December 31, 2021 – Some Kind of Winter Bookends – Brodhead Creek

Still 25+ CFS down from normal.

Not my intention, but I realized as I was suiting up in the morning that I was closing out 2021 much in the same way I opened it.  Technically, the Silver Fox and I fished for brookies (with a 2020 license) first, and Eric and I got out on our SEPA spot, but by the 14^th (the 6^th at Penns with Sam but that has some limestone influence) I was fishing bigger water hoping to find a big hungry trout on big bugs.  While a bit treacherous, slow, and monochrome, there is something about winter fishing on the Brodhead and bigger creeks that I love.  I used to think the same thing about small game hunting, for example.  For what other reason besides hunting or fishing would a sane person be lumbering through the gray woods in late December?  I have seen that change over the years, as I do encounter more fisherman in the winter than I did even 10 years ago (Magazines? YouTube? Blogs like this? More young guys fishing again?)  but mostly on smaller limestoners and stocked waters.  Much in the way I would rather walk and toss a plug on the beach for a skunk than watch a spiked rod with a bunker head soaking, I feel the same way about nymphing big bugs on a tight line as opposed to watching midges under a bobber.  I get to the point where I embrace the indicator each winter, but usually not as early as December, I guess, or at least not this mild year. 

Fish were caught, even the intended quarry on a bugger.

With midges hatching, living and dying by the big stonefly, or in the case of today a sexy walts or caddis larva, is an acquired taste.  I would not say the choice paid off completely today, but I did land four fat fish, including the target species, a wild brown close to 15 inches.  The water was frigid, like under 38 degrees, but late in the day, I got a brown to strike a streamer too—well, a micro-streamer, a size 8 black bunny leach (with an extra tungsten bead) just hopping down the stream.  Worth it?  That is always the question.  But with what feels like the twelfth spike in Covid cases what else was I doing today!  It was close to 50 degrees and misty all day, so rather comfortable winter fishing but not so nice that everyone got the urge.  I saw no other soul in about 5 hours of walking.  And fish were caught.  Thank goodness for the holdover rainbows, however.  I had one other wild brown make a move for the bugger earlier in the day, but those spring survivor bows, one that looked like it had eaten a mouse it was so fat, filled a void for me today.

Pristine holdovers

They like to move, rainbows, and a select few always end up in the unstocked sections of this big watershed.  Somedays I say dammit when I see the silvery flash after setting the hook, but in the winter I take what I can get!  They may have even been around multiple years, as two of them were nearly perfect in color and intact fins.  Nevertheless, I was overjoyed to come tight to a wild brown during the warmest part of the day.  I had thrown the olive jigged bugger to start, but the water was very clear, and besides one fish that moved to the bug, I saw one other spook.  With water so low and clear despite another night of potential rain, I actually spotted a few fish throughout the day that I could not entice off the bottom.  It was brighter to start the day, but the drizzle and clouds came again after 2 PM, so I tied a black leech on later.  Fishing some pocket water for an active fish or two, I was lucky enough to find what I was looking for.  Granted, I would have liked a few more inches on him, but it was a dark, big-jawed, and photogenic male.  I was throwing my 10’6” 4-weight at cold fish, so I had no major battles on my hands today, but all the fish fought okay for the conditions.  I was certainly ready if big mama or papa decided to eat today.  I had the big net, a wading staff, food and drink—all for a few holdovers and one decent brown.  Go big, I guess.  I went small earlier in the week, and the results were worse!

Photogenic.

I covered some water, so I had a longer walk back to where I parked.  With the clouds, I knew it was going to be dark in the woods by 4:45 instead of 5 PM, so I started hiking back by 4:15 or so.  On the walk back, I remembered why I do this.  Ending on the target species close to the target size helps, but it was really this excuse for a midwinter walk in the woods on a favorite creek.  I spent years avoiding freestoners in the winter except on freakishly warm days in February or something, so I find it oddly satisfying to stick a few under the unique challenges they present at this time of year.  I saw midges for an hour, so it’s not like the river was devoid of life either.  I will return next month with those big golden stones that I left at home today too!  Not a record year, although many big browns landed, but I hit an even 90 fishing days this year, a year of weather extremes, so I am pretty satisfied with the effort.  Happy New Year, mitches!

Monochrome but still a beautiful excuse for a walk.

December 26 and 28, 2021 – Mild Temperatures and Low Water Continues – SEPA Limestoners

Pretty evening, small trout.

