March 31, 2020 – Respecting the Social Distancing and Working Online Takes More Time – Northampton County Limestoner

Cold today, but good flows.

I am in this weird position where it feels like friends like Eric and Tom, young Kenny, are getting out to fish more than me.  I am usually the guy harassing you with a mid-week photo of a nice wild brown, not the other way around!  Nothing too abnormal in the grand scheme of things, but last week was just one of those weeks where I was very busy with work.  I had a bunch of online meetings, at least two online office hours for my students, a couple online classes for work, and even a long one for my own poetry class for my MFA program.  The conferences are not bad, and I teach online a lot, so I am comfortable with all the time on camera.  However, I usually teach two classes on campus and only one online because the online takes up more time.  Anything “live” tends to happen on weekends to accommodate working adults’ schedules, and writing responses to everything, not having a conversation, takes more time too.   Taking my MFA class online has given me a more empathetic stance towards my own online students, so silver lining?  For the last week or more, I have been the guy responding with encouraging texts to my fishing friends, but this week I was able to restore the balance a little bit.  I expect that to continue.

Thick, ornery small stream fish.

Tom invited me to Valley and Eric to Pickering in recent days, but I was both busy and not too keen on fishing popular destinations.  My TU chapter stocked a local creek too, and I see the sense in staying close to home, but I also lean towards choosing fishing spots at this time where I am not likely to see a half a dozen other dudes.  I drove 45 minutes today, and 45 minutes back, to fish for two hours, but it was worth it.  Besides some families of walkers and bikers, I had the creek to myself and caught some nice wild browns.  I nymphed one 500-yard stretch of pocket water with the mono rig and landed 4 decent fish.  The most memorable was a thick brown over 13 inches long that made me go after him in the slightly heavier post-rain flows.  The slight stain also allowed me to sneak up on the usually skittish fish here, and this one was sitting in the pillow in front of a mid-riffle boulder—just a lot of fun to see the take and fight a good one in the current!  I had an audience from across the creek of about 6 people, like 3 generations of the same family, two dogs, so I am glad I didn’t mess it up.  I held the fish up to one very interested son before I let the fish go, and the dad said, You made my day!  That one fish made my day too.

Another decent one, this one over 11 inches and beautiful.

March 22, 2020 – Sort of Broke the Seal on the 2020 Striped Bass Season – Ocean County

Was it?  Nope.

I was hoping to get out with Dolf and Jeff this past Saturday to change it up and fish for early season striped bass.  I had an online meeting come up for Saturday, and then Dolf ended up having to take a work conference call on Sunday, but Jeff was on the line for a ton of pricey bloodworms and even some salted clam.  Jeff’s enthusiasm is infectious, so I had no choice but to man up and meet him on the bay in Ocean County to soak some bloods.  Tide and sunrise were a potentially effective pairing, but it was cold, so the water was probably colder too.  On warmer days this week, especially with clouds, flurries of shorts were being pulled up the sods, some up to 24 inches—one old timer got a 24 a on shad on Saturday while I worked!  We were out on the point before sunrise on a beautiful and calm morning, perhaps too calm and beautiful for the entire incoming tide, in fact.  That changed by 9:30 AM, however. 

Pricey skunk too!

It felt eerily quiet out there.  As I mentioned, Jeff secured bait on Friday close to his home, but the bait shop up the road that supports this fishery closed on Saturday.  The Gov wanted enforced social distancing, so this helped for sure. There were 10 rods instead of 30 out there.  All ten remained angled at 45 degrees into the wind, that angle never changing for 3+ hours.  A front chased all of us off the sods, too.  It was cold and still to start, but we could see the clouds coming from behind us.  When the front arrived, it came with sleet, rain, and wind.  Since no one out there caught a fish or even reacted to a bite, it seemed crazy to remain standing out there for long.  Jeff and I enjoyed talking fishing and smack about Dolf, his brother in law and my longtime friend.  Since even Wawa was counting heads as they entered the stores, breakfast and coffee was out, so we just bumped elbows and said our adieus about 10:30 AM, logging our first bass skunk of the year.  Don’t worry, there are always more when it comes to bass!

