February 27, 2020 – Gimme Shelter (Reprise) – Valley Creek

Mmm... chocolaty.  

I fish on weekdays a lot, but like any weekend warrior, I also must fish when I can fish.  To that end, I have logged a few trips early in this young year that were not on the best fishing days, even though the preceding days were probably cash money!  I had a busy week and couldn’t fish on a couple warm, calm, even rainy days, but I was able to get out and fish the high water on Valley today.  I left early for a winter morning, so I was fishing by 8:30 AM.  Hopes were high, despite signs it might be tough fishing.  The flows were around 100 CFS and falling, but I was also dealing with cold front conditions.  The high pressure had the fish acting a bit off.  The wind was blowing at least 25 MPH at times, too.  In the first 90 minutes, I had nothing but rolling fish, and not many, and most of them were small.  I was 1 for 5 in the first two hours, landing one 9 incher on a bugger.  I am used to batting 500 with a streamer, but this was a lot tougher than that.  In a prime hole where I know a good one often frequents, I had my first solid grab, but I did not get the hooks in the fish.  That was the moment when tossing a big bugger for a long time with nothing to show for it was destined to pay off on a more charmed day.  Not today.  It certainly felt good and then felt disappointing when my strip set hooked nothing but muddy water.  Shortly thereafter, I rolled a 12 or 13 incher on the surface, but that fish never came back either.

Big meal for average fish.

Even though flows were dropping, the creek seemed to stay turbid for longer than usual today, and leaf litter and other debris was blowing into the creek.  I figured I had lived by the streamer and died by the streamer long enough, so I took a page from Sunday’s book and cut back my streamer leader, added a tippet ring and some 4X, and set out to catch a few fish before I had to quit and go teach in the evening.  It was tough, but I managed a couple little guys on a pink SJ worm on the dropper while mining a deep hole with a bobber.  I also picked up a couple others tightlining two high percentage pockets with a bigger jig fly.  The best fish was all of 11 inches and skinny, but she had beautiful dark colors from hanging near wood.  I was most happy that I landed a decent Valley fish with my sighter-less leader on a 9 foot rod, like back in the "old days"!

Long, skinny, pretty.

More disappointment as I started my hike back to the ‘Ru: I watched a handful of fish start rising at different spots along the way.  It took all my willpower to keep walking.  I had to be online at 2 PM for a conference and then drive to the city for an evening class, so I couldn’t make my life too difficult.  The water where I fished earlier in the morning looked a more productive color too, but I had to be content with the fishing conditions I had been given in my short window.  Had that good, heavy grab resulted in a big fish, this would have been a different post, of course, a post about how I made all the right moves.  It is good to have these tough, humbling days to puzzle out.  I caught a half a dozen fish on trip 17 or 18 of the young season, and I wasn’t late for any of my obligations, so I can live with that.

February 23, 2020 – Blue-lining Eric’s Childhood Homestead – SEPA freestoner

Back in his old stomping grounds.

Eric and I have been talking about fishing this little creek in SEPA for a couple years, and we finally decided to do it on a cold morning in February.  He grew up in farm country, and it sounds like he enjoyed a level of free-range childhood.  He is only in his mid-30s, so the idea of a free-range millennial is rather impressive and explains a lot about his personality and many hobbies and interests.  Fly fishing is one of them, but as a kid he used to get dropped off in the woods and fish this creek for trout with gear.   One issue with some of these blue lines near civilization is that the landowners are very smart about triaging the use of posted signs, usually right where someone would need to park legally to access, even if much of the area is not posted.  This creek is known, this watershed having been assessed for wild fish some years back, but access is very limited.  Since his family is still in the area and knows many of the landowners, Eric was aware of two places where we could park legally and gain access, so we met around 6 AM and were situated, suited up, and bushwhacking by 7 AM.  Besides a couple deer trails to help the cause, there were few if any signs of activity in the first stretch, but we tried to penetrate a good distance into the woods in order to see as much of the creek as possible in our short window this morning.