Well, I have off this week, and at least twice rain was promised and amounted to very little, but I had to fish a couple days anyway.  It has been hard to find the motivation while checking USGS graphs at all my spots within an hour or so, and I have not committed to a longer trip to a bigger creek yet—maybe later this week—so I did about as well as I expected.  I think I caught 3.5 fish in two days.  Sunday, I did not leave until around noon, deciding to try the later shift at an old favorite in Berks County.  I did a drive-by of two of my parking spots, and forgot it was a Sunday.  Spot one had too much activity in neighboring backyards, and spot two had a couple cars parked in the siding.  I paused in view of a honey hole, and saw at least one dude swimming a dog, maybe fishing too, so I had to take a 15-minute detour to another creek.  This creek has not been good since Ida, and I had previously sworn it off until at least late spring next year, but with few options I gave it one more go.  At least now I know to avoid it the rest of this winter.  I moved one decent fish on a bugger and landed an 8-incher.  I also know my pricey new Christmas net won’t let a dink slip through the mesh, so I've got that going for me?

A couple more and a little bigger today + need real rain.

Today, I got on the road by 9 AM at least, and I drove to a Northampton County Limestoner where I stuck at least one decent fish after the spawn.  Again, it had rained in the night but just barely, so the water was near drought conditions.   Even a couple springs that feed this one looked sadly in need of a recharge.  With the mostly cloudy day on tap, I was hopeful but still realistic about my chances.  I tried nymphing the warmest part of the day, but with no bugs hatching, the only action I had was on a jigged bugger.  I turned one decent one on Sam’s bugger earlier in the day, landed one on a small rubber-legged bugger about size 8, and eventually lost another fish on Eric’s black sculpin before quitting time.  The fish I landed and the one I nearly landed acted crazy in the low water, jumping half a dozen times each, so I don’t think the water was too cold.  There was just no bug life to draw them out of hiding.  I kept hoping to find a little concentration of even small fish to pass the time, but besides one that rose maybe two times and stopped, the three fish I messed with were the three fish I messed with.  I see more precipitation and mild temps in the forecast, so I know it’s going to happen one of these days.  It did not happen Sunday, and it did not happen today, though!  One more trip for an even 90 in 2021, so I have to get out again regardless?

December 17, 2021 – A Short Morning Visit with an Old Friend Feeling Low and a Little Damaged – Valley Creek

Wide and flat is another Ida effect it seems.

I am not sure if I remember Valley getting much below 20 CFS even in the summertime, but it has been around 19 this week.  The Silver Fox said he heard that we have had a total of .25 inches of rain for December, and it certainly feels about right.  Low water in late fall is nothing new, so I was undaunted by the prospect of sneaking around in low, clear water conditions, but the additional destruction made by Ida this year was an added variable.  I did some recon in the upper reaches of the creek right after the storm, and it was bad, but I stayed out of Chesterbrook and the Park, knowing that too would be depressing.  It was too nice to not fish today, and I only had a small window, so today was my day to go back post-Ida and post-spawn and see what’s up.  There are still washed out and posted paths, some new channels and ultra-deep sandy holes, along with piles of gravel and stones small enough to get moved by flooding rains.  But there were also many redds, not to mention a heron and I getting into a few fish.  Valley is nothing if not resilient.  Except to photograph from a high bank, I steered clear of the redds, now unoccupied but full of eggs, but I managed to raise about 8 fish and land 4 of them on a bugger during my 3 hours and change of walking and fishing. 

Many positive signs, however!

Despite it being low and clear, those deep holes that were dug out by the storm(s) made me choose a jigged bugger, especially because there was a decent NW breeze that would have made it tough to nymph the size bugs I would have chosen to throw.  Instead of a bobber and midges or micro-caddis, I just tossed a jigged bugger on the mono rig.  Fishing at least a 20- to 25-foot leader and fishing upstream, I was able to stick a couple without spooking them.  Any little old man stumble in wet leaves or loose stone sent them scurrying, but as I said I did interest 8 fish and land 4 of them.  For Valley, they were very decent fish too.  I would say between 10 and 13 inches.  The bugger does tend to weed out the dinks that would be all over a zebra midge.  I would have been happy with dinks, and I almost quit after two fish.   I just wanted to get out for a walk today and see the creek, which I will see a lot of this winter.  I am glad I kept going and saw more creek and landed a couple more decent fish, however.  There is still plenty more to see on a less crowded weekday after the holidays, of course.  Doing a rain dance for Saturday.  If it works, Sunday somewhere, maybe even with the Silver Fox, is a possibility.  I guess I am making up for the beginning of the month?