Would not have seen this from bed, however.

March 20, 2020 – Another Successful Day with the Mono Rig – Saucon Creek

At least four plumpers in the mix.

I left the house a little before 9 AM this morning and headed towards Bethlehem, unsure of which Lehigh Valley limestoner I would target.  I figured the rain would have the Bushkill running high, and the Monocacy stays dirty longer than the Saucon.  Saucon is also under an hour from home, so I headed there first, figuring I had the day and could jump around if I had to.  It was foggy and cloudy on the ride up, and it stayed that way most of the morning and early afternoon.  I even got rained on for a while.  Honestly, I almost turned around and headed elsewhere when I saw another fly guy suiting up in the lot of the first stretch I wanted to fish, but we had a nice chat and happened to have two different directions in mind, so it all worked out.  Maybe it’s the social isolation in place now, or the fact that I am 25 trips into the young year and having a good start, but the crowds have not been irking me.  I even had a nice talk with female fly fisher—one of two, she told me—at Valley yesterday, and we bonded over catching the same big trout in the same log jam in recent months.

Slow start

The plan was to fish some prime pocket water with the mono rig and small bugs.  The water was slightly stained and running a tad high, perhaps higher than I initially estimated.   I stuck with the small bugs for a while, especially because only midges were active for the first hour, but once I started seeing olives and larger midges around midday, I put on two heavier bugs.  That was a good move.  I landed about a dozen fish, and a couple took the small hot spot pheasant tail dropper I have been using to imitate emerging olives, but the hot fly today was definitely a grubby hare’s ear on the dropper, a little brown nothing, small profile on a bigger competition hook.  I am a firm believer that a well-presented fly will trump a particular pattern most days, as long as you are close, and time of day could have had everything to do with it, but this little fly got them chomping today.  In the first hour, I landed one little holdover rainbow and one small brown, but in the last two hours I landed a bunch of wild browns, another better bow, and the requisite sucker.  I even think I miffed on a really good fish.

That hot, nothing fly.

Like yesterday, midday saw an influx of anglers, but I had tangled with at least 10 fish by 1 PM and got two more before it got too warm for my liking and water consumption.  Because fishing had improved, or my rig had gotten more effective, or both, I worked through the same run of pocket water twice and caught fish both times before moving to the stretch where most of the other fishermen seemed to want to target.  In a hole where I have had a lot of luck, but have also tangled with a sucker at least twice, I landed a big white sucker that barely fit in the net.  A little further downstream, I dropped my nymphs in a small, prime spot and got a gentle take just about on the swing.  Because of the downstream angle of the drifting line and some trees around, I had to come nearly straight up on the hook set, not downstream on the fish.  When the fish came off in one heavy headshake, I had that knowing, sinking feeling that I had missed the best of the day.  I guess I have just caught enough large trout on the nymph to know how they usually take the bugs.  This was near the end of my trip, and I was fishing water that had been targeted all morning, so I did not think through the end game if a fish hit in this little bucket of a spot, nor did I expect a pig at 2 PM in the sun with all this activity on the creek.  Next time, I hope.  I have moved a good one near here with the streamer, even seen a handsome pair on redds in the area last year, so I should have been on my A game, I guess.

A handsome one.

Like the shock of seeing so many other anglers on a weekday, even seeing a spinner fisherman with a nicer trout in the net, out of the water, for far too long while he looked for I don’t know what (camera, hemostats?), I can shake off that irksome feeling pretty quickly these days.  I landed a few nice, plump wild browns—at least two close to 12 and at least two over 12—and I had fun with the new rig.  The Silver Fox jinxed me, though.  When I told him I was experimenting with a mono rig on Valley yesterday, he joked that Tenkara was next.  Well, wouldn’t you know it…. I did land a good fish without the reel.  After retying or releasing a previous fish, I hadn’t noticed that the leader had gotten wrapped around the tip of my rod, and after I set the hook on a strong fish, I quickly realized that neither he nor I was going to get any more line to work with.  I played the fish more gently than normal and took pains to keep him upstream of me and, finally, voila, in the net, Tenkara, yo.  I think that a heavier running line that retains limpness but adds some diameter, strength, and possibly abrasion-resistance may have to factor into my next leader formula, as it will probably stop this from happening again.  It was fun, but if I lost an 18 incher and broke my rod tip, that would not be awesome. 

