January 17 and 19, 2021 – Cold and Clear and More of the Same – Berks County

Yay, fish pic!

Ahead of a busy work week and the first cold snap in a while, I did sneak out for a couple midday trips on Sunday and Tuesday.  I did not expect much and did not do much planning beyond wanting to check out two or three smaller Berks County creeks that I usually visit in the winter.  They all have wild fish but a couple are stocked too.  In the summer and fall, there are still holdovers along with the wild fish that are willing to eat, but by the winter time, it is the wild population that seems to take over.  Once the stockies are gone or dead or washed into deeper water, it is amazing some years just how many wild fish remain.  Makes you wonder why the stocking sometimes.  Most of the wild fish are stunted, for sure, like brown trout versions of brook trout, where an 8 or 9 incher is a solid fish, but I have tangled with a few 12 and 13 inchers in all.  The non-posted sections of the creeks seem to shrink each year, which is sad but expected in a county so close to sprawling Chester and Montgomery counties.  Their populations seem to fluctuate year to year too, with last year being a year where a solid year class of fish contributed to some good reliable fishing, and those same conditions allowed a few more bigger fish to thrive. 

A four-hour skunking?

I chose the creek I did on Sunday because I did not expect to find anyone else out fishing on a breezy and cold weekend morning.  Tami needed help with dropping off her car for inspection, so I did not leave the house until 9:30 AM, but I was suited up and fishing by 10:45.  I did not encounter another soul, but I barely saw evidence of fish.  I put a full four hours of fishing in for one solid hit, and I missed the fish.  Not even a chub or sucker to show for all the wading.  It was cold fronty and bordering on windy not just breezy, so the fish might have felt a little off their game.  With such a slow start, I too was likely off my game by the time I found a hole where the fish usually bunch up in winter.  The missed strike was a result.  I did well here late in the fall, but I was dismayed even then by how altered the creek was following the bigger storms in 2020.  I ventured further upstream this time, all the way to a former honey hole, rimmed with fresh posted signs and at least two deer stands, and that hole was the most silted up of all.  There are legit reasons why the population of wild fish struggle here some years.  I am sure bug life and any spawning redds (most of that happens in tributaries here, however) are also adversely affected some years, and thus the continued stocking, I suppose.

Improved conditions and action on Tuesday.

The creek on Tuesday was a last minute thing.  I drove close to an hour to fish just over 2 hours, and from 1:30 to 3:45, smack in the middle of the afternoon.  It felt warmer, at least, but it was still breezy.  I also had this one to myself, although boot prints were everywhere, especially around the deeper holes and runs.  Unlike Sunday, I did catch fish, at least.  I got on the board early with two rather decent wild browns for this creek, both over 10 inches long.  They took bigger bugs, one a CDC tag fly and the other a big juicy caddis larva pictured in the collage.  I also caught a couple suckers and a few chubs while targeting the tailouts of deeper pools.  I could see plenty of smaller fish bunched up in deep sandy cuts, and midges hatched for at least 30 minutes, but no risers and the fish overall seemed spookier than normal.  The flows at both creeks were great for this time of year, but with no recent precipitation and none in the immediate future, the water is gin clear.  Add the storm damage and all the light colored sand and scoured exposed rock, and the fish are likely bunched up deep until they spook to wood and undercuts.  This second creek, however, was in very good shape with no major alterations since last winter.  Tuesday was a longish ride for a couple fish, but it was good to get out, especially in light of worsening conditions for the rest of the week.