August 11, 2011 – Isaias Helps Make August a Little Kinder than July to Trout and Trout Anglers – Northampton County Limestoner

 

A really pretty one.

I was up at 3 AM this morning and decided to stay up when I was still not back to sleep at 3:30 AM.  I had at least five creeks that I was watching on the USGS site since Isaias rolled through.  Today, I went to the creek that I had entertained fishing with Eric on Sunday before staying put at a creek on the way that looked too good to pass up.  It was a good call on Sunday, but I still had a “what if” in my head about a couple other favorites.  The creek I fished today holds the flood waters a bit longer and was still over 100 CFS on Sunday, but it was in very nice shape this morning.  It had the requisite damage of trees pinned under bridges and washed out spots, even a bit of debris that had to be cleared from train tracks.  There was the smell of dead animal too—sometimes these flash floods catch the young and old wildlife unawares.  Despite the damage, the storm made some improvements too.  All the mucky algae that had grown in June and July has been washed out, at least for a while, and a couple new scours created new deep holes that held fish today.

Yet another early start, but a longer productive window, at least.

I would call this another silly one, especially for August.  I stopped trying to count after 25 fish, and the fish kept coming until I quit way past normal summer quitting time, often multiples at certain spots.  I spent a good hour at the end waist deep below a waterfall, so I was cool and comfortable.  The water temp here, even at 11 AM when I quit was about 67 degrees.  It was the temp that made me call it, not the heat’s effects on my comfort level.  I caught a bunch of fish early in shallow riffles with Eric’s peeking caddis jig, but the green weenie on the dropper never got touched until I caught a couple uber-dinks at a favorite deep hole.  I was hoping to encounter a pig I lost last visit here, but I only pulled dinks and average fish from this spot.  In stained holes, I replaced the weenie with a very small CDC dropper.   I did have a brief encounter with a good fish that ended the way they seem to be ending this month.  I never saw the fish.  I hooked it in a heavy riffle—the fish had its head right in the white water—and when it finally made a move out of there, it was another drag-peeling downstream dash.  The little size 18 barbless CDC jig did not hold once I gave up on the overhead angle and tried to turn the fish instead of continuing to chase the fish down the creek. 

Daniel Tiger from this neighborhood?  Probably not, but who knows....

I did land a few 12 inchers and one 14 incher, but the highlight was tangling with a tiger trout just prior to the low-light of losing the good fish.  I have caught some brook trout in this creek, like three of them in the last seven years, and there are obviously wild browns, but I always doubt the prospect of wild, especially on such a unicorn.  A wild tiger is the product of a male brook trout sneaking into the redd of a female brown.  The timing of the interloper is key—he has to get in there and fertilize the eggs as she deposits them AND avoid being eaten by her or her legitimate partner.  Chances are this fish, especially following all the floods, came from somewhere less spectacular, like a club stocking or something.  I encounter a scant few stocked fish here ever.  The last time was a possible brook trout, which could have been wild.  And before that, two pig rainbows with tags in their jaws.  The other possible evidence of stocked with this tiger was the skinniness.  Wild browns are festively plump right now, and especially after a rain storm.  This thing was snaky, like he was a having a harder go at survival than the locals.

Some very pretty fish on the small CDC jig

As I approached a favorite run of pocket water, I had low expectations because I had not put together a good run of fish here since May when spring levels had topped out.  With the high water today, it was very productive.  I landed at least 5 fish, and then even landed a couple more on the flats between here and the waterfall where I ended with another half a dozen fish, including the best of the day.  After snagging and losing both bugs in an unseen obstacle under the falls, I changed it up for the last hour.  The long deep pool above the falls is framed by large trees, many that hang over the creek, so I was thinking weenie again.  No doubt, the hydraulics of the dam drowns and recirculates any terrestrials, I thought.  I was not wrong.  I dropped-shotted a green weenie under a small bobber and had a lot of fun for the last hour—it extended the trip a good productive hour, as I noted above. 

Weenie and a bobber for relaxing and productive last hour.

It was fun to relax for a while and get back to basics, bullseye some womp rats in my T-16 back in Beggar’s Canyon, as Luke Skywalker would say??  I have not forgotten how to indicator fish, which is a good thing because winter almost requires it.  Where the competition nymphing line does not excel, like streamer fishing, it is just fine for indicator fishing.  I landed a good 14 inch beauty this way, but I also landed a bunch of average fish that took the bug aggressively, even chased as I picked up to cast again in a couple instances.

Respect the weenie...

When I saw time while snapping a pic of particularly cute wild brown, I knew I should take a water temperature check.  It was fine, but probably not for long, and I was out of drinking water by now, anyway.  I decided to walk back and try two spots with a few quick casts.  I did get bumped again where I lost the good one, and I landed another 10-incher at a favorite deep hole that was a little disappointingly average today.  Walking and also not standing waist deep in cool water, it was hot, so it was time to go.  There is more rain coming later this week, but Isaias already did some wonders for August.  I was able to get to two of four favorite summer spots, so part of me regretted the detour to Valley in lieu of one of the other better spots, but Valley too was a good day in a good month thus far.  After the terrible second half of July, I can predict that I will likely find the energy to get up criminally early a few more times this summer if conditions are favorable to the trout and me.

Because RR....  and more weenie shots.