December 28, 2020 – Sneaking Out Midday on a Monday with a Mitch – Valley Creek

ELove in situ.

Eric wanted to get out this week, and we talked about chasing some stockies close to home at a particular spot he has not fished before.  I heard from the Silver Fox that fish in said spot were all seven inches long, so on a whim I checked the gage at Valley and was pleased to see that the graph was slow to decline.  Decision made, we would poke around Valley and hope to avoid other holiday fishermen if possible (it was not).  Eric has only fished the park with me a few times, so I took him a little further upstream this morning, just to show him around.  There was some construction to avoid on the way, but we finally arrived before 11 AM.  Sneaking up a tributary, we got on the board quickly with 3 or 4 Valley average fish.  The water was pretty clear already, and cold—the gage was saying 42-ish in the park to start the day—but flows were looking promising and there was no shortage of sun to warm things up.  It was actually cloudy to start, so I was hoping for some bugs to hatch, but I only saw a handful of midges late in the afternoon after Eric and I parted ways.  His mother in law was home watching his girls, and she had had enough by 2:15, I guess!  I was hoping for some late day redemption after a rough patch, so I decided to stay a while longer.  I ended up running into other dudes in two spots I wanted to fish, so in the end, I just fished my way back to the parking spot.  I did get to see a little winter sunset, so the second shift was not all bad even if it provided nothing on the fishing front but young of the year and another white sucker.

The old San Juan...

I was having a tough time early with what I ended up diagnosing as a tippet ring with a sharp edge—they don’t really ever hit rocks, but I think sometimes they come off the production line with a rough edge or, more likely, I get them with a nipper and create a rough spot.  Anyway, I lost two snags that should not have been lost before I took the time to diagnose.  Eric picked up a few little guys while patiently waiting for me to get with it.  I got a few fish tighlining an sj worm, and later on a pair of midges/perdigons.  The “best” trout, all of 9 inches, took a single walts in a deep eddy under a small palsa pinch on indicator.  Fittingly enough, after missing a few fish throughout the day, including one I rolled with a late hookset that looked better than 9 inches, I had no problem sticking two suckers in the mouth while tightlining a pair of small bugs.  I am slow to commit to the bobber, but it is late December, so I probably should man up with how light the hits are in this cold water.  Then again, each day is different.  And that is the dilemma sometimes: catch fish or catch them the way you prefer to catch them?  At the very least, I should acknowledge that on days when I have not brought my A game I should turn to the bobber assist.

Eric found some little ones to cooperate.

Today was trip 96 of 2020, but I have not the drive to make it to 100.  Besides some surf fishing and a handful of NEPA trips, I have stayed pretty close to home this year of the Covid, so I am not all that motivated to visit one of the five or six wild trout streams that I have fished all year—as a reader you may even tire of seeing Northampton County Limestoner, no?  I thought I might fish less this year than last because so many more fishermen have had the free time to get out and put more pressure on already pressured creeks (no offense if you are one of them, but I do want my office back!).  I have heard this sentiment from others like me who already fished a lot and quickly grew tired of the crowds this year.  I saw so many more lip wounds and bobbers in trees on wild trout streams!  The upside, however, is that I got to fish with my young protégé Eric a lot more, and I got to show Ward and Jeff the ropes too.  These things would not have happened without the Covid. 

One benefit of staying a little longer.

The best Christmas gifts I received this year, besides a healthy family, were the unsolicited compliments and gratitude from my buddies.  Eric told the boys at the fly shop, all Sam’s fishing pals too, that I was his mentor.  Sandy Dunkin calls me Yoda in texts when he asks my fishing advice.  Ward left me a great holiday voicemail thanking me for getting him out this spring and summer.  The Silver Fox has expressed his gratitude several times in the past.  I don’t think my ego needs this, but I like to fish alone and I guard my spots, so I do like that my buddies acknowledged the sacrifice or selflessness required of a sworn fishing hermit (in life in some ways too).  Social fishing is good for me, however, and even more so this year when most of my socializing was limited to fishing with friends.  I will not say Happy New Year, as I will fish again this week at least once.  There will be more to come before I get back to work, too.  The Silver Fox and I penciled in a trip for New Year’s Day, hoping for some winter brook trout.  I have been in touch with Sam out in State College too.  Weather permitting, I am going to pay him a visit during the first week of January.  The shots of rain that have normalized flows here have also done their part out there, and I am due.  I have not been out to see him since early March of this year, and that is too long!   

Pretty plumper on a single walts.