It was 26 degrees when we left our neighborhood, so I am sure it did not get warmer as we drove north and west.  It was mild on Saturday, and I knew it was going to get milder today, but the clear skies and slight breeze allowed the overnight temps to really come down.  After landing our first of two wild browns, I took a water temp reading, a good one where the thermometer sat in the water a long time while Eric fished a prime hole, and it read a whopping 37 degrees.  Not surprising, then, it took until about 10 AM to start seeing bugs and to land our only two fish.  We explored two stretches of creek, one much fishier looking than the other, but even the second stretch had some impressive log jams and holes where there would surely be fish. It had a been a while since Eric explored this area, so his memory was foggy, and I had no clue what to expect in terms of creek and cover.  I thought small and flat, which it was in some spots, so I had a dry dropper on my 8-foot 3 weight.  The first stretch has some nice pocket water, plunges, and deep runs with undercut banks—a mountain freestoner in many respects—so I was really missing my 10-foot nymphing rod at home in the garage. 

We were very happy to see this little fella.

Eric was the first to switch to a pair of nymphs under an indicator, but I eventually followed suit.  One smart thing I did, however, was cut my tapered leader back, tie on a tippet ring, and then just added a depth-appropriate flat length of 5X tippet.  I say smart because by leaving a visible loose tag on the tippet ring knot, and heavier leader that I could also see, I was able to remove the bobber when it would get in the way.  I caught our first fish tightline nymphing with this makeshift sighter set up.  It was a nice 8 or 9 incher, so we were pretty excited at our success.  It is one thing to read that the watershed has wild fish but another altogether finding them the first time.  We knew from our walk in that there were a few other spots like this one upstream, so we moved a little faster now and just targeted these prime spots like deep bend pools, log jams, and undercuts.  It was Eric’s turn to catch one, so I hung back, but after he broke off one of his nymphs, he invited me into a sweet looking spot, and of course I landed the best of the day….  This was a plump, healthy 11-inch fish, too!  Despite me hanging back the rest of the trip, we could not put Eric on a fish, but we did explore a lot and will be back with a lot more intelligence than we had this time.  Eric had to settle for a nice walk, a fresh antler shed, and a hug from Mom and Dad before we left for home.  We both enjoyed a couple fosnots, PA Dutch potato doughnuts, fresh from his mom’s oven, so things could have been a lot worse!

Bad lighting, but not a bad fish!

February 19, 2020 – Gimme Shelter – Berks County

Nice color and flows.  Small fish.

Another cold front came through early this morning, so by the time I got out of Montgomery County, the wind was blowing about 15 with gusts to 25.  I had a couple ideas about where to go this morning to take advantage of the last milder day until the weekend, but it eventually came down to selecting somewhere that might give me a place to hide from the wind.  I ended up at a favorite little tributary in Berks County, a creek about 15 feet wide with some cover, but even then it became clear that today was not a Czech nymphing kind day.  I was hoping to see signs of little black stoneflies, but besides an isolated BWO, it was all midges in the air today.  Using a pair of small bugs under an indicator was the way to go, and I ended up have a mildly successful day.  No real solid fish—a 10, an 11—and one of my go-to spots gave up nothing, but I landed at least a dozen wild browns and half a dozen fallfish in just under 4 hours on the water.  I was cursing the wind at times, and a bobber in the wind at times, but I made the most of a challenging day, even moving a good one and landing an average one on a streamer near the end of the afternoon.  I am sure I got some color from the wind and sun too.

I usually scare up a few more this size here, but the wind was brutal.

The wind was blowing when I arrived mid-morning, so I wished I had chosen a stretch of the creek with more twists and turns, but I also had confidence that I could make it work.  With the high sun and debris getting blown into the water, I figured fish would be spooky but less so than on a calm day.  Since this creek is mostly a freestoner, the flows and color were still good from the last rain events.  I bushwhacked my way below the first good hole and took my time creeping up to fish the deeper parts of the tailout.  Gusts of wind were having a time with my 3-weight floating line and the 10-foot wand in my hand, but at least I had little fear that an indicator splashdown would spook the fish.  Assuming that stoneflies had been crawling their way out for a few days, I had a dark size 16 CDC jig on the dropper above a sparse hot spot frenchie that would hopefully get both bugs down quickly, even in the wind.  I few tentative attempts to tightline an undercut bank before I got to the meat of this hole reaffirmed my assessment that it would be a bobber day.  It’s a catch 22, however.  Even a small bobber in the wind, the smallest Airlock, for example, can act like a balloon or kite and magnify tangles to epic proportions.  Get distracted for a second releasing a fish, and a spider web of 5X might await your return.  It happened twice today, and I almost switched to drop-shotting small bugs, but I can rig up fast enough (even in the frigging wind!) that I have learned to cut off the flies quickly and start fresh.

