February 17, 2021 – Winter Presses On but the Fish Are Waking Up - Northampton County Limestoner

Not too shabby.

Yet another winter storm and another on the way…  I heard that we have had close to twenty days with snow cover and that 70 percent of the country now has snow on the ground?  I believe the daily average air temperature this time of the year is like 43, and I can count on one hand the number of those in the last three weeks or more.  I used to move my whole work week around to make sure I was available for the 50 degree days, but my schedule has not allowed that this winter and, besides, I can’t remember the last 50 degree day since December.  Now when I consider heading out to fish, I am happy for an overnight in the mid-20s and a high that has a chance of going over the freezing mark.  Like last week, I couldn’t wait for the perfect day this week.  The warm day on Tuesday meant the big melt down, so that was off the table, as the creeks were close to blown out.  It was encouraging last week when a few fish cooperated in 29 degree weather, so I headed about an hour from home again today and fished another limestoner in the same region.  With the longer days and a little sunshine in the afternoon, it seems like more fish are getting up off the bottom for a while each day.  I caught 6 fish and dropped another in about 4 hours on the water today, and one was over 14 and another 12 or more, so things are moving in the right direction.  It is about this time each year that it begins to happen, and I think it has less to do with weather than daylight, especially when it comes to bugs beginning to crawl and metabolisms requiring more food.  The mature fish are skinny after the spawn, and the best one I caught today had all kinds of war wounds.  They need to eat, and eff the snow and cold, so that has been my attitude too.

Eric's squirrely walts, ice and snow.

I didn’t leave the house until noon today to allow things to warm up a bit.  I was going to head further north than I did, but on a whim I got off the exit for a favorite creek just to see if there was any parking nearby.  The first two spots I drove by were not good, but I kept hunting and found a spot where luckily a private plow had made a bit more room off the road.  After trudging through some deeper and icy snow to the creek, I stayed in the streambed for nearly the entire journey upstream.  I was lucky enough to be able to get on the railroad bed for the walk back and, because the snow had a nice icy crust, I was able to keep about 72% of my steps from plunging through the more compacted snow along the outside of the rails.  For the upstream walk, I just picked apart pockets and snuck up in the tailouts of pools.  I bet an even number came from softer spots in pocket water and from moving water further back in the runs.  The stain from run-off and the slightly higher water remaining from yesterday allowed this second pattern to develop. 

Also not too shabby.

The best fish were sitting back away from the bouncier stuff but definitely not in slow water.  The ones in pocket water were very shallow, probably waiting for a meal and enjoying the warmth of the sun.  That was a bonus today.  The forecast called for mostly cloudy with the Thursday snow set to arrive, but I actually got a suntan today.  Had it been a warmer day, I could imagine it being fantastic today based on the water color and flow.  Instead of 5 fish from a good looking run, I had 1 or 2 at best, but every spot that I thought would definitely hold a fish did—so basically five confidence spots paid off as expected.  I saw some midges in the size 26 range, so I did not downsize to match that hatch!  Instead, I started out throwing a juicy caddis attractor in size 14. I landed my first fish on that before I remember that I had a box of Eric’s recent ties that he wanted me to beta test.  The first fish came from a soft seam in pocket water and hit well and fought better, so I had confidence that it could happen today.  I took the time to rig one of Eric’s weighted walts worms with a hot spot and a bit of squirrel to add to the buggy factor.  As an attractor, I added an egg pattern on the dropper.  Nothing ate the egg all afternoon.  Everything ate the size 14 walts, but there is a chance the attractor got their attention in the stained water, so I didn’t mess with the pairing.

All about the collage today, I guess

I caught my last fish close to 5 PM last week, but today it was closer to 4:45 before it seemed like it was getting colder and darker and was feeling less productive.  Sunset isn’t until about 5:50 right now, so I could have kept fishing, but I didn’t manage any hits on the return trip, so I didn’t push downstream to any new water when I got back to the parking spot.  No ticket, yay!  I think I left more time than needed to get back to the car with enough light to disrobe and pack up.  As I mentioned, the ice on the railroad bed made walking much easier than expected.  Instead of trudging through high snow or trying to match my steps with deer trails or a lone dog walker, I was able to ride the rails back at a decent pace.  Not a leisurely stroll, of course, as I did break into 6 inches of icy snow once in a while, but not the aerobic race against sunset I had expected.  See you after the next round of shoveling….