Some Valley-decent fish along the way too.

December 16, 2021 – One Last Trip before Hanging up the Surf Gear – Ocean County Beaches

Another long ride to photograph a cloudy sunrise.

Well, this year was as bad or worse than the years past that made me refocus on fall and winter trout fishing in lieu of the surf.  The sandeel honeymoon of the last few years has been fun, although the fish have been so small.  I would have taken a day of dinks today to end on a high-ish note, but I ended the way I began this fall.  There was a good South blow yesterday, I guess, because the water was dirty and weedy about two hours after high tide—cabbage at the beach lip and dirty foam as the tide continued to fall.  I was suited up and casting by 5:30 AM, and I hit two likely spots before 8:30 AM when I decided it was not going to happen.  No birds, no bait, no boats, no buggies, no signs of life.  With an East swell, the surf looked great, plenty of whitewater and depth, even on those improved beaches, at least for the first two hours of outgoing.  The water did not feel that cold, either, but as the morning air warmed with the sunrise there was a slight fog over the water, so maybe colder than it appeared.  The boys are going tomorrow in the Park, so maybe good news will coax me out one last time, but I do believe this morning was just that.  I was actually scouting for even dinks this morning because I wanted to get my son out on the beach on Sunday (and last Sunday!) but that too might have to wait until spring.  Maybe he will be my trout good luck charm?

December 14, 2021 – That Bathing in Tomato Soup Thing Is a Myth, Right? - Northampton County Limestoner

Real low, yo.

I got out for a full five-hour skunking on only my second trip of December.  Maybe I still had the smell on me from my last surf outing.  The surf continues to be a long drive for lackluster returns, so we bagged a trip on Sunday, and I have just been busy with the end of semester stuff.  I have a month off starting on December 19, so fishing will be done, cold or not, next week and into the New Year.  The creeks are really low, but if it rains this Saturday, I will give it a shot on Sunday.  Today, besides meeting the need to get out on a beautiful day, was nearly a waste of time.  Midges and even some olives were hatching for about an hour, but nary a nose to be seen.  This creek fishes poorly for me in the winter, but I was hoping for one last hurrah until late February or early March.  I had one moment of excitement all day. With the water painfully low and clear, I saw a big brown give himself away with a flash of mouth, eating something or chasing another fish, like an intruder rainbow.  Or he got the spawning memo late and was still juiced up.  I stalked him with a bugger and got him to move twice, nip the back twice, and when he finally ate, my overzealous hookset turned him.  With a shake of the head and a panicked bolt upstream to spook the rest of the hole, he was gone.  I think that my ability to see the whole thing so clearly, right down to the eat, caused me to set just a hair too early.  I should have waited for him to turn, maybe, or for that whole bugger to disappear.  It was a nice 16+ inch wild brown too and would have made the trip a lot less lackluster and maybe gotten that skunk off me.  I don't believe those things are like slumps, however, so no silly rituals until the next outing on maybe Thursday morning.

December 2, 2021 – More Blitzes Out of Reach – Ocean County Beaches

There was a chance.

Maybe I am a glutton for punishment, or maybe I remember how good it can be with peanuts if you are lucky enough to be there at the right place and time, but I took the ride this morning too.  I am now 1 fish for 3 early morning trips.  Getting up at 2:45 AM and driving 90 minutes for a skunk hardly makes me want to do it again, and that is why this blog contains so few surf fishing posts—I started the blog around the time I got back into fly fishing and trout fishing again because, post-Sandy and the latest beach replenishment movement, the surf game began netting ever-diminishing returns.  Sucks, because I do love it out there, and I will log more trips (as I have since the inception of this blog) to chase the higher-percentage run of dinkers that spells the end of the run and the beginning of winter, but it is hard to justify all the driving, casting, and not sleeping.  Today, like last Sunday, I had a good chance.  I actually fished a good piece of beach in the dark that I scouted earlier in the week, and I then when the birds and bait materialized a few hundred yards off the beach at sunrise, I pursued a blitz at least 2 blocks long by car through about three beach towns.  The closest they got to shore was close enough to see fish busting and birds coming up with 5-7 inch bunker but not close enough to reach, even with an old secret weapon: a peanut bunker tin.  I think the same dude who created the THex also made this one back in the day.  Because high tide was at 5 AM, there was actually water in the surf for a couple potentially productive hours, but even fishing some nice moving water with small baits to end the trip failed to interest a rat or two.  There was a lot more white water today, but also a strong South to North sweep and a South wind—not great conditions, generally.  So many variables with the surf, and I know just enough to know when it is just not going to happen today.  If I lived on a beach block, I would toss a plug every morning and evening in any fishable conditions, and maybe even some borderline ones, but these long drives, you know?