Landed Tenkara style, though not on purpose....

When the sun came out around 1:45 PM, it got hot out, but the change also seemed to cause a little spurt in bug activity.  After watching a few risers not far from where I parked, I considered running up to the ‘Ru and getting my other rod.  Instead, I snuck up behind the risers and gently dropped my nymphs—sight fishing anyway.  Well, I landed a little brown this way, as well as another rainbow, this one a bit bigger and feistier than my first of the day.  That was enough for the day, I figured.  I took my time walking back and getting undressed, had a snack and some water, even talked to the same guy I saw first thing this morning for a minute.  Even with a couple stops for supplies for the house and cheap gas, I was home before 4 PM when it was inching close to 80 degrees in late March. It is still creepy to see all the flowering trees popping already, but I am seizing the day, even if it’s not the right day, and trying to catch my first striped bass of the year on Sunday.  Jeff and Dolf already have nasty bloodworms and salted clam.  Word on the street is the fish they are here…

Sight-fished a couple to end.  And the sucker has been lobbying for a shot for a few months.

March 19, 2020 – Messing Around with a Mono Rig and Landing a Mess of Little Fish – Valley Creek

Many fish in a short window, but this was a good one for today.

I believe it was a week ago today that we all started working from home, and we have at least another full week to go—at least.  My classes will be solely online until May, through the end of the semester, in other words, and I have a feeling the soft deadline of March 30 for the boy’s school is very soft.  Everyone is healthy in my immediate family, and Tami and I are still employed, so I really have no major complaints, though.  I am trying to stay grateful and positive.  Sure, it takes a little longer to do my classwork and my grading solely online, and it is an inconvenience to have Tami and the boy home in my usually quiet, often unstructured home office.  That said, I know two of my friends are laid off or furloughed already, and a couple others expect that any day now.   Like I said, grateful.  We have had a lot of fun too.  The boy and I have taken a few long hikes, flew a radio controlled X-Wing fighter, and Tami and I have come up with at least one silly, sometimes ridiculous, thing to do as a family each evening, whether that is puppet shows, or scooter rides around the neighborhood, a kazoo concert, ice cream sundae bar.  I had not been fishing since Tom and I snuck out on Saturday, but with the overnight rain, I was watching the gages for a window and was fortunate enough to get out for about 3 hours this afternoon. 

Muddy water, pretty browns.

It was a day for blue winged olives at Valley, so it was a pretty crowded afternoon.  With many people off, and mild days, and bugs, I pretty much assumed that at least a half a dozen visitors would be present at any given stretch.  I was not wrong.  In fact, I counted over 10 fly fishermen in my short window.  I really didn’t care.  I was looking to catch a couple fish while the boy did his schoolwork online and Tami made some phone calls and napped.  What I was really hoping to do was test out my mono rig formula.  I was playing around in the garage earlier in the week and tied up a mono rig on my nymphing rod.  You can Google Euro nymphing mono rig and probably find videos, even diagrams.  Orvis and others now sell one for 12 bucks.  I winged it, perhaps going on memory from the first George Daniel book, but since I caught at least 20 trout on my rig today, I would say I got most of it right.  I probably should have thrown a streamer, as flows were around 80 CFS and rapidly falling, but I figured that it is not everyday that I can nymph so close to Valley fish and not spook them.  Today was a good day to test the mono rig and expect to be bounced plenty.

A few Valley-decent fish in the mix, most on a hot spot pt jig or a sexy walts, both size 16 to 18.