Little bugs.

My stealth and choice of bugs paid dividends at the first spot, and I landed three decent wild browns up to 10 inches and a couple wild fallfish on the dropper within the first 15 minutes on the water.  I had a heck of a time trying to fish the next usually productive spot on this beat, a deadfall with a deep pocket behind it.  Even without the indicator, the wind played havoc with my casts, which needed to be very precise to avoid branches above, below, and within.  I miffed one hookset trying to fish the bow in the line before a gust dragged the bugs out of the zone, and then I decided to move on to a big flat hole with plenty of room to cast.  I would actually catch a handful of fish here the first time through, and even two more to close out the trip (3 if you count an 11-inch fallfish) on the way back down.  I was a bit sheltered from the wind here too, so even though it was slow, watching-a-bobber-barely-move-on-a-take, kind of fishing, it was productive enough that I stuck with it for a while (twice).  

The average, but plenty of them today.

After cutting and retying following an epic tangle, I landed my best fish of the day at the next deep run.  I believe this fish took the grubby caddis that was my new point fly too.  After landing a bunch of 7 to 9 inchers, this 11-inch leaper was a welcomed addition.  I landed a few other fish here, including more chubs, but I had my eyes on the last two holes before the end of the line.  Before getting to these two plunge pools, I landed a couple little ones along a down tree—I landed one on the streamer in this same spot on the way back—and a couple more in a small pocket with an undercut bank nearby.  Now that I am doing math, I guess I landed more than a dozen fish!  Unfortunately, my penultimate hotspot had a new big branch spread across the head of the run, so it was not easy to get my bugs deep enough.  Once again, I missed a fish after removing the indicator and “tightlining” with the bow in the line.  The last stretch was a straight shot, so even with trees on both sides, there was nothing between me and a steady wind and gusts to 25 MPH.  If I did not have my eyes on my honey hole upstream, I may have turned back sooner to fish again the sheltered bend pool where I had the most consistent action.

One aggressive little fella.

I was disappointed in the last spot, especially since it is the place where I usually do the best, at least in terms of size.  It is a plunge pool below a place where two braids of the creek merge again.  Tightline nymphing is the call here usually because the bugs need to get deep quickly and a long drift usually means snag city on the rip rap and boulders.  Well, we established that this was not an easy proposition today.  After breaking a fish off on the CDC dropper, I tried to dropshot the caddis, but I eventually snagged and broke that off.  I tied on a black bugger, in part to have something on my line for the hook keeper on the walk downstream, but I did fish it a minute before turning back.  I had a bump on the swing and got a plump 12 incher to follow and almost commit, too!  Before ending the trip with a couple more at the bend pool, I did catch an aggressive 9 incher on the streamer, but he was the only one to eat, so it was hardly an emerging pattern.  Equal parts fun, frustrating, challenging, and disappointing today.  Fishing.

February 17, 2020 – Changed It Up for a Couple Hours – Valley Creek

Nice day for humans and small trout.

I am sticking to my theory that spring is at least two weeks ahead of schedule.   If I am correct, we ought to see crocuses and other early flowers any day now.  Along with midges, the blue winged olives are getting trout to notice, and some of the bugs are not tiny winter bugs but a spring size brood.  Early black stoneflies are probably happening somewhere too (maybe Wednesday, I hope).  Today was not a great weather day for olives, but some were still moving about in the upper reaches of Valley.  Today was a great weather day for humans, however, and a day off for many, so I joined the forest bathers midday for a couple hours of sneaking around with a dry dropper.  There were plenty of young families and dog walkers out, but I was the only fisherman, which was nice because water was low and clear, and the sun was high.

A trophy for today.