A lot to love, but a long early or late drive....

November 30, 2021 – Still No Blitz for Me, but One Fish is Better than None – Ocean County Beaches

One....

Well, I did better than Sunday, but not by much.  I landed one 20-21 inch bass in the dark about 5:30 AM on a black SP Minnow, and then I fished until 9 AM without a touch.  I felt kind of bad landing one resident fish, probably out for his usual predawn constitutional, and apparently alone, but at least I am on the board for the Fall 2021 season.  It can only get better.  After first light and no birds or bait in sight, I continued to drive north and scope out three more beaches.  I should have gone south, but that is the game with peanut bunker and blitzes.  Shoulda woulda coulda.  While tossing a small shad at the final stop, just to stick maybe one more dink, I did finally see birds diving well south of me and way out there.  One of these days, I am going to walk into a blitz or get lucky with a move, but as a land-based angler, I will have to continue to drive around until that happens.   That is, unless the more consistent sandeel bite materializes—that is built for a guy like me who doesn’t mind getting up at 3 AM, driving 90 minutes, and fishing 3 hours for a short burst of fish.  Although, as I posted on Sunday, there are more skunks recorded when the bite is like this, but the good days can be epic.  Maybe tomorrow if I am up, but Sunday with Sandy Dunkin and Brady Windknots if nothing else.  Maybe I sleep in and catch a trout tomorrow instead…

A little more white water, but the dead sea (for me).  Probably awesome 5 miles to the south!

November 28, 2021 – I Think I Say This At the Start of Every Fall…. – Ocean County Beaches

A start.

…you have to start somewhere.  I was standing waist-deep at the end of a sandbar before sunrise today with peanut bunker swimming by my feet and birds hovering just out of reach, but I did not get a touch and no one on the crowded beaches behind me landed a fish.  The tide was not great, sure, and the seas were flat and the water ultraclean, but there was a chance for some fun if the bass got the memo.  Hovering birds, not diving birds.  It sounds like they were diving in the snottier weather earlier in the long weekend, but I was here today.  Peanut bunker blitzes are a bit harder to dial in than a consistent sandeel bite like we have had for the last few years, but there are also benefits to a peanut bite.  It’s been a while, maybe over 5 years, but it will come back to me. I do know that I used to love it when they were around late in the fall because sometimes they were gone, like mullet, before the migrating fish even got close to Ocean County. I am confident that one day in the upcoming week it will come together.  Peanuts are always on the move, and so are the bass, but not always south.  Sometimes they range along a barrier island for a few days, or sometimes the right wind and tide pushes them in close for some mayhem.  The sandeel bite is a 90 minute drive for two hours of good fishing around sunrise, whereas a bonkers peanut day could last all day if you are willing to hop around and follow the action.  I was technically solo today, but I was in contact with Pete at a couple scheduled times.  He was with another buddy a few miles away, and he was in contact with a dozen others, and no one in that circle caught this morning, despite all the bait!  Facebook, of course, will tell a different story, but there are a lot of rods on FB and a lot coastline in Jersey.  The thing with peanuts is you just have to be there (or be close and/or patient) when lightning strikes.  At least I shook off the cobwebs and my waders don’t leak.

November 24, 2021 – The Cold Day the Day before Thanksgiving Day with Jay – Little Schuylkill River

Jay's fish got the well-deserved full 30-second photo-shoot.

I hope that after a few middling-to-terrible days I finally delivered a memorable one for Jay today.  He had not been out in months, and he had this week off.  Monday (which was a perfect trout weather day) was the day after he had just done a long drive to State College and back, and Tuesday was not only frigid but blustery with wind chills in the 20’s.  With Thursday being Turkey Day, today was the day.  It was slated to be cold, but not windy, and so it was.  We fished the Tully this time last year on a beauty day, which was also Tully-crowded.  I like to stay off the wild creeks, especially the small ones, this time of year to give the fish, in whose continued abundance I have a vested interest, their privacy.  Others do the same, I know.  I knew every mook and mitch in SEPA would be off like us today, so I pitched a longshot to Jay.  I myself have never fished the Small Skuke at this time of year, but I have always wanted to investigate.  I know that the small number of wild browns continues to grow over the years, but I was really hoping to find a good number of holdovers.  We found more of the former than the latter, certainly not a bad thing, even a nice bonus fish for Jay, but it was a cold, slow four hours for a fun fifth.  We had the place to ourselves, however, and did not have to worry about fishing around spawning wild fish or dragging our feet through redds, as most reproduction here happens in the tributaries (or behind some islands) and what takes place in the river is surely easy to spot—I saw no redds today, in fact.