The majority of the fish I caught in the first hour were very small, sitting in the softer spots close to riffles.  As the creek started to clear, and olives and midges started coming out in some numbers, I began creeping up in size and fishing deeper and bouncier water.   The best two were under 12 inches but not by much.  I would estimate that I landed over 20 fish if I counted every trout, but only 6 of them were over 8 inches long!  If I had been throwing a streamer, I may have caught 5 decent ones and been lucky to get one really nice one, maybe, but I had a plan in my head to fish the mono rig, and so it was a quantity not quality mindset, I suppose.  I am a believer, and I will be working on my leader formula a little more, or I may break down and buy one the next time I need to order tippet.  The sensitivity is pretty impressive.  A couple times, I felt little ones rat-tat-tat like I was 12 and fishing a meal work on 2 lb test.  I will probably give the rig a shot on a creek with a larger average size fish tomorrow morning before the thunderstorms arrive.  This was a good trial run, however, and it was good to get out.

March 14, 2020 – Third Time Was the Charm for Me – SEPA Blueline

A tough but sometimes rewarding (I'd heard) little SEPA anomaly.

Tom and I picked a challenging day to visit a little SEPA trickle that has wild reproduction but is already pretty technical fishing on a good day.  Low water, high sun, breezy, but we eventually saw bugs and fish.  Much like our Thursday marathon, we spooked more trout than we caught, but unlike the last two times I crawled around this place with him, one of us actually landed a decent small stream fish—and it was me this time, while skittering a caddis dry fly too!  It was just an impromptu thing.  He texted me in the evening yesterday saying he was thinking about giving the creek a shot on Saturday afternoon.  I said I would touch base in the morning, and we both ended up having a window around 1:30 or 2 PM.  I got plenty of woods time in today, having taken a long walk with the boy along the Wissy in the morning.  It was a cooler, dryer day, but still mild for this time of year.  Tom and I didn’t expect much when we saw the low flows, but we decided to target a couple holes we know are often occupied with wild fish.  Tom has landed several, just not with me present.  Like I mentioned, I saw enough of them to know he was not lying, but I had never hooked one until this afternoon.  After the spots produced nothing but three chubs, we explored more of the creek, recon for the future, but were lucky enough to spot a small group of fish that we had not disturbed.  They were in flat water, but it was deep enough that we could crouch and not be seen—which is not often the case here.  Tom tried to drift a couple bugs on an indicator down to them.  The first time, nothing happened, so he made a second cast that landed closer to them, and one of them came up like a brook trout and popped his tiny thingamabobber!  He got excited, set the hook, and ended up with an epic tangle that can only happen on a small, tight stream. 

On a skittering dry fly after all that sneaking.

Me, I was so sympathetic to his plight that I was already tying on a deer hair caddis to float over them….  My second cast was pretty spot on, and then I also extended the drift by gently shaking out a few feet of line.  A big fish, like 14 inches, slowly rose behind the dry and even turned and followed it downstream.  It was not what he wanted, but he was hungry.  When my line was about to straighten out and drag, I decided to see if skittering the bug across the surface would get him to take.  Instead, a smaller competitor who had given this one space to look and refuse said, I will take that!  Tom and I watched it happen in clear water, and I giggled the fish all the way into the net for a photo and release.  We put them down, so to rest them we took an exploratory walk upstream, but when we returned, we could see a riser further downstream in the same hole.  Tom’s turn to creep.  He even climbed out on a down tree in order to get some room for a backcast.  Good cast, fish rose, and he landed a chub!  On that note we called it good, just content that I now have first-hand knowledge of wild browns in this little suburban sanctuary.

March 12, 2020 – From SGLs to Posted Signs to Keystone Select – NEPA

A fool's errand, but an enjoyable, aerobic one.

The Silver Fox and I took a full-day tour of some of my old and current stomping grounds in the Poconos.  Without accounting for low flows due to zero snow melt this winter, I suppose, the plan was to search a couple spots in State Game Lands for wild browns and brook trout.  Tom loves small stream fishing, and he has shared a couple of his trickles with me, so today the plan was for me to march him through at least two of my old favorites.  We ended up getting in an enjoyable and aerobic hike, as this first spot is mostly a steady climb uphill in a gorge buffeted on each side with rhododendron and rocky peaks. 

