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.