April 22, 2020 – Wardman Joins the Quarantine Caravan – Brodhead Creek

Success.

Ward is my longest fishing partner.  It was he who introduced fishing to me and my dad when I was probably 10 years old or younger.  I moved into the neighborhood where I spent most of my childhood, where my mom still lives—Ward’s parents too—when I was in second grade, so it all started not long after that.  He too has a history with the Brodhead, at least opening day each year for many with my dad, sometimes my brother Steve.  We used to get a hotel, drink way too much, canoodle with “cutters” (at least that one time), and still make it out that Saturday morning to catch some fresh stockies.  Sometimes we even fished for pickerel the afternoon before—I recall fishing for an additional hour because I am such a good friend while Ward tried to avoid hypothermia in my car with the heater cranked after an unfortunate step in a bog!  I am sure he has some stories about me too—I do recall a crab getting hold of both my hands in the bays behind Tuckerton when Ward still had a 27-foot Hydrasports center console.  That boat has some Joe stories too (diarrhea AND sea sickness?).  Anyway, with marriage and two daughters active in sports, Ward’s fishing had fallen off to Opening Day and an annual fluke trip in Ocean City, maybe another charter to the Cape May rips, then nothing but coaching soccer and playing, ahem, golf.  I was glad, then, when he started hinting at wanting to give fly fishing another shot.  It was around the time when I was trying to teach my dad what I knew, I believe, so I only had room in my schedule for one "sport."  Well, an opening became available fall of 2019, as I have already discussed here…

Cold and windy out there, but fish did not mind.

Ward placed orders for a bunch of things but little came before I had a free day today, so in my waders, some of my cloths, probably my dad’s fly boxes, even my rod for a couple fish, we made it happen today, perhaps the windiest day of an already windy spring.  I did not think the fresh stockies would mind, and I was correct, thankfully.  We did the separate vehicle thing, which has become de rigueur for fishing with friends this pandemic season, and met at a spot I knew would have plenty of fish but plenty of elbow room too.  It was cold, under 40 degree with a windchill below freezing, when we arrived around 9:15 AM.  The wind was honking, but we didn’t realize how good we had it because by 1 PM the sustained wind was close to 15, the gusts just silly.  Bobber weather, so the tangles, well, they were of course epic, but the fish did not mind and started to wake up in earnest around 11 AM to the sun’s warmth.

Some porkers on the big jig flies.

Ward has fly fished before a few times, a trip out West, an outing with an old boss/friend and fishing companion who belongs to one of those clubs on the upper Brodhead (Paul still owes me a visit too!) so he had his own rod, reel, and line.  It was not the perfect tool for today or the Brodhead, but it was good enough for him to catch some fish.  And, as I mentioned above, when I chose to help re-rig or make an adjustment to his leader, I let him hold my rod, and he caught a couple with it too.  Not unlike my dad after a successful day or two last year, he wants a 10-footer already, so I think he enjoyed the day despite the tough conditions.  The fish did not mind the weather, as I have explained.  They were harder to get at because of the wind and good early season flows.  A long rod did make it easier to reach over unwadable runs in order to reach soft seams and pockets.  For the Brodhead in April, however, it was very easy to get around today.  The problem was not getting around, actually; it was running into another fly guy or two once we got to the next hole.  No bait or spinner guys out, but a good number of fly fishermen in a short stretch.  As a result, we caught 97% of our fish in the same 100 yards of water until I had enough of being exposed directly to that frigging w*&$#!

Brown on the also large dropper.

Nothing fancy on flies.  Most came on a big size 10 tungsten pheasant tail jig or a slightly lighter and smaller dropper—like the pink tag fly pictured in one fish’s mouth in this post.  I don’t know when the fish were stocked or if they were stocked before April 7 when fishing was opened to the public, but they were hungry and did not look beat up from being caught multiple times.  I only caught one stocked brown, and I had a small wild one come up and pop my indicator.  The rest were rainbows, a couple of them porky, and I must have landed 20 of them.  I hooked only one that felt better, and Ward lost one that was also way better than the 11 to 12 inch average.  I had to fish the big bobber all day, and even had to add some shot a couple times, so I had two or three tangles that made me want to quit and/or cry.  Ward had some good ones too.  Besides those inconveniences, however, the conditions did not adversely affect our first fly fishing lesson.  One thing for sure, the conditions the next time we get out have a strong chance of being much, much easier!

Does "home" waters count as local waters?

Ward had to be on a work call at 3 PM, so we quit the Brodhead around 2:30 PM after another epic tangle, this time for him, and a couple more hard-won bows for me at a second hole that gave up nothing first thing in the morning.  Earlier, I worked to get into a favorite run of pocket water, looking for one wild brown or at least a good holdover, but the flows and the water temps were just a bit off for any active takers—no bugs visible either.  After leaving Ward for the afternoon, I did poke around a stretch of McMichaels that I had not fished in many years, and caddis were a bit active there—or at least visible due to the shelter of trees allowing them to fly and not get blown to Jersey.  I landed one more stocked rainbow here before heading for home.  There were fresh signs up and evidence of fishermen, but I had this little stretch to myself for a half hour.  I would have stayed a while longer if fishing were better, and I did not commit to getting home before dinner time.  The quiet, lack of wind, and easy wading was very relaxing after the morning Wardman and I had!  Still, it was a good fishing day with an old (old) fishing buddy, and I logged my first Brodhead trip of 2020.