Had the place to ourselves, which was justified for most of the day!

We met about 9:40 AM and were fishing by about 10.  It was cold.  I did not drop a stream thermometer, but this is a freestone creek, so the water was cold too.  After a few days of low air temps and clear nights, I would assume 40 at best, likely high 30’s when we arrived. When wading too deep early, it was easy to start getting cold rather quickly, even in long johns and wool socks.  The river is mostly broad and shallow until it braids around islands or gets funneled through steeper terrain, so I tried to move quickly to high percentage late fall/winter holes.  Though the flows were between 80 and 100, the wading was rather easy.  We did spend a good while at the first deep section, in disbelief that it did not produce a fish.  I cycled through some bug options and presentations and finally got a half-hearted hit on two small larva under a bobber.  That was it for the first hour.  After spending time up a side channel, Jay and I lost each other for a while.  Of course, as we met again, I lost the only fish of the morning while talking.  It looked to be an average rainbow.  By now I was fishing a single caddis larva close to the bottom.

Pretty, cold day.

I quietly crossed the river below and fished this hole thoroughly without another bump, so we kept moving.  Jay caught a lost landing net hanging in a tree while I kept hoofing up to the next section of deeper water.  It was damn near 1:30 or 2 PM before our short spurt of afternoon action began.  After hanging some nymphs in the bottom on what felt like wood, I decided to rig a jigged streamer with an extra tungsten bead on 4X.  I had fished Eric’s thinner profile jigged bugger two other times today at prime locations, but this time I chose Sam’s bigger profile Roberdeau.  I had spooked a school of chubs earlier while sneaking around a deadfall, and they were bigger baitfish, but I think Sam’s bug also makes a nice crayfish or sculpin imitation too.  Well, it worked.  I finally landed an average wild brown on the bugger, followed by a plump and beautiful holdover rainbow that was probably 15 inches or more.  Jay took a seat and made the right move, tying on a black bugger and adding a little tungsten putty to get it down.  He worked through the same hole with the different color and profile and stuck himself a great brown buck within ten minutes of switching up.

Another shot of Jay's fish (in my cold hand).

The fish was just about 15 inches but broad, a perfect specimen of a post-spawn male, maybe an old mature fish from one of the tributaries that winters in the river—or maybe not.  There is plenty of forage and wood nearby, and it is dark and shaded in this section of the river much of the day.  I even saw some midges and caddis towards the end of the day, so life is good in these parts and fish have noticed.  Besides the bow, I landed two more wild browns out of this same hole, and Jay stuck another average wild brown here too before we moved on.  With bumps and follows, we interested a good number of fish in a short time period, and the hook-up average for bugger fishing was high, well over 80 percent.  The next deep hole did not duplicate that flurry of activity, but I dropped another average fish in a small wooded pocket on the way up there.  I did land two more little wild browns on the bugger at the last spot before we decided to turn back a little after 3 PM.

A sampling of my fish, including the sole holdover rainbow, the intended quarry.

We had at least a 15-minute walk back down to our vehicles, so we covered some ground today.  Sadly, much of it is a wasteland much of the year, just a lot of shallow wide flats that make good places to target stockies with dry flies, but there are pockets of promise throughout.  I guess that is why I dragged Jay here in mid-to-late-November, to see if the promising spots I had fished in the past would pay off.  I guess they did?  Close to 10 fish between us in a temperate hour?  Fishing on a cold day in November is hardly the right day to measure a creek’s potential, but I think the Little Skuke did alright today.  It certainly gave Jay and me a chance to catch up and catch some fish.  I think the descriptive word Jay used when he texted me a couple photos later in the afternoon was “satisfying.”  After some of the mediocre outings I worked him though in recent memory, I will certainly take it!

Some b-roll from a good November day.

November 17, 2021 – Apparently, It Is (even Was) That Time – Northampton County Limestoner

Through the polarized lens.....