Looked like the spot....

The flow looked a little low, but I was encouraged that I caught a little four-incher at the first spot we stopped for a breather.  Until you get into the headwaters, this creek involves fishing for skittish wild brown trout in brook trout water, so it is not easy unless you get some help from a caddis hatch and/or good flows.  One gets them in the current picking off nymphs, so you have some cover, the other just plain covers the sound and sight of your approach—maybe even allows you to skitter a dry….  We had clouds, even a brief sleet shower, to shield us a bit today, but the flows were just too low for this early in the spring/late in the winter.

The brookie version of browns.

When we arrived in a prime stretch and fishing was slow, I was worried that my little spot had fallen into decline, but eventually we began spooking more fish, probably a couple dozen of them in the end, set up in shallow tailouts waiting for bugs that never showed.  We landed a few beautiful little wild browns, but fishing was not good enough to commit to the second creek I had in mind, also an uphill hike.  When decision time came for a move, we instead hiked downstream from the spot where we entered the woods to a couple holes where I have had success in the past.  It’s been at least four years, maybe more since I have been here, but the two holes were still intact.  We caught one little one in a hole that should have held the best of the day before we spooked the others, and we surprised another fish in the second hole even before having to reach in for snags.  Because of postings, fresh ones (more on that below), we could go no further downstream.  It was 2 PM by then, anyway, and we were close to the ‘Ru, at least in distance not altitude (!), so I pitched something different for round two: very freshly stocked, like one day in the water, Keystone Select monsters in Stroudsburg.  

Something completely different.

Because of a long detour, we ended up crossing over the Mighty Brodhead up by one of my favorite stretches.  Fishing is off limits in the general regulation sections across the state, but Tom humored me for a walk to see firsthand if there were any changes to a spate of postings that went up last year.  Because of the rain last year, I didn’t fish this part of the creek much last summer and fall when it was all going down, and when I fished the creek with Jay late in the fall of 2019, we steered clear of this section except for an inconclusive drive-by.  Well, I had heard rumors that folks like local guides and the TU chapter were trying work with the landowner to keep open a section that has been open to fishing for as long as I can remember.  Your may recall that I have fished this creek since the late 80s!  Our walk confirmed that a lot more work needs to be done, unfortunately.  It took a while to shake off the disappointment, though I was prepared for what I found.

Alive!  Alive!

When we rolled up to the lot for the DHALO stretch of McMichaels, there were 5 or 6 vehicles there and a few fishermen visible from the road when I took a reconnaissance drive downstream.  So be it, we thought.  Recently stocked trout, so it was to be expected, and the usual decorum about space would be relaxed too.  We just decided to rig up and find an unoccupied or recently vacated hole or two.  The first run with any depth came up empty, but we saw a spinner guy downstream in a deep hole lose a big fish.  When the deep hole ahead of us cleared, we worked in and found a decent rainbow.  Not long after, I drug a big bug, a size 12 hot spot jig, near the sweet spot of the hole and got to tangle with my first of two Keystone Select delegates.  This one was a really quality looking brown of at least 18 inches with nice fins and colors, not your average brood stock released after the prime of life. 

A net meant for brook trout...

I had been giving Tom first shot or his choice of water (head of run, tail of run) but I really concentrated on letting him lead after that.  Fish were barely hitting, and the drastic changes in depth meant making a lot of tedious adjustments in order to hit one on the head and make it eat.  I call it ugly fishing: dragging attractors through deep, muddy holes in cold water, but then again, I had caught a big brown.  I wanted Tom to get one, ugly fishing or not.  He missed a couple and saw me miss a couple, but when I left him alone during the last 20 minutes of fishing, he landed 2.5 (one broke him off) without me coaching or watching—I did see one clear the water with an impressive leap from my vantage point downstream.  I didn’t quit fishing, just gave him space in a good hole that had active fish.  I went down to fish the deep, flat hole by the parking lot, looking for another one of those delegates.  I found one, this time a rainbow over 20 inches.   Ugly fishing, but it is still fun to mess with two outsized trout in an afternoon.  She went back healthy, and so did the brown, so maybe a kid or someone new to the sport will also get a momentary thrill.  For us, it turned the page after a rougher, tougher morning chapter.

