October 28, 2020 – Not a Much of Anything but a Good Morning Anyway – Northampton County Limestoner

Nice one after a slow start.

Three fish in four hours, but one was over 15 inches and a stud and another was a novelty holdover tiger from who knows where.  I also landed a decent second wild brown after seeing some pre-rut flexing by a couple bucks, so it was not a bad morning.  It sounds like rain is coming, real rain this time.  It has been gray and drizzling for days, it seems, and I got rained on for a while this morning, but the creeks remain low.  I have been busy with work and my class, but I knew I was caught up enough to sneak out today.  The gages did not make my decision easy.  Where to go when nothing looks too promising?  I just headed for the Lehigh Valley in the morning and landed on the closest of my limestone favorites.  I had plans to hit a second one a little farther along the line, but my first fish of the morning, after nearly a fishless hour, was a gorgeous wild brown.  He was starting to color up for the fall, too.  After a nice battle including a couple in-close jumps on a short line, I was happy to take the 45 minute ride and stand in the chilly, damp conditions for an hour.  I did not expect much, so I was really happy to see this fella.  Like the other fish I landed today, he ate one of Eric’s caddis larva with a bit of squirrel collar and a hot spot.

Leafy, big old buck, caddis larva nearly on the bottom.

The woods were really yellow even in the gray skies, a sign of late fall on this creek.  As you can see from the photos, the water is full of leaves.  Not yellow, per se, but sycamores in particular fight well in current, especially if you get them by the stem and they get to spinning.  Another sign of fall was an encounter with two bucks.  As I made my way slowly through some pocket water trying my best not spook too many fish in low water, I saw a smaller buck cross the creek in front of me.  I dug for my phone to take a pic when he paused to look and listen, but he was quickly gone.  The reason for his departure was likely because he was being trailed by a much larger buck that had now begun his crossing.  I don’t think he was more than 6 points, maybe 8, but his chest and shoulders were massive, a big deer.  When I sent a pic to Eric, he confirmed my suspicion that with the rut coming this was likely a mild territorial dispute—like, keep moving there, youngster.  No signs of “rutting” fish yet, few signs of fish period.  I didn’t expect much, as I said, but I wasn’t willing to accept just one fish on such a gray, fishy-looking morning.

A cool novelty for fish #2.

Much of the pocket water that I love to fish was low and clear, so I stayed close to the bank and made longer casts than normal.  I had even taken the time to add another two feet of tippet after the sighter.  When I finally set the hook on another decent fish, I could tell right away it was not a brown.  I was thinking brookie?  Nope, it was a tiger of about 12 inches.  Based on the good fins but some regrowth on the tail, I would venture holdover that took a trip during the summer and decided to stick around.  I have caught a couple brookies in this stretch too, and a handful of rainbows, over the years, so I know they get in here despite it not being stocked in the Class A section.  One thing I have learned is that stockies get around.  He was cool looking and in great shape, even fought well, so I was happy for another fish and a novelty at that.  

Quit on three?

I was running out of productive water, so I was still kicking around the idea of heading to the second creek, but I had no confidence that fishing would be any better there.  I also knew the second creek was even lower, so I would have one or two spots to prospect at best.  Luckily, before I ran out of pocket water, I hooked another wild brown about 10 inches long.  This one was not as colored up as the larger male, but it probably fought better than the tiger if I am being honest.  Was three fish enough to quit on?  It was about 10:30 AM and still misty and raining.  No bugs in the air, no fish showing even in the dry fly water.  Was the fifteen minute drive to creek number two worth it for thirty or forty minutes of fishing if I was lucky? 

Some b roll

In the end, I decided to save the second spot for another short morning trip next week or something.   When I chose to call it a morning, it was about 11 AM.  Still early, I was able to pick up half a dozen fresh bagels on the ride home—the everything bagels so fresh from the oven that I was instructed to keep the bag open to let out the steam—and I put a no grading policy in effect at home, opting for a day off to rest the eyes from papers and computer monitors.  I have a streamer or two ready if Friday is not a blowout.  You know how these things have gone.  They say one inch of rain and it’s a tenth.  They are saying one to three for this one, so that is quite a range….