I had a guy’s weekend in Asbury Park and didn’t even bring a rod this year, so it’s been a week since I last fished.  On Saturday, in snottier weather, the boats and birds were out in force, so the run is on.  I may go Friday if the weather looks right and Sandy Dunkin can get away from work.  Things have changed on my favorite wild trout streams too.  I noted that fish were looking and acting spawny in the Lehigh Valley last week, and today’s creek was already littered with mostly empty redds.  I saw one fish on a redd, but I noted about ten more that were recently used and likely abandoned, so a lot has indeed happened.  The 24-inch white sucker I battled to end the afternoon was probably looking for some eggs! I could have gone elsewhere, but I know where fish spawn on this creek.  I figured I would find similar conditions wherever I went nearby, so I decided to steer clear of tailouts and obvious redds, stay put, and target the heads of runs and a couple favorite eddies and pools.

An unexpected small stream piggy.

Fishing is often tough when the creek is like this, so I was happy to catch three, including a small stream piggy about 17 inches.  The fish was still fat as can be, so maybe fixing to be a late spawner.  Based on the anal fin, I would say male fish, though the jaw was not all that pronounced even though he had the sharp male head.  Sitting in a deep eddy eating a size 18 perdigon, he actually may have already done his civic duty.  The other two fish were average 10-11-inchers.  I fished small bugs like an 18 walts and the perdigon because there were no bugs early, but later in the early afternoon some olives and caddis were around.  The olives even got a few dinks up rising for a minute.  I did swing a tiny soft hackle and got bumped once, but I did not commit to that game for long.  With the water pretty average to low, and the leaf litter, I did not even tie on a bugger today. I thought about it when it clouded up for about 30 minutes but never made the move.

A whopping total of three on the perdigon dropper tag.

The two smaller fish came from edges and eddies of deep plunge pools.  The big fish came from a big fish hole where I have landed a few over the years up to 20 inches.  The takes were so light that they all probably just stayed in their lanes and opened their mouths for the small bug.  The fights were better than the takes, however.  The big fish took me down into another pool with some wood in it.  I was throwing the 3 weight today, too!  I had to muscle him out from under a log before he got in too deep.  After a slow start with only two other fish before that, it was a welcomed and unexpected adventure.

Some sun, clouds, redds, ducks...

Early in the morning, I spotted two big shapes in a similar big fish hole.  It was too deep, a little bouncy, and way too cloudy at that time to confirm at least one was a trout.  At least I knew they were not spawing, so I went back before I left to get a better look.  When I hooked the mammoth sucker, I can confirm that he spooked at least one decent trout in this hole.  I had to be content to enjoy the brief sucker battle: an initial run or two that spooked the entire hole.  I did not get a net on this one before he shook the perdigon out of (or more likely off) his mouth, but it was well over 20 inches.  Maybe a pod of them were hanging around for trout eggs.  The trout will return the favor early in the new year, so all is fair.  Speaking of fair, this was a warm and successful fishing day during a time of year that I find tough as many days as not.  Thursday is supposed to get close to 70 degrees, but I have a couple meetings and class at night.  As I mentioned above, I may take my first surf trip on Friday if Jeff can get free.  If not, maybe a bigger creek where the fish tend to spawn in tribs or other obvious places will be on the dance card.

One more bonus shot.

November 10, 2021 – Getting to Be About That Time? – Northampton County Limestoner

I just like the colors on this buck + a bird wound too.

With the long warm spell in October, I was thinking that the brown trout might spawn a little later this year, but today I saw signs that things seem to be on track.  For one, I caught one male that was nearly in full spawning colors.  I also saw a fish try to swim up a low-head waterfall.  Twice.  I kid you not.  Out of the corner my eye, I thought I saw something swimming with everything it had.  I kept an eye out for a mink or some other critter, but I was lucky enough a few minutes later to see the fish try again.  I was so close I could identify not only that it was a wild brown, but also that it was likely a male about 13 inches long.  I guess the rut is not just for deer because this fella was acting a fool.  Maybe he heard they want to pull down the rest of the dams here and got overzealous? 

Another bluebird and breezy day + one of those bows!

After the beating on Monday, the three trout I caught today felt like a treat, especially because they were all at least 12 inches long and very spunky.  One fish was one of the holdover rainbows in this creek that I always welcome catching.  She’d been around a good while and was 16 inches and thick.  It was all muscle too, as I was shocked that I had such a time landing this fish on a 10’6” 4 weight with plenty of butt section.  Not difficult in a bad way like she was going to get off, just a show of will and solid strength.  The two browns were quality too and both leapers in the tight confines of shallow pocket water.  The male that opens this post went up four times, but the female, who was a bit bigger, also put on a nice acrobatic show.

The female on the small bomb walts.

