June 7, 2020 – What a Weird Week We’ve Had – Berks County Limestoner

Before sunrise.

Yes, it has been a week since I have fished, and a full seven days have come off the June calendar page, but this past week has not been a normal one.  Early in the week, while I was just getting some work done, cool air and hot air met and by midweek set in motion some violent storms.  There were rumors that a derecho blew through Montgomery County, but all I know is that we lost power about 10 minutes into the first storm, and we did not get power back on for about 54 hours.  It sounded, as they say, like a freight train passing in the distance.  Thankfully, my many trees were spared, but much of the area looked bad.  As if that and the ongoing Covid 19 situation were not enough, a week of protests had businesses boarding up windows in anticipation of looting and had folks on both sides of the issue on edge.  Dystopian af.  I saw a meme featuring aliens wondering if it was their turn to show up to the perfect storm. 

Almost a wild trophy in my experience with this creek.

We hunkered down in the house for the first day without electricity, and it was fine, but by night two no one slept well in the heat, humidity, and continuing thunderstorms.  My mom lost a tree but had power, so we violated social distancing eventually and spent some time in her central air.  The boy and I caught up on some work and used some bandwidth after putting our frozen food in her fridge.    I certainly peeked at the gages to see what was happening on the creeks, but I could not see fishing in the heat, especially when water temps had spiked due to the rain and preceding abnormally hot days.  Relative normalcy and cooler temps seemed poised to return by Sunday, so I did a half-hearted prep on Saturday night in case I was up in the wee hours.  As luck would have it (?) I got up to use the bathroom at 3 AM and never got back to sleep, so I was on the road at 4:30 AM and catching my first fish long before 6.

Grubby hares ear, CDC jig early, pretty morning once the sun got up.

The last time I fished this creek, I estimated that I landed over 30 fish, most of them small wild browns.  This is a stocked creek with fluctuating pockets of wild fish, but this year they are out in force.  Another perfect storm, I suppose: a good year class a couple seasons ago, a mild winter, fewer stocked fish because they were all dumped at the easiest access points.  The creek has limestone influence and clean water, so bugs are usually prevalent.  The wooded areas benefit doubly from cold water and heavy shade, so it typically fishes safely into July.  The water was in the mid-60’s when I quit today, so maybe a bit warm for early June, but I am expecting they will go back down with cooler nights and normal flows.  Either way, I am hopeful for the fall on this creek because I landed three wild fish in the 12- to 13-inch range that were plump and healthy too.  I have always caught wild fish on sections of this creek, but they are rarely this large.  Because I wanted a realistic measure of how well I did last visit, I made a point to count trout today, and I landed an even 20 of them, with 17 wild browns—not too shabby for 5 hours of fishing, 4 of which were actually productive.  

A few 9- and 10-inchers too.

I was surprised but not shocked that another car was parked near the creek when I arrived; it was a Sunday in June after all and a beautiful day.  I was happy to see that the fisherman was fork-sticking it on the bank right at an easy stocking access.  I encountered two other dudes who ventured further upstream later in the morning, but they did not show until I had already fished the hole they did all the wading to reach.  My return trip, the last hour of my morning, was not very productive, so I am sure the lower reaches of the creek were targeted after I worked through.  I did see two other vehicles in the siding when I was leaving.  The first four hours, however, the entirety of my upstream nymphing excursion, were very productive.  I landed the first three or four small wild browns before official sunrise.  Like last Sunday morning, splashy rises revealed willing fish up until at least 10 AM.  I saw a couple sulfurs and smaller adult caddis, but the fish were keyed in on bugs below the surface, so likely the caddis emergence.  Several, including the two best fish, took the bugs on the fall after giving away their presence with a splashing rise.

Pinky came on strong by 9 AM.

I only caught one rainbow, with white-tipped and translucent fins, so he may have been around for a year or more.  He was a long way from where the stocking happened this year, but rainbows do have wanderlust.  Unlike last time, when one of the two stocked browns I landed looked like a long-term holdover, the two stocked browns I landed this morning were not as pristine.  High water may have pushed them downstream.  One of them fought really well, however, and since I landed him not long after catching a 13-inch wild one, I thought I had eclipsed that 13-inch wild mark today until he got close enough to see.  I actually landed three between 12 and 13 inches, plus this larger stocker, from the same deep hole where 3 or 4 other fish were also suspended up taking bugs—and my bugs.  I landed fish early on a purple CDC jig, which stopped being as effective once the sun was up.  Many took a brown hares ear grub, and still more took pinky on the dropper, all size 16.  I fished a mono-rig the last time I was here, and it was deadly, but I lost little ground using the competition nymphing line today, especially since the hatches were not as prevalent nor the bugs as large.

More nicer holdovers

Fishing began to slow around 10 AM, but I fished until after 11 because is was so nice out.  I am sure I fished “used” water on the way back downstream, but sometimes I like the challenge of picking up a couple more in really tight spots that may have been skipped by others (even me).  That may have worked out once or twice on the return trip, but I also started landing more chubs or getting bounced by little fish or hooking dinks that jumped right off the barbless hooks.  I know I had to work for number 20, that the odd number 19 hung out there for a good 30 minutes or more, but I did manage to reach my arbitrary, impromptu goal before I quit for good.  It was nice to drive home with the windows down and see few remaining detours due to down trees, some folks dining in western Montgo al fresco, even some young small town activists holding up signs at busier intersections—relative peace following a perfect storm.

The fall could be exceptional.  Keep eating!