November 13, 2020 – It’s the Time of the Season – Northampton County Cricks

 

Landed a few, but there was plenty to see even in the rain.

I was out this morning for a few hours and actually visited two creeks in the Lehigh Valley.  It was pretty raw and rainy, which surprised me a bit.  My phone was saying less than 20% chance of rain today, and there was only one small cell on the radar when I left home before 6 AM.  I heard the rain falling at a pretty good rate when I was fixing to head out to the garage to load up, but that tapered off as I drove north.  It drizzled and showered for most of my time on the water, but not enough to require rain gear, and sadly not enough to give the creeks another bump.  The first bump was not huge and was short-lived, even though I saw the lovely double spike on Valley yesterday.  I had nothing but meetings on Thursday, when there was a chance of streamer bite in the afternoon, and all I had was the morning today, not the sunnier, more temperate afternoon.  I take what I can get sometimes.  I got out, caught a few fish, and had a morning full of experiences. 

Late fall, leaves, redds, and no owl photos.

I had a feeling that fish would be fixing to spawn, and sure enough I saw at least three redds at the first creek.  There was at least one fish here actively fanning the gravel, so I stayed out of the water in the tailouts and shallower riffles.  Instead, I targeted a couple deeper plunges (twice) and landed three average wild browns on an SJ worm with a hot bead (that could pass for an egg—I told you I had a feeling).  With the leaves mostly gone from the trees, I was treated in the first half hour on the water to an owl sighting.  He was only 20 feet up in a leafless branch and right across the creek from me.  Birds of prey have my number when it comes to photos most of the time, however.  By the time I dug out my phone, he had turned his head a creepy 100 degrees and taken off to the protest of several crows now on high alert.  Pretty cool.  I have a pair of them in my neighborhood who talk to each other every night now, but I never see them, so this was a treat.  Maybe a little early for owls to mate, but they are talking and staking out turf, at the very least.

Eating the worm or that bead?

When a couple favorite deep holes did not look all that deep and gave up nary a bump, I decided to investigate another creek on the way home to check that for redds.  By the time I stopped to get gas and navigate the rainy Friday traffic, I had all of 40 minutes to fish this second creek, but I did manage to land a decent fish on my go-to bug for this particular stream—a little brown nothing hare’s ear grub.  I also counted at least 5 redds in the short stretch where I expected to see them.  I tried to photograph one redd that had at least one fish fanning and possibly the partner nearby too.  It went about as well as the owl photoshoot, even doing the old take a shot through the polarized glasses lens trick.  Not the best light conditions today.  I did not see any true pigs on these redds, but one of them here was probably 16 inches, I estimate.  Again, I stuck to a couple holes to give the fish their space.  With all the leaf litter, it is easy to see active and newer redds now, but the next good rain can cover them up in no time, so it takes more conscious effort to remain mindful.   It may be time for me to hit the beach or beat up some stockies, at least on these small creeks.

Eating that bead or that worm?