I fished a couple deep holes looking for a piggy with first a streamer and then some bigger bugs, but I did not even move a fish in the high sun and that damn wind again.  I saw some olives and very small caddis, but could not tempt any fish with the likely choices on the dropper, but a single size 18 bomb walts gave me what I was looking for, a nice spurt of activity on which to end the short trip.  Had I been able to fish longer, I may have gotten a few more fishing through spots where I had been ignored earlier in the day.  There were not a lot of bugs in the air, but the warm up had coaxed a few to go shallow and actively eat for a while.  Fall fishing can start getting tough as the spawn approaches, at least for the larger trout, but I will take 12-inchers all day (10-inchers too!).  It is not time to quit targeting browns altogether, but I will certainly have my eyes peeled next week for fish making redds in the Lehigh Valley and points north.  The surf crew is testing the waters, breaking in that beach buggy tag, and chomping at the bit for it to go off, and Jay wants to do the Tully or something like that around Thanksgiving, so plenty of fishing in November remains on the table once it does begin.

November 8, 2021 – A Fool’s Errand in 1100 CFS – Lehigh River

Pretty big water...

I could not confirm with the Army Corp of Engineers website, but based on the shape of the gage, it looks like there must of have been a bottom release from the dam a few days ago.  It may have been unplanned in order to let some rainwater go.  I can confirm that the only fish I caught in four hours of fishing at two spots, another hour of walking and driving in between, felt like it had been on ice.  I was in long johns and a base layer all day, even though the air got to the mid-60’s by quitting time, so the water was certainly cold.  I guess I wanted a change of pace after three trips in a row on creeks I can jump across, and I have seen plenty of the Brodhead this fall thus far, so I headed up the Northeast Extension to the Lehigh.  The gage at Lehighton was close to 1100 CFS, but coming down.  Flows like this push fish to the sides, and I had some spots in mind where I wanted to hunt for a piggy with a jigged streamer or big bugs. 

A lot of driving, hiking, casting for one average fish on ice.

I stuck with the plan at the first spot, which was too high to wade out much over my knees even in spikes and felt, for a good 2 hours.  Not a touch, even when I went smaller and fished soft edges with a bobber.  The only highlight besides big sky and water shots was an encounter with a mink carrying a fresh kill, likely a mole or vole.  No fish for him either today.  The wind pretty much sucked too.  I thought the pattern was changing today, and it did after 1 PM, but the morning was still breezy enough to make casting and mending a chore.  After lunch, I debated just going to the Po, but I drove upstream about 40 minutes and fished another section of the river and finally stuck a wild brown on a caddis larva with an added tungsten bead to get down to them.  I know I missed two others fishing with a bobber big enough to float a lot of weight, and on a mono rig!  The plan was to hunt for a big fish, so I did not pack another rod with me.  Had I done that, I may have fished a couple tribs instead.  A lot of driving, walking, and casting for one fish, but I had (perhaps foolishly) committed to this path today.

November 3 and 5, 2021 – A First but Not a Welcomed One + Low, Clear, Windy, and Cool, but Almost Very Cool – Berks County

Def a first for me.

I can’t remember if I ever snagged a lost stringer back in the day when I fished with bait and spinners for stocked trout all over the state, but I am sure I would remember if I ever caught a trout with a makeshift stringer made from a bootlace before.  That happened early this Wednesday afternoon!  One fly was in the mouth and the dropper was hooked to what I swear was a Simms wading boot shoelace.  I guess someone wanted to keep this one for a meal.  I am pretty sure it was a wild brown and, for this very small freestoner, it was a pretty decent fish.  Thankfully, the knot tied through the unfortunate fish’s jaw was no better tied than the other one that was tied to the bank or a wading belt.  Perhaps she had not been dragging this three feet of polyester around for long because the fish swam off just fine and might even make it.  No damage to the gills yet that I could see, so I hope she was fortunate she met me today and makes it this winter.

Broke out the fingerless gloves early!

I don’t know if it was that the flows were up on the bigger creeks or, having fished a small creek with Eric on Sunday, I wanted to sneak around some more trickles this week.  It was cold too, the first frosts of the year this week, so the idea of sheltered woods probably felt right.  A lot of leaves are gone, so neither creek was as sheltered as I would have liked.  I was in no rush and let the morning warm up both days.  It was only going up to the low 50’s, so 10 degrees below normal, and I had to quit by 1:30 PM or 2 PM both days, so I was going to be fishing in the low 40’s most of the trip, anyway.  No jacket required, but I did bust out the base layers and the even the fingerless gloves, at least for the first hour on Wednesday morning.

She might even make it (same bootlace fish now free).