For the first time in a while, I grabbed my 8’ 3 wt. rod in the garage and rigged up with a parachute (for my old eyes) BWO with a size 18 zebra midge dropped below it a couple feet.  I only hooked two uber dinks on the dry, but I landed a bunch more on the zebra midge dropper and later a perdigon—which accounted for the two “largest” fish.  If I counted everything from 6 inches up to 11 inches, I would guess I landed 10 fish in a couple hours, but I also turned, hooked, jumped a bunch of really, really small fish too.  That is one of the hazards of fishing small bugs and fishing headwaters.  It was a fun challenge, though.  As I mentioned, the water was low and clear, the creek only 5 feet wide in spots, and the lack of foliage and high sun meant a lot crouching and kneeling.  Even then, I spooked plenty of fish just telegraphing my approach along soggy banks.  What I didn’t spook, some dogs off lease probably scared before I got there.

Lots of little ones on the midge.

I took a good walk when I arrived to put some distance between me and the other visitors to the park.  The woods were still wet with run-off, but the water was crystal clear, so it was easy to spot trout and suckers spooking.  To minimize that a bit, I bushwhacked away from the worn paths above places where I wanted to sneak in and fish.  That seemed to work out, and I didn’t break a rod or lose a net or anything too inconvenient besides the usual fly caught in vines or hat knocked askew.  For the next couple of hours, I had a steady pick of fish or misses.  As I started noticing more bugs, including the olives, I also noticed a couple larger fish suspending up in the back of deeper holes and runs, likely looking for emergers.  Quarters were tight, so I miffed the hookset on one decent fish that looked at least 12 inches long.  You would think that with a size 16 dry as an indicator that a take would be pretty easy to detect, but a couple times I just saw fish turn or a flash of mouth.  That was the case here, I should have reacted to the fish not the dry because I was a half a second too late.  Thankfully, I barely moved the fish, and he didn’t spook. 

Pretty, small fish.

I stepped back and allowed the hole to clear a little while I lengthened my dropper and added a slightly heavier perdigon to replace the zebra midge.  I was not positive that this fish would hit again, but I thought I saw a couple other respectable ones hovering off the bottom too.  After selectively (even responsibly) pruning one ill-placed branch, I lobbed another cast into the same run and finally hooked a respectable fish.  Stripping madly and minding the overhead branches, I was even treated to two or three leaps.  The fish was skinny but a good 11 inches long, so I was happy to see her.  With the exception of one other, about 8 inches and a tad plumper, I finished out the afternoon with more micro trout, but it was a short, fun outing on a nice afternoon close to home.  I may venture a little farther away on Wednesday before cold returns.

February 12, 2020 – We All Pretended It Was Spring – Northampton County Limestoner

A lot of cropping to salvage a shot or two today.

I caught eleven decent small stream fish today in under four hours of fishing, and most of them were set up and actively feeding in riffles and pocket water.  I caught my first fish in a deep hole under an indicator, and I caught my best fish of the day the same way, but the other nine were nymphed up on a short, tight line.  The water was a click colder than it would be in April, but after the rain earlier this week, flows were up and the creek was off-color.  Like a spring morning in similar conditions, most of the fish were sitting in the riffles and runs where the color was clearing, and they actively met bigger bugs and fought hard.  There were a few less jumps, perhaps, and the trout were a hair deeper and yard further back from the heads of pools, but I rarely felt like I was winter fishing today, and I liked it!  Heck, even the geese are pairing up and getting territorial.  I know the cold is returning soon, but ready or not, I do expect an early spring this year.  It felt like things turned a corner last week, in fact.  Bigger, post-spawn fish were where they should be and eating.  An active streamer moved a lot of fish.  Just a growing collection of small signs are pointing towards winter’s speedy demise.

No foliage, but it still felt springy to the fish, the geese, and me.

I left the house about 9 AM today, after the rush hour traffic died down, and I was probably fishing by 10:15 AM.  The air temps were barely into the 40s when I began, so I planned to sneak into a deep hole and try to find a couple with the indicator.  I had a hot spot frenchie on the point and a much smaller pheasant tail on the dropper, and my first fish of the morning ate the little pt in the deepest spot in the hole, where a big brown (or bigger sucker) should have been, at least in the winter.  Instead, this first fish may have been the smallest of the trip.  It was good to get one so quickly, however. 

