September 27, 2020 – That’s More Like It… Sort of - Northampton County Limestoner

Thicc....

It was a good morning, even though I only caught two fish in three hours of fishing.  I targeted this creek knowing it might be a challenge but that the fish I might catch could make it all worthwhile, and I was not mistaken, thankfully.  With the conditions as they were, it was “technical,” as they like to say in the business, and when I landed the first fish in fast pocket water after an hour of nary a bump, I was working on being content with one decent fish for the morning.  The first one was 12 inches and a leaper, and the other was a hen short of 20 inches but in the high teens and thicc, yo.  Water was low and clear even after a trace of rain, so I had to target pocket water and deep plunges where I had the least chance of spooking fish.  The big one that opens this post had her nose right up in the white water, and after she was hooked tried to bulldog back under there several times.  I fished this creek about a month ago, but I had not fished this stretch since Isaias, and as expected it looked the same as the other beats: all kinds of changes to the path of the current, natural and unnatural debris wedged all over the banks and under bridges, tarps and cloths in trees, new stuff in the creek.  No sign today of the football rainbows I landed the last time I fished this particular section, either, but I strongly preferred seeing the browns, anyway, even if only two of them, as they are typically the ones here who are far less cooperative.

Not an easy one to photograph alone + scenes from a beat up creek.

I used a size 16 walts with an oversized “bomb” bead to get down and caught both my fish with that bug.  The reason for the small bugs (even heavily weighted relative to size) was because the live bugs were small.  On my last stop before the return home, I saw one fish make a fool of himself chasing a larger tan caddis, but the prevalent bug life in the air and under rocks was much smaller.  Nothing seemed interested in the 18 caddis pupa on the dropper, not yet anyway, and I did not try the big juicy caddis that I often use for October caddis time.  Eric also tied up some larger fall caddis larva, but I am saving them for higher water and better times ahead.  By 9:30 AM, I was not convinced that more fishing was worth the effort, but I took a walk downstream and fished a couple holes that often hold over rainbows or allow one or two nice browns to reside through the summer.  It was humid in waders after a walk, and fish were not willing to eat at either spot I tried.  The one I saw rise to a big emerging caddis and miff must have been too embarrassed to try again because he never showed himself following the miss.  I sat and cooled off waiting him out, but after a while just decided to call it and head for home having accomplished what I set out to do this morning. 

Bomb walts worked on two

I come to this creek expecting fish to be dickish and they often are, even the hens….  But fish like this one are why I sometimes put myself and others (Kenny, Eric, Tom, Tom, and so on) through the torture.  The place is not pretty to look at, even less now, but the water quality is great and the wild fish, while not as prevalent as the other limestoners in the region, have the food, the depth, and the space to move around and grow larger.  They may even benefit in this way from less competition from each other even if angling pressure is just as high.  I take many trips here each year, and have for some time, and I still have much to learn.  And I will be back many times this year and in the near future for further lessons, triumphs, and beatings, I am sure.  

Thought I might have to be content with this one for a while there.

I hit a milestone of 70 trips on the year so far today, too, and I don’t see any reasons under my control of that pace slowing down.  I am happy for the traffic on the roads but not on the streams, a sign that people are working and going to school, even though my family and I are still Zoom life for the foreseeable future.  The Silver Fox is off this week, and I hear rumors of rain, so more to come this week, I hope!  Eric is tying like a fiend as I write this, texting me photos of prototypes, and he wants to see how our friends at our little secret spot faired this summer, so here’s to a successful October.

One last shot of the chunky one.