December 11, 2020 – A Tough One on One of My Favorite Creeks Because It Is a Tough One – Northampton County Limestoner

One nice colored up fish.  One.

Jay planned a few days off for late this fall and had asked me for suggestions about where to go.  He mentioned a couple creeks in particular, both of which I have fished quite a lot.  As an avid reader of this blog, he would certainly have known this one if I actually named it on the blog.  It is one of those handful of Northampton County creeks that I frequent.  I have fished the one we visited today since I was 19 or 20 years old, so like the Mighty Brodhead, it is among my home away from home creeks.  I will not bore you with more talk of how I love it because it gives and it takes in equal measure.  There are many posts to that end in the archives.  I talked Jay into the chasing stockies on the Tully last time he wanted to get out fishing because I knew fish were still pretty spawny at that time.  We saw redds today, but no fish on them anymore, so I am confident that once the surf fizzles out, I can fish most of my winter spots now without disturbing anything.  Because Jay had expressed interest in this creek, as many do—more on that below—I prefaced my suggestion on where to go today by saying it will be tough but I will show you around.  Like always, I am hopeful that my guests may see the creek on a good day and gain some of the appreciation I have for it, but it often turns out the way it did today.  She has a mind of her own, or she is jealous maybe?  Let me see: Kenny, Eric, Tom C, Tom H, Ward… There are others I have forgotten, for sure.  We either get whooped, or I get a decent fish or two and my guest gets whooped.  Jay jokes that if you see an ad for his wading school, do not sign up. I counter, that I you see me pushing a guide service in the future, I would proceed with the same level of caution.

Jay in action, Eric's stone, a little color.

It was a balmy 29 degrees when we met up this morning, even though it did get up to the high 50’s midday, albeit right when we were standing in the icy mist behind a set of low head falls and really could not appreciate the warmth.  No icing on the guides early, surprisingly enough.  I did not take a water temp, but it did look cold.  It had a gray snow melt tint to it, actually.  While I was concerned about that color and what it meant for water temp, I was also encouraged by the stain.  Go figure.  I think the cold water won the battle for domination, however.  Neither one of us got more than a tap in the first two hours.  And to top it off, as we approached a hole I wanted to fish because it had been exposed to the sun for while, we watched a spinner guy walk in from the other direction and land a 16-inch wild brown—a fish that is probably dead now, as dude had a heck of time getting him unstuck from multiple trebles!  Ouch.  Talk about insult to injury.  And on a creek where I am intimate with a few of these fish.  We went easy on him because he tried to revive the fish and did not know it was wild, as he had never been to the creek before.  It seemed to register that he had a special fish in his hands for way too long, so we left it at that and drove to another spot.  I catch holdover rainbows at spot two when the browns don’t cooperate, but even the bows were off today.  The water was icy gray and deep, so we lost rigs trying to dredge something out.  When Jay quit the hole to warm up, I figure I’d better be a good host and show him a more hospitable spot.  I was happy to leave the cold spray and to warm up myself if I am being totally honest!   We took a walk to a couple pressured holes on this beat, and they actually looked great.  The stain was not as ominous looking and the sun was getting lower and not lighting up the particulates.  I saved the so-called hot spot for Jay as he rigged up again, and I stepped into a secondary spot.  This will sound familiar to the Silver Fox….  I caught a big rainbow out of this same hole when I showed him around this creek earlier in the year. 

One more shot of the only one.

Well, today it was a beauty wild brown that choked Eric’s big stonefly nymph.  I had thrown small, thrown junk like a worm and an egg, and now, short of tossing a streamer (which Jay did try) I had decided to throw the last trick I have on tough days: dredge the bottom with a big meal.  It works at times, and the golden stone gets eaten sometimes in the winter in places where I can’t even confirm there are stoneflies.  I do believe I have seen adults buzzing around here in the summer, however, so it wasn’t a totally random choice.  Jay finished his knot and ran up to snap a few pictures of the colored up male.  We both said 15 or 16 independent of each other, so let’s say over 15....  If you are only going to catch one fish on a tough day, this was a pretty good one to catch.  Oh, wait, I guess I just spoiled the ending too?  It is true.  I coached Jay through the honey hole that I saved for him, and I even fished it with that big stone after he moved through, and we could not get any love.  I had one more spot a short drive away, but when we pulled up there were two fly guys in the water and another suiting up at his car, so we just took our time packing up in a different parking lot and called it a day.   Add Jay to the list of dudes tricked into coming to one of my favorite creeks, only to find himself snubbed.  At least Jay saw two big browns (one dead now? one alive).  Others have experienced far worse.