A couple on an 18 pt but frenchie won.

I had no more takers before I muddied up the back eddy of this hole too much, so I kept the bobber on and moved upstream to the next deep run.  The flows were still up enough here that I quickly realized the bobber was not needed.  I just inched up a couple steps at a time and thoroughly tightlline nymphed all the potential holding spots until I reached the head.  At least six more fish, including a nice 14 inch hen, cooperated here.  As I stated above, they were hanging in the current, looking to eat, and they were a lot of fun once hooked.  All but one took the size 14 frenchie, too.  They were hungry.  I was secretly hoping for an even better fish, as I have landed a couple in the 16 inch range in this very run, but that is what will bring me back again to this spot in the real spring.  After exhausting this run, I skipped a few long flats that just looked muddy and not too exciting today and headed for the next set of runs and pocket water upstream.  

A couple pretty ones.

I landed another good small stream fish here about 11 inches long and a couple other average fish, all of them in just slightly softer and deeper water than where they would be hanging in the spring, but still actively taking the larger frenchie in bouncy water.  Fishing was good enough that I was trying to keep count, and I knew I was close to 9 or 10 fish within the first 90 minutes on the water.  I had one last hole before I ran into a long stretch of frog water above a dam, and it was a deep hole.  I popped on the indicator again and lobbed a few casts into the deep, and I eventually came tight my best of the day here.

Thumb.  Phone upside down?

The pics leave something to be desired (respect the blur of my thumb on the one here that actually has him nearly square to the lens) but this male was a hot fish and probably even a bit longer than the hen I caught earlier in the day—so maybe 15 to her 14 inches.  I would like to say that I caught 6 more at this hole, but I only caught one more 10 incher before I turned back.  I was hopeful that some pocket water below my parking spot would pay off.  I did not head that way in the morning, opting to target more winter friendly holes, because I was not expecting fish to be in riffles and runs.  The water certainly looked fishy here, but I worked it thoroughly and moved nothing.

A little bigger and angrier than the hen below.

The difference here, no doubt, was a lack of depth.  There are also fewer places to hide out of the current, unless the fish tuck up under brush along the bank.  Spring is on the way, but it is not here yet.  I continued to work upstream, but a bit more quickly through the shallower riffles.  A spot I was counting on holding at least one more fish gave up nothing, but I did pick up another 10 incher hiding on a soft edge behind a gravel bar in a spot where I have not caught fish before, so that was something.  The first two hours were really productive, but the last 90 minutes, not so much.  Clouds were increasing, so perhaps the approaching front ended the party just as it was getting started.  I decided to fish the first hole where I began, which usually gives up more than one small fish, one last time before I left for home.  It was nearly 2 PM, so I was not going to drive to another spot.  My quest for an even dozen fell short, but before it fizzled out today was an enjoyable preview of the coming spring.  I could do without the territorial geese, but I am ready otherwise.

Long skinny female.  Had the blue eye spot but oddly spotted.

February 6, 2020 – Another Small Window, Another Big Trout – Valley Creek

VC-PBR-U?  The Valley Creek PB runner-up (with battle scars).  

I guess even charts and graphs in the right context can be sexy?  The gage at Valley would not be ignored today.  Fishing was in the back of my mind this morning, but I also needed to get some grading and writing done, and I had a haircut appointment with my boy Bucci at 10 AM.  I also teach on Thursday evenings.  In other words, the window of opportunity today was as small as it was yesterday when I chased some local stockies for a minute.  I ignored the USGS website until I got back from getting a fresh cut, and I even ate breakfast before I clicked on the WaterWatch map in the vicinity of Valley Creek.  Dammit.  Too good to disregard.   In fact, it was right on the cusp between streamer water and really great nymphing water.  I dressed in the garage in case it was raining again by the time I arrived, and I only grabbed my streamer rod. 

Not blown out, but good, stained flows.

