March 9, 2021 – Visiting an Old Favorite for a Few Hours – Northampton County

A healthy 16-incher.

After finishing a midterm paper on Monday night, I slept in a little today and decided that I needed a break from my class on Tuesday night.  I am on spring break for work, and my grades are submitted, so I wasn’t in the mood to sit on Zoom for three hours tonight.  With the first nice day of the pre-spring, I assumed that everywhere I went this afternoon I would find anglers, so hitting a local DHALO, FFO, or Valley (again) did not sound that fun.  A spring break deserves some adventures, anyway.  I am heading out to fish the Centre County area on Thursday, hopefully with Sam before he gets very busy with work.  In a text exchange on Monday, he said he already picked up some guide trips this week based on the forecast.  If olives are starting to show, and it’s warm, I don’t expect him to give up a day of work for a fun fishing day with me.  I am heading out either way, but so far we are a go.  Today, I thought I would poke around some legal spots on the mighty Brodhead, loaded for bear, and fish the second shift of 1 to 5 or 6 PM, something I rarely do these days.  I had the 10 foot 4 wt. loaded with 4X mono and big bugs, even my wading staff in the ‘Ru.  On the way up, however, I took a detour to drive by a little creek that I am fond of, even if it seems to be in decline because of pressure and some environmental changes upstream.  A new landowner also decided to post great stretches to benefit his own plans for an Airbnb/fishing business (and because a few jerkoffs mouthed off to his young kids—a story too common).  I have tangled with some big trout here, and on a couple prime streamer days I had mornings of multiple pigges—like a 17, an 18, and a 20 in one morning kind of days.  The last few trips over the last two years have been a mixed bag with more stockers in the creek as well.

Warm at the parking spot, but pretty chilly in the water still.

When I saw an old parking spot no longer posted and no signs nearby, I decided to stop and fish, not just do a drive-by.  The flows were up a hair and there was a stain in the deeper water. Still some snow around in the shaded gorge, too. Maybe dude had sold the property, been talked to by persuasive anglers, decided that this creek was not going to support a destination fishery (it never was)?  I suited up, feeling like I might be dressing too warmly as I crossed the creek and hiked in to sneak up on the first hole.  And there it was: a fresh posted sign, and then another in view downstream.  I guess dude was sticking with the plan, and the lack of posting at the parking spot was because it is not actually on his property so was an impotent deterrent at best.  Many other landowners in the area continue to allow access upstream of dude.  I had a decision to make.  Stay or go.  I decided to fish at least up to a couple favorite spots and see what conditions were like.  Honestly, there was a bit of smell in one stretch (ground so wet the septic tanks are ready to bust?), but I did land an 11-inch wild brown eventually.  I had to rig with 5X and smaller bugs to get it done, but this fish came shortly after making the change and ate a perdigon on the dropper tag.  I decided to keep going when I saw a pretty heavy hatch of midges happening.  Water was cold, so the Brodhead would be even colder than this despite the warm air.  I had gone without long johns, so I was now happy for the extra top layers and buff.

Got on the board eventually.

Based on the conditions here, and the fact that I had the place to myself, I committed to spending the afternoon.  Once I fished up through with only one fish and one other bounce to show for it, I switched to a more caddis-looking point fly and changed the color of the perdigon.  I fished down through the prime spots again before deciding to fish like it was winter and sneak along a long flat with some wood in the mix.  I almost didn’t trust that I got bumped in a deep depression within this flat, but on the second drift through, I came tight to a good fish.  It looked like he took the perdigon dropper on a barbless 18 hook, so despite all the wood around, I let him go a couple times and generally fought him with some caution.  If this was going to be fish number two of a two-fish day, I was going to land him, dammit.  The late afternoon light was weird, especially with my sunglasses still on, and I missed the first good chance of slipping the net under him.  Oh boy, that gave him more life.  Off he went downstream, and it became clear that the point fly got him as he turned to go.  Now, I was really asking for a workout—a 16-inch fish just became a 20 with all that extra leverage.  If the second hook didn’t snag him during the fight, however, I may not have gotten a picture of this one.  By the time I netted him a few yards downstream, the perdigon was already out.  I was not sure how photos would show up in the late afternoon sun, so I took a few at different angles, hoping to show off the colors of this thick beauty.  A two fish day, but the second one made it worth the stop, even if my old spot is not what it used to be.

Wasn't sure which sun angle worked best, so here's both.