And even bigger.

It would have been equally fun, perhaps more fun, to have Tom land one of them, but he was there with me for both, so we some had laughs, and I had a photographer for the second pig.  Same sentiment with the morning.  Few others would be so game for a fool’s errand on his day off.  Two 50-year-old dudes huffing up a mountainside to land 5 or 6 tiny wild fish in 45-degree weather with some beef sticks and canned lattes between us.  It was a good day to be oblivious to the world too, as COVID 19 finally triggered a state of emergency in my state and county.  Tami, Lukas, and I will be home for a minimum of two weeks, so I lost my home office just in time for the start of my next three classes.  I am fortunate and grateful that the nature of my job permits an online-only option, however, and my office away from home will be open if I need some sanity.  I ran into Eric in the neighborhood and talked about Sunday morning, and Tom texted about Saturday, so great minds think alike?

March 11, 2020 – Another Rare Afternoon Trip Made Rarer – Pickering Creek

One pretty fish away (for a minute) from the crowd.

There were 4 or 5 vehicles along the short DHALO stretch of the Pickering at 1 PM this afternoon, but I wasn’t in the mood to crouch Valley, which could also have crowds looking for olives.  Instead, I walked a good 500 yards downstream of the usual haunts to look for holdovers that got washed or willingly made their way down since the stocking in the fall.    I was secretly wishing for a wild brown too, since I found one last year in this general area, but that did not happen today.  I did, however, find a really nice holdover brown in a hole that should have held more.  She had great fins and colors but too many fused clusters of spots and no blue eye spot.  Still, it was fun while it lasted.  A nice guy who had never fished the creek must have seen me go downstream to avoid him and followed, thinking I knew some secret stash of spring stockies.  Poor fella.  He cast all over the pocket water I intended to sneak up through, so I was not surprised that I found nothing else here in sunny conditions and normal flows.  I was glad that I did not get pissed since he seemed relatively new to the game.  Instead, I offered some help on bugs and higher percentage water.

Clear with normal flows, plenty of bugs.

Little black stoneflies, larger midges, and black caddis were all present.  The brown took a CDC soft hackle jig with a purple hot spot, so she might have been enjoying the twin-propellered stoneflies.  I was rolling a walts worm on the anchor, but I caught nothing on that today.  By the time I reached the area where I parked again, the other dude had gone, perhaps to stockier pastures upstream.  It was plenty stocky where he had just vacated, however.  Those who read this blog a lot know I don’t fish the dry much, but since today was the second rare afternoon trip this week, and some porky rainbows began rising to the caddis, I had to give it a shot.  It was ugly, the rig not the fishing.  I tend to leave my nymphing leader on and just tie a long piece of 6X mono tippet to the tippet ring like a lazy, albeit cocky, mitch.  I did not have a lot of larger dries with me, and I didn’t even have an olive caddis, let alone a black one.    I tied on a deer hair caddis in about the right size.  It must have been one of Sam’s because it had some little touches, like a bit of shuck and a fancier hook with little to no barb on it too.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited when a 16-inch rainbow came up and ate my first drift over her.

Some porkers.

I would say during the next hour, waiting for rises and resting the pod after fighting a couple particularly rambunctious ones, I landed a total of five plump rainbows and dropped a couple others.  Maybe the three weeks since their February 27 stocking date were awfully kind to the new guys, but based on the white-tipped fins on most of them, I would guess that the fish looking up were the holdovers from the fall stocking.  I was surprised not to find another brown in the mix, but I don’t know if the TU guys stock browns in the fall, so maybe that further supports my theory?  Either way, I made a second rare late afternoon trip rarer by busting out my dirty dry fly game for a minute.  You know, the 10-foot 3 wt. Orvis Clearwater did not cast the dry all the badly either!  Like earlier this week, though with different bugs, the hatch petered out around 4 PM.   I was home for dinner and able to pack up in the daylight for a NEPA adventure with the Silver Fox tomorrow.