The water was clearing in the shallower riffles, but the holes and deeper runs remained stained.  I started out tossing a big olive bugger, about 3 inches long, probably a size 4.  I guess I was looking for a good one with my 5/6 weight and 10lb fluorocarbon tippet too.  I had positive reinforcement early on, moving a couple smaller fish.  I also landed a decent 12 or 13 incher at the second prime spot I targeted.  For about 30 minutes after that, however, I only moved little fish, and none of them committed.  I actually switched twice to a smaller olive bugger and even black.  Doubt sometimes creeps in for a minute.  Part of me wants to catch fish, even if they are small, and part of me trusts the process.  The latter won out after the brief detour, and I dug around for an even bigger and bushier olive bugger.  The conditions were still too good to rule out a big trout coming out to play.  I continued to move quickly upstream, targeting spots where I knew or expected a good fish or two to be. 

Trusted the process (and the added split shot).

The spot where I landed my Valley Creek personal best did not produce today, but it looked really good.  The next hole upstream also had the same stain and good flows, so I remained hopeful and stuck to the plan.  The last time I fished Valley in this section, I saw a very large brown just resting near the bottom of this same hole, looking post-spawn tired.  I kept that thought present as I stalked around the hole and tried not to further muddy the back eddies.  Not the pig I was looking for, but another decent fish hit the big bugger at the head of this hole.  This one was also over 12 inches.  For the next couple of casts, I really tried to get the bugger deep, doing an upstream mend, even stack mending before the line swung past me. 

A bit blurry, but shows the girth.

Now confident I was getting the streamer deep, I began to fish the hole thoroughly, hoping to work from head to tail.  I didn’t get far into my plan before my slow, erratic strips were met with a strong thud.  I set the hook well and was tight to a good fish.  When this thing turned the first time, and I saw his head, he looked enormous!   I was honestly thinking he was bigger than my previous Valley PB, but as the photos reveal he was mostly head and jaws!  That happens to fish who have expended a lot of energy making babies.  Unlike humans, trout seem to shed weight in the winter and fatten up the rest of the year.  Still, this fish was a pig for Valley.  I don’t know what the term would be for Valley personal best runner-up, but I think this is the one.  No measure net, not even my deeper, bigger net, so I had to do a hand-measure of him and a quick release.  I am confident that he was over 18 inches, but probably not 19 or 20 inches, even though the blurry shot above of him in my hand makes him look huge to me.  I caught and actually measured an 18 at Saucon last month that was half the girth of this piggie, so length is only half of the equation.  I had my moments of doubt, but I trusted the process and landed a great fish during a near-perfect 90-minute window.

February 5, 2020 – Gave the Fall Stockies a Go – SEPA Freestoner

You are killing me smalls....

I spent about 90 minutes fishing a local freestoner that gets a club stocking in the fall.  I fished it in late December with nearly identical results: three very small rainbows.  They are prettier and maybe fatter now from midging to their heart’s content, but only time adds length.  I got one fish tightline nymphing pocket water, which was fun, and I actually broke one off while dropping a midge under a dry fly—I am thinking my 6X was from my dad’s pack and had probably gone bad.  There was a small pod of risers, with one confirmed trout in the mix, but he did not take the dry.  I broke him off on the hook set, and then put the others down.  I did manage to get another in the same deep hole suspending a small pheasant tail under a bobber.  The hits were barely there, so it was good practice even if the fish were dinks.  

Midging up suckers.

I am most proud of the two suckers I also landed.  Talk about subtle hits there!  The one was a good 15 inches, I bet, and gave me a brief but fun fight.  The second sucker was about as big as the trout, and it caught the attention of one of the bald eagles, who no doubt love them some suckers (and small trout).  It was barely 40 degrees, but the day started out around the same temperature, so minus a slight north breeze it was a good winter day to be out.  I was not alone.  I recognized the car of one Chris H. in the lot as I was leaving.  All the fly fishing stickers give him away.  I did not run into him on the water, but when I texted him, he said he also got into a handful of fish.  Big rains coming, but I will watch the gages for a streamer window on Thursday or Friday.  I have class on Thursday and a couple meetings on Friday, but I am thinking that I can sneak in another 90 minutes if conditions look too good to pass up.

The one I am most proud of, wild too....