my parking spot another shot, but I did not move any fish.  I spooked a little guy tucked up in the vegetation along the banks, so at least I know where some of them go when it is low and bright like today.  I was on the road for home by 2:50 PM, and I did get home in just under two hours, so at least one part of my plan today was solid.  Again, not sure I need to visit Codorus again, at least at this time of year and/or by itself—maybe a stop at Muddy Creek too next time?—but I did catch a few fish and one good one in challenging conditions.  I just hope I remember to read my own blog posts in two years when I am thinking about taking this long ride again.  And read the fine print on the weather forecasts!