March 3, 2020 – Everyone is Feeling Good – Northampton County Limestoner

It is approaching on....

I got the feeling this week that I would not have streams to myself, even on Tuesdays, for very long.  I am going to miss the solitude, but I am looking forward to more aggressive and cooperative fish too.  Olives are going wild, and the fish for them, so the season has nearly begun in earnest.  It doesn’t take long for the guides and the shops, who may keep the intel to themselves for a few glorious days, to start sharing.  Folks gotta eat, I guess.  While it is hard to feel a sense of fishing urgency at every mild day this winter, the nice days still have a way of luring me out there.   Same with rain events, I suppose, especially when olives may show even stronger those days (not to mention the streamer).  I have a lot of grading to do before March 8, but I got a lot done on a beautiful Monday, so I took a few hours for myself on this fishy-feeling Tuesday.

No dink day and up to 13+ inches.

Rain was scheduled to move in around noon from west to east, and it did arrive close to schedule.  I don’t think it poured until I was driving home, and there were breaks in the afternoon before round two.  Man, I drove through a violent storm at about 9:30 PM after my class!  Felt like a tornado.  I arrived before 10 AM, and the parking lot was empty.  Besides one other dry fly guy casting to risers, who arrived later, I had the place to myself for a productive 3 hours.  This spot is no Valley, even though it is Class A, so bringing 6 maybe 7 fish, all of them over 10 inches long and hot, to the net was bordering on an exceptional day.  The kicker was close to 14 inches, but I hooked a monster sucker by the tail at one point, so it did not act like a sucker with all that leverage on me, and had that been a trout….  The dry fly guy must have witnessed that battle because he asked me if I hooked a steelhead down there! 

Good flows, slight tinge.

On the drive in, I saw that one freestone tributary was still running a bit stained.  The main creek just had good flows and a nice limestone tinge to it.  Even by 10 AM, the olives were going wild, and I had several fish taking emergers in a prime riffle and back eddy.  Last time I fished here, I creeped into position and landed two decent fish on midges fishing the back eddy with an indicator.  Before trying the main run, I did this again today, and my first fish was a plump 12 incher that buried the bobber not 3 feet into the potentially long drift.  He jumped 4 times and made quite a ruckus, so I decided to cross at the tailout and fish the run from the other side when I could not rouse another on this side.  Fish were still taking bugs at a steady pace, and I landed my best of the morning on a hot spot Frenchie, which accounted for all my fish today, right in the moving water.  Between this fish and the monster sucker I landed shortly thereafter both making a fuss all over, well, the hole got quiet after that.

Healthy average.

I moved some distance downstream and fished pocket water and deep runs back up to the first hole, landing two more solid 11- to 12-inch fish.  The fish had ceased rising in the first hole by now, so I started making my way upstream towards the lot.  By now, I had noticed the dry fly guy, so I stopped and asked how he was doing, which way he was headed, and so on.  He planned to fool the risers in front of him, so he gave his blessing for me to target a few holes upstream of him.  I skipped the riffle immediately above where he was fishing and dropped into the next one.  A favorite spot that has produced multiple fish over 17 inches gave up another 12-incher instead.  I also found at least one more decent fish in the next stretch of pocket water.  By now the rain had started to fall, lightly most of the time with a few brief showers, so I fished one last spot and checked my phone for time.  I had a little more, and the other guy had left the spot he was fishing, so I fished the head of the run he was targeting and landed my smallest of the day, a 10-incher, which is still decent for a small creek.  No dink day!  The fish must be feeling good too.  They are not fighting like winter fish, and they seem to be putting on some weight too.

Measure up.

It was now past 1 PM, so I let the rain make my decision to quit and get home to eat and rest up for my class.  I got undressed in a pretty steady rain, and it fell heavier at times on the ride home, so I did think of the streamer for Wednesday.  The second round of rain at night was a lot scarier, and it sounds like winds again on Wednesday, so I may be disciplined and just get my work done.  As a reward for this adult decision, I am taking a ride to see Sam in State College on Thursday.  He is going to get very busy soon with guide trips, as the word is surely getting out about olives.  I also have a spring break next week, so I hope more adventures are in store, perhaps a brookie excursion, fresh stockie beatdown, all off the above?

Just a pretty fish.