April 11, 2021 –Some Swampy Small Stream Sneaking with the Silver Fox – Valley Creek

Photoshoot.

A slow steady soak today eventually added up to prime nymphing conditions in the upper reaches of Valley Creek.  Tom wanted to fish, and I have turned down his offers to meet at Valley in the Park or Chesterbrook for the last couple of pleasant weekend afternoons, but today’s weather had my number.  We met around 12:30 on a stretch where he has never fished, despite being a frequent Valley visitor.  It started out slow for a couple reasons, perhaps, but by the end of the afternoon we had a blast on some nice fish—even what seems like a given for me this spring: me losing a very nice fish, a couple inches bigger than the one posted for the ‘gram (tail up, yo!) to start this post. 

Silver Fox getting in some reps.

Early in our walk downstream, we ran into one fly guy coming back, so not everyone stays home in a little rain.  He was all about one word, caddis.  I did not see many today, about as many caddis as I did olives, and the rises mostly looked like mayfly rises.  Based on dude’s intel, however, I started out with a caddis pupa pattern, but Tom had on a basic hot spot frenchie, and he was getting bounced more than me.  So reason one for the slow start was the need to go baetis not caddis, and reason two was that dude had already worked through these rather clear holes, perhaps recently and with a caddis, so fish were a little skittish.  When I made a switch to one of Eric’s CDC jigs in size 16 on 6X tippet, and the creek started to cloud up a little more, it was game on for both Tom and me.  We both fished a single mayfly jig pattern for about 4 hours, and we landed at least 20 fish, probably more, taking turns working through every plunge, undercut, and bend pool. For the small creek, I was using my 9 footer with a mono rig, which was a good choice today.

A couple of Tom's better ones; starting to stain up after the slow soaker.

If we started fishing by 1 PM, by 2:30 PM we could expect a couple opportunities at every likely spot, and that expectation also means more fish in the net, better hooksets, and so on.  The water is pushing close to 60 degrees, so the fish are in prime fighting shape too.  We had blast, even jokingly posing 11 and 12 inch fish the way you see them posted in magazines and Instagram to make them look huge!  And because Tom was getting so many reps, we actually worked on his tightline game along the way, so not only did he catch more fish, but he may catch more fish next time too.  Because we were taking turns in tight quarters, one dude sneaking up to a spot while the other hung back or behind the less intrusive shoulder, I could coach the way I had been coached.  But sometimes it is easier to just show someone what you do.  I often ask Sam, for example, to show me how he would approach a particular hole and just watch him.  Not in a creepy way, I think?

Still loyal to Eric's bugs.  This one had the right formula.

Well, at a perfect “big fish hole,” one where Tom was up and I had called big fish as we approached, Tom did the same thing.  He stepped out after not getting a bump and basically said, Lemme me see what you do here.  Too perfect, then, that my demonstration resulted in me hooking a big Valley fish, or a Valley-big fish, from the fight and flashes of body we both saw, at least 14 inches.  Too perfect, then, that he broke me off in a deep mess of wood too!  Can’t blame Eric’s fly this time, as the same fly landed probably a dozen fish.  This fish just broke 6X tippet.  It was one of those close to impossible situations where I say to myself, I might hook a fish here, and he could be a good one, but there’s no clear endgame.  I did okay keeping him out of the first couple obstructions more out in the open, but then he dug for the undercut, and I just tried to hold him out of there with a little more muscle than 6X can muster, I guess.  *Ping*  

Tom didn't let me pose, but we made another decent fish ready for the 'gram.

At least there was the redemption story to follow today, which tends to happen on good days or when I am having a good day, all cylinders firing. Taking Tom’s success in mind and not dude’s caddis call, I tied on a single size 16 frenchie with a hot spot for the final yards of this stretch. After landing a couple more each, I pulled a Valley average out of a culvert, so Tom was on deck for my last favorite hole in this stretch.  He pulled a good 9 or 10 inch fish out of there, so I got to give it a shot too.  My best fish landed today came out of another tight spot, between an undercut and two intersecting logs.  Where I landed the cast and where he hit meant fish or snag, like many spots bigger fish wedge themselves into, and luckily it was a good fish.  He had a head on him, so he will be bigger once he packs on his post spawn weight again—it won’t be long with many more caddis and craneflies on the way.  Unlike the first nice fish a few minutes prior, I got this one to the back of the pool and got a net under him.  Of course, we had to pose this one with the tail up…  Maybe I will hold a nice fish backwards for the next post?  It was a fun afternoon with good company close to home, and good warm day to get soaked.

Some lovely B roll too.