There has been a persistent North wind this week and, with the clear skies, no heat staying put overnight even though the sun is still warm each afternoon.  Both Wednesday and Friday were challenging because of this moderate wind and the need to use small bugs in that wind in order not to spook fish.  These two stops were part of the storm damage tour too, I suppose, as I have not been back to either since very early in the spring.  I am used to the filled-in holes, but the new challenge is fishing the 4-foot holes left behind, mostly sandy, that pop up once in a while after fishing 8- to 12-inch runs for long stretches at a time.  In the bright sun, I saw many fish that spooked at both creeks, and even the mostly dinkers I caught Wednesday required steady, quiet movement and some low creeping.  Even the chubs took some work.  I bet I landed 15 fish, but as you can see from the collage, they were smalls.  This is a tiny creek, as was Friday’s choice, so to be expected, but I did have a couple surprises on Friday that were good ones—not bad ones like wader laces in trout jaws, for example.

A sampling of the rest of Wednesday's haul of small.

On Friday, I fished from about 10:30 AM to 2 PM at a favorite little creek that has a trace of limestone influence but, like the creek earlier in the week, is pretty much a rocky freestoner with pocket water and plunges galore.  I don’t fish this one much, even though I have had some awesome days here.  I guess, I don’t want to spoil it or something.  It is about 2 hours of fishing, maybe 3 if I drive to one other section with some unposted access, so the ride is half as long as the time spent fishing, especially on days like today when water is low.  Unless the water is high and stained, I move pretty quickly through a handful of deeper holes and especially plunges that might better hide my approach.  Even sneaking today, I spooked two big old pre-spawners!  One looked close to 18 inches, maybe bigger.  I think these fish are slightly migratory, as in they cover some mileage in the watershed when it comes time to spawn.  Even though I don’t overdo it at this creek, these fish were big enough that I am seriously considering a trip back next week or the following before they actually start settling down to begin making redds.

Pretty freestoner.

Unaware that the first hole close to parking had changed significantly, I walked up and cast a shadow over a mess of chubs and one 12-inch trout right away!  My second favorite spot was still a deep hole, but due to a major split in the current, it was barely pushing any water through it—basically chub water today.  I did not even spook any trout here when I finally stood up straight and continued my walk upstream.  Apparently, the trout had moved up to the next hole, where try as I might to be stealthy I eventually spooked two pig wild browns after landing a small on a caddis larva.  I knew now just how stealthy I was going to have to be on the last hole in this stretch, which is often my honey hole.  I took one average fish out of the back of this long, usually more bouncy run, but he did not blow up the hole, apparently.  I saw midges in the air, so I rested the spot and added a dropper with a size 18 riffle nymph while I waited.

More storm damage tour and new white whales, the parents of all the dinkers!

I continued to move slowly and obsessively watch my shadow as I made my way upstream another few feet.  Crouching behind a big root ball, I delivered the bugs into the sweet spot in the hole during a brief break in the breeze, and I had a very light take.  I set the hook, and a small stream pig took to the air immediately!  This beauty, probably 17 inches and a pre-spawn male, jumped no less than three more times.  I guess he had nowhere else to go in such tight confines.  This would have been a personal best for this creek by a couple inches at least, but I did not stick the landing and get a photo.  While I was retreating back downstream to a safe spot to net him, he jumped one last time and was gone.  Of course he took the little size 18 bug on the dropper, so that did not help!  Sadly, in these conditions I did not expect another fish out of this hole for a while, so I made my return trip downstream.  I think I was just happy to stick this fish on such a day in such conditions, so it was easier to shake off.  I even rigged a dry dropper on the way back down, convinced I might fool one of the pigs I had spooked on the way up with a stealthier approach, but not a chance today.  I had the same results at the first hole where I spooked a couple with my shadow when I first arrived.

A little better collection of small stream fish on Friday.

I decided that I had enough time to drive to the other accessible spot, and I am glad I did because I actually landed a few more fish there before I had to head for home.  I spooked another one over 12 inches that I had stalked after watching him in the current. I just slipped on a big slick rock and must have waved my rod or arms too much trying to steady, and he was gone before I could make a second cast at him.  At least I was able to dig a few respectable fish out the same hole before I had to hike back to the ‘Ru and start the drive home.  No hero shots this challenging week of challenging conditions, but I did enjoy a change of pace on some trickles, and I did encounter a couple more white whales.  I do wish I had a photo the pig today, more for you than me, as I am sure I will dream about this one for a few days.  I am good as far as memories, I think.