April 20, 2021 – A Great Birthday Present to Myself – Brodhead Creek

A Brodhead bully.

I used to laugh at my father when he couldn’t remember how old he was, but I had to do math today myself to confirm my own age, so it happens, I guess.  Besides ordering a new rod that should arrive this week, I decided to treat myself on my birthday to one more dance with my old 10’ 4-weight on one of my favorite creeks.  Flows on the upper gage were around 130, which is pretty good for moving around, but the lower gage was over 500 cfs, so where I fished in between was still a bit pushy.  With a wading staff, I was able to cross and fish a favorite stretch this morning—not bad for April and not bad wading for an old man.  I landed a 17” this winter, my last visit to the creek, but I lost one over 20 the same day, so I was hoping to find a good fish today, maybe even that fish if I was lucky.  I was loaded with big bugs and a long 4X mono tippet to plumb the snaggy depths.  I lost some bugs, of course, but the water was clear for April, so not as many as a typical winter excursion. It was chilly enough in the morning for me to wear a soft-shell hoodie over my thermals, but it was sunny and set to warm up, and it did, pushing 75 degrees before I headed for home around 3:30 PM.  As I mentioned, water was lower than most Aprils, one of the reasons I decided to fish the bigger water today, but it was still deep and dangerous even if the flow was clear.

Big water and 'burg beaver work.  No fish for over 3 hours....

The colder morning was slow.  I don’t think I had a bump for over 3 hours.  I was going quality not quantity, so I stuck with the plan for a long time.  Caddis and midges and even some larger mayflies were popping by day’s end, but I didn’t see any risers in the big water yet.  I saw a couple later in the day when I fished up-river a few miles.  I did see my winter white whale, however.  I spooked him out of the big rocky ledge where he owned me this January.  He is massive, and he just moseyed off to deeper darker water with his yellow fins flared.  Before I went down to investigate his lair and eventually spook him, I did stay way back and float some big bugs, even dead drift a bugger, past where I thought he might hide during the day.  It is a big fish spot: deep, softer water with easy access to a deep riffle and run, and more cover than any one fish needs.  If he wasn’t there, or the threat of him being there, it is the kind of spot where I may have spooked a dozen out from under the same type of ledge.  From a high vantage point, I saw more fish, out in the open but not making any moves to eat, but out in the open, nonetheless, so maybe waiting for the midday something to begin, like a hatch, you know?

Plenty of cover.

I didn’t give up on the dream, but based on the presence of olive and tan caddis, some of them big, I eventually did rig up with some deep bottom roller larva patterns and 5X.  That helped get the bugs down quicker behind boulders, plunges, heads of riffles—with high sun and clear water, those spots were my best bet of fooling a wise old trout today, even if with smaller bugs.  Around noon, after fishing for over 3.5 hours with nothing to show but a little sweat and a little sun tan, I hooked a beast.  I was out on a gravel bar between heavier current on both sides, and he was hidden behind a boulder in heavy current on the far side of the creek, so it did not take long for those pulsing head shakes of a large brown to become a run into current.  He went up at first, which would have helped me land him if he stayed upstream, but I had to turn him out of more boulders and then the bank at one point, so he eventually took off downstream too.  I just posted on Sunday about how valuable I find a 4-weight in these situations, but I was even wishing I had a 5-weight now.  When he pulled me down the gravel bar about as deeply as I could go without losing my feet, I held him tight while I shook my collapsible wading staff back together.  I inched myself and the fish upstream enough to feel safe wading again, but now we had reached détente.  

The bonus reel.

He wasn’t going to make any more runs if I didn’t let him, but he also wasn’t going to be pulled upstream into my net, not in this current, so with rod in one hand and wading staff in the other, I just said eff it and made a waist deep crossing.  Moving downstream with the current was not as fraught as I thought it might be, and I was rewarded at the end with some calmer water against the near bank, where this fight finally ended with a net job and a couple self-fish shots.  With the water so cold, I guess, despite the battle, this fish didn’t even rest after the fight, just move off at a decent pace into darker water.  I, however, needed to take off some layers, drink what was left of my water, and rest.  After texting some of my fly fishing buddies, I did fish my way upstream to my original crossing point without another bump.  I could see the nice day had brought out more fishermen of all ilks, so I knew I might have to choose my post-lunch break spot with care.  After drinking an iced coffee, sending a couple emails, eating some almonds, a banana, I took a drive to a popular spot with fly guys and other outdoor enthusiasts.

Eric's bug.  I get a peaceful easy feeling in 130 cfs.

The lot was pretty full, but I was just parking in order to take a longer walk.  Thankfully, the plan worked, and I had another favorite stretch to myself.  Man, I felt like superman wading up this far on the creek with only 130 cfs, but the water was very clear, so I knew I would still have to consider the bouncier water as cover for both the fish and me.  I went back to a big anchor fly, either a size 10 pt jig or hare’s ear jig, but with the presence of two kinds of caddis, midges, and a few mayflies to boot, the four additional fish I landed here took the smaller bug on the dropper—most on Eric’s fuzzy caddis pupa.  Three were rainbows that had moved up from the stocked section at some point, but they had good fins and color, so probably not from this spring but last spring.  One was about 11 inches and a leaper, which was fun.  By now, in order to reach over the current to the softer seams on the other side, and to give my aging body a rest in this heat, I began fishing a bobber.  Wind had continued to pick up from the South with the afternoon heat, so despite a couple tangles, the bobber was a good choice.  Not pretty throwing a bobber on a 30-foot mono-leader, but nymphing isn’t always that pretty, anyway, especially on bigger creeks. 

Back to reality in the second shift.

I did land one more smaller wild brown on Eric’s bug, but after another rainbow and a tangle, I decided that I was not going to fish a third shift.  A modest birthday celebration with the family waited at home, anyway.  It is amazing that even on a challenging day, the charge of a good fish can make it all worth it.  I often like numbers days, but big fish are worth the effort, even if it means fewer chances.  This was my first 20 of the young year, just 29 trips in so far for 2021, and bigger is out there, I know.  Sam sent me a shot of a 22” nymph fish that he landed last week in between guiding trips!  I am not a size queen, anything over 12 makes me happy because wild fish that big are all the fun anyone could need most days, but I do anticipate more days hunting for piggies this year.  If my aging eyes can handle it, I may finally do the night streamer/mouse thing in Central PA this summer, something I have talked with Sam about for years now!  Until then, or some more substantial rain, more Lehigh Valley limestoners with caddis imitations in my more immediate future....