Many looked liked holdovers, and they liked the dry fly.

March 9, 2020 – Leisurely Fishing the Second Shift – Northampton County Limestoner

Not a day for olives, but they must be showing at times.

It was close to 70 degrees today, bright and sunny with a bit of a breeze.  Nice people weather, but maybe not fish weather.  With the changing of the clocks, I was not raring to go this morning, and I had to finish some reading, writing, and work for the upcoming week, but I was getting restless by 11 AM.  I talked to Tami on the phone around noon, and she too was feeling tired and rudderless.  My advice to her to just get out at lunchtime and take a walk helped me, too.  I started tinkering around in the garage debating whether to do a wader repair or start raking the lawn or something, but instead I started packing the ‘Ru for fishing.  The boy takes the late activities bus on Mondays, so I didn’t need to be home, and I rarely get to fish past 2:30 PM on a weekday.  I took a gamble that olives—or fish conditioned to look for olives since conditions weren’t great for much more than midges—would be active midday.  No food, one water bottle, and 4 hours later, I had put together a half-decent afternoon of fishing.

Normal flows, but a good tint.

I saw isolated olives and some larger midges, like size 18 or more, when I arrived.  Much smaller midges were everywhere.  The water in the channels had a good limestone tint, but not enough stain and particulates to make the sunshine really cloud it up.  It looked good, in other words, so I started nymphing a deep hole up to the head of the run, and twice hooked a monster.  I truly believe it was a sucker and that I had hooked his lazy self twice because he wouldn’t give up his lane.  Due to some overhanging trees, I had to keep the rod at a low angle that he could use to his advantage, but the size 18 walts really gained no purchase twice.  Thankfully, after that minor drama, I did land a nice 10- or 11-inch wild brown on my dropper, the same hot spot soft hackle jig I had been using last week to mimic the emerging olives.  I caught about 8 fish between this time and 4:30 PM when the bite just died, one more fish just before I decided to leave, and they were split evenly between the two small bugs.

A few decent small stream fish.

I was not shocked to see another car parked along this stretch when I arrived, but I didn’t run into the other fishermen until they were walking out—two young guys throwing spinners.  They were walking up from below me, so I was encouraged that no one had fished the pocket water upstream.  I did my best to sneak up through the creek, hoping not to spook up into the run fish set up in the tailout, and I guess I did a decent job.  I landed three trout and dropped one (more tree branches overhead) in this short run, and I landed a fourth in a slightly deeper depression in the riffles that feed the run.  Like last week with Sam, some fish were very shallow and on the edges of bouncier water—conditioned to wait for emerging olives, as I had hoped.  Most of the fish were deeper today, however, but not that deep.  It was not silly fishing, but I picked up two more, including a couple close to 12 inches long as I worked my way through the pocket water to the flat hole where I usually turn back. 

Bright.

I decided to try the deep hole where I began the afternoon, and I hooked some part of the large fish again, so I had now decided sucker for sure (man, I hope).  After that, I ventured downstream to fish some more pocket water, but I was worried that this was the area the other dudes had fished, two of them wading and disturbing.  I think my fears were confirmed, though the time of day could have had something to do with it, as I couldn’t buy even a hit.  I switched to smaller bugs because midges were still present but no more larger ones, no more olives either.  Even that proved useless until I had worked my way back to the sucker hole one last time.  Since it was close to the car, and I was mentally planning to leave for home, I gave the small bugs a shot.  I landed what I believe was my ninth fish here, still on the soft hackle dropper, though.  I couldn’t get to an even ten, but after a good 45 fishless minutes, I was happy to end on this high note.  It now stays light until nearly 7:30 PM, but with leafless trees and long shadows, the bite does seem to end much sooner than that.  I did appreciate the novelty of leisurely fishing